Whispers Of The Stone
A Temple’s Tale Through Time — By Yamini Hundare
Prologue
I am the Temple.
I have stood here longer than the city itself.
When I was created, I rose like a whisper from the earth, nestled in a forest of sal trees and wild jasmine. Back then, the only sounds were the rustle of wind and the footfalls of deer.
Now, honks and hammering machines sing a different tune. But I remember everything.
I remember the hands that built me.
I remember the blood that stained my stones.
I remember the one who returned again and again, never knowing what connected us.
Come closer. Sit beside my cracked walls and listen. Let me tell you a story, not of gods or kings, but of longing, of a wish that outlived.
The desire for a Deity
Around 1000 years ago, the land was quite. It lay in the arms of a vast forest, filled sal trees and wild jasmine. Where danced the peacocks and the parrots called through the leaves of lush green trees. Here, on the sacred ground on the banks of the river Ganga, King Devendra knelt, pressing his palms to the earth.
“Build me a temple”, he said, that will bring prosperity and glory to this land. Let Devi reside here and bless the kingdom with knowledge, strength, prosperity and by her grace let happiness dwell in our kingdom.
Vyas, the chief architect, bowed low. “My king, I will make it worthy of the Devi’s grace”, he replied.
His body trembled not with fear but with purpose.
Vyas, was no ordinary builder, he was born with patterns in his dream, learned in mathematics and he saw sacred geometry in everything. He walked the forest, mapping sunlight and shade, recording the night sky and tracing the movements of the Sun, the Moon and the Stars through the horizon. He studies the winds and the earth and about everything in the surrounding.
He was about to create a masterpiece that was going to live through the ages to tell its wonderful story to the generations to come.
The rise of the Temple
The temple was taking shape and the dreams were turning into reality. Pillars of the Mandapa were carved with the stories from the Ramayana and the Mahabharata. The carving depicted the victory of good over evil.
The garbhagriha (the inner sanctum) was carved with dancing apsaras and beautiful carving of flowers. The shikhara towered towards the sky. The kalash was made of gold and represented the glory of the kingdom.
The goddess was in the form of Shakti, carved out of black stone. She was gracefully draped in green and red silk saree with golden zari work. The deity wore the most precious jewellery made out of gold and studded with rubies and diamond.
In all of this majestic creation it was the gate of the temple that Vyas wasn’t happy about. It seemed like it was standing there in pride, it didn’t seem welcoming and there was something missing he felt. The temple was completely awaiting to call upon the blessing of Shakti and invoke her. Finally the day of the inauguration was decided. It was on the auspicious murtha of Akshay Tritiya. On the day of stapana, during the maha-arti Shakti gave Vyas her darshana, as she showed her majestic, glorious form standing in the temple but there was something different in this image. Vyas saw that Devi was standing in the garbhagriha at the same place where her stone idol was placed, the temple looked the same but the gate was different and it looked welcoming, something that the Devi wanted herself. In all this Vyas lost consciousness and when he came to his senses he was surrounded by the royal family, his wife and children. The vaidyah(doctor) suggested Vyas had over exerted himself and needed to rest.
On the other hand Vyas was excited to share his vision that Devi showed him with the king. The king insisted that Vyas needed some rest and he will meet Vyas next week and they can talk then. Vyas felt helpless but kept mum after hearing the kings order.
The praja (people) of the kingdom, praised Vyas for his work. They came to visit Vyas and congratulate him and wish him a speedy recovery. Vyas never told anyone about the vision he wanted to share it first with his king.
Vyas waited for the week to pass, Next day Vyas got ready in a hast and headed towards the king’s darbar (court). The place was crowded and the atmosphere looked tense. The king had fallen sick and everyone feared that he might not survive. Vyas was restless; he prayed to Devi and asked her to save the king and promised her that he will fulfil the vision and rebuild the gate.
