A temple for Duryodhan

The epic of Mahabharata depicts a story of rivalry between the cousins in an ancient royal family, which culminates into the great war of Kurukshetra. There are quite a few variants of the epic. A common narrative is that the Kaurava brothers used deceptions and unfair means to deprive their cousins, the Pandava brothers, of the kingdom, which were rightfully theirs. When the Pandavas reclaim the kingdom at a later date, the Kauravas do not budge, and the cousins go to war. The Pandavas emerge victorious and the Kauravas perish. At the end, righteousness triumphs over the wrongdoings.

Common perception holds the five Pandava brothers, Yudhishthir being the eldest, as epitomes of virtue and the Kaurava brothers (there were a hundred of them), led by Duryodhan the eldest, as the villains of the story. But the irony is that there are no temples for any of the Pandava brothers (though some temples in present day Pabbar valley of Himachal Pradesh are attributed to the five brothers), while some 20 odd temples for Duryodhan and his military associate Karna dots the villages in the Tamasa (Tons) valley of Garhwal region of Uttarakhand in India today. 

Karna needs some more introduction. He was the eldest of the Pandava brothers, born to and abandoned by his virgin mother  in his infancy, rescued and raised by a charioteer and his talents discovered by Duryodhana. Eventually, he became a close friend of Duryodhana and was one of the greatest generals in the Kaurava army during the Kurukshetra war.

Tamasa (Tons) Valley

It is said that some soldiers from the defeated army of the Kauravas, loyal to Duryodhana and Karna, took refuge in this remote hilly region after the Kurukshetra war, and started worshiping their heroes. These warriors were known for their bravery and valor, despite whatsoever shortcomings they may have had. Even today, their descendants preach no other god but those two [1]. It is also said that the river Tamasa (river of sorrow) carries the tears of the villagers, who wept at the death of Duryodhan.

 

Osla village nestled on the slopes of the Himalayas

We stopped over for a night at the village of Seema on our trek to Har-ki-Dun (the valley of Shiva). We heard about the temple of Duryodhan in the nearby Osla village from the local people and decided to visit it. It was a wooden temple with exquisite curving, but almost in ruins. As contact with outside world grows, quite a few of the villagers, including the contemporary priests, do not openly admit to worshiping the villains of Mahabharata -- they refer to the temple as the temple of Someswara (Shiva) instead. Unfortunately, the door was locked and we could not visit inside. Other temples for Duryodhan and Karna can be found in the valley of the river Tamasa (Tongs), such as in the villages of Saur, Jakholi and Netawar, in Uttarakhand.

The temple of Duryodhan at Osla

By some other theory [2],  the Pandavas and the Kauravas were not cousins, but belonged to different clans, which had long-standing rivalries. The Pandavas belonged to a Mongolian race, called the Kiratas, who dwelt in the Pabbar valley (in present day Himachal). The Kauravas hailed from the Khasa cult and dominated the Tamasa valley of Uttarakhand. Temples attributed to characters of Mahabharata in this Himachal Pradesh - Uttarakhand region support the theory. The temples of Duryodhan and Karna in the valley were built in wood in a style adopted by the Khasa cult at that time (7th - 8th century AD). Some of the temples, for example the one at Saur (which is the biggest of these), has been renovated in the recent times.

References:

1. Uttarakhand: Temples devoted to Duryodhana and Karna of Epic Mahabharata 
2. India Mapped. Temples in India
   

A related story: The Ethereal Ghost of Har-ki-Dun

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The ghost of Chilika

Chilika is a large lagoon covering about 1100 sq km area in the state of Odisha, India, and opening into the Bay of Bengal. The water is saline and is natural habitat for dolphins and many varieties of fishes. Several species of birds flock here during the winter months. Behrampur, or Brahmapur (different from a bigger town by the same name) is an island village close to the mouth of the lake with a population of few thousands of people, mostly engaged in fishing. The village is complete with brightly painted dwelling units, a few temples, a couple of government run schools and even a leisure resort. 

 

Brahmapur, the island village in Chilika (source: Google maps)

 

We stayed in the resort at Brahmapur and explored the village. One of the villagers, a priest from one of the temples, told me this story. Once upon a time, there was a demon king called Raktabahu (literally means blood-stained arms), who planned to attack and vandalize the temple-town of Puri, which is quite close to Chilika. He organized a large fleet and concealed it in the lagoon the night before the attack, close to Brahmapur village, to prevent premature detection by the King of Puri. By the grace of Lord Jagannath, the presiding deity of Puri, a huge storm raged over the lagoon that night and Raktabahu and his men perished with their ships. The story, however, is silent about the casualties of the village-folks by the grace of the Lord. Asking this question elicited a deep frown from the priest. The dissatisfied souls of the perished men haunt the lagoon, and their howls can be heard on stormy nights. On a few occasions, the villagers who ventured into the lagoon in darkness have even encountered the ghosts of Raktabahu and some of his men. Needless to say, such encounters had not been pleasant. 

