DOTTED BY DIVINE DEITIES

DOTTED BY DIVINE DEITIES

Karnataka: December 19 to 22, 2013

Do miracles really happen? Ask any member of Pilgrim Fathers – Vipul Shah, Harsha Rao, Gajanan Radkar, Rajesh Bayas, Dilip Bhandari, Ganesh Shinde, S Vaidyanathan or Huned Contractor – and the answer will be in the affirmative. Not because any of us has been witness to a grand spectacle that only the gods can manage but for the simple fact that even a seemingly impossible mission can be accomplished with not much human intervention. That is what happened during our recent trip across Karnataka, especially when we had to visit the Dharmasthala Temple in the Dakshina Kannada district.

The temple, which houses the shrines of Shiva, Manjunatha, Ammanavaru, Chandranath and the Dharma Daivas or guardian spirits of Dharma namely Kalarahu, Kalarkayi, Kumaraswamy and Kanyakumari, enforces strict darshan timings and our visit would have been partially futile considering that we were well past the afternoon closing hour of 2 pm. And yet, when we reached there at 2.45 pm, the driver of our passenger van pointed out that the last of the devotees was still being ushered in. Needless to add, we made a frantic bid for it and (here’s where the miracle part comes in) were the last six to be given admittance. No queue, no nothing! Just like that!

The fact that such instances have almost always happened during our earlier journeys to pilgrimage places seems to ascertain the fact that there’s always a destined way provided the will is willing enough. Anyway, to begin from the beginning, with Dilip absent this time due to a marriage in the family, seven of us started on this year’s yatra from various places such as Pune, Mumbai and Singapore to arrive at Mangalore, a city that reminds us of how tranquil Pune once was. With a stay at the comfortable Hotel Karthik and a grand dinner at The Village followed by a veritable feast of steaming idlis and wadas in the morning, we were all set to take off on a literally whirlwind tour of the temples of this part of Karnataka.

Our visit to the temples had actually begun a day earlier while we were waiting for the arrival of Ganesh and Vipul who had circumstantially been forced to take a bus from Pune. This was to the Gokarnanatheshwara Temple in Mangalore, otherwise known as Kudroli Sri Gokarnanatha Kshetra. Dedicated to Gokarnanatha, a Hindu deity also known as Shiva, the temple was recently in the news for taking a progressive step by inducting two widows as ‘archakas’ (temple priests) on October 6. The women priests were accorded a traditional ‘Chende’ welcome at the temple on and taken to the sanctum sanctorum where the idols of Shiva and Annapoorneshwari are placed. There they performed the puja and then consecrated the idol of Dattatreya.

So, December 20 saw us on the road to Moodabidri which houses the Temple of 1000 Pillars. This is one of the largest and the most ornate of the Jain temples of this region, built in 1430 A.D. The 2.5 meters tall bronze image of Lord Chandranatha Swami in the sanctum of this ‘basadi’ is considered to be very sacred. The temple is famous for the open pillared hall in front, consisting of a large variety of ornate pillars decorated with carvings typical of the Vijayanagara style. A 15-meter-tall single stone pillar called ‘manastambha’ stands in front of the basadi. Moodabidri was the seat of the Chowtas, a Jain ruling family, who were originally located at Puthige, about 5 km from here. They moved their capital to Moodabidri in the 17th century.

This was followed by a visit to Karkala which is primarily known for the statue of Lord Bahubali (Gomateshwara). The 45-feet tall statue is estimated to weigh 80 tonnes. Besides its colossal size, the Karkala statue is rendered more striking by its situation on the top of a huge granite rock, 300 feet high, on the verge of a picturesque little lake. This image was erected by a Jain king in 1432, in memory of Bahubali, the first Tirthankara who renounced the world at his most victorious moment. In front of this temple, there is a beautifully carved pillar called Manasthamhha which is nearly 50 feet high. It is the most beautiful and tallest of 11 Manasthambhas.  Like Moodabidri, there are 18 temples at Karkala.

Our next big stop was at the Dharmasthala Temple where along with being fortunate enough to have granted darshan, we were also able to have lunch of rice and rasam, astounded as we were with the efficiency of the institution that manages to serve thousands of devotees with such clockwork precision. Local legend says that the Shiva linga in Dharmasthala was brought here by a local person with great powers, named Annappa. He used to work for the Heggade family. Once when one of the family members he was serving wanted to worship Lord Shiva, Annappa had assured him to get one linga and vanished from sight. Next morning, he had already established the linga in Dharmasthala, a few metres away from Heggade’s house. Later it came to be known that the linga was from Kadri near Mangalore, from the Kadri Temple. By then, Annappa had vanished and he was never again sighted in the vicinity. Now people in Dharmasthala worship Annappa as Annappa Panjurli, a local deva and a hero.