Unfortunately, the king passed away in a few days. The king had one son and one daughter. The prince was then crowned as the new king. Vyas never got to share his vision with his beloved king. He had not just lost his king, he had also lost a friend who believed in him. Months passed but Vyas was restless, he kept on seeing the gate in his dreams, he decided to share his vision with the new king.
When Vyas told everything to the king, the king replied his father was taken away within weeks of the temple inauguration. He doesn’t think that they should redo the gates. The royal family was worried that making any more changes might bring on new challenges. Vyas was disheartened, he knew he couldn’t do anything against the king’s wish. Vyas never created anything after that, he started to stay silent and with age he passed.
The temple was still standing with both the creator gone, it was left to survive without the gate that Devi wanted.
The silent caretaker
Decades passed and then came a noble brahmin (priest) called Poojari Dhanvantri. He was a kind soul. He was devoted to Shakti. He took the utmost care of the temple. The lands flourished, the kingdom saw prosperity and happiness. It seemed that Devi had blessed the lands again. Dhanvantri spent his entire life praying and praising Shakti. It seemed he had a relation with the goddess. People ofter sw him talking to Devi as if she was his daughter. Some called him param bhakt and some even called him crazy but everyone knew he was the biggest devotee of Shakti. His soul even left his body in the same temple on the auspicious day of akshaya tritiya. The same murtha when the Shakti’s stapana was done hundreds of years ago. That day people say even the stone statue looked sad as if Shakti was sorry to lose her param bhakt (biggest devotee).
The period of destruction
The temple stood there and everything around it kept on changing. The forest had reduced to a small group of trees, and the village had widened its boundaries. This was all the time when Mughals entered the holy land of Bharat. The Mughals swept through the region. Temples were destroyed,idols were shattered, the jewels were stolen and people were killed. You could see destruction everywhere.
The temple had the same fate. Mughals attacked it. Among them marched a soldier, his name forgotten by history. His commander first ordered for the temple gate to be destroyed. Something in him screamed and he used all his strength and broke the gates. The temple was strong, it endured the attack, it was broken but not destroyed. The Mughals couldn’t break the statue but managed to steal all its jewels and precious stones.
Devi stood there in silence and saw the massacre and cruelty of the Mughals.
The silent centuries
Life in the village recovered, centuries passed. The jungle crept back and the temple fades, the temple still lay in ruins, but until one day when a little girl name Saraswati entered the temple and tears flowing through her eyes, she had found her mother in form of the Devi, she used to called Shakti her Aai (mother). She felt safe in the temple. Saraswati had a melodious voice, she sang bhajans and aartis in the praise of Devi. Saraswati cleaned the temple and the area nearby, she planted some trees and cleared the palace where the gate had once stood. She used to draw beautiful rangoli at the entrance of the temple. She decorated Devi with flowers. She made little garlands of flowers for Devi. Once again people started visiting the temple worshipping Shakti. Some even made efforts to restore some part of the temple.
Saraswati managed to return the glory of the temple with her love for her Devi. Shakti blessed her and as grew she found a loving family in the form of her husband and 3 children. Saraswati used to come to the temple everyday to worship her Devi. When she used to touch her head to Devi’s feet to worship, she used to feel the joy of lying in her mother’s lap. Sarawati lived a very fulfilling and satisfied life. She never complained and asked for anything in return for her devotion. Life went on and so did her love for Devi.
The little chirping bird
The temperatures were on the rise and the village was now turning into a city and encroaching the temples surrounding.
Animals and birds were thrown out of their own homes. But some of these sparrows that lived in the temple, made nests over the edges and gaps of the broken pillars. The temple used to bustle with the chirping sounds of the birds.
Once a little bird while trying to fly fell down. There was a journalist who was at the temple and was observing the little bird take his first flight and crash land on the floor. He quickly picked the little one but the bird couldn’t survive the fall. The journalist was touched by all of this and wrote a story on the chirping bird.