 

Birds at Chilika lagoon

A dig into the history tells a different story. There was indeed a king named Raktabahu, alias Govinda III, of the Rashtrakuta dynasty, who ruled during 793–814 CE. The Rashtrakutas had their capital in Manyakheta (near present-day Kalaburgi of Karnataka) and extended their empire from the Gangetic planes in the North and to deep down the South covering parts of present day Tamil Nadu and Kerala. 

 

The extent of Rashtrakuta empire (source: Wikimedia Commons)

Much of this expansion was done by Raktabahu, the fifth ruler of the dynasty. As a part of his expansion plan, he did attack Puri and was indeed successful in conquering the town despite Jagannath's blessings. That was the first time when the temple of Puri was vandalized. Forewarned of the attack, the king of Puri and the priests of the temple removed the idols to a place called Gopali, near Subarnapur or Sonepur, in Sambalpur district of Odisha. The idols were buried deep into the ground for protection against vandalism, where it remained for about 150 years. King Yayati I of Chandravamsha (the descendants of the Moon) reestablished the idols in the Puri temple, after performing Naba-kalebara (new body) ritual, when the replicas of the original (and by then decayed) idols were apparently created. The place where the idols were buried is now known as Patali Srikhetra. 

 

An abandoned Kali temple at Brahmapur village

The ghost story of Chilika seems to be a cock-and-bull story, invented by the village priests in praise of Lord Jagannatha and to demean the king who attacked Puri. The howls on stormy nights are best explained by the passage of the strong wind through the pine trees on the nearby sea shore. 

 

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The oldest mosque of Vijayapura (Bijapur)

Viyayapura, or Bijapur at it is popularly known, is famous for it's Gol Gombuz. Some tourists venture further to Ibrahim Rauza and Bara Kaman. But, there are many more monuments in and around Vijayapura, which are lesser known and are rarely frequented.

Amidst the hustle bustle of the town, there is a quiet corner, where stands the oldest mosque of Vijayapura, mostly ignored by the tourists. Even many of the local people are not aware of it's significance. Known as the Karim-ud-din mosque, it looks more like a Hindu temple. It was built in 1320 AD under the orders of Karim-ud-din, who was the then governor of Bijapur. Incidentally, Karim-ud-din has been the son of Malik Kafur who had been the General of Alauddin Khilji, and was instrumental in bringing a large part of the Deccan under Muslim rule.

Karim-ud-din mosque at Vijayapura

 

Curvings in the mosque in Chalukyan temple style

While construction of mosques and other monuments by the rulers were not uncommon, why was this mosque constructed like a Hindu temple? It is said that there were no architects for designing mosques were available in the region in those times. Karim-ud-din mosque was designed by one Revaya, in the style of Hindu temples that had been the only places of worship he had been familiar with. The mosque was assembled from an assortment of debris of nearby broken Hindu temples (handiwork of Malik Kafur?), which give it an unmistakable "Hindu" look. However, the statues of gods and humans seem to have been carefully chipped off. By some alternate theory, the place had been an Agrahara (Hindu college) which has been converted to a mosque by the orders of Malik Kafur. Whichever theory may be true, it had been the principal mosque of Bijapur for about 150 years till Jami Masjid was built during the early years of Adil Shahi dynasty. 

The outer wall of Karim-ud-din mosque

Our local taxi driver who took us around in Vijayapura did not know about this mosque. We could locate the place with some difficulty, with the help of the Google map. When we visited the place, we did not find a single soul, except an old lady who kept the place clean and lighted some incense at the tomb of a saint housed in the premises (possibly at a later date). The ancient structure had been supported with scaffolding (by ASI) with no repair-work in sight. It appears that what could be a very significant historical monument is not given enough importance and is left to decay.

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Mahishasura: The story of a vanquished king

What is present day city of Mysuru (Mysore or Mahishur) in the southern state of Karnataka, was the kingdom of Mahishasura (Mahisha, the Asura) in the ancient times. Indeed, the name Mysuru is derived from "Mahisha Ooru", meaning the home of Mahisha. Contrary to the beliefs of many, Mahishashur was not a demon, but a respected king, brave and caring for his subjects. Indeed, all Asuras were not demons, they were merely the original inhabitants of the Deccan land before the Devas invaded it. As in every community, there were some good guys and some bad guys among Asuras; the bad ones were called the Danavas and the good ones the Adityas. We can assume Mahishashur was one of these Adityas. The name Mahisha was conferred on him as he was as brave and strong as a buffalo; his physique had nothing to do with the animal as suggested in some of the Aryan myths, and believed by the people in general.

