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

< PREV | UP | NEXT >

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. 

 

< PREV | UP | NEXT >

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.

< PREV | UP | NEXT >