Temple festival at Tripunithura (Kochi)

I happened to be in the native town of two of my blogger friends. One is Mr. Joseph Pulikotil, a man on the move and Ms. Chitra who writes about her pilgrimages. She is also a fashion jewellery designer who hails from that place but presently resides at a place known as Dindigul. I am talking about Kochi an important seaport on the south western coast of India previously known as Cochin which falls in the state of Kerala, also known as Gods own Country.

There is a suburb known as Tripunithura which is on the mainland and was the residence of the medieval kings as also their capital. Their family deity was the Hindu God “Vishnu” for whom they created a temple which is referred to as “Poornathrayeesa”. Amongst all temples in Kerala, this one is significant. Here the Lord Vishnu is seen to be seated under the hood of his adorable serpent known as “Sheshnag”. The sanctum sanctorum is round in shape wherein bronze idols of all the incarnations of Lord Vishnu are also kept. Childless couple come and pray here and there is a strong belief that they have children thereafter.

Round the year there are many temple celebrations but the one that is dearer to the hearts of the people is known as “Vrishchikolsavam”. This festival lasting 8 days falls in the month of November/December. Last year when I was there, it commenced on the 23rd November with the holy ceremonial temple flag going up. Incidentally elephants are an integral part of temple festivities in Kerala and on the 26th November they were dressed up in their outfits made of Gold. It was a special day known as “Trikettai” (Planetary position and not based on English Calendar) and many rituals followed. A Gold bowl is placed wherein the devotees drop their offerings termed as “Kanikya”. Thousands of people were queued up awaiting their turn. Though it seemed that it would take a long time to reach the Golden Bowl, the clearance was much faster.

Normally Foreigners are not allowed to be in the temple precincts but things have changed and I found quite a lot of them enjoying the cultural extravaganza. As a matter of fact tour operators to remain in business discovered a way out.  There is an organisation known as Arya Samajam and they help converting people to the Hindu fold with proper certification. Some visitors opt  this method to gain entry into temples as a temporary measure. But now, barring the sanctum sanctorum, in most of the temples, all other areas are accessible to all.

During temple festivals, the replica of the main deity (Tidambu) is carried around in a procession and every temple has at-least one Elephant over which the deity is seated. The temple at Triupunithura, I am talking about, engages some 25 elephants out of which 15 take part in the festivals and others are stationed as stand byes. The elephant at the centre performs the duty of carrying the deity (Tidambu) over its head along with a “shield” known as “Kolam”.

During these eight days, and for various rituals, various renowned groups of artists exhibit their talents in handling a plethora of musical instruments. The performances have different styles  are known as “Tayambaka”, “Melam”, “Panchavadyam” etc. They last for over 3 hours at a go with a slow beginning gaining momentum with faster beats and the climax is nothing but ecstasy. Thousands of people enjoy the performances and some of them seem to be well acquainted with the intricacies of the rendering. The mob frenzy is some thing to be seen to believe.

On one night the famous “Kathakali” was scheduled and the artists were busy dressing them up while a Bharatanatyam performance was going on within the campus. It was interesting to observe the intricacies of the Kathakali make up which takes couple of hours to complete. It looks like a sort of endurance test for the artists for their facials to be completed. In between there was also a performance of vocal music (Carnatic) in a separate hall. The variety of things going on within the temple campus was most intriguing as there were many options to choose from which was not too easy. Interestingly, there is no entry fee to savour any of these performances.

Tripunithura has thus become a cultural centre where you find all sorts of cultural activities year round with emphasis on cultivating and continuing the various art forms to which Kerala is home. 

Here is a small video just to enable you all to appreciate "Melam"

An Unspiritual Pilgrimage - Jagannath Puri

On the eastern shores of India and in the State of Odisha (Orissa) there lies an important pilgrimage centre of Hindus known as Puri or conversely Jagannatha Puri, being the abode of Lord Jagannatha. Puri is also considered as the cultural capital of Odisha. It was established by Adi Shankaracharya, the spearhead of Hindu renaissance during the 8th century CE. We went there along with our families. For the ladies, the purpose of the visit could have been a sort of pilgrimage but the men folk were there for sight seeing, fun and frolic. It was an endurance test as we needed to keep the women folk in good spirits. We made Bhubaneswar as our base camp. After our breakfast on a sunny morning we hunted and hired a station wagon kind of a vehicle and proceeded to Puri, which was at a distance of 70 kilometres.

