Temples: History, Architecture & Distribution - 2

[Bharatvarsh2]

Tour of Madhya Bharath Part 2



Dhar, Bagh, Maheshwar, Omkareshwar



After Ujjian, the next day’s plan was Dhar, Bagh caves and Maheshwar. We started early the next morning, had powa and jalebi and headed first to Dhar- Dhara nagara. Raja Bhoja, the legendary Paramara king of the 11th century had made Dhara the capital of Malwa. Bhoja was an extraordinary genius – a great scholar, a poet, a polymath, a philosopher and a warrior all rolled in one. His extensive writings- 83 in number, cover philosophy, poetry, medicine, astronomy, ship building, civil engineering, yoga and even medical sciences. Each of his titles became a title for his books. The Somanath temple was rebuilt by him after it was ransacked by Ghazni. It was perhaps only Bhoja that Ghazni feared. That, we were in the same Raja Bhoja’s Dhara nagara filled us with a high sense of pride and anticipation. But, Dhar was a telling blow to our Hindu sensitivities. The Saraswathi mandira of Bhoja raja is now a mosque. The temple has been reduced to a bare fallen quadrangle. The pilloried pillared corridors of an erstwhile grand temple stand in mute testimony to the brutal vandalism.



Not a single human figure remains. For, namaz cannot be offered amidst human idols. It is considered sacrilege. Friday is reserved for namaz. Hindus are denied entry on Fridays during namaz. The very entrance to the once grand temple is blemished by an abhorring eyesore- a dargah. The instruction board outside warns the Hindus not to carry any articles of worship into the ‘temple’ except ‘two’ flowers and less than a handful of rice! Not surprising, there is no advice for non-Hindus at all! The Saraswathi idol itself is now a cherished exhibit at the British Museum.

Dhar awakened in all of us a strong sense of revolt albeit for a short while. Paramaar, our driver who was a refreshingly hardcore Hindu, lifted our spirits with some stories of Hindu valour and spiritied retaliation in his home ‘town’ – a village near Indore. We were contemplating going to Mandu next. We learnt that the whole town is Islamized with forts, mosques and dargas littered on the ruins of Hindu temples. Rather, by ruining Hindu temples. We were no longer interested in Mandu. Dhar had assaulted our sensitivities enough.

Ganesh in the meanwhile had composed himself reading Raja Bhoja’s Champu Ramayana. He read out aloud a few especially poetic stanzas from the kishkindha kaanDa. “The light(n)ing had ceased. The orchestra of the thunder had ended. The cloud-curtain had been lifted. The lady (of the) monsoon thus departed..”...



http://prekshaa.blogspot.com/2010/04/tou...art-2.html

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