Tales Told in Stone and Water

As our car meandered its way on undulating roads through lush forests, we rolled down our windows to take in the cool, fresh air. For us, coming from a city where all you get to see are buildings and more buildings, it was truly refreshing and exhilarating. It felt so pure and soul soothing. All around were thick forests of sal, teak, arjun, saja (Indian laurel), interspersed with oak, banyan, peepal (sacred fig), and sycamore. The more recognizable ones for us were the bamboo clumps, gulmohars, mangoes, and amla (gooseberry). And who could miss those flaming red African tulips or rudra palash as they raised their heads proudly from among the bottle green leaves? In the higher reaches, the flora changed to the more temperate vegetation of pines, ferns, spruce and poplars.

We were on our way to Amarkanatak, the meeting point of the Vindhya and the Satpura ranges, the fulcrum being the Maikal range. It is on this plateau that the two mighty rivers of Narmada and Son or Sone originate. Another river, Johila, a tributary of Son also originates here. Narmada Udgam Sthal, where the Narmada Kund is located, is considered very sacred and a temple is dedicated to goddess Narmada. Similarly, the origin of the river Son is marked as the Son Udgam Sthal.

Narmada Udgam Sthal

Legends and myths abound and you can read about them in books, the world wide web but hearing it from the locals is more interesting. Narmada has many names- Narmade (mentioned by Ptolemy in 2^nd CE as per Encyclopedia Britannica), Namoddos, Narbudde, Rewa (mentioned in the Puranas), Shivangini, Shankari. Mythology says that Narmada was born of Shiva’s perspiration during intense penance and hence she is his daughter or Shankari. It is said that the pebbles on its riverbed are sacred as they are shaped like shivlings and called banalingams. As she cascades down the Maikal hills in a steep fall at Kapildhara and a smaller fall at Dudhdhara, she flows west from Chhattisgarh, through Madhya Pradesh (at Shahastradhara and the Dhuadhar falls at Marble Rocks) to Gujarat and thereon into the Arabian Sea, near Bharuch. In another mythological story it is said that Narmada and Son came down as Two teardrops from Brahma’s eyes. A parikrama around the entire course of the Narmada is considered sacred and soul purifying.

An interesting folklore about mighty rivers has it that she was Princess Narmada, daughter of King Maikal, supposed to marry Prince Shonbhadra. As she was waiting for her bridegroom to arrive, she sent her companion Johila or Jwala to find out how he looked since she had never seen him. As Johila did not return she grew impatient and went looking for her companion only to find Son frolicking with her. Enraged, Narmada went off in the opposite direction. Narmada never married. That is why we have Narmada flowing towards west, while Son and Johila went east together till Son flowed into the Ganga, near Patna in Bihar. Many such tragic love stories abound among the tribal communities of the Gonds and Bhils of this region. At times the river Narmada is personified as a tribal girl or a princess while in other versions she is a goddess.

The sight of the sun setting against the backdrop of a temple dedicated to the Jyotirlingas was a visual treat and if that was not enough the rising moon and the brilliance of a trillion stars was mesmerizing, as we spent a long time trying to identify the various constellations. While looking at the night sky in Amarkantak, Gulzar’s lyrics from the movie Slumdog Millionaire kept reverberating in my mind:

Aaja aaja jind-e-shamiyane ke tale
Aaja zariwale neeley aasmaan ke tale

Perhaps the cherry on the cake was watching the sunrise from the window of our guest house room against the mountain ranges. With my limited vocabulary, I will not even try to describe it. In a city, through its layers and layers of smog, where do we get to see these sights? At most, we are happy to notice a change of colour in a patch of the eastern or western sky.

Sunrise at Amarkantak

Chhattisgarh is also home to the mighty Mahanadi and many other smaller rivers which go by the names of Arpa, Hasdeo, Shivnath. If the Gods and Goddesses have joined hands with Mother Nature to bless this land with an abundance of rivers, lakes, mountains, flora and fauna, the kings of the Kalchuri and some other dynasties, who ruled in the central and western parts of India between the 6th and 13th centuries, erected marvels in stones to honour them.

