by Aline Dobbie
It came to me, that here in Hindu heartland where there is still a vibrant Christian community living alongside a Muslim community, plus of course the Jains, the Sikhs and the Buddhists, there is a microcosm of India, land of religious pluralism. Jhansi, as I said, is an important railway town and Indian Railways employ the largest workforce in the world, many of whom through their cross culture of being Anglo Indian are Christian. The railway community also was the home of great numbers of the Armenian community, and in my childhood I had been at school with quite a few children who belonged to the Armenian Christian Faith as well as the others mentioned. That is India’s great wealth – its diverse people of many faiths.
Now, once again, we are reading about the tensions in Ayodhya, we recall only too well how impulsive action by some Muslims led to a massacre on the train bringing Hindu pilgrims back from Ayodhya and this, in turn, led to wholesale slaughter of Muslims, with huge political implications for the state of Gujarat. As if that is not enough, forces of evil, working in the name of Islam, plot and sometimes succeed in bombing innocent people such as happened in Mumbai in August 2003 and in the Indian Parliament in 2001.
Lying on my bunk in the dark with the lurching of the train and the continuous clicking sound of the wheels on the track I thought of all the train journeys I had done in India since I was a toddler. The excitement, anticipation and sheer enjoyment of it all when I was young and the family had a complete carriage to itself. I was but a babe when at Partition angry mobs from both religions, Hindu and Muslim, killed with hate and lust and set trains on fire. My parents, however, recounted it all to me and showed me sombre places where atrocities had taken place; moreover, they knew people who had lost sons to this terror. Please, India, do not be deflected from your destiny. You are to the world a beacon of democracy and religious pluralism and tolerance; do not allow politicians to encourage, for the sake of expediency, any other path.
The words of my favourite evening hymn came into my mind:
The day thou gavest, Lord, is ended;
The darkness falls at thy behest;
To thee our morning hymns ascended;
Thy praise shall sanctify our rest.
So be it, Lord, thy throne shall never,
Like earth’s proud empires pass away.
Thy kingdom stands and grows for ever,
Till all thy creatures own thy sway.
There is something very comforting about those words but, in fact, they could be a hymn from any religion or all of them. I like the idea of the latter though and proudly sing them as a Christian myself.
Which leads me on to the subject of another proud empire passing away – to use a figure of speech. All over India, there are the architectural relics of lost empires but Madhya Pradesh has two of great note. One is Orchha and the other is Mandu.
Mandu is situated at the edge of the Vindhya Range and overlooks the Narmada River. Once known as Shadiabad ‘The Citadel of Joy’ it was the pleasure resort and capital of the rulers of Malwa for nearly a thousand years. We were not visiting Mandu on this occasion simply because there was not enough time but, let me assure you, it is beautiful, particularly in the monsoon or soon after. All the vegetation springs to life after the parched summer heat and, like Orchha, it becomes a haven of green with great ghostly buildings.
For practicality, one is best to fly into Indore from either Delhi or Mumbai and then go by car for the last 98 km of the journey. Indore is a dull city but prosperous, a sort of Indian Detroit with cars, scooters, tractors and other machinery being manufactured locally. It is situated on the confluence of the Kham and Saraswati rivers and was unremarkable until it became the capital of the Holkar dynasty. Malhar Rao, the chief, managed to accrue significant pieces of land and, in time, Malhar Rao’s daughter in law, Ahilya Bai, took over control of the state which became vast and stretched as far as the Ganges and the Punjab. The rani was a superb ruler, praised by contemporary British diplomats, and, not being content with creating modern Indore, went on to build a whole series of temples, palaces and dharamsalas (rest houses for pilgrims) throughout the country. She died in 1795 and her four grandsons destroyed a great deal of her legacy by dragging the state into a civil war and then a war with the Marathas and the East India Company. Finally, the dynasty was left with a much smaller dominion and the prosperous capital of Indore. In Mumbai in November 2002, I was delighted to meet the current Maharani of Indore, Usha Malhotra, at a dinner party – a graceful intelligent lady. Indore is now hugely prosperous and there are many five-star hotels, shopping malls and signs of affluence. Honda, Bajaj Autos, Hindustan Motors and Eicher tractors are all manufactured in the industrial estates nearby. It is Madhya Pradesh’s most prosperous city, though Bhopal is the capital.
