For the love of Jagannath

The Raleigh, North Carolina area has a small community of Odia living around what is known as the RTP (Research Triangle Park) area. The odia community is very close-knit who revolve around their cultural activities at HSNC (Hindu Society of North Carolina). Among many gods and goddesses worshiped at HSNC is Lord Jagannath, the heart and soul of Odisha. In 2021, Odias from HSNC decided to upgrade their Rath (chariot) from an old rath that was donated to the temple to a new one which will be much bigger and better. 

The newly built Rath (Chariot)

The work commenced in November 2021 when HSNC allotted space for the storage and development of the project. The rath (chariot) building project name was kept as “Nandighosha” The name of the juggernaut of Lord jagannath. It was inspired by the work that was done elsewhere in the USA for building a rath. The same design was adopted but at a much larger scale. The plan was to build a Rath which will stand at a height of a commendable 25 feet! There were no experts involved. Only devoted volunteers with a lot of zeal toward building something amazing. 

The work started in the cold winter of November. Every weekend volunteers would come

together to continue the building process. The organization and planning was done via a WhatsApp group. Everything from purchasing tools and supplies, designing, distribution of work was done by volunteers. They had ample support from umbrella organizations such as SJSTC (Jagannath Seva Trust of NC) and HSNC. These organizations collected donations from several organizations and individuals.

The volunteers would come together every weekend at a predefined time. Work would be distributed promptly, and volunteers would get going. That is what happens every weekend. There were also volunteers who would cook at home and provide the food for the people working on the Rath project. The food provided was always of restaurant quality, nothing less. Much better than what you would cook at home on an average weekend. There was no shortage of snacks, tea, coffee, water as well. The volunteers who prepared the food worked equally hard to deliver great quality food every weekend without fail.

Working there was as enjoyable as going on a picnic. Everyone greeted each other with much love and compassion. They were all friendly towards each other and patient towards a new volunteer who joined the team. Much of the work was carpentry related, that was kind of obvious as a Rath (Chariot) was built from scratch. But after the carpentry work, the majority was for the traditional painting and stitching of canopy. The whole rath was painted with decorative traditional art. There were a lot of images of the traditional Odia painting known as “Patta Chitra ”. Different forms of dancers and various art designs were done mostly by lady volunteers using the traditional Patta Chitra art form. Even the backrest of Lord

Jagannath was done by a volunteer specializing in Glass Tile Art.

Artwork on the Rath 

The work went on for almost 8 months starting from November of 2021 and running through June 2022. The volunteers worked tirelessly on weekends and on some weekdays as well to get the Rath prepared before the Rath Yatra in July 2022. The Rath Yatra is when Lord Jagannath along with brother Balabhadra and sister Subhadra travel to their aunt Gundicha’s house in the chariot. There were some specialized idols like the horses for the chariot that were procured from India. But most of the chariot was built locally here in the HSNC temple campus. The fantastic sound of “Jai Jagannath” is something which was heard every now and then when volunteers wanted to cheer their buddies while working.

Afterall it was the grace of lord Jagannath that propelled all volunteers to work without any materialistic gains. A great job done after all!

Cowman to King – Kapilendra Deva

By: Sujit Mahapatra

Gajapati Kapilendra Deva

A kid named Kapila from rural Kalinga (now Odisha) who came from a family so poor that they have to send him to take care of cow herd, otherwise known as cowman. As humble as it can get in medieval India. Kapila used to spend most of his time with his best friend named Kashia. The Kashia Kapila duo was famous in their area for their friendship. They both used to go to work together taking the cow herd with them for grazing. One day, Kapila was tired on a hot sunny day and went to take a nap during the day under the tree. He asked Kashia to look after the cows. Kashia was doing that and after a while he saw a horrific incident. He saw Kapila fast asleep, and a huge Cobra is standing on top of Kapila’s head, as if it’s guarding him. Kashia shouted and the snake fled. Kapila was unaware of this and when Kashia told him about this, le laughed it away. But the elders of the village told them that this omen meant Kapila was no ordinary guy, and he is destined to become someone very renowned, possibly a king. 

Time went on, and during one Rath Yatra, Kapila’s mother took him to Puri to see Jagannath rath yatra. Kapila was enjoying the grand festival when all of a sudden, he was lost. He couldn’t find his mother. He kept looking for her, but in vain. After a while he became hungry and saw some left over prasad lying near Aruna Stmbha (of Temple’s entrance). Kapila started to eat it. Meanwhile King Bhanudeva (the fourth) was childness and was praying Jagannath for a successor to his Ganga dynasty. One day he dreamt of Lord Jagannath telling him that he will find his successor near Aruna Stambha, eating prasad from a broken mud pot (khapara). Luckily, he saw Kapila on that in Puri. The king asked his subjects to incorporate Kapila to their royal army. 

Others in the royal army and ministry however were reluctant to accept Kapila. They could not believe that a cowman from such humble background can become a royal member overnight. But soon Kapila proved them wrong. He developed amazing skill in archery, sword fighting and horse riding. He was equally capable in people management and impressed everyone with his leadership abilities. Soon after Bhanudeva died, On 29^th June 1435, Kapila was crowned as king of Kalinga and thus named, Kapilendra Deva. Bhanudeva was the last king of Eastern Ganga empire, and with Kapilendra Deva, the Gajapati empire started. The word Gajapati literally means the master of Elephants. Kalinga had a huge army of thousands of war elephants who used to make the enemies run away with fear. 