Pataleshwar, Amarkatak

Just across the road from the Narmada Udgam Sthal stands a group of temples, very well maintained by the Archaeological Survey of India. The main among them being the Pataleshwar Temple, the Shiva Temple and Karan Temple. There is also a huge kund (artificial lake) called the Surya Kund. It is said that this kund was built by Adi Sankaracharya in the 8^th CE to specify the origin of Narmada. He had also installed an idol of Shiva in Pataleshwar though the temple was constructed centuries later by Kalchuri King Karna Deva in the 11^th CE. The Karan Mandir is dedicated to this king. This group of temples is definitely one of the best temple architectures of this period. The temples here have a garbhagriha (sanctum), a mandapa (pavilion) and an antaral (a pathway connecting the two). In the Pataleshwar temple the main sanctum sanctorum is few steps below the floor of the mandapa, hence the name Pataleshwar (below the earth).

Bhoramdeo Temple

Another group of temples attributed to this period (7^th to 12^th CE) is the Bhoramdeo temple, also called the Khajuraho of Chhattisgarh. The older temples in this complex are in brick and the later ones in stone. It is located in the Kabirdham district in a serene spot next to a beautiful lake and against the backdrop of the Maikal range. The main temple dedicated to Lord Shiva is a small compact temple with intricate carvings on the external walls showing all aspects of everyday life, from the bestial, to the sensual and erotic to the spiritual. Its architectural and aesthetic styles remind one of the Khajuraho and Konark temples. The Gond tribe of this region worshipped Shiva by the name Bhoramdeo. The sculpted images of the avatars of Vishnu and Shakti, Lakshmi and Ganesha can also be seen along with scenes from the Ramayana and Mahabharata. The construction of this group of temples is attributed to the Naga kings of Chakrakota. It can truly be called a marvel in miniature.

Lakshman Temple, Sirpur

On the banks of the Mahanadi is the small town of Sirpur in the Mahasammund district of Chhattisgarh which draws Hindu, Jain and Buddhist pilgrims. Excavations from 1952 to 2003, have yielded archaeological ruins of temples dedicated to Lakshman, Rama and also Jain and Buddhist monasteries. Archaeologists have excavated sculptures, idols and panels with motifs which reveal how Shaivism, Vaishnavism were intricately mingled with Jainism and Buddhism. Interestingly, the Lakshman temple was first brought to the notice of the international community by a colonial British official Alexander Cunningham who was the founder of the Archaelogical Survey of India. Sirpur or Sripur was once the capital of the Dakshin Koshala (present day Chhatisgarh, Madhya Pradesh) ruled by Sarbhapuriya dynasty (5^th -6^th CE) followed by the Panduvamshi dynasty (7^th to 8^th CE). Later this South Kosala region came under the Kalchuris and other smaller dynasties. The 7th century Lakshman brick temple, dedicated to Lord Vishnu and his avatars, is more or less intact but only the star-shaped base of the Rama temple has survived. A kilometer from the Lakshman temple is the Teevardeo Buddhist monastery, built by the Somavanshi King Teevardeo, whose ruins have yielded statues, artwork, inscriptions which show a splendid amalgamation of all faiths. Stone and bronze relics, artefacts kept in the museums on the site, inscriptions on panels have revealed that they belong to the period between 6^th and 12^th CE giving an insight into life and times of that era. Scholars have confirmed the mention of Sirpur in the memoirs of Hieun Tsang, the Chinese traveler, who had visited India in 7^th CE.