It is thought that Mandu became a fortified hilltop from around the sixth century AD, when it was known as Mandapa-Durga or Durga’s Hall of Worship; this, in time, was distilled into Mandu. By the eleventh century it was strategically important when the Paramaras moved their capital from Ujjain to Dhar which is 35 km north, but it eventually fell to the army of the Sultans of Delhi in 1305. The Sultanate, however, continued to have its hands full fighting off the Mongol Hordes from the North and the Afghan governor of Mandu seized the chance to make it his own independent kingdom. He died prematurely but his son went on to reign for 27 years and Mandu became Hoshang Shah’s royal capital and acquired some of the finest Islamic monuments in the whole of Asia. Successive rulers built more palaces and the place prospered and entered its golden age under the Khaljis but, by 1526, the Sultan of Gujarat found it an easy target and gradually it decayed until it was deserted by 1732.
It is worth recalling that Sir Thomas Roe, the ambassador of King James I of Britain passed through the gate on the Emperor Jahangir’s triumphal procession of 500 elephants. James became King of England in 1603, exactly four hundred years ago when he succeeded to the English crown on the death of Queen Elizabeth I in March 1603. This year, 2003, has seen the commemoration of the Union of the Crowns here in Scotland. A couple of years later in 1607 the first settlement of a few hundred people took place in Jamestown in Virginia in the New World, now known as the United States of America. The Dutch East India Company had received its charter in 1602. As all these world changing events were taking place, Mandu was enjoying the height of prosperity and yet, a hundred years later, it was abandoned. As I said ‘earth’s proud empires fade away...’.
Hoshang Shah’s Tomb was, apparently, the first marble structure in the country. Emperor Shah Jahan is said to have sent master builders to study it before starting to build the Taj Mahal. The Jami Masjid is patterned on the great mosque at Damascus and is, perhaps, the finest example of Afghan architecture in India. The Asharfi Mahal is known as the palace of gold coins and Mahmud Kalji’s victory tower.
The city is still haunted by the love story of Rupmati and Baz Bahadur, and Baz Bahadur built the queen a pavilion on a crest of a hill on the southern side overlooking the Narmada River, which looks especially beautiful on a night of the full moon. The Hindola Mahal or Swinging Palace derives its name from the leaning walls of the palace that resembles a swing. The palace combines immense proportions with a simple design. Finally, the Jahaz Mahal, as its name suggests is The Ship Palace because it resembles a ship and is about 130 metres long and 17 metres wide, double storey with domes and balconies and is built between two lakes. Today so much is derelict, but one can see what was beautiful and the turquoise tiles that are still in evidence must have looked lovely together with the blue ceramic tiles that plastered the Afghan style domes.
Returning to my theme of earth’s proud empires, the most moving example is the Nil Kanth Palace, which was an old temple dedicated to Shiva which the Moghuls converted into a water pavilion. Emperor Akbar used it as a royal retreat and Persian verses remind one that despite victories and empires there is a futility to material achievement. This is the most wonderful place from which to watch the sun set.
Watchi
ng the sun rise and then set is something of which I never tire in India. Sunsets are wonderful all over the world and touch the soul, but, for me, somehow there is a spirituality in India at the start of a new day with the pujari calling on his Hindu deities and the muezzin calling the Muslims to their devotions. Then at the day’s end, with a glorious sunset, I just thank my God for all that I have been allowed to experience. For all its noise and confusion in this overcrowded land, one is able to find peace and solitude and contemplation quite easily.
Ujjain is a holy city of India just 55 km away from Indore and a venue of the mammoth Kumbh Mela, which is held here once in twelve years. The Kumbh Mela is considered one of the most sacred of all Hindu festivals, and is held every three years in rotation between the four pilgrim cities of Nashik, Allahabad, Haridwar and Ujjain. This year it was the turn of Nashik to hold the Khumb Mela between August and September and it is considered a great honour to play host to the event which attracts the largest gatherings of people in the world.