At that time, India was dominated mostly by Islamic sultanates. It was a horrible time for the native population who were always in danger of being prosecuted. The Islamic Sultanates were particularly ruthless towards their subjects and always on the lookout for conquests. Bengal Sultan Muzzafar Mahmud Shah attacked Kalinga with the aim of annexing part of the empire until river Ganga. But Kapilendra Deva led his army to blow a crushing defeat to the Sultan. Kapilendra Deva instead annexed a part of the Bengal Sultanate known as Gouda and added it to the Kalingan territory. Thus, he took up additional title of “Goudeswara” or the Lord of Gouda. Afterwards Kapilendra Deva constructed the Kurumabedha Fort in Gangeswar village, West Bengal which still stands. 

Another of Kapilendra Deva’s successful campaign was against the Bahmani Sultan. In 1456 AD, Humayun Shah became the Sultan of Bahmani and unleashed atrocities against the Hindu population. When his brutalities crossed all limits, the Velama Chiefs rebelled against the Sultan and asked Kapilendra for help. Kapilendra Deva marched against the Bahmani Sultan, and with the help of the Velama chiefs, defeated the army of the Sultan. He took up the title of “Kalabargeswara” afterwards and extended his empire to the south. The Gajapati empire was soon extended until Warangal. He established the Udayagiri Fort (Currently in Andhra) as his southern military headquarters. Gajapati Kapilendra also defended Kalinga from the Muslim Sharqui ruler of Jaunpur. 

Gajapati empire under Kapilendra Deva (in Yellow)

One day, Kashia, his childhood friend paid a visit to him. Kashia was not very hopeful that his best-fiend Kapila will recognize him. Kashia stood outside of the King’s castle and let the guards know about him. The guards relayed this message to Kapilendra. To the amazement of Kashia, Kapilendra deva came over himself to receive him. He was the same down-to-earth Kapila he knew from childhood! The humility of the king amazed many in his empire.

Kapilendra ruled for over 32 years from 1435 AD until his death in 1467. Sarala Das, a great poet who lived at the time of Kapilendra Deva has provided vivid accounts of the military arrangement of Kapilendra Deva’s time. Kapilendra was not only a great warrior and King but was also a very humble person by heart. He was the first King of Odisha who refused to call himself as the King but described himself as the servant (or sevak) of Lord Jagannath. He formally took up the title of Routray which translates to the ‘Chief Servant of Jagannath’. He made many temples across Odisha including the famous Kapileswara Temple. He made many structural enhancements to the Jagannath temple including the Narendra Pokhari in Puri. Thus, a mere cowman became one of the most successful Kings of not just Odisha but also in the whole of India. His story reminds us the proverb that “Sky is the Limit” if you have moral values and are driven towards your goal. Kapila became the great Kapilendra Deva!

Reference: 

1. Kapilendra Deba, by Dr. Godabarish Mahapatra,1931
2. Wikipedia – Kapilendra Deva – Wikipedia
3. Kasia Kapila Katha – Odia Children Story, (3) Kasia Kapila Katha | Odia Children Story | Odia Gapa – YouTube
4. TIFpost: Kapilendra Deva Routray: The Legendary Odia King and founder of Suryavamsa Routray Gajapati Dynasty (tfipost.com)

Importance of Documentation

I work in IT sector. Recently during my project delivery, we had to show a task that is pretty generic, which is done every month. All of us in our team knew the task very well and did it many times before. Our boss one day asked us to provide the documentation of this process. Our question was “Why we need to spend time documenting it?” It was something we do every month. Everyone knows it, and it is very simple. We simply did not see any reason to document it and put the details in paper.  Then our boss explained us, you do it every month that is why it is easy for you. But imagine if you go on holiday, will someone else be ready to do it as accurately as you in your absence?  What if you do not the time to provide Knowledge Transfer? It is therefore required for you to document the details of how you do your task. He also gave the following example of how documenting and recording facts matter for future.

A German company recently ‘developed’ plates out of leaves after 3 years of research! They immediately went on to patent their ‘creation’ on how to make organic plates out of leaves. To every Indian, this might sound odd. Aren’t leaf plates something that we use in India forever now? Is it not something that it known to every Indian? Yes, it is. It is something that is used in India for perhaps thousands of years. But Indians are always poor (or lazy) to record the details of the process, document it, and publish it worldwide. Perhaps they think it is not worth the time, or the thing they know is not significant enough. Or they simply think that everyone already knows it, so why record the details. On the other hand, westerners are excellent in documenting with precise details of every process they follow. Reading and writing is something the west is far better than Indians. 

The Indians however generally have depended on oratory method of transferring knowledge for one to another. What is know as ‘shruti’ which translates to “what is heard”, means in ancient times, Indians would simply oracle pass on the knowledge to the next generation. This was done in “gurukuls” as well as temples. Nothing much was actually written anywhere. That is why you will see very little written evidence from ancient India that has survived. Perhaps just like us, our ancestors thought it was not required. 