The road led us through the country side but the rural settings of that part seemed a little bit different. Being in the coastal region there were coconut and  Areca nut palms at the far end of paddy fields. They were not as dense as we find in the western coast of India. The breeze coming from the paddy fields though had a nostalgic smell. Amidst the rural settings there was a way side restaurant (Dhaba) surrounded by shady trees. We thought of replenishing our tummies and parked our vehicle inside. The food, after some deliberations/consultations was settled for and duly ordered. Tables and chairs were laid out beneath the trees and we rested for more than half an hour by which time the service started. The quality of food was better than what we expected.

My nephew Girish checking up in front of the restaurant

When our lunch was over, we stayed for some time more and then proceeded to our destination. Around 2.30 pm we were at Puri. Our stay was pre-arranged at a holiday home of a reputed Bank but when we reached there, the caretaker was nowhere to be seen. The women looked tired and decided to enjoy a nap in the sofas at the reception. On our part we started hunting for the caretaker. The gentleman arrived after some time and we were at our wits end when he announced that no rooms have been booked for us. Immediately we contacted the local officials of the Bank over our cell phones. Hearing us speaking to the higher ups in the hierarchy, he offered to provide the much needed accommodation but in the meantime he too received phone calls which made him to apologise offering some alibis. We got three Air-conditioned rooms which were quite up to the mark. The holiday home itself has a beautiful building very close to the sea. We rested in our rooms till 7.00 pm in the evening and then proceeded to visit the Jagannatha temple for which Puri is famous.

My niece Gouri imitating Kate in Titanic on the terrace of the holiday home

Since that was not my first visit, I cautioned all to refrain from conversing with or entertaining the Pandas (the priests) and that I shall take care of them. My apprehensions were not ill-founded. Soon thereafter Pandas started playing their tricks. They exploit the gullible. They offer to conduct special rites/rituals very close to the deities. In the process the innocent devotees are made to part with heavy sums of money in the name of pleasing the lord thereat. Since I am conversant with Oriya, the local language, I made it very clear to them that we have done that 6 months back and do not intend to have anything performed on our behalf at this juncture. After freeing ourselves from those lechers we proceeded to the Sanctum Sanctorum which is otherwise quite large. We met with the symbolic idols of Balbhadra, Jagannath and Subhadra made of jack wood timber which do not have any semblance with Gods of Hindu pantheon. Some of the Pandas were seated very close to the deities as if they are there to provide salvation. After coming out we also went around the temple which has a huge campus with lots of smaller shrines. Since it is an 11th century temple, the sculptures are really beautiful, but then one is not allowed to take a camera or a mobile phone inside. After this courtesy call on Jagannath & Company, we returned to the holiday home where our dinner was waiting. Before going to bed we had decided to visit the beach before sunrise next day.

Although before the day break, we had our bed coffee but since our rooms were apart, it took some time for all to get ready. The Sun God obviously can’t wait for us. We ran to the sea shore. The Sun was quite above the horizon still the cool sea breeze was very comforting. A small boat was lying in the sands. Children pulled it nearer to the waters and by that time the owner turned up. The kids including the grown ups could negotiate a deal with the boatman and he was too willing to take them to some distance. The ladies started agitating and shouted at them. They were dissuaded from venturing into the sea. While we were walking towards our children, we came across a beautiful piece of sand art,  probably the creation of a sand artist, Sudarshan Patnaik. Puri is also famous on that count. Sudarshan Patnaik is acclaimed internationally. He has exhibited his talent in several countries and won several awards.

 

Poor Mumtaaz - Who could have made her a Shurpanakha

The art piece stated above was the portrayal of the Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan (creator of Taj Mahal) and his lady love Mumtaaz Mahal. A small replica of Taj Mahal made of marble was also placed behind symbolically. Seeing all this my brother got excited and started his own creation. With effort he could build something looking like a fort. Finding him sitting in a ditch his wife queried as to what is he digging up. He retorted “a grave for myself”. His wife continued “and what about me”. Sensing trouble, if this continues, I requested his wife to desist from further questioning.

