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...
“Aapko
mandir nahi jaana? Theek hai, mat jaiye. Par waterfall dekhne to jaiye! (You don’t want to go to the
temple? that’s ok, but at least go to see the waterfall)” insisted our driver
as he dropped us off at the parking lot of the Bhagsu Nag Temple. The three of
us walked slowly along the narrow path, paying more attention to the stalls
that lined it, Samhith grumbling that we had just started our trip, and were
already breaking rule no. 1. “No Temples”.
That
rule had been part of an agreement. That I wouldn’t visit temples on this trip, which was meant to
celebrate his birthday, and in turn, I could visit as many temples as I liked
on our south trip, in the second half of May. Therefore, deferring to his
wishes, we passed by the temple, which was deserted, and walked towards the
waterfalls instead. We turned a corner, and the falls were visible, a bit
further on, along a narrow path on the side of the mountain. Also visible was a
crowd, busy enjoying the waterfalls. The three of us looked at each other, and
Samhith grumbled “Let’s go back to the temple”! That was one quick about turn!
 |
| The waterfall, minus the crowd! |
The
temple’s story
is an interesting one, though it predates the temple itself. It is said that
Bhagsu was a king, or a local chief, and his region was plagued by drought. He set
out, promising his subjects that he would bring water. His search brought him
to these mountains, more specifically, to a lake – the Nag Dal - which belonged
to the serpent king. Bhagsu himself had magical powers. He managed to transfer
the water from the lake into a kamandalu (water receptacle), and started on his
way back home. The serpent king returned
home that night to find his lake empty. Needless to say, he was irate, and he
set out to find the one responsible. He caught up with Bhagsu here, and there
was a terrible fight. Bhagsu was lethally injured, and the kamandalu fell,
releasing the water, which flowed down the mountain. Realizing that his end was
near, he surrendered to the serpent king, asking only that the water be allowed
to flow on, so that his people would be relieved from the drought, and that his
name be associated forever with this place. The serpent king relented, and henceforth,
the water flowed free, and this place came to be known as a combination of both
their names – Bhagsu Nag.
 |
| The temple story in Hindi, for those of you who want more details, plus,would prefer to read it in Hindi :D |
The
story is from mythological times, and the first temple here is said to have
been built in the time of Raja Dharamchand, who had a dream, advising him to
build it. That story is also part of legend, dating back to over 5000 years.
The present temple is a recent structure, with a main shrine dedicated to Lord
Shiva.
 |
| The temple, rebuilt with marble and tiles. I wonder what it is about this combination which so inspires us to build temples with them. |
More
interesting are
the structures around the temple. Behind the temple is the waterfall, and the water
flows down into a tank just outside the temple. There are faces carved into the
stone, and a number of shrines old and new surround it. An iron pipe brings
water out of the tank for people to drink, and beyond the tank is a brand new
swimming pool, which seems to be surprisingly clean and well maintained! There were
a number of people frolicking in the pool, so I did not click a photograph. Besides,
I was more fascinated by this small shrine on the side…..
 |
| This shrine is so pretty.. and so perfect for this idol! |
And the
idol it contained.
 |
| The Pancha Mukha Linga.. Note the interesting base... with snakes on it. |
This is
called a Pancha Mukha Linga – five faced linga. Normally, lingams
don’t have faces, but these do, and each face depicts one aspect of Shiva as well as the five elements he represents. The top face is called Ishana, or Sadashiva,
representing the sky; the east face is Sadyojata or Mahadeva, representing
earth; the west face is Tatpurusha or Nandi,
representing Vayu, the wind; the north face is Vamadeva or Umavaktra,
representing water, and the south face is Aghora or Bhairava, representing
fire.
Meanwhile, Samhith was having a good time
too, watching a football match in progress, by the side of the pool! He of
course grumbled some more, that we hadn’t brought a swimming costume. But it didn’t
matter. By the time we walked back to the car, we were in high spirits.
Our driver
was surprised. He,
of course, thought that it was because of the waterfalls. We didn’t even try to
explain to him that it was neither the temple nor the waterfall, but a small,
ignored shrine, and a game, which had made us so happy!
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thanks for sharing such interesting post.....a place worth visiting indeed...
ReplyDelete"Hi Anuradha!
ReplyDeleteThe observations ring true: incredibly put by you. I always knew Himachal Pradesh is full of exploring and experimenting new places. Personally, I have yet to encounter this apparent block of India, and I know the learning curve would be huge but your article incited a must visit at the place sooner. "
Quite Informative. Thanks as it completed my research while writing a book about this place :)
ReplyDeleteWow…really amazing blog.
ReplyDeleteI really like the way you describe the post..