Banavasi was
just an optional add-on excursion for us when we set out to visit Sonde in
Uttara Kannada, renowned for its natural beauty, and the Sode Matha with
Vadiraja Swamy’s ‘Brindavana’. When we had ended up visiting both the
places, we may be excused for imagining that it was Banavasi which was our main
destination. Not because Sonde was insignificant, but because Banavasi was extraordinary.
Any way- Sonde first.
Right in the middle of a thick forest, Sonde
is a tiny little place that has grown around the temple of Rama-Trivikrama and Sode Matha. The local history has it
that about 400 years ago, the king of Sonde, who had been deposed from his
throne, came in search of Vadiraja Swamy, who was then meditating in this remote
forest, to seek his guidance and blessings. He eventually regained his throne
with the blessings of Vadiraja Swamy, and the grateful king set up a temple for
God Trivikrama as per the Swamy's wish, and Vadiraja Swamy set up his Matha by its
side.
In the Madhwa tradition, Vadiraja Swamy is
considered as next only to Madhwaraya in importance. He was a person of great
wisdom and spirituality. So it was very gratifying to see his ‘samadhi’ or
‘Vrindavana’, that is, the spot where he was actually buried, over which a
small structure has been built.
Rama-Trivikama Temple,
though not spectacular, is quite attractive with many carvings on its pillars,
especially of the patron gods of the eight cardinal directions, each found in
the respective direction as you perambulate the temple. A unique feature of the
structure that houses the inner chamber of the temple is that it is in the form
of a chariot, complete with wheels, except that there are only three stone
wheels instead of four. So, there is a wheel mysteriously missing and thereby
hangs a tale, about which later.
The Unique Chamber of the Deity in the Shape of a Chariot
The story of
Sonde will be quite unfinished if we didn’t tell the story of Bhootha Raja, the
local chief of the spirits, who was ordered by Vadiraja Swamy to fetch the idol
of Trivikrama from Badareekashrama. While bringing the idol in a flying
chariot, Bhootha Raja was attacked by a demon in a bid to highjack the idol. In
this mid-air battle, having no other weapon, Bhootharaja plucked one of the
wheels of the chariot and flung it at the demon making a short work of him, and
thus became a celebrity overnight. He remains popular till today. His framed
pictures are snapped up at the souvenir shops and taken home, for it is
believed that his picture wards off thieves. Apparently, all thieves for all
times have learnt to dread- let alone Bhootharaja- but, even his image, knowing well
how he dealt with one of their kind.
Now, coming to
the mystery of the missing wheel, by some quick
thinking, we came to the conclusion that it is the very same wheel which
Bhootharaja had flung as a weapon in the mid-air battle. So, everything
tied up neatly!
The Dancing Devotee in the Sonde Temple
A ‘must-see’
place in Sonde is Tapovana where Vadiraja is believed to have meditated. It is in
the middle of a thick forest on the banks of a small river. It is an abode of great peace, and we were tempted
to do some impromptu meditation, which we did, though not with great success.
The Tranquil Environs of the 'Tapovana'
Later we made
our way to Banavasi, a name that has become synonymous with nostalgia in
Kannada because of what was said about it by the ancient Kannada poet Pampa,
who is considered to be the first poet of Kanndada and also as one of the finest among the Kannada poets of all times. Pampa, when he stayed in Banavasi once, found it so enchanting and his stay so memorable that for the rest of his life
he kept longing for this place. Being a great poet, he immortalized his
feelings in some of the most moving lines of Kannada poetry. Pampa’s lines were
playing on our mind as we drove, and we wondered if the place would have similar
effect on us.
Apparently, last thousand years or so has not
been kind to Banavasi, which at one time was among the foremost cities of India.
Its former glory has been now reduced to
dreary ordinariness. But this is what time does mercilessly to people
and places or anything else for that matter.
We found a
straight and wide street, which was rather unexpected in a town of this size,
and we found an old temple at the end of it. The temple is called ‘Madhukeshwara’ temple because the main deity
of Shiva Linga in the temple is honey coloured (‘madhu’ is honey). This ancient
temple in Banavasi was built by the Kadamabas, the first major ruling dynasty
of Karnataka. It may be worth recalling that other renowned dynasties of
Karnataka to follow were the Chalukyas, the Hoysalas and finally the Vijaya
Nagara, all of whom left their legacy in the form of great temples (Badami,
Aihole and Pattadakall of Chalukyas, Belur and Halebid of Hoysalas and Hampi of
Vijaya Nagara).
Kadamba dynasty was founded by Mayura Verma in
280 AD, and they say it had a fantastic run of more than 1000 years. Mayura
Verma is a name which rings a bell for the South Kanara Brahmins, because it is
said that (perhaps without any historical proof), he brought 28 Vedic Brahmin
families to his kingdom from a place in the North called Ahikshetra or
Ahichattra., and gave these Brahmins land and positions. He did this perhaps to
spruce up his Brahmincal credentials. Many South Kanara Brahmins believe that
they are descendants of these pedigreed Brahmins from Ahikshetra.
