Land of the Gods

Before the arrival of the Mughals, Afghans, Islam, Ashoka, and Buddhism, Kashmir was called Deva Bhoomi or the Land of the Gods by the Brahmins. And, after witnessing the extraordinary beauty of this land, no one can question the reasoning behind the decision of the Gods to make this their home. The Pandavas and Draupadi, too, made their home here for a short while, and their royal palaces and sleeping and bathing chambers still remain just outside of the state’s capital of Srinagar. I was surprised to learn how many of the Hindu stories I was raised with had taken place on this holy soil. Shrines so ancient that their age cannot be placed have been erected to mark these events. I began unearthing these towards the tail end of my trip and describe here a few of the many significant places I was able to visit.

Just one mile outside of Pahalgam, the gem of Kashmir in my opinion, crowned by the “children” of the Himalayas, is the fascinating, yet petite Mamaleshwar Temple, dedicated to Lord Shiva. According to Hindu tales, Ganesha, when he was still a young boy, was asked by his mother, Parvati, to stand guard while she bathed in a natural spring that still flows into a basin at the front of the temple today. She demanded that no one, under any circumstances, be granted entry until she had said so. Shiva, who had arrived in disguise, demanded entry, to which Ganesha defiantly denied him. Some would say the temple derives its name from this, ‘Mam mal’ meaning, ‘Don’t go.’ In anger, Shiva decapitated him, leaving Parvati in utter remorse and despair. To appease her, Shiva agreed to bring Ganesha back to life with the head of the first creature he saw, which of course, was an elephant. This is how Ganesha or Pillaiyar became the elephant-headed God in Hinduism. Of course, all Hindu tales, including this one, are symbolic of life’s grander lessons, which I won’t attempt to go into here. The landmarks of its stories, however, are marked by miraculous events and concentrated levels of energy derived from the faith and prayers of worshippers.

Mamaleshwar Temple houses a Lingam, for which rituals are still conducted by a pandit in the mornings and evenings. The temple also contains extremely old panels and sculptures depicting other deities. When I reached the temple, milk from the drip above was still pouring over the lingam, and unlike in most temples, devotees are permitted to enter the adhimoolam or the center of the temple and touch the statues during worship. The devotee in me was overwhelmed by this experience as I fought the urge to tightly hug the Lingam.

Mamaleshwar Temple in Pahalgam


The Shiva Lingam within

The inner chamber of the temple, ancient panels at the side

On route from Pahalgam to Srinagar, we stopped at two other sites of importance. The first was the Mattan Temple, dedicated to Lord Surya, the Sun. Alongside the original Surya temple and statue of the Sun depicted in human form, is a more recently constructed temple and statue. In front of the temples is a massive basin of crystal blue waters, crowded with catfish, considered to be holy by Muslims, Sikhs, and Hindus alike. This temple is not to be mistaken with the original Mattan temple in Martand, of which only ruins are left, though reminiscent of the skillful architecture of the time. It was built by King Lalitaditya of the Surya (Sun) dynasty, ostensibly in the 700s AD. Unfortunately, I missed seeing its stunning ruins this time around.

Mattan Temple, dedicated to the Sun

The Sun, depicted as Surya Man

The older Surya statue

Small shrine in the basin, shivalingam enshrined

Close up of the Lingam

Even more spectacular were the ruins of the Avantisvamin temple, dedicated to Lord Vishnu, in Avantipur, constructed by King Avantivarman of the Utpala dynasty in 853 AD. It is widely believed that this site was a sacred center even before the construction of the temple here. The king had constructed several temples in the region, Avantiswara, dedicated to Lord Shiva, being another renowned one just down the road from the Avantisvamin temple. The temples were constructed in very similar styles, resembling courtyards enclosed by arches and columns, 69 to be exact, with varied forms of the deity enshrined within each. At the center of the “courtyard” is the main shrine, built on a double base with four subsidiary shrines at the corners. Reliefs and panels have been sculpted into the stairwells, sidewalls, and rails, ornamenting the entire temple grounds. Sadly, very little of the superstructure or adhimoolam remains, however, the central shrine once contained a four-armed Vishnu, its whereabouts unknown to me. Other prominent figures include those of the holy rivers, Yamuna and Ganga with their respective vahanas, the king and queen with their attendants, Kamadeva with his consorts, and Ardhanarisvara (!). While some sculptures are preserved in the S.P.S. museum in Srinagar, many, inconsolably, were lost during the pillaging and destruction during foreign invasion.

Entrance to the Avantisvamin Temple

Sculpture of Ganga in human form

The ruins of the temple and the main shrine at the center

2 of the 69 arched cells in which statues of the deity