Another great example of this would be the case of plastic surgery. In March 1793, in Pune, Indian doctors performed a plastic surgery on a bullock cart driver who was injured in the Anglo-Mysore war. A British doctor was also present at the scene who documented the process with precise details. He took that document to England with details and diagrams. And guess what, in 1816, modern day plastic surgery was ‘invented’ and published. In fact, Indians knew plastic surgery process many centuries before that operation took place in Pune. Sushruta who is known in India as the father of plastic surgery wrote about it in his book Sushruta Samhita around 1000 – 800 BC. But he is not credited for work outside of India. What is most unfortunate that many Indians don’t even know who he was, and what was his contribution towards the mankind. The British took credit of Indian invention just because they could document the details and spread it around the world. 

It is very unfortunate that there is a section (though small) of Indian who simply are in denial of the greatness of their own ancestors. There are few who actually criticized other Indians that state that plastic surgery was invented in India. In my personal opinion the reason they do that is because their own low self-esteem and perhaps they do not understand their own potential in a way. See if you do not believe in yourself, and your own potential, then chances are you will disbelief your ancestors too. But this is strictly my personal opinion as I fail to understand on why one will argue against their own ancestors’ capability without any solid proof.

Now it is not exactly true that nothing was documented. We had, in fact some of the best universities that was known to ancient world. India had universities like Nalanda and Taxila which had thousands upon thousands of books about history, philosophy, science, literature. Students from around the world used to come to these universities to gain knowledge. Details of these universities have been recorded by the Chinese and European historians. Unfortunately, the Islamic invaders destroyed these universities and burnt all the books that were present there. It is said that the books from Nalanda university were burned for days by Bhaktiyar Khilji’s army. He also put most of the scholars from Nalanda university to death so as to prevent the knowledge to spread. Thus, India lost a treasure of knowledge, apart from what survived through memory of Indians. 

Many of the information or knowledge that was passed on orally had always the chance of getting distorted and modified or forgotten. Many such things that survive with Indian as mere ancient practices and customs like applying turmeric to body are simply ridiculed by ‘advanced’ scholars as rudimentary as they are not backed by reasoning and documentation. It is a different matter that the west is realizing the benefits of turmeric now, what was known to Indian for centuries. But again, without proof, or documentation your word cannot be taken as-is!  Whether it is Yoga or Pranayam, the west is not only realizing it’s benefits, but also is able to document and spread the knowledge. Also, while the knowledge is passed on orally in India many superstitions have also crept in some way or form in our belief system and customs. 

It is therefore important to understand why something is done, what is the reason behind it. Also, it is important to document the fact with as much details as possible, with examples, diagrams, references etc. The documentation then needs to be spread and passed on to the future generations so as to spread the knowledge and preserve it in its original form. It can definitely be enhanced; in that case you will have a newer version of the document. Otherwise, someone else will take the credit of your work. Someone else will benefit from the work done by your ancestors while you lag behind. It is important to understand and appreciate your ancestors while building on their legacy. Always remember, your ancestors are living within you, you have their genes, you are the continuation of their bloodline. 

Reference:  The Incredible History of India’s Geography, book by Sanjeev Sanyal, 2015

Religion or Spirituality

By: Sujit Mahapatra

What is the difference? Spirituality and Religion both the terms are used many times by people. We generally do not discriminate between them. But are they the same? No, They are not! They are two very different ideas as it will be explained in this article. While religion is the most used term, spirituality is often misunderstood. People often misunderstand spirituality as part of a particular religion. But spirituality is nowhere linked with religion. Religion can be termed as a way to get closer to [your] God, but spirituality is a way of understanding your soul. Religion and religious differences are the cause of many conflicts, spiritual people will find conflicts within themselves. 

Spirituality deals with understanding of the Soul. Existence of a subtle you, within you! No one can really take you near to your soul, it is already within you. Now priests of a temple or pastors of a church can be religious, but might not be spiritual. They might remember many religious hymns, phrases, books etc, but might not understand their own soul. You don’t need to remember anything to be spiritual. You actually need no outside assistance at all to be spiritual. There are no set rules for spirituality. You need not follow any given procedure, wear, eat, sleep in a certain way. Spirituality deals with the understanding of what is good for you, not just for the short run, but for the long run. Spirituality tells you that the spirit or soul inside of you is immortal, it does not age, it does not die. Spirituality tells you to be brave and do what you believe is good for your soul. There is no soul that actually dies. A soul might change from one body to another, if a body is too old or worn out that it cannot sustain a “life”. 

Religion has many dos and don’ts. For an example, there are many things in islam that is haram or forbidden. There are many wars fought in the name of religion. Wheather it is the islamic jihad, or the crusades, there has been a great deal of violence that has happened because of religion. In fact in ancient India, Ashoka is known to have killed many hundred jains because of his belief in Buddhism. One knowledgeable in history will note that there were many religious prosecution by Muslim inveders and rulers of India. There were many thousands of lives lost, many temples broken, many converted. Is there any “conversion” that is possible in spirituality? No, not at all! There is no your soul vs. mine. Everyone is equally distributed there. Everyone has their own soul, so obviously there are no conflicts there. 