There is a legend about sand art at Puri. There used to be a great poet named Balram Das who lived in the 14th century. He was the author of “Dandi Ramayan”. A car (Chariot) festival takes place at Puri around July every year. Balram Das, during one such festival, tried to climb up the chariot to pay his obeisance to the lord but he was abused by the Pandas and made him to climb down. He was grieved and with a heavy heart headed for the sea front (known as Mahadadhi). There  working with the wet sand, he created the images of the three deities namely Balbhadra, Jagannath and Subhadra and started praying whole heartedly. It is said that all the three deities who were being carried in the Chariots during that particular festival just vanished and were so pleased with the devotion that they appeared before Balram Das live. People believe that the sand art form has its roots there. Anyway we may dismiss this simply as a myth. After all we do come across children exhibiting their creativity whenever they find time to play with sand. Yet another legend is that of Lord Rama, who at Rameswaram created a Shiv Linga out of sand and prayed.

A child playing with sand - He has made a Buddhist Stupa

After enjoying the sea breeze for some time, we started returning. The women folk were insisting to have a morning audience with Lord Jagannath. We had to succumb but again with an advisory with regard to the Pandas. We spent our time loafing around the market. Fortunately they joined us after an hour or so. Perforce we had to give them company for their marketing needs. Primarily there were several kinds of handicrafts on sale. There were brass/bronze items on sale. A tall lamp interested us but the cost seemed prohibitive. After finishing off the shopping spree, we straightaway headed to a hotel to have some breakfast.  Thereafter to our holiday home as the warmth was becoming unbearable. We all were perspiring profusely. After lunch we returned to Bhubaneswar visiting Konark Sun temple en route.

Constitution 1,000 years ago

by T.S. Subramaniam

A perfect electoral system existed, inscriptions found in Uthiramerur reveal.
Photos: S. Thanthoni

The mandapa of the Vaikuntaperumal temple.
It may be hard to believe that nearly 1,100 years ago, a village had a perfect electoral system and a written Constitution prescribing the mode of elections. It was inscribed on the walls of the village assembly (grama sabha mandapa), which was a rectangular structure made of granite slabs. “This inscription, dated around 920 A.D. in the reign of Parantaka Chola, is an outstanding document in the history of India,” says Dr. R. Nagaswamy, former Director, Tamil Nadu Department of Archaeology, referring to Uthiramerur in Chingleput district.
“It is a veritable written Constitution of the village assembly that functioned 1,000 years ago,” Dr. Nagaswamy says in his book, “Uthiramerur, the Historic Village in Tamil Nadu.” The book, in both Tamil and English, has been published by the Tamil Arts Academy, Chennai.
Dr. Nagaswamy says: “It [the inscription] gives astonishing details about the constitution of wards, the qualification of candidates standing for elections, the disqualification norms, the mode of election, the constitution of committees with elected members, the functions of [those] committees, the power to remove the wrong-doer, etc…”


And that is not all. “On the walls of the mandapa are inscribed a variety of secular transactions of the village, dealing with administrative, judicial, commercial, agricultural, transportation and irrigation regulations, as administered by the then village assembly, giving a vivid picture of the efficient administration of the village society in the bygone ages.” The villagers even had the right to recall the elected representatives if they failed in their duty!
It has a 1,250-year history
Uthiramerur has a 1,250-year history. It is situated in Kanchipuram district, about 90 km from Chennai. The Pallava king Nandivarman II established it around 750 A.D. It did exist earlier as a brahmin settlement. It was ruled by the Pallavas, the Cholas, the Pandyas, the Sambuvarayars, the Vijayanagara Rayas and the Nayaks. It has three important temples, the Sundara Varadaraja Perumal temple, the Subramanya temple and the Kailasanatha temple. Plans are under way for the conservation and restoration of the Kailasanatha temple, which is in ruins.
All the three temples have numerous inscriptions — those of the great Raja Raja Chola (985-1015 A.D.), his able son, Rajendra Chola and the Vijayanagar emperor Krishnadeva Raya. Both Rajendra Chola and Krishnadeva Raya visited Uthiramerur.
Uthiramerur, built as per the canons of the agama texts, has the village assembly mandapa exactly at the centre and all the temples are oriented with reference to the mandapa.
R. Vasanthakalyani, Chief Epigraphist-cum-Instructor and R. Sivanandam, epigraphist, both belonging to the Tamil Nadu Department of Archaeology, said that while village assemblies might have existed prior to the period of Parantaka Chola, it was during his period that the village administration was honed into a perfect system through elections. “About 1,100 years ago, during the period of Paranataka Chola, Uthiramerur had an elected village panchayat system, which was a step ahead of the modern day democratic system,” she said.
According to Dr. Sivanandam, there were several places in Tamil Nadu where inscriptions are available on temple walls about the prevalence of village assemblies. These villages included Manur near Tirunelveli, Tiruninravur near Chennai, Manimangalam near Tambaram, Dadasamudram near Kanchipuram, Sithamalli and Thalaignayiru near Thanjavur, Jambai near Tirukovilur and Ponnamaravathy near Pudukottai. “But it is at Uthiramerur on the walls of the village assembly (mandapa) itself, that we have the earliest inscriptions with complete information about how the elected village assembly functioned,” said Dr. Sivanandam. It is learnt that the entire village, including the infants, had to be present at the village assembly mandapa at Uthiramerur when the elections were held, pointed out Vasanthakalyani. Only the sick and those who had gone on a pilgrimage were exempt.