The day’s long trip came to a end after a winding drive up a ghat to Chikmagalur, located in the foothills of the Mullayanagiri range. The place is famous for coffee but we had a bigger treat in store with our night halt at the Chikamagalur Club which is so very spacious and luxurious. 

Early morning the next day, after a wonderful breakfast of idlis, wadas and dosas (when in Rome, do as the Romans do!), we were back into the van, on our way to Belur. Our first stop was at the Chennakesava Temple, built on the banks of the river Yagachi by the Hoysala Empire King Vishnuvardhana. According to a guide, Chennakesava is a form of the Hindu god Vishnu and the temple is known for its intricate carvings in stone, each of the tableaus representing a story from the mythological texts of India. Further on is the Hoysaleswara Temple dedicated to Shiva. It was built in Halebidu during the rule of King Vishnuvardhana of the Hoysala Empire in the 12^th century. History has it that during the early 14^th century, Halebidu was sacked and looted by Muslim invaders from northern India and the temple fell into a state of ruin and neglect.

Our night halt for that day was at the Turtle Bay in Kundapur taluka. The resort is by the sea and since it was too late to walk on the fine sands of the coast, we had to content ourselves with dinner and early retirement to bed. But though the location of the resort is superb (which we realized the next morning when we went for a walk by the sea), there were a few factors that rankled. For one, the management overcharged for our stay, claiming that bookings done online attracted premium rates and secondly, the facilities weren’t up to the mark while the breakfast the next morning was not as promised. However, since we did not want any bad blood to spoil our day, we started early to now wind up the journey, first with a visit to the famous Udupi Krishna Temple.

This temple resembles a living ashram, a holy place for daily and living. Surrounding the Sri Krishna Matha are several temples, the most ancient being made of basic wood and stone of 1,500 years origin. The Krishna Matha was founded by the Vaishnavite saint Shri Madhwacharya in the 13^th century. He was the founder of the Dvaita school of Vedanta. It is believed that Madhwacharya found the idol of Sri Krishna in a large ball of gopichandana. Legend has it that once Kanakadasa, a pious worshiper and devotee of Lord Krishna, was staying in a makeshift hermitage in front of Krishna Matha. There was an earthquake in the night and the outer temple wall cracked such a way that there was a wide enough opening for Kanakadasa to have a darshan of the idol. Till today, devotees still worship Lord Krishna by praying through the same window. It is known as Kanakanakhindi.

And now it was time for the finale - a stopover at the home of Harsha’s father-in-law, Rajaram Rao, where we experienced a welcome and hospitality that will remain unmatched. So wonderful it was to once again have home food – vegetable pulao and curry with dahi salad and sweets – with so many helpings forced upon us that we actually wanted to have a nap rather than continue on our way to Mangalore where we had our flights to catch. It was time then to say our goodbyes but not before reminding each other of the various suggestions that had come forth for our next year’s choice of pilgrimage.

This trip was yet another memorable one for several reasons. Above all, it was once again a reflection of the logistical abilities of the members – this time around it being the responsibility of Harsha who, with guidance from his father-in-law, managed all the bookings and ensured that we would be able to visit the maximum number of places in the shortest time possible. And then there was all that fun and laughter, spurred in great measure with Gajanan’s treasure collection of the ‘Santa Banta’ jokes, some of which he seems to make up as we go. The quiz on Pune was a raucous one with many a claimer for the right answer and ultimately won by Vipul after a tie-breaker question between him and Gajanan (leading us to believe that there was some fishy communication here) but in terms of quiz sessions, the one on guessing a celebrity’s name took the cake with Rajesh putting everyone one on a wild chase with his choice of R. K. Laxman, the famous cartoonist.

As one now looks back on the trip, various moments and sequences come rushing back as in a film being fast forwarded – from a desperate attempt by Vipul to finish all the khakras that he had brought to missing Dilip for his timely comments to coming to terms with a shocking revelation to trying out the veshtis (South Indian lungis) to the excitement of discussing the next trip’s details to doubling up with laughter at the many wisecracks, and so on. The only thing we didn’t do is to sing “Lungi dance, lungi dance…..Thalaiva!”