There have been many cases of narratives being built based on religion. For example, After the World War 2, the British wrote the history of the war as is the case with every winning party. It is always the case that the winner writes the history! The symbol of the NAZI party was the Hakenkreuz which translates “Hooked Cross”. Hooked cross is a christian symbol that hitler used in nazi flags, air planes, uniforms etc. But after hitler was defeated and died, the British could not term this symbol as a christian one. So they came up with this idea of calling the hooked cross as Swastika, as both the symbols are somewhat similar. The idea was obviously to hide the fact that hitler was a devout christian and was using a christian symbol in all his wrong doings, especially his prosecution of the jews. This is how religion plays a part in building narratives in ways that are very unfortunate. 

In religion there will always be conflict between right vs. wrong,  Where both parties will think themselves as right! So they obviously will fight against the wrong party. 

This is where spirituality provides a solution. Spirituality is not bound by any religion, any geographical location, any race, etc. Spirituality is individualistic. It is all about you, and you only. It is extremely simple to follow. Unlike religion which can be very complex, and hard to follow. Spirituality simply asks you to sit quietly, and meditate. While meditation is now a widely accepted practice now to reduce stress, increase productivity, it is much more than that. Meditation allows you to immerse yourself to be able to understand the more subtle form of you. Just like being quiet and attentive you can realize your heart is beating, same way taking that to a much deeper extent you can realize your soul. 

It is also important to understand the difference between Philosophy and Spirituality. Philosophy comes from the mind, from your intelligence. Spirituality specifically asks you to relax your mind, try not to use it at all! Spirituality asks to shut down as much physical and mental activity as possible. Meditation is a sure way of spirituality. But meditation too takes time and practice. It is not easy to deeply meditate if you are not used to doing so. You will notice, it is especially difficult for your mind to not to work. Mind is impossible to fully control, but one can try to relax, take deep breaths and focus. You could compare it to the process we follow to go to sleep, the only difference is that during meditation you don’t lose consciousness, you don’t fall asleep. 

Spirituality has many benefits. As explained earlier of all the complexities and conflicts associated with religion, none whatsoever exists in spirituality. Spirituality makes you calm, lessens your ego, makes you a good human being. Part of spirituality is the realization that you are a minute minute part of the colossal cosmos. And also the understanding that happiness or sadness is just how we perceive facts. Physical pain is only to the body, not to the soul. Indeed, your world is just how you perceive it. Spirituality is all about looking inward, rather than outward. Trying to understand what is in you, other than what is outside of you. 

“Be a seeker, not a believer” – Sadhguru

Bira Kalinga, Swatantra Odisha

Bira Kalinga, Swatantra Odisha

By: Sujit Mahapatra

Kalinga warriors: Sculpture from Konark Temple

  Where does Odisha stand now in India? What is it’s position in terms of economy and human development? As of end of 2019,  Odisha’s human development index (HDI) was 0.606, 32nd among all the Indian states. Which is below the national average of 0.645. Odisha’s per capita income as of 2020-2021 was Rs. 1.15 lakhs, which was 26th among all the Indian states. Again well below the national average. Needless to say, Odisha currently can be termed as a (still) backward state in India, though it has progressed fairly well in the last couple of decades. 

But was this always the case? Was Odisha a backward state or region always in history? The short answer is a resounding “No”, “Not at all”! In fact let us go over some of the facts that describe the past glory of Odisha, generally compared to its neighboring regions. This is an attempt to prove the glorious past of our Kalinga (or Utkala) as it was called in the past. The idea is to be able to rekindle the greatness and the self respect in all Odia people to be able to understand who they actually are, how great their forefathers were. 

Mauryan Kingdom of Bindusara (Father of Ashoka)

Most of you might already be aware of Ashoka the Great and his endeavors. You might be aware that it was the dream of Ashoka to conquer Kalinga and assimilate it to his empire. As it can be seen from the picture given above, Ashoka’s father, Bindusara, had conquered almost all regions of India, except Kalinga. Kalinga stood firm against the Mauryan kingdom and remained an independent state until then. So Ashoka took it as his life’s resolution to defeat Kalinga. In 261 BC, The Kalinga war was fought between Ashoka’s army and Kalinga. The Kalingan army fought bravely till their last blood. Thousands prefered to die rather than surrender. In fact so much blood was spilled that the river Daya (in modern day Bhubaneswar) turned red with blood. Ashoka won the war, but the excessive violence allegedly changed his mind to turn away from wars and take the route of Ahimsa. Following the conquest of Kalinga, Ashoka ended the military expansion of the empire. 

Empire of Kharavela

However Kalinga did not remain under the Mauryan Kingdom for long. In the 1st century BCE, Mahameghavahana dynasty was established by Mahameghavahana. The 3rd king of this dynasty, Kharavela the Great, extended his empire by defeating the Mauryan kingdom and merged it to the Kalinga empire. Kharavela ruled over a great part of India as shown in the image above. He has been noted as the strongest king of the Kalinga empire and a true source of Kalingan pride. Kharavela restored many artifacts taken away by Mauryan kings back to Odisha.

The next kingdom of great significance was the Eastern Ganga Dynasty which ruled over Odisha between 6th Century AD and 15th Century AD. The ganga rulers were extremely powerful and efficient rulers. The dynasty consisted of the whole of the state of Odisha as well as major parts of West Bengal, Andhra Pradesh and Chhattisgarh. They are great in people management and built many temples such as Puri Jagannath temple and Konark Sun temple. Under the Ganga rulers, the Odisha culture thrived and reached great heights. Narasimhadeva 1st, the son of Anangabhima, invaded Bengal in 1243, defeated its Muslim ruler, and captured the capital (Gauda), and built the Sun Temple at Konark to commemorate his victory.