The story was widely read by people and the temple gained some attention. The popularity of the temple started increasing, people believed that Devi granted their wish and flooded the temple.
The temple started gaining popularity and the people wanted to restore the temple to its glory. This was the time when Hindus were awakening and rather than disowning their culture and traditions, they were embracing them. Change was happening but active participation was still needed to realise what needed to be done. A few decades passed before it was finally decided to take some action.
The recreation
The government appointed archaeologists and asked them to recreate the temple and restore it to its original form. Nisha was the main archaeologist, she felt a connection with the temple and started to investigate and redesign the temple. Along with her team they excavated the areas near the temple and found the parts and broken pieces of the temple. They even found a stone buried near the temple that had the carving of the temple. Nisha and her team were collecting all that they could find and that could help them to recreate the design of the temple. They found the pieces of the gate and tried to put them together. With the help of graphics and illustrators that tried to recreate the design of the temple. Nisha and her team were confused by the fact that the illustration based on the pieces of the gate that were found at the site didn’t match with the image of the gate carved on the stone. Every other detail from their finding matches the carving on the stone. Nisha couldn’t sleep for nights, she couldn’t understand why she felt restless, the time was running out and she was supposed to hand over the final design for the recreation. She was pulled in two directions which gate she should include in her final design. Nisha was confused and he spoke to her grandmother. Her grandmother was her biggest cheerleader and supporter. She advised Nisha to pick the gate that she feels will suit the temple most. That night Nisha had the same vision that Vyas had, as if Devi was trying to tell her something. Nisha didn’t understand much and felt that her confused mind made her dream of Devi. She dismissed the thought and finalised the design.
The design was handed over to the Architect and builders. Over the span of next 8 months people worked tirelessly recreating the masterpiece. Nisha was invited to the inauguration and she was accompanied by her grandmother. That day Nisha’s eyes sparkled when she saw the temple.
As if something she wanted for eternity was fulfilled. She could feel peace and joy at the same moment. She couldn’t understand what was happening but tears of joy started flowing through her eyes. Her grandmother patted her back and congratulated her for her part in the recreation of this magnificent temple. Both of them prayed and for some reason Nisha’s grandmother took her gold chain and her gold bangle and offered it to Shakti.
A lot of people who visit this temple after it was restored donate their gold as offerings to Devi, the goddess Shakti.
Moksha
Vyas had finally fulfilled his wish and recreated the gate that he once promised to Devi.
Even when Vyas died the soul still had its purpose to fulfil and it took birth after birth to finally fulfil it.
The brahmin Dhanwantri was no one but Vyas, who took care of the Devi.
The Mughal soldier who destroyed the gate was no one but Vyas, it was supposed to happen by his own hands. He was the one to destroy the old gate. The commander to order the soldier was no one other than King Devendra’s soul, who reincarnated as the cruel Mughal commander. He was part of this destruction and recreation.
Vyas later took birth as Saraswati who brought back the glory of the temple and cleared the place where the old gate once stood.
The little bird that lost his life was also Vyas trying to get attention, the journalist who wrote the article was King Devendra. Both of them played a role to bring the temple in focus for people to think about recreating it and restoring the lost glory.
Nisha was the final reincarnation of Vyas that restored the temple based on the carving of the stone, rather than the design based on the pieces found during excavation. Nisha had the same dream that Vyas had, Devi showed Nisha the same vision she had once shown to Vyas. Nisha’s grandmother played her part in encouraging Nisha to make the right choice. Again her grandmother was no one else but King Devendra.
Just like the king offered Devi his gold and jewels, so did the grandmother. People who offer gold to Devi out of devotion are just returning the stolen gold in some or the other form.
Devi was pleased and she granted Nisha’s and her grandmother moksha. The vision was achieved, the karma was fulfilled.
The temple still stands tall and remembers its creator Vyas and the King Devendra who showed devotion and took so many births to fulfil their destiny before attending moksha.
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