Bhima Kichak, Malhar

Our next circuit was the Malhar-Janjgir-Champa district. The stone structures with their mind-blowing carvings had more tales to tell.  The Bhima Kichak temple of Malhar dates back to the 6^th -7^th CE and is dedicated to Lord Shiva. Only the platform and the garbhagriha survive. The carvings are very ornate with life-size statues of Ganga and Yamuna placed alongside the dwarpalikas. Scenes from epics and mythology are depicted on the elaborate carvings on the panel. One particular panel has scenes from the wedding of Shiva and Parvati engraved so intricately that no words are required to understand them. We can only bow our heads in reverence to those artists who created them giving importance to every minute detail.

Ganga, Gandharva, Kal Bhairav- Dwarpalikas

 In Malhar, too, there is a Pataleshwar temple, dedicated to Shiva. One has to go down a flight of steps to access the garbhagriha or sactum sanctorum since is at a level lower than the mandap. The kalpvriksh (tree of life) is engraved on the first step leading to the sanctum with images of Ganga and Yamuna on either side of the entrance along with Gandharva and Kal Bhairav. This is a common feature and can be seen in all the temples of this region. The temple dates backs to the 12^th CE.  In many of these temples an image or bust of the king, under whose patronage the temple was built, also finds a place. There is a huge statue of Nandi facing the main temple and beside it is another temple dedicated to Lord Hanuman.

Pataleshwar, Malhar

This deity of Hanuman carries the dagger instead of the usual club or gada. Our friend and host from Bilaspur narrated to us an interesting anecdote from Krittivasa’s Ramayana. The story goes that when Indrajeet, the son of Ravana, was killed, he was heartbroken and approached his brother Ahiravana, the king of patal lok or the netherworld, for help. He suggested that Ahiravana abduct and kill Rama and Lakshman but also warned him about how they were guarded by the mighty Hanuman. On the other side, Vibhishan apprised Rama and Lakshman about the impending danger to their lives and also warned them that Ahiravana was capable of all forms of trickery. Ahiravan, dressed as Vibhishan, was able to hoodwink Hanuman and abduct the brothers and carried them off to his underworld kingdom. Hanuman then set out to rescue the Lords armed with a dagger or bhojali since he had heard that Ahiravana had a monster called Makardhwaj to guard him. Makardhwaj was known for his physical strength and loyalty. On reaching the underworld Hanuman had to first encounter Makardhwaj who announced that no one could go past him as he was the son of Hanuman. Hanuman till this point did not know that he had sired a son. Through his special powers he learned the truth about the birth of Makardhwaj.  After setting Lanka on fire, Hanuman had washed himself in a river where a crocodile had swallowed a drop of his sweat and conceived a child. This crocodile had been caught by Ahiravana and when he had its belly cut open the half -monkey, half- crocodile child had been found whom he had raised as his own and who later guarded him with his life. In this battle between father and son, Makardhwaj was defeated and bound by Hanuman. Next Hanuman assumed the panchmukhi (five headed) form – Hanuman, Varaha, Narasimha, Garuda and Hayagriva- to blow out the five lamps in which had been kept the five lives of Ahiravana. Finally, the two brothers were released and they succeeded in killing Ravana. When Lord Rama came to know about the identity of Makardhwaj and his fierce loyalty to Ahiravana which made him fight against his own father, he was very impressed and ordered Hanuman to set him free and make him the king of the netherworld.

Vishnu Temple, Janjgir

Janjgir boasts of two Vishnu temples- one large and the other small. The smaller of the two temples looks rather bare but the larger is indeed poetry in art. The garbhagriha has survived over the centuries and stands on a lofty platform though the shikhara is missing. The locals call them the ‘nakata’ or incomplete temples. The walls of the temple are intricately carved with the various avatars of Vishnu and scenes from their lives.

The final stop was at Champa, made famous by its handloom weavers of kosa or tussar silk saris and fabrics. Kosa is the silk drawn from the cocoons of silkworms feeding on saja, sal and arjun trees which had lined the roads all along. Were the trees directing me to this place? Was that a sign for me to go ahead? Without a second thought and throwing all caution and life-lessons to the wind, I splurged to my heart’s content.

DS