During the medieval era however, India was plagued by Islamic invasions. The invaders were ruthless, persistence and had the sole aim to destroy the ancient hindu culture and establish Islam in all of India. Centuries after centuries, 7th century onwards. They plundered India’s wealth, destroyed temples and killed many hindus. Indians fought bravely, but gave up slowly and steadily. Around beginning of the 12th century AD there were many regions of India that were under muslim rule. But Kalinga remained a hindu kingdom under the great kings of Ganga dynasty. 

There were many attacks on Odisha mostly from the Bengal Sultanate from 13th century AD until 16th century. These attacks were done for a sole purpose, to destroy hinduism from Odisha and establish islamic rule. There were many attacks of such nature to destroy the Puri Jagannath Temple, famously by the notorious generals like Kala Pahad and Lal Beg, the father of famous jagannath bhakta Sal Beg. But the Odia kings fought against them with a lot of conviction, with full bravery. The great Paika warriors of Odisha, fought in the name of Jagannath to ward off many such attacks. Odisha could remain independent right until 1567, when Gajapati raja Mukunda Deva finally lost to the infamous general of Bengal sultan, Kala Pahad. Such continuous resistance to islamic forces can also be seen in Assam wherein the great Ahom kings defended their state against Mughal and other islamic invaders. Even in the 17 century Odisha remained a somewhat independent kingdom as a vassal state to the Mughals as shown in the map below from 1640.

Map of India in 1640 AD, Showing Independent Odisha

Odisha has been blessed by many great individuals, both brave and able. Odisha was able to ward off Islamic invasion for approximately 350 long years (between 13th – 16th centuries) and the result of this in infront of us. Neighboring West Bengal hardly has any historical temples or structures standing whereas Odisha is full of ancient Temples. This is because most of those ancient structures have perished during their islamic rule. Odia kings in the meantime were able to save our culture. Our lord Jagannath is not only a symbol of hinduism, but also a symbol of our Odisha itself, our emotion, our pride. Our temples are a reminder to all of us of our glorious past. Our past is a reminder to all of us the greatness of our ancestry, a reminder of who we actually are; resilient, strong, and independent. Let us hope Odisha discovers itself again and scales to even greater heights. Jai Jagannath!

Reference: 

• Odisha state: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Odisha
• Odisha History: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Odisha
• Kharavela: https://blogodia.wordpress.com/2016/12/23/kharavela-the-legend/comment-page-1/
• Muslim conquests of India: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muslim_conquests_in_the_Indian_subcontinent
• History of India: Every year – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QN41DJLQmPk

Choose your Hero carefully

One evening at home, I was going through some twitter posts. A tweet caught my eye in which there was a comparison of some personalities between India and Pakistan. Indians like Sundar Pichai (Google CEO), Satya Nadella (Microsoft CEO) are icons for all Indians and indian-origin folks. But in sharp contrast, some of the well-know terrorists were shown in comparision. 

I immediately asked my son to take a look at the post. He did and asked me, 

“So you think only Pakistan has bad guys? How about India? Is everyone a good guy in India?”

I replied “Not at all! India also has many bad guys. But the difference I guess is that we don’t make them a celebrity.”

But then it struck my mind. There lies the difference! Whom do we consider as a hero? Pakistanis celebrate terrorists like Hafiz Saeed who are most wanted terrorists outside of Pakistan. In contrast, Indians always focus on education and educated people. We Indians always stress on studies and become a “buddhijīvī” or intellectual. The result is in front of all of us. The huge difference in the state Pakistan is in as compared to India is a sure reminder for all of us, ‘Choose your Hero carefully!’ Because your heroes define your identity, whether it is at a personal level or at state level. It will define our future generations. 

Me and Mine

I was driving my car yesterday when I came very close to hitting the roadside curb. For a fraction of a second I was very scared. Maybe I got distracted for a bit and was lucky to escape without any damage. In any case, I told myself “Be careful next time!” and moved on. But then the idea struck me. For that moment I thought “I” was going to get hit. But “I” was never going to get hit, was I? It was my car that would have suffered, not “Me”. “I” was driving my car, the car was not “Me”, was it?

But generally when we drive the car, we feel like the whole car is “Me”. It is something all drivers do consciously or subconsciously. For a good driver, you will have to think of the car as part of your body in order to drive safely. Obviously the car is not “Me”, I am not the car. Maybe the car becomes part of “Me” when I drive it, but then we are separated once I park my car and get out. The car is no longer Me, I am obviously not the car. Once we have lived our current life, we will simply leave this body and take a new one, just like you will buy a new car once your existing car becomes too old.

But then the question comes, Who is this “Me”? Is it my hand that is Me, or maybe the head? Ok is the whole body is Me? Am I my body? My Mind? No! I am my soul or Atma. My atma is me, it drives my mind, my mind drives my body. Just like “I” was driving my car while traveling, The soul is driving my mind and my body during this lifetime. Once my life is over, “I” will leave my body, leave my mind. So the body is “Mine”, but the body is not “Me”. We are so immersed in our lives that we do not understand the difference anymore. We feel like the body is “Me”, so we are too worried about old age or dying.

