The year was 1290 . A crowd had gathered around a clearing, where broken down pillars marked the presence of an ancient temple, now long gone. A young boy, just 14 years old, leaned against one of those pillars, deep in thought. Then, he began speaking, and the crowd fell silent, listening to his every word. He spoke without any notes, translating the Bhagavat Gita, from Sanskrit, which only the pundits knew, to the language everyone in the village knew and spoke – a variety of Prakrit which developed into the Marathi language. Even as he spoke, one of the men in the audience realized how momentous this event was, and how important this composition would be. He began writing down the words the young boy spoke, and this composition was named by its author and composer, the Bhavartha Deepika – the enlightening meaning (of the Bhagavat Gita). Now, the ancient, holy text, was no longer restricted to the pundits, but accessible to all, understood easily by them, composed as it was, in their...
A
huge statue is
visible on the mountain as our car makes its way along the winding roads. We ask
what it is and our driver replies “Oh, that is the Padmasambhava Statue. We shall
be going there.” Soon, the curves hide the statue from our eyes, and we make
our way to a temple complex, over which towers a massive statue of Shiva.
“Amma,
this looks like the one in Murdeshwar!” pipes up Samhith, and he is right. They
aren’t exactly the same, but idea is similar. Murudeshwar is on the west coast,
and we are now in the north-east, at Namchi in Sikkim, but it is evident that
sculptors and temple builders across the country have the same ideas!
The
Siddheshwar Dham
is touted as a unique pilgrimage centre, one that brings together some of the
most important Hindu temples in one place. To begin with, there are the Char
Dham, 4 of the holiest places of pilgrimage – Badrinath, Dwarka, Rameshwaram
and Puri. Then, there are the 12 Jyotirlings, the huge Shiva statue I mentioned
earlier, with a temple under it, and finally, a Sai temple. That brings the
total to about 18 shrines here.
On
the opposite hill
is visible the huge statue of Padmasambhava we had seen earlier, and that is
our next stop. This is said to be the biggest statue of the patron saint of
Sikkim, and under it is a monastery, which is remarkable for its peace and
silence in spite of the tourist crowds which arrive here. Very interestingly,
it is believed that this hill is actually a dormant volcano, and that the
Buddhist monks have offered prayers here for centuries to keep the volcano from
erupting!
The landscape, as seen from the viewing gallery
at the statue is beautiful, and as I stand there, people clicking photos all
around me, I try to see if the Shiva statue is visible from here. And it is. And
it makes me wonder – why, of all places, was this one chosen to build two such
immense statues? Is there some kind of competition? Is this an attempt to make
up for the lack of ancient temples in this region?
Among
the two, I must
say, the Padmasambhava statue and monastery were more interesting to me. I am
not too fond of huge structures, which is why the size didn’t impress me. What did,
was the depiction, and the sense of belonging. It just felt right, if you know
what I mean.
Besides, Samhith, for once, managed to talk
to one of the young monks about his own age, and the personal interaction only
added to the charm of the monastery.
This
is what we
missed at the Siddheshwar Dham, the sense of belonging, of feeling right. The temples,
at least to me, felt out of place, mere decorations rather than the sacred
sites they are meant to be. Maybe it was because I have already visited the
original of these shrines (well, all except Puri). Or maybe it has something
to do with the fact that I am inherently against building new temples in a
country already full of ancient ones which need proper repair and maintenance.
As we
turned back,
the one thing that remained with me was the thought of these two massive
statues, almost facing each other, looking down at the city. There are lots of
similarities between them – the sitting posture, the trident both have in their
hands, the expression, the elongated ears with earrings. In some ways
Padmasambhava appears to have attributes of other Hindu Gods too…. The Vajra of
Indra, the lotus of Brahma, the concept of reincarnation like Vishnu, to name
but a few. Hinduism must have been prevalent in the area long before Buddhism
made its mark. Today, there are hardly any temples here, and Buddhist monasteries
wherever you go. Is the Siddheshwar Dham, in the eyes of the locals, a way to
reclaim their Hindu past? I wonder what these two deities looking at all this,
think about it!
Information:
- Location: Both, Siddheshwar Dham, and the Padmasambhava Statue are near Namchi, about 92 Km from Gangtok and 90 Km from Siliguri.
- How to reach: There are buses to Namchi from both, Jorethang as well as Gangtok. The share jeeps also bring people here. These shrines are both on the route to Gangtok via Melli, so the temples can be visited during the journey.
- Tips: While here, visit the Rock Garden, and the Temi Tea Estates too.
Beautiful post, Anuradha. I couldn't go beyond the blue skies initially. The secular practices are impressive in the mountains :)
ReplyDeleteThank you Amrita. The secular practices are impressive, but we see them everywhere, in the interiors, which are still unspoilt by the problems brought on by fanaticism.
DeleteThe first pic reminded me of the status of Hanuman on Jakhu hills at Shimla and the third, of Murudeshwar as Samhith pointed out. The statues look real massive..
ReplyDeleteYes, Meghana, there are just too many such new and huge statues all over. i cant imagine why we are so obsessed with size.
DeleteWonderful frames.
ReplyDeleteThank you Niranjan!
DeleteJust planned to visited Namchi this October!! Looks splendid :)
ReplyDeleteWell Sikkim didn't have a hindu past so the main motive was to attract tourists and promote diversity that's it. While Padmasambhava has a history with the land so it's a sacred relation seems more in place.
ReplyDelete