Statue of Mahisasura at Kalamandira

Now, as the Devas (Aryans) were set to colonize the Deccan, there was bound to be disputes on territories and the Asuras and the Devas became arch-rivals. The history (or, rather the myths) are filled with bloodshed. The story of Mahishasura is also no exception. To protect his territorial integrity, Mahishasura fought the Devas, and their chieftain, Indra was badly beaten. 

The Devas tried to dig out some weak spot in Mahishasura to plan an attack on him. Apparently, Mahishasura had a boon from the supreme god Brahma that only a woman can kill him. The Devas were forced to train a woman, goddess Durga (also, called Chamundi), in warfare and send her to the battle with Mahishasur. A fierce battle took place for nine days on a hill-top, now known as the Chamundi Hill, at an edge of the city Mysore where Mahishasura was killed.

There are quite a few variants of the story. By another version of the story, it was not a fair fight. Mahishasura fell for the feminine charm of the Devi and was killed when he lowered his guard. By yet another version, Mahishasura was a Dalit or Shudra (lower caste by Brahminical definition) chieftain. He embraced Buddhism and had a monk-like character. Going by this theory, Mahishasura was killed in the Brahiminical-Buddhist conflict that prevailed India around first century AD. (See this blog to get more information about the conflict.)

Well, in whatever way it may be, Mahishasur was vanquished to the relief of the Devas and Brahminical rule was established in the region. A couple of statues (of recent age) in Mysuru reminds us of the great king. A nine-day festival every year commemorates the triumph of Chamundi (or, Durga) at Mysore and elsewhere in India. While the entire country rejoices, a section of population, in northern part of West Bengal and Jharkhand, claim themselves to be the descendants of Mahishasura and mourns the slaughter of their forefathers during those nine days. Of late, we see some rallies in support of Mahishasura by politicians, who cash on "Dalit" sentiments, in Mysore.

There may not be any truth in the story, and all the characters may be mythical. They do not reflect my personal belief either. They are not intended to hurt the sentiments of any community. They are just shreds of stories that I have heard here and there, and tried to string them together with some colors and spices added to them.

But the fact remains that the victory of the Devas were absolute. Demonization of the Asuras is perhaps the consequence of history being written by the victors. Though the Asura culture was superior to the Deva's at that time, there is no trace of it left in South India today. Only exception is possibly the 'Onam' festival of Kerala that commemorates another great Asura king Mahabali.

Update (22-Oct-2023)

News about Mahisha-Dasara in Mysore, 2023

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The Gwalior Light Railway: World's longest narrow gauge track

A narrow gauge train, in middle of nowhere, on a rugged landscape, somewhere close to Sabalgarh in MP.

The Gwalior Light Railway

This is Gwalior Light Railway, was constructed in the first decade of 1900's by the erstwhile Maharaja of Gwalior, Madho Rao Scindia. Built in phases, it is a narrow-gauge (2 feet) track that extends over 200 km to connect Seopur Kalan to Gwalior (both in MP), and is the world's longest narrow-gauge track. It traverses a part of the Chambal valley and skirts the lesser-known Kuno-Palpur National Park. Diesel engines have eventually replaced the original steam locomotives on these tracks.

At Kuno-Palpur National Park

 There are twenty-six stations on the way, apart from the two end-points. There are two rail-cum-road bridges on the way, where the road-traffic needs to patiently wait to give way to the train. The train runs at maximum speed of 35 kmph (yes, 35 indeed, I have not missed the trailing zero!). An open-air ride on the roof-top is a more comfortable and a cheaper mode of journey for the village folk than a bumpy ride on the dusty road. 

As I write this blog, I come to know that the future of this narrow-gauge track is uncertain. At some point of time, there had been a proposal that the Gwalior Light Railway be included in the Unesco's list of world heritage sites as a living example of the engineering enterprise of the 19th century. In the meantime, the maintenance of the narrow-gauge is proving to be difficult. A more recent news is that there is a proposal to convert this track to broad-gauge and integrate with the national rail network, as everywhere else in India.

 

Update: (22-May-2021):

The railway has hit the end of the road. It has been decommissioned and dismantled. Henceforth, it's existence will be in a documentary and some blogs (like this) scattered around. (news).