The Tamil inscriptions elaborate on the election procedure followed several centuries ago.


There were committees for the maintenance of irrigation tanks, roads, to provide relief during drought, testing of gold and so on. Sivanandam himself has written a book in Tamil called, “The Archaeological Handbook of Kanchipuram district,” (published by the Tamil Nadu Department of Archaeology in 2008) in which he says the original sabha mandapa’s superstructure was made of timber and bricks. After the superstructure collapsed and only the base of the mandapa made of granite slabs remained, Kulotunga Chola I built a Vishnu temple on the base towards the end of the 11th century.
The village sabha mandapa, with its invaluable inscriptions, is now called Vaikuntaperumal temple. Dr. Nagaswamy says: “The village assembly of Uttaramerur drafted the Constitution for the elections. The salient features were as follows: the village was divided into 30 wards, one representative elected for each. Specific qualifications were prescribed for those who wanted to contest. The essential criteria were age limit, possession of immovable property and minimum educational qualification. Those who wanted to be elected should be above 35 years of age and below 70…”
Only those who owned land, that attracted tax, could contest. Another interesting stipulation, according to Dr. Nagaswamy, was that such owners should have possessed a house built on legally-owned site (not on public poromboke). A person serving in any of the committees could not contest again for the next three terms, each term lasting a year. Elected members, who suffered disqualification, were those who accepted bribes, misappropriated others’ property, committed incest or acted against public interest.

Courtesy: Shri Ram Varmah (varmah@yahoo.com)
http://tinyurl.com/6y5hnu

Malhar Visit

One day Mr. G.L. Raickwar and Rahul Singh, both from the local Archaeological Department, who became close friends of mine, suggested a visit to Malhar, a large village, some 33 kms South East of Bilaspur. Malhar is supposed to be a place where occurance of ancient coins was reported. I readily agreed and accompanied them. I visited the ruins of beautiful temples, Pataleshwar, Deor, Didindai etc and the site museum where the earliest sandstone idol of Lord Vishnu is kept. The sculpture is said to be an important find. Although crude looking, it has something inscribed on it in Brahmi characters of the 2nd Century A.D. Then I was taken round to a nearby mound said to contain a ruined mud fort. It was surrounded by a moat with little water. Originally it provided protection to the then existing fort.

Mr. Raickwar started giving me lessons in locating coins. We started searching and within half an hour collected few pebble looking pieces. He declared that they are all pieces of metal enveloped in mud. I could not believe it but they were really a little hevier. In the past, while digging the moat, the deeper soil was thrown up which contained all the antiquities of the early ages. When it rains, water flows down creating cavities in the ridges and one could look there to collect such heavier, mud enveloped pieces.

After returning from Malhar, we washed all the mud pieces and lo! They turned out to be tiny square copper pieces containing some symbols. There were, however, no traces of any inscription. Nevertheless they were the ancient coins.

Then I became a frequent visitor to Malhar, particularly on Sundays and holidays during and after the rainy season. In the process I met one Mr. Gulab Singh Thakur of Malhar who also collected coins but was reluctant to part with them. Thereafter, I could locate a resource person there, who was my subordinate. Although he had interests, I guided him and he started working for me thereafter.