Interestingly, Ahikshetra is an historic town in U. P. dating back to 1st
Century B. C. and it was a great centre of culture and learning in ancient
times, but lost its importance eventually and lies in ruins now (another victim
of time).
There is an
interesting story about how Mayura Verma became a Kshatriya (-of the warrior
class) though he was born a Brahmin and was known as Mayura Sharma. He had gone
to Kanchi in the Pallava kingdom, the region of present day Chennai, for
advanced education, since it was a seat of great learning those days. And there
one day he had a brush with a horseman of the Pallva army, just like any typical student,
and was soundly thrashed by the latter as a consequence. Mayura Sharma was so incensed by this humiliation that
he decided to forthwith convert himself to a Kshatriya and wreak vengeance on
the Pallavas for the insult heaped on him.. He did carry out his resolve
and the career change took him really far. From being a run of the mill Brahmin
priest, he became a mighty emperor in no time at all. This is a career change
one can only dream of. (Now you also know why he had a soft corner for
Brahmins).
Madhukeshwara temple was a real surprise when
we entered it. First thing that impressed us was the large court yard and the
many shrines of different sizes and shapes which surround the main temple on
its two sides and back. The main temple itself is, of course, very
impressive. We were eager to know more about the temple and its many aspects
and were looking for an able guide when we found one in an unexpected quarter.
The Elephant Entrance of Madhukeshwara Temple
An Overall View of the Madhukeshwara Temple
It
was just after we had finished our Pooja conducted by the chief priest of the
temple. Extremely busy and harried though he was, the chief priest found time
to tell us a few interesting things about the temple. He then unexpectedly (for
us) offered to show us around the temple. When we readily agreed, he took us on
a whirlwind tour of the temple throwing up a steady barrage of information. His
pace was such that we literally had to run to keep up with him and to avoid missing
out on the massive information being generated by him. This also ensured that
the priest didn’t miss his double income either, because by the time he took us
back to where we started and we paid his fees as a guide, the next batch of worshippers were ready for
the priest and he was ready to earn their ‘dakshine’. No doubt they too would
be interested in being taken around the temple and he would earn his guide-
fees as well. This dual-career, double-income priest was a unique find for us
and we have no hesitation in recommending him to other prospective visitors to
the temple!
The main temple has a long and wide columned passage before the entrance to the inner chamber housing the sanctum sanctorum.
We learnt that
the temple was built over many centuries and hence its parts belonged to different
eras and different architectural styles. For instance, the inner chamber was
built in the early Chalukya style while the hallway was built in the Hoysala
style much later.
Among the
fascinating features of the temple are a magnificent and almost life size idol
of Vishnu which is in the inner chamber. We stood transfixed before this statue
of Vishnu, captivated by its great beauty. There is a view that the temple was originally
a Vaishnava temple and this was the presiding deity of the temple. It may be
so, because it was a fairly common practice those days to change the temple
from Vaishnava to Shaiva, or from a Jain to a Hindu, or any which way depending
on the prevailing royal patronage and favour.
The Life-Size Statue of Vishnu
Then there is a
part of the hallway leading to the inner chamber where temple dancers used to
perform. The stone pillars on either side are polished to mirror finish, and
they say, the idea was that the dancers were reflected on these polished
pillars as they danced. This piece of information prompted us to imagine a scene.
The night has fallen….and bejewelled young women are dancing in the flickering orange
glow of the torches and their reflections flutter on the mirror-like surface of
the polished pillars, giving almost a magical effect to the scene. -But then we
had to hurry after our priest-cum-guide, leaving the imagined scene half
finished.
Nandi with His Eyes on His Two Bosses
There is also
this huge statue of Nandi, the bull, facing the Shiva deity, as is normal, but
what is not normal about it is its stance of serving two masters, the second
one being a Durga deity in a second temple which is located adjacent to the first
temple but with its own pillared front hall. Following the bull’s
eyesight, we were amazed to find that while the line of sight of its right eye
leads to Durga, the other one leads to the Shiva Linga of the main temple. So,
Nandi was keeping an eye on Shiva, and eye on Durga too- so to say.
The earlier
mentioned shrines surrounding the main temple were like the collection in some
great museum. They housed rare idols of divinities which you do not normally
see or hear about. Some of them are reproductions of the idols at famous
temples all over India; idea apparently was that, with one visit to this temple,
the worshipper would get the feeling of having visited many important temples
of India. Among these mini shrines, we also saw a huge four posted bed made of
stone, perhaps carved from a single stone, with intricate, decorative carvings
all over it. It is said to have been donated by the earlier mentioned king of
Sonde to commemorate the winning back of his kingdom. This was indeed a unique
piece of art.
Victorious Krishna Impresses His Admirers
The visit to
Banavasi was gratifying to our spiritual and aesthetic sensibilities and it
sharpened our historic perspective too. Banavasi did not remain any longer as a
forgotten chapter of history for us.
________________________________________
No comments:
Post a Comment