The origins of the Kumbh Mela go back to the time when the devas, or gods and the ashuras, or demons decided to set aside their eternal differences and work together to retrieve the nectar of immortality by churning the ocean using a giant serpent as the rope. When finally the waters released their ultimate treasure, a great fight broke out between the two sides, each one trying to wrest the pitcher from the other.
During the fierce battle, a few drops of the immortal elixir fell at four different places in India: Prayag (Allahabad), Nashik, Ujjain and Haridwar. Ever since, when the configuration of the stars and planets are just right, it is believed that the waters of the rivers that flow through these sacred cities turn into nectar. A dip in the water during this time, it is said, heals and cleanses the soul and body and accrues merit equivalent to bathing in the River Ganges for 60,000 years.
Ujjain, in my opinion, would be a place that devout Hindus would want to visit. Those of us who are interested, recall the huge mela that took place at Allahabad three years ago, truly it was astonishing and the BBC actually made a current affairs programme visiting the mela every evening for one week. The logistics of such an event put anything held in the UK to shame!
Sleep continued to evade me and the theme of railway journeys remained in my mind and I thought of what had probably been my very favourite journey as a child, going by train overnight to the sea. Thought process is a funny thing and, possibly because I had thought of Mandu and Ujjain, this led me to remember Puri in the state of Orissa. Orissa is east of Madhya Pradesh and south of West Bengal; therefore, when we lived in Calcutta or Kolkata as it now is known, Puri was the obvious destination for a seaside holiday. Puri is also considered a holy city and has some very interesting places to visit in and around it. Orissa is a state in which there is extreme poverty coupled with great cultural heritage and some good wildlife areas. As a child none of this invaded my consciousness but as a teenager and now mature adult I realise that Orissa is another of India’s dichotomous regions where there is a wealth of wonderful architecture related to Hinduism and yet the tribal people eke out a living on rice growing which ends in a feast or famine outcome because having a huge coastline the state is prone to receiving devastating cyclonic weather. The adivasi or tribal people have been on this land for thousands of years and are descended from the aboriginal inhabitants of pre-Aryan times. Now, tourism has exploited them by making them the subject of tourist routes and there are also many ‘advancement programmes’ many of which have achieved little, and certainly the revenue from tourism has not trickled down to the very people it exploits.
Ashoka, the most distinguished of the Mauryan dynasty, descended on Orissa in the third century BC and slew everyone in his path. It is said that this carnage may have led to his conversion to Buddhism but the fortified city of Sisupalgarh, which is near modern Bhubaneswar the capital of Orissa, became his stronghold. After the Mauryan dynasty declined, the area experienced resurgence before coming under the heel of the Chedi dynasty, followers of the Jain faith. Gradually, this too waned and the area entered a dark age and Buddhism and Jainism diminished to be overtaken by Brahmanism with an emphasis on the god Shiva. Since those times, Hinduism has been the predominant religion fortified by various Hindu dynasties which created some of the finest artistic and architectural achievement devoted to their faith in the whole of south Asia. In the twelfth century AD, the Ganga dynasty created the magnificent temples at Bhubaneswar, Puri and Konarak. These temples are the one with which I am most familiar having visited them as a teenager.
