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Global
Correspondent Report From India
Indian
Temples and Tripura Temple Culture
The
Characteristics of Indian Temples
Truly, the
Divine is the absolute Truth; formless, colourless, without
air, smell or sound. During the Vedic period there was no
temple as the Nirakara or shapeless had not assumed an image
to be worshipped by the religionists. But the Vedic people had
Yagnasala to perform Yagna. That might have given birth to
Mandir or temple.
Whenever humans
have something to worship representing the God they do it in a
place away from the mundane for it is said that though the
divine transcends all limitations, humans have limits. Hence
to visualize the divine or to establish contact with it, they
need a temporal set up though they conceive it as the eternal.
Temple is
Devalaya or the palace of God. The earliest remains of the
temples in north and central India belonged to the Gupta
period between 320-650 CE. The southern rock-cut temples
belonged to a period between 500-800 CE. Buddhist shrines,
Stupas and rock-cut temples with images of Gods were the
earliest inspiration for the development of temple
architecture. It has three main divisions; the northern Nagara,
southern Dravida and the third Vesara with characteristics of
both the styles. There are many subdivisions in it like the
orissa temple architecture or the Bengal hut type temples.
The temples of
India with their marvelous structures stand rock-solid,
sounder than the modern concrete structures. With rain water
harvesting technique, it offered the opportunity to become the
arrester of lightning in the area. The kalasams at its top
stored the seeds of paddy for use during exigencies. With
perfect symmetry in everything, Indian temples have stood the
test of time.
A temple is
symbol of many things, a complicated artistic-ritualistic
production. While it represents the body of God at the
macrocosmic plane, it represents the body of man at the
microcosmic plane. Parts of a temple are conceived as parts of
a human body called by similar terms, such as pada (foot),
jangha (shank), griva (neck), nasika (nose), sirsa (head),
etc.
A temple
represents the subtle body with seven psychic centres or
charkas, according to Tantra. The first three centres (Muladhar,
Swadhisthan and Manipur), as represented by the temple is
under the ground level. The Garbhagriha represents the Anahata
charka in the heart region. The Sikhara area of a temple
represents the fifth and sixth (Visuddha and Ajna charkas)
centres at the root of the throat and between the eye brows.
The top most part of the temple, Kalasa, points to the
Sahasrar, the seventh and the last centre, just at and above
the top of the head.
Temples of
Tripura
Many sects of
the Hindu religion have flourished in Bengal but the Tantric
cult has predominance, it seems. Buddhist influence at the
early stage was perceptible both in Bengal and Tripura and
tantrism was mixed with it at certain points. The temple
culture and rites followed in Tripura amply confirms the
predominance of the tantric cult.
Of the temples
of Tripura, Udaipur the Temple Town, has the most of them.
Tripureshwari or Tripura Sundari temple, popularly known as
Matabari, one of the 51 holy piths of India, the grand centre
of pilgrimage, was constructed by Maharaja Dhana Manikya in
1501. It is 55 km away from Agartala. It is a typical Bengal
hut type structure. Served by Kalyan Sagar lake, it is
frequented by thousands of devotees each year, particularly
during the Diwali festival which is the season for Kali Puja.
Except the
eastern link with Assam and Mizoram, Tripura is surrounded by
Bangladesh which was our desh or country. Kashbeswari temple,
overlooking the Comilla district of Bangladesh, was founded by
the same king in the 15th century. It is served by the lake
Kamala Sagar.
Bhubaneshwari
temple, a rare specimen of temple structure, is located on the
bank of Gomati river. Rabindranath’s drama, Visarjan, refers
to the sacrifice made here.
Besides
Jagannath temple with Jagannath dighi or lake (the temple does
no more exists), there are many more temples like Mahadev
temple with Mahadev dighi and temples of 14 Devas in the old
capital. Tripura is full of ponds, lakes and some rivers
besides temples. At Pilak numerous ancient Hindu and Buddhist
sculptures, stone and terracotta images have been found,
belonging to the eighth and ninth centuries. Rock carvings on
the stiff mountain wall at Devtamura and Unakoti Shaiva
pilgrim centre deserve mention.
Why so much
Blood?
It is said that
in hilly Tripura sacrificing animals and even humans was quite
frequent. When king Dhana Manikya (1463-1515 CE) defeated the
soldiers of Hussain Shah, he celebrated it by worshipping 14
Devas in the old capital, now a few km from Agartala, the
present capital. Thence he restricted the human sacrifice in
such a way that it was almost abolished. But the tradition of
sacrificing the other animals, particularly the goats in large
numbers, continued throughout Tripura.
Poet and writer
Rabindranath Tagore was introduced to the kingdom of Tripura
through a book, Rajmala, the history of the Tripura, of which
the editor was Kailash Chandra Sinha, the then assistant
editor of Tatwabodhini magazine, published by the Tagore
family. A close relationship between Tagore and the Tripura
kings, Bir Chandra Manikya and his son, Radhakishore Manikya
grew up later. Tagore and the Tripura kings visited each
other’s country on occasions.
Tagore, a
follower of his father on the religious path, a Brahmo,
shunned idolatry. He declared himself a Hindu in the broader
sense but worshipped the one absolute divine, as in the Vedas.
He abhorred unnecessary rituals, was much against any animal
sacrifice and blood shed as a way of worshipping the Devi or
the Goddess. He composed quite a few fictional works like
Mukut and Rajarshee, drama like Visarjan, based on the history
of Tripura. Chitrangada, a poetic drama, was written based on
the story from Mahabharata which took place in adjacent
Manipur and Sesher Kavita, a novel was based on life in
neighbouring Shillong. The main plots in Rajarshee and
Visarjan are almost similar, a crusade against animal
sacrifice. Instead of sacrificing the animal or the king, as
he was goaded to do, Jaysingha, the hero, sacrificed himself
at the alter of Bhubaneshwari. The priest realized his fault
and threw the deity in the river Gomati. The temple is still
empty. The drama has been hailed as a great revolt against the
age old cruel religious system by the liberal minded poet
Rabindranath Tagore.
Once
during a train journey, Tagore had a short vision: There was
blood on the stairs of a temple. Pointing at it an overwhelmed
girl asked, ‘Why so much blood?’ This girl became the beggar
girl Aparna, a friend of Jaysingha, in Visarjan.
The latest
position
Of the 14
deities worshipped by king Dhana Manikya, three are worshipped
daily and the others are worshipped once in a year. During the
annual festival, it is said that 500-600 goats are sacrificed,
flooding the whole area by blood, flowing to the river.
Sacrifices are made in other temples too as part of the
traditional ritual offerings to the Goddesses.
There have been
some changes in the temple laws, a breaking away from the age
old tradition, as in Guruvayur and Ayappa temples of the
south. A court has recently given judgement that any Hindu,
well versed in rituals, may perform the puja as a priest in
Tripureshwari temple. A similar attempt has been made by the
Government in Tamil Nadu. Spiritual personalities like Mata
Amritanandamayi are of the opinion that any devotee,
irrespective of faith, should be allowed to enter the temples
and offer prayer. It seems that rigidity may gradually go
while keeping the liberal tradition, with the passage of time.
And with it the animal sacrifices.
© Aju
Mukhopadhyay, 2007
Email- ajum24@yahoo.co.in
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