  

IN THE FOOTSTEPS OF BUDDHA

Santa, a school student, was making a serious attempt at completing his examination paper within the given time when he suddenly stood up and started to dance. The examiner was taken aback. “What do you think are you doing?” she asked. “Well,” replied Santa, “there is a question here which says that there are marks for every step.” For us, now into our fourth year of making an annual trip to a place of historical and religious importance, the flagging off was with getting the steps of passage and arrival right. In fact, it was an exercise in coordination and logistics what with Harsha coming from Singapore, Ganesh from Vadodara, Gajanan from Katiar in Bihar, Rajesh from Mumbai and I, Vipul, Dilip and Vaidyanathan making our way to Gaya from Pune via Delhi and Patna.

Arrive we did at Gaya on the evening of Sunday, February 22, 2013 but not before crossing some hurdles. Vaidya, for instance, was carrying with him a weight measuring machine that was to be given to Gajanan and was asked by the security personnel at the Pune Airport to remove all the packaging and show them what it was, particularly so because just a day ago Hyderabad had suffered casualties due to a bomb blast and security across India had been beefed up in a typical knee-jerk reaction. And then I was in for a shocker when the scanner at the airport revealed a Swiss knife in my rucksack. What was the knife doing there? I had no clue at all! Fortunately, they didn’t march me to the nearest police station and we boarded the Go Air flight in time. In Kolkata, where Harsha, Ganesh and Rajesh had met up prior to taking the flight to Gaya, a search for sarees had almost led to missing the flight.

Anyway, after an evening well-spent on catching up with the latest in our lives and pulling each other’s legs into late hours, Monday morning saw the ‘pilgrim fathers’, as Gajanan had nicknamed the group, to set forth and explore the place. Our first major stop was the Mahabodhi Temple Complex in Gaya, famous for being the place where Gautama Buddha is said to have obtained enlightenment. For Buddhists, Bodh Gaya is the most important of the main four pilgrimage sites related to the life of Gautama Buddha, the other three being Kushinagar, Lumbini and Sarnath. In 2002, Mahabodhi Temple became a UNESCO World Heritage Site and though the complex is well-maintained, the surrounding town, by contrast, is dusty and obviously ill-planned. It is believed that a new development plan has been proposed to ensure a sustainable and prosperous future for Bodh Gaya, but has become controversial because such a plan may require the relocation of whole neighborhoods.

Next to the temple, to its western side, is the holy Bodhi tree. In the Pali Canon, the site is called Bodhimanda and the monastery there the Bodhimanda Vihara. The tallest tower is 55 metres in height. In approximately 250 BCE, about 200 years after the Buddha attained enlightenment, Buddhist Emperor Asoka visited Bodh Gaya with the intention of establishing a monastery and shrine. As part of the temple, he built the diamond throne, called the Vajrasana, attempting to mark the exact spot of Buddha’s enlightenment. Asoka is therefore considered the founder of the Mahabodhi Temple. One of the interesting features of the sprawling complex is the Mucalinda Lake in the centre of which is a sculpture of Buddha seated under the hood of a cobra. It is said that when Buddha was spending his sixth week of enlightenment here, the cobra and other creatures protected him from severe thunderstorms.

Incidentally, there have been several controversies regarding the temple involving both the management and claims made by Hindus and Buddhists regarding ownership or rights of access to the temple. In August 2005, individuals associated with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) were stopped by police while attempting to enter the Mahabodhi Temple to make an offering of blessed water to a pedestal or broken pillar within the temple complex. BJP officials claimed that a pedestal within the temple may be part of a Shiva linga, and that Hindus should be permitted access to the temple to make offerings to the pedestal. In 2006, it was alleged that a branch of the Bodhi tree had been removed and sold to wealthy buyers in Thailand with the cooperation of senior members of the temple’s management committee. Former temple secretary, Kalicharan Yadav, has denied this claim, contending that the branch was removed much earlier as part of a needed pruning effort recommended by botanists working with the temple.