The Simlipal National Park in the north of the state is similar to those in Madhya Pradesh, forested by sal trees with spectacular scenery and with a wealth of animals, birds and reptiles. I believe there are tigers there along with elephants but this area is so difficult to reach that I am told it would require extreme dedication on the part of the wildlife enthusiast. From a selfish point of view, I am quite glad because it has more chance of retaining its wild nature and, thus, naturally conserving the animals. The Chilika Lakes, however, are quite near Bhubaneswar and, in winter, the huge salt water lagoon becomes a bird watcher’s paradise and easily accessible by train from Kolkata to Bhubaneswar. The Bhita Kanika Sanctuary is the third important conservation area where the giant Olive Ridley marine turtles go to nest. These giants migrate here in February and March from as far away as the South American coast. Having witnessed turtles nesting on Turtle Island in the Sulu Sea off the coast of Sabah in North Borneo, I can imagine the pleasure one would experience here. Turtle Island is only a foot above sea level and tiny and very strictly controlled. Snorkelling off the beach was pure delight and then watching these great creatures lumber out of the water in the dark (we were only allowed one torch) and laboriously dig their holes and lay up to a hundred eggs and then slowly lurch back into the sea was quite emotional. In the dawn light, we saw the various tiny turtles that had hatched the previous night, offspring of another maternal giant, scrabble their way down to the waves. The keepers take them down very very early so as to avoid the various sea birds that would hunt them for food once the sun has risen. The Ionian Island of Zakynthos also has a turtle haven, but there they have to compete with beach tourism and I do not really rate their chances in the decades to come.
Bhubaneswar has a wealth of temples but, of the five hundred that remain, there are only a few that are of real interest. These are easily accessed by a car with driver or, more cheaply and with charm, by a rickshaw. One is able to see and appreciate over a thousand years of temple architecture but yet appreciate that they are living places of worship. In the Hindu religion, temples can become objects of worship as opposed to other faiths that create buildings in which to conduct their worship. Anyone wishing to investigate this area should buy an up-to-date guide book because it is 40 years since I visited and nothing remains the same. However, it is worth saying that a short distance from Bhubaneswar, there are some important caves at Udaigiri and Khandagiri. The caves were the home to a community of Jain monks about two thousand years ago and though not in the same league as those in the Deccan or at Bhimbetka, near Bhopal, they are of interest. At Dhauli just off the main road to Puri, is an even older monument; the edict of Ashoka commemorating the battle in 260 BC to which I referred where he reportedly slew up to 150,000 people. There is a stupa at Dhauli commemorating Ashoka’s change of heart to a peaceful spiritual path as preached by Buddha and in the edict inscribed on the rock nearby part of the inscription reads ‘All men are my children...’ plus advice on how to treat animals. This site is on the route taken by Japanese and other Eastern races who adhere to Buddhism and the Japanese have apparently erected a new stupa which slightly overshadows the original memorial. We were to meet large parties of Asians on the Buddhist Trail at Bhimbetka and Sanchi in a few days time.
Puri has so many happy memories for me and for my family. The company house could be rented either as a whole or one floor, it being double storey with four large suites to each floor plus a
lounge and dining area with veranda or terrace. Two weeks at Puri was pure bliss for people of all ages. The house which belonged to a Hindu rajah had been furnished simply to provide comfortable but not luxurious accommodation and with four bedrooms, or maybe the whole house, a jolly party could have some good fun. I know that it still exists and can therefore imagine that various families from the ITC Group are having just as good a seaside holiday as we did long years ago. The emphasis was on swimming in the sea; walking on the beach; eating good plain food, which largely consisted of very fresh fish, cooked by one’s own cook; and reading books and playing board games or scrabble. The Puri temples and those of Bhubaneswar were a magnet for those interested in history and the finest of them all is at Konarak. Today’s holidaymakers would have the addition of television.
The Jagannath temple at Puri is right in the middle of the town and very high and it seems almost incongruous that it rises out of some mean streets, but that is how the town has developed. The spectacular religious festival that is centred on this temple is the annual Rath yatra. This huge temple is one of the four holy dhams or ‘abodes of the divine’ which entices pilgrims to spend three days and nights praying to the god Jagannath. The present temple was built in the early twelfth century. I have a memory of walking about in the courtyards and little shrines – westerners and non-believers are not actually allowed in the temple itself. The Car Festival takes place in July and August depending on the full moon. The immense chariots (or cars) are draped with brightly coloured cloth and Lord Jagannath and his brother and sister deities are placed on their chariots and dragged by 4200 honoured devotees through the assembled multitudes to the summer home 1.5 km away. The chariots process down the main road accompanied by elephants, the local rajah and several little bands of musicians. It takes eight hours to haul the deities to their summer resting place and, after a nine day holiday, the whole procession is performed in reverse and the deities returned to their permanent resting place, the temple!