One of the prime aspects of meditation or Dhyana is to be able to understand the existence of your soul. To understand the fact that the body is not me, even the mind is not me. What is the real “Me” is far deeper and far superior than my body. Just like a good driver takes care of his car, a good human being should take care of his body but not get too bogged down by it. That is why it is important to remind yourself every now and then, “I am not the body, not the mind”. This will help us remember our true self is the atma that is indestructible, atma will live forever.

Just like the car is mine, but I am not the car. Always remember “The body is yours, but you are not the body”. Om Tat Sat??

Reference: “Karma: A Yogi’s Guide to Crafting Your Destiny”, Sadhguru, 2021

Bhakt Salabeg

(Bhakta Salabega)

By: Sujit Mahapatra

Puri Temple, Odisha

Salabega was born into a Muslim father and Brahmin mother in the 17th Century Odisha. His father Lal Beg alias Jahangir Quli Khan was a military officer in the Mughal army under Jahangir.  Lalbeg forcefully abducted and then married Lalita, Salbeg’s mother during one of his raids on Odisha to attack Jagannath temple of Puri. Lalita never relinquished her Hindu faith even if she was married to a non-hindu. Even though Salabeg was muslim by religion, he was hindu by sentimate, specially due to his mother’s teachings during his childhood. Salabeg learned about Lord Krishna and Lord Jagannath from his mother, and his devotion toward Krishna started very early in his life. 

In medival India, the Muslim rulers and inveders were extremely ruthless. Their aim was to conquer as much land as possible by force. Those muslim rulers believed in demolishing Hindu idols and temples and convert Hindus, in order to eradicate Hinduism from India, and establish India as an islamic state. Salabeg started in the Mughal Army just like his father and was gravely injured during a battle. He was bed ridden for many days. Despite top level care and medicines, his wounds will not heal. He prayed to Krishna bhagwan to cure him as advised by his mother. Miraculously he was cured. This made him dedicate his life to the devotion of Lord Krishna. 

Salabega wrote many devotional poems to celebrate Radha and Krishna. Salabega did not forget to celebrate any aspect of the immortal love affair of Radha and Krishna. The beauty of Radha and the glamor of Krishna have been variously depicted in the poems written by him. Multiple moods of the lovers have been harped on. Sometimes Radhika burns within with a deep sense of hurt born out of love (abhiman) and refuses even to look at the face of the naughty Krishna. Salabega’s bhajan is an amazing celebration of the immortal love between Radha and Krishna. It is as though the gods and goddesses were made to realize the significance of human relationships, human bondages. Situations of separation, misunderstanding, teasing, suspecting, and doting and wooing all these human aspects involved in love have been so candidly portrayed that one cannot but appreciate the ingenuity of Salabega‘s intuitive study of the human psyche.

When Salabega‘s faith in Lord Krishna deepened, a saint advised him to visit Srikshetra or Puri. Inspired by the saint’s words, Salabega went to Puri, but he was denied access to the temple because non-Hindus were not allowed to enter Puri Jagannath Temple. When Salabega was detained at the gate, he wept inconsolably and prayed to the lord to see his face. Standing there at the gate, warm tears rolled down his cheeks, his lips trembling with prayers. At last the heart of the Lord melted away. So he could not remain inside the temple when a devotee was weeping at the gate. He appeared at the gate to render darshan to Salabega. After this meeting Salabega was certain that there existed no difference between his Lord Krishna and Lord Jagannath. After this heart-stirring incident, an idol of the Lord was installed at the Lion’s gate of the temple for the non-Hindus to have darshan and the mercy of the Lord. The statue at the gate is still in place and can be seen from the Aruna stambha or the monolithic stone pillar in front of the temple. Salabega kept praying to Lord Jaganath and wrote many poems or prayers for him. His bhajan “Ahe Nila Saila” is considered one of the greatest bhajan written on Jagannath. Prayers written by him are used for devotion to gods throughout Odisha. 

Patita Pabana Jagannath view from Aruna Stamba

In another instance, Salabega was in Vrindavana when he learned that Jagannath Rath Yatra was not very far away. He knew that this was his chance to see the actual figure of Lord Jagannath. So without wasting any time Salabega started off from Vrindavan to Srikhetra Puri on foot. On the way he felt exhausted, so to draw inspiration, he wrote the famous prayer “Jagabandhu he Gosain”. Salabega took very little rest on his way, but was still not in Puri when the world famous Rath Yatra started. But miraculously, Jagannath’s rath (chariot) stopped on the way. In Spite of many people trying to pull the cart, having elephants to help, all Bhajana and Kirtana, Nandighosha (the cart of Lord Jagannath) refused to move. Only after Salabega reached Puri, the chariot started moving. All other devotees were astonished at this event, and started calling Salabega as the greatest devotee of Lord Jagannath. As it is said in odia “Bhakta pain Bhagaban”, the god is always with his devotee. God always takes care of those who surrender their lives to the lord.

