Skip to main content

Featured Post

2023 - The Year That Was

Places impact you for a variety of reasons. And the same place impacts different people in different ways. This is especially true when it comes to spiritual experiences, where every single person’s experience is unique. And personally, every spiritual experience is unique, the same person can have different deeply spiritual experiences at different places, at different times. This thought has emerged because of my own experiences over the years, but especially so this year, with different and unique experiences at various places I have visited recently. I began this year with a visit to Baroda (Vadodara) with friends. It was meant to be a relaxed trip, a touristy trip, with our sons. We enjoyed ourselves to the hilt, but the highlight of that trip was a visit to the Lakulisha temple at Pavagadh. It was the iconography of the temple that I connected with, and I spent a few hours simply lost in the details of the figures carved around the temple. There was an indefinable connect with

Jain Temple, Sultan Bathery, Wayanad

The small town of Sultan Bathery in Wayanad was originally called ‘Gananaptivattam’. It was only when Tipu Sultan arrived here, and used an abandoned ancient Jain temple for storing his ammunition, that the town got its new name. Tipu Sultan has long been gone, and so has the ammunition which gave the town its name, but the ancient temple still stands!




Sadly, little is known of the temple, such as details of when it was built and by whom. 



There is no idol inside either. We visited the temple late in the evening, when it was about to close, and found the temple empty, but for a lone ASI official who also acted as a watchman. He told us that the idol which originally occupied the sanctum here was shifted to a newer Jain temple at Kalpetta, but that every year, for Mahavir Jayanti, the idol was brought to this temple and prayers conducted as per the rituals. The temple thus served its original purpose just for a day each year!!!



The temple is a simple one, going by other Jain temples we have visited, but there was no dearth of detailing or ornamentation on the pillars and walls.



Samhith was excited by the depictions, and we tried our best to understand the symbolic representation. Unfortunately, there was no guide around to help us out. Eventually, the ASI chap himself helped us out, pointing out the important ones….such as this Swan in meditative posture….



And this Naagapaasham, which, I thought till now was only a Hindu concept!



Here is Samhith, trying to figure out how the snake is entwined, with the ASI official's help!



This Jain temple was among the last places we visited at Wayanad. It was then time to move on, and now it is time to move on again…. To the other places we visited on that trip. Meanwhile, I am off again, once again to Karnataka, in search of some relaxation for me, and more stories for you. I will be offline for a week or so, but when I come back, I will hopefully be rejuvenated enough, and full of enthusiasm to write more regularly!!! See you then!







Comments

  1. What a beautiful temple, Anu. My kind of temple, if I may say so :) And what's in a name?

    This Wayanad series of yours is turning out to be a real treat, considering that whenever one reads about this region it's only about it's natural beauty. Honestly, I have not come across anything on sights such as this. Great work.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. its absolutely "our" kind of temple, Sudha! and yes, most posts about wayanad would be about natural beauty since it is indeed a beautiful place... but then we are the kind who arent satisfied with nature alone, and also love to explore the traces others have left before us, so such places do tend to attract us, i guess!!!

      Delete
  2. Very descriptive and informative post. Thanks for sharing.
    www.bnomadic.wordpress.com

    ReplyDelete
  3. This is absolutely a lovely jain temple. Also one of the few well maintained ones in Wayanad.
    Nice post.

    www.rajniranjandas.blogspot.in

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes, Niranjan. it is indeed one of the few well maintained ones, but at least even the others are left as they are, instead of modernisation in the name of renovation as it happens every where these days.

      Delete
  4. Awesome. I can't wait to visit... Loving the photos :)

    ReplyDelete
  5. I never knew how much Tipu and such history had infiltrated into the temples of Wayanadu until I read this. It also came as new knowledge that Jain temples existed in Wayanadu.

    ReplyDelete
  6. I would like to ask you one thing. How to ensure that this was a jain temple? Is there any evidence? Or simply a historical deduction in comparison to style of architecture?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thats an interesting thought, but yes, most of the evidence is indeed the architecture and the carvings, besides the idol inside. of course, there are similarities to hindu temples too.

      Delete

Post a Comment

Thanks so much for stopping by. Please leave a comment for me so that I will know you have been here....

Popular posts from this blog

Gokarna Part II – The Five Lingams

We continued our Gokarna trip by visiting four other Shiva temples in the vicinity, all connected to the same story of Gokarna. The story of Gokarna mentions the Mahabaleshwara Lingam as the one brought from Kailas by Ravana, and kept at this place on the ground by Ganesha. (See my earlier post- Gokarna – Pilgrimage and Pleasure). However, the story does not end here. It is believed that, in his anger, Ravana flung aside the materials which covered the lingam- the casket, its lid, the string around the lingam, and the cloth covering it. All these items became lingams as soon as they touched the ground. These four lingams, along with the main Mahabaleshwara lingam are collectively called the ‘ Panchalingams’ . These are: Mahabaleshwara – the main lingam Sajjeshwar – the casket carrying the lingam. This temple is about 35 Kms from Karwar, and is a 2 hour drive from Gokarna. Dhareshwar – the string covering the lingam. This temple is on NH17, about 45 Kms south of Gokarna. Gunavanteshw

Rama Temple, Gokarna

To my right , the waves rush to the shore, eager to merge with the sand. To my left, the same waves crash against the rocks, their spray diverting my reverie as I ponder over the beauty of nature, and wonder what first brought people here. Was it this beauty that encouraged them to build a temple here, or was it the fresh, sweet spring water flowing from the hill here that made this place special? No matter what the reason, I am glad my auto driver brought me here. We are at the Rama temple in Gokarna, just a few minutes away from the Mahabaleshwara Temple, yet offering so different a perspective.

Pandharpur Yatra 2023

The first time I visited Pandharpur was back in 2007 . The names Vitthal and Pandharpur, were just names to me. I had heard of them, but that was about it. Seeing the lord standing on the brick, hands on his hips, was memorable, but more memorable was the sight that greeted us as we walked out of the main sanctum of the temple. In the mandap just outside were a group of devotees singing abhangs , and dancing. This was the first time I had heard abhangs , and even almost 15 years later, I can remember the welling of feeling within me, listening to the songs, and how fascinated I was by the sight of the devotees dancing, lost in their love of the Lord. Over the years, as I have read more about Vitthal, and participated in Ashadi Ekadashi programmes at Puttaparthi, that first experience has stayed clear in my mind and heart. Every time I tell my Balvikas students of the saints who sang of Vitthala, it is that experience that I re-live. I visited Pandharpur again, in 2010, but that experie