Making our way ahead in a Winger van with a variety of snacks such as bhakarwadis, anjir, khakhras, Shrewsberry biscuits etc pumping up our energy levels, our next halt was at Rajgir, which is said to be the first capital of the kingdom of Magadha, a state that would eventually evolve into the Mauryan Empire. Its date of origin is unknown, although ceramics dating to about 1,000 BC have been found in the city. This area was one of the favourite places for Gautama Buddha and the well known ‘Atanatiya’ conference was held atop the mountain called Vulture’s Peak. Known for the Vishwa Shanti Stupa, located at considerable height, one of the ‘adventurous’ aspects of the place is that you can take a ride in a cable car on a ropeway to ascend and descend. Rajgir is also famous for its hot water springs, locally known as Brahmakund, a sacred place for Hindus. The Vishwa Shanti Stupa, built in 1969, is one of the 80 peace pagodas in the world built to spread the message of peace and non-violence.

With a lunch of samosas, kachoris and noodles that smelt and tasted stale in one of the ‘dhaba’ type eating joints, we made our way to the ruins of the Nalanda University. This was an ancient center of higher learning in Bihar and flourished between the reign of Sakraditya (whose identity is uncertain and who might have been either Kumara Gupta I or Kumara Gupta II) and 1197 CE, supported by patronage from the Hindu Gupta rulers as well as Buddhist emperors. An official guide with good command over Hindi explained to us that the complex was built with red bricks and its ruins occupy an area of 14 hectares. At its peak, the university attracted scholars and students from as far away as Tibet, China, Greece and Persia and its architectural uniqueness lay in the way the spaces for learning, residence and meditation were clearly demarcated.

The university was ransacked and destroyed by an army under Bakhtiyar Khilji in 1193. The great library of Nalanda University was so vast that it is reported to have burned for six months after the invaders set fire to it. The destruction of the temples, monasteries, centers of learning at Nalanda were responsible for the demise of ancient Indian scientific thought in mathematics, astronomy, alchemy and anatomy. In its heyday, it accommodated over 10,000 students and 2,000 teachers. It was marked by a lofty wall and one gate with eight separate compounds and ten temples. On the grounds were lakes and parks. The library was located in a nine-storied building where meticulous copies of texts were produced. What really helped the excavators understand the functional layout of the place were the diaries of Chinese pilgrim Xuan Zang who left detailed accounts of the university in the 7th century.

Opposite the ruins is a museum that houses the various items of historical interest unearthed during the excavations and a little way ahead is the Xuan Zang Memorial Hall which has a beautiful tapestry covering two walls that provide an account of the traveller’s sojourn across India and other countries. Xuan Zang primarily became famous for his 17-year overland journey to India, which is recorded in detail in the classic Chinese text ‘Great Tang Records On The Western Regions’. The place is immaculately maintained though of course the same cannot be said for any of the towns in Bihar where, for one thing, there is no traffic discipline and you are likely to be either mowed down by a truck or be rendered deaf with the drivers’ habit of sounding their horns at a high pitch and for long periods of time.

With Gajanan, a colonel in the Indian Army, a stay at one of the army’s guesthouses seems to have become the highpoint of our trips, and so was the case here when he led us to the Ordnance Factory’s amazing quarters where we were all treated to a sumptuous dinner and a most comfortable overnight stay in the huge rooms. With easy banter flowing like a Ganga in full spate, the hours sped on quickly till it was now time to make a quick last visit before we returned to Patna for our return flights home. This was at Pawapuri, a holy site for Jains located about 101 kilometers from Patna. It is here that Mahavira attained nirvana or moksha in around 5^th century BCE. Mahavira, as the temple priest informed us, was the last of the 24 tirthankaras of the Jain faith and it was here that he was cremated. There was a great rush to collect his ashes, with the result that so much soil was removed from the place of his cremation that a pond was created. Now, an exquisite marble temple in the middle of a lotus pond, the Jal Mandir, stands magnificently on a rectangular island.

And so, finally, it was time to head back to Patna from where Harsha was to fly to Kolkata and proceed to Singapore while Ganesh was to make the Patna-Delhi-Ahmedabad trip to be able to drive onwards to Vadodara. Gajanan accompanied Harsha in Patna on another search for sarees while the rest of us satiated our hunger pants with vegetarian thalis just outside the airport and then flew to Pune but not before freezing the location for next year. It’s going to be Karnataka. And to end the tale on a lighter note, when Santa met Banta after a long time, he kept saying, “A-B, A-B, A-B….” When an exasperated Banta asked him the reason for this silly repetition, Santa replied: “No C for long time!” But that’s not going to happen to us. We are getting together again…..soon!

Text: Huned Contractor