Salabega spent the rest of his life in Puri, writing devotional songs to praise the Lord. After Salabeg’s death, his Samadhi (grave) was erected on Badadanda (Grand Trunk Road) of Puri, and a small temple was created on the grave near the Balagandi Chata Matha. Every year during Ratha Yatra, the chariots take a break in front of his Samadhi to pay tribute to the great devotee of the Lord. Even if Salabeg was not a Hindu by religion, his legacy as a great worshiper of Jagannath far exceeds many hindus. His legacy is unprecedented, proving that devotion is above all religious beliefs. Salabega himself referred to himself as a Muslim, but still surrendered himself to Lord Jagannath. As the phrases of his poem goes, “Kahe Salabega hina jati re mu jabana, Sriranga Charana tale karu achi Janana….”. Which means, “I am Salabega, a Muslim by religion, I am praying to the lotus feet of Lord Jagannath”. 

Some of the best Jana or prayers of bhakta Salabega are, 

• Jagabandhu he gosain, tumbha sri charana binu anya gati nahin ….
• Chala Sakhi Ambhe Darshana Kariba, Nila Giri Kalia Ku …..
• Aahe Nila Shaila; Prabala matta barana …..
• Kahinki Asichu Mana, Kisha Naba Pain Re ……
• And many more

Through the life of Salabega one can understand the importance of devotion in life. Devotion is one of the gists of Bhagwat Gita as well, also known as Bhakti Yoga. Salabega was a staunch devotee of Lord Jagannath. Devotion made him transcend the boundaries of religion and produce some of the best devotional literature of Odia. We all should learn from the life of Salabega that to understand the god, his greatness, devotion and complete surrender is the easiest way. By completely surrendering oneself, we can therefore cross the human boundaries and experience the divine. Even now, when one hears a Bhajana of Salabega, his/her heart is filled with love, and with containment. We are all but thankful to the great souls like Salabega who have led the way for us all, to follow the path of worship. Being a son of a Tyrant, whose purpose was to destroy hindu faith, Salabega became one of the brightest stars towards conserving and spreading the glory of hindu gods like Jagannath and Krishna. The leela of god is indeed beyond all of us!

Reference: 

•  ‘Salabeg A Great Muslim Devotee Of Lord Jagannatha‘ by Chandan Yatra Das, 2021
• ‘Salabega’ by Mohanty Niranjan, 1996
• ‘ଭକ୍ତକବି ସାଲବେଗ: ଜୀବନୀ ଓ ପଦ୍ୟାବଳୀ’ by Nilamani Mishra, 1966

Breaking of temples during Muslim Rule of India

A broken sculpture in Bhubaneswar, Odisha

Below are a list of instances of Hindu Temples broken during the Long and disastrous Muslim rule over India. Most of these are extracted from various books written by prominent british writers during the British rule of India before 1947. Each of these accounts are presented with the relevant extract from the book.

1. From Page 28 of “HISTORY OF INDIA” by JOHN CLARK MARSHMAN, 1873 — “He (Altumsh) captured Oojein (Ujjain), the venerable capital of Vikramadityu and destroyed his magnificent temple of Muhakal, and sent the images to Delhi to be mutilated and placed as steps of his great mosque”.

2. From Page 38 of “HISTORY OF INDIA” by JOHN CLARK MARSHMAN, 1873 — “Seunder Lodhi’s reign) was marked by the oppression of the Hindoos, whose pilgrimages he prohibited, and whose temples he demolished in every direction, erecting mosquos with the materials,”

3. From “HISTORY OF INDIA” book by JOHN CLARK MARSHMAN, 1873. Describing how Aurangzeb destroyed temples in Banaras and used the idols as stairs of the mosques.

4. An account of Bengal general ‘Kala Pahad’ demolishing hindu temples and idols in #Odisha in 1558. From Page 112 of ‘History of Orissa’ book by Andrew Sterling, 1846 

5. Atrocities on Hindus by Tipu Sultan from the book ‘Haidar Ali And Tipu Sultan’ by Lewin Bowring, 1893. Detailing how #tipusultan destroyed temples in Malabar and Travancore.

6. Tipu’s atrocities in shrirangpatnam. Page 62 From the book ‘Captives Of Tipu Survivors Narratives’ by Lawrance A W, 1929.

7. Account of mosque constructed on top of a temple from Jajpur in #Odisha. From  “Orissa: Its Geography, Statistics, History, Religion and Antiquities” by Andrew Sterling, 1846, Page 137

8. AN example from #Odisha, “He pulled down the shrine and ordered the image of god Krishna to be broken into fragments and cast into gutter.” From: ‘HISTORY OF THE JAGANNATH TEMPLE’, 1958, A.N. Dwivedi

9. Destruction of #NalandaUniversity from the book  ‘University of Nalanda’ by Hasmukh Sankalia, 1934, Page 124

10. account of destruction of #NalandaUniversity from the book  ‘University of Nalanda’ by Hasmukh Sankalia, 1934, Page 207

11. Terrorism in medieval era by Mahmud of Gazni on Somnath Temple. From ‘History Of India’ book By H. M, Elliot, 1869, Page 524. 

12. Another account of creation of mosque on top of destroyed temple by Jahangir. From ‘Memoirs Of The Emperor Jahangueir Vol Ii’ by Price Major David, Page 25 

13. Another evidence of Qutub Minar built on a Temple. From ‘Seven cities of Delhi’ book by Gordon Hearn, 1938, Page 25.

14. Another account of Aurangzeb converting a Temple in Ahmedabad to mosque. From ‘India In The Seventeenth Century’ book by J. Ovington, 1689, Page 17

15. Temple existence under Qutub Minar, Delhi. Details From ‘Guide to the Qutab Delhi’ book by J.A. Page, 1927, Plate I, Page 66.