 

Update: (24-Jan-2023):

Cheetahs (that had been extinct in India) have been reintroduced in the Kuno forest and they seem to be doing fine. (news)

 

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The Story of Brahmani Devi

Manimahesh, situated in the Chamba district of Himachal Pradesh, is a mountain shrine of Shiva, next to Manasarovar Kailash in its religious significance. Though considered as one of the most powerful gods in Hindu mythology, Shiva had his own follies. We came across such a story on our trip to Manimahesh a few years back.

Manimahesh peak

The day before we started on the trek to the lake at the foot of the Manimahesh Kailash peak, we had put up for the night at a nearby village, called Bharmaur, (or Brahmapur in the ancient times). We were told that the presiding deity of the place is Brahmani Devi, the mother goddess, or none other that the wife of the supreme god Brahma. She lived here in a small cottage with his son and her pet bird. There had been a beautiful garden surrounding her abode. Obviously, the residents around the place maintained strict discipline, careful not to invite the wrath of the Devi.

The shrine of Brahmani Devi, Bharmour

One fine day, when Parvati (Shiva’s wife) was away with her four children, probably to her parents’ place, Shiva, like every mortal husband, wanted to make the best of her absence. He gathered eighty-four of his followers and started loitering around. His favorite bull, Nandi, and his faithful servant, Bhringi, accompanied the party.

By the evening, the group landed at Brahmapur, where Shiva wanted to camp for the night. The followers promptly pitched the tents at a corner of the garden of Brahmani Devi. Nandi was hungry after the day’s journey; he started chewing some sweet plants in the garden. Bhringi busied himself in arranging Ganja (cannabis) for the entourage.

Soon  enough, the fumes  of cannabis invaded the space and reached Brhamani Devi’s nose, and the commotion raised by the party penetrated her ears. She was quite upset and came out of her cottage to investigate. When she discovered the party and their activities, her anger knew no bounds. She chased the entourage with a big broom wielding in her hand. The followers of Shiva could not stand her wrath and froze to stones. Shiva wasted no time in wrapping up his tiger-skin (on which sits) and other odd belongings. He promptly summoned Bhringi and the duo made a hasty retreat to the nearby hills of Manimahesh on the back of Nandi.

Temple at Chaurasi Dham (photo from Wikimedia Commons)

The eighty-four our pieces of stones (lingas) still stand at Shiva's camping site as evidences to the event. Eventually, a temple dedicated to Shiva and his followers have been erected on the site, and it is known as the Chaurasi temple. Ever since the incidence, Shiva hides behind the peak of Manimahesh, which is under the wraps of cloud most of the time. Once in a while, when the cloud cover lifts, he peeps out to see if Brahmani Devi is still there with her broom. Maybe, he still looks for an opportunity to come around, make amends with Brahmani Devi and revive his followers to go partying again, elsewhere.

There may not be any truth in the story, and all the characters may be mythical. They do not reflect my personal belief either. They are not intended to hurt the sentiments of any community. They are just shreds of stories that I have heard here and there, and tried to string them together with some colors and spices added to them.

PostScript: The Brahmani Devi's shrine at Bharmaur is at a greater altitude than the Chaurasi temple dedicated to Shiva, signifying the relative supremacy of the former.


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The forgotten Railway of Kundala valley

1600 meters above the sea level, Munnar (Kerala), with its lush greenery, had once been the summer resort for the British government. Around Munnar, Kundala valley developed into a major tea plantation.

In 1902, Kundala Railway Valley plantations introduced the first mono-rail system in India. What was initially a cart trail, was converted to a unique monorail system. The monorail carts had a small wheel placed on the rail, while a larger wheel (on one side) rested on the road to balance the wagons. [This was similar to Patiala State Monorail System, introduced later, and an engine of which is preserved at the Rail Museum of Delhi.] The train was pulled by bullocks. The train operated between Munnar and "Top-Station" to carry tea leaves and other goods. The tea chests arriving at the Top Station from the Kundala Valley were downloaded to the civilization on the plains via an aerial rope-way.

The Kundala Valley Railway (Photo from Wikimedia Commons)

In 1908, a 2-feet (narrow-gauge) track replaced the monorail; and steam locomotives replaced the bullocks. In 1924, a devastating flood (known as the "great flood of '99", according to local Malayalam calendar) washed away much of the tracks and the railway was closed.  

Munnar never saw a train again. Today, the Railway Station of Munnar serves as a major sales  outlet of KDHP (Kanan Devan Hills Plantations) that owns the tea-gardens around Munnar, and a motorable road runs, where the railway track was.

The erstwhile Munnar Railway Station

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