From same book, Page 64

16. Evidence of Jama Masjid of Delhi built on a Temple. From ‘Archaeology and monumental remains of Delhi’ by Corr Stephen, 1876, Page 40 

17. Fragments from Somnath temple’s idol placed on Jama Masjid’s stairs by Khilji. From ‘Archaeology and monumental remains of Delhi’ by Corr Stephen, 1876, Page 68

1. In the northern side of the Banaras (varanasi) city there are several Muhammadan mosques which have been built out of the remains of temples. From ‘Benares, the sacred city’ book by E. B. Havell, 1905, Page 202

1. An account of Mahmood Gazni destroying Idol of Somnath Temple.

From ‘The History Of The Indian Empire – Volume I’ book by R. Montgomery Martin, 1860, Page 67

1. Akbar Plundering Temple of Chittor after his conquest. From ‘The History Of The Indian Empire – Volume I’ book by R. Montgomery Martin, 1860, Page 111

https://archive.org/details/TheHistoryOfTheIndianEmpire-VolumeI/page/110/mode/2up

1. Shah Jahan Destroying Temples and Killing Brahmins. From ‘The History Of The Indian Empire – Volume I’ book by R. Montgomery Martin, 1860, Page 129

https://archive.org/details/TheHistoryOfTheIndianEmpire-VolumeI/page/128/mode/2up

1. Murshed Kuli Khan of Murshidabad destroying temples. From ‘The History Of The Indian Empire – Volume I’ book by R. Montgomery Martin, 1860, Page 240

https://archive.org/details/TheHistoryOfTheIndianEmpire-VolumeI/page/240/mode/2up

1. Alamgir Mosque, Varanasi (Aurangzeb Mosque in Banaras) built on a Vishnu temple. From ‘India Pictorial and Descriptive’ book by Davenport Adams, W H, 1888. Page 138, 141

Mosque created on Temple in Kendrapada, #Odisha by Sayyid Muhammad Ghaus under Aurangzeb’s rule. From ‘History of Orissa’ by Banerji, 1931, Page 56.

Ancient Wonder: Atharnala Bridge, Puri

   One of the great pieces of ancient engineering is the Atharnala bridge (18 canals bridge) that is over the Madhupur stream at the entrance to Puri. The bridge is said to be built by Bhanu Deva I in 13th Century AD. It is amazing to see such brilliant work of engineering almost a thousand years back. 

  Below is the description and drawing of this bridge from the book published by Asiatic Society (Calcutta, India) in 1799.

 “The  Athareh or  eighteen  naleh  bridge,  at  Puri ;  the  Char  naleh,  in  the  same  neighbour- hood ;  the  bridge  at  Delang,  and  another  over  the  D(a)ya,  between  Khorda and Pipley.  They  are  generally  termed  indifferently  by  foreigners,  Mogul  and Marhatta  bridges,  but  the  latter  race  during  their  unsettled  and  disturbed government  in  Cuttack,  certainly  never  constructed  works  of  so  useful  and durable  a  character,  and  besides  the  fact  that  the  history  of  some  of  the principal  ones  is  well  known,  it  is  quite  obvious  from  a  consideration  of their  style  and  architectural  ornaments,  that  they  are  of  pure  Hindu  origin, and  belong  to  an  age  ignorant  of  the  use  of  the  arch.  A  short  description of  the  Athareh  naleh  bridge  at  Puri,  will  serve,  to  illustrate  sufficiently  this part  of  the  subject.  It  was  built  of  a  ferruginous  colored  stone,  probably the  iron  clay,  early  in  the  fourteenth  century,  by  Raja  Kabir  Narsinh  Deo, the  successor  of  Langora  Narsinh  Deo  who  completed  the  black  Pagoda (Konark). The  Hindus,  being  ignorant  how  to  turn  an  arch,  substituted  in  lieu  of  it  the method,  often  adverted  to  above,  of  laying  horizontal  tiers  of  stones  on  the piers,  the  one  projecting  slightly  beyond  the  other  in  the  manner  of  invert- ed stairs  until  they  approach  near  enough  at  top,  to  sustain  a  key  stone  or cross  beam ;  a  feature  so  remarkable  in  Hindu  architecture,  that  it  seems strange  it  should  not  have  been  hitherto  particularly  noticed,  in  any  des- cription of  the  antiquities  of  the  country.  The  bridge  has  eighteen  nalehs  or passages  for  the  water,  each  roofed  in  the  way  described.  Its  total  length is  290  feet,  and  height  of  the  central  passage  eighteen  feet,  and  iUs  breadth fourteen  ditto;  of  the  smallest  ones,  at  each  extremity,  thirteen  and  seven respectively ;  and  the  thickness  of  the  piers, which  have  been  judiciously rounded  on  the  side  opposed  to  the  current,  eight  and  six  feet;  the  height of  the  parapet,  which  is  a  modern  addition,  is  six  feet.”

Reference: 

1. Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atharanala
2. Asiatic researches, or, Transactions of the Society instituted in Bengal for inquiring into the history and antiquities, the arts, sciences and literature of Asia, 1799, https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_ASgoAAAAYAAJ/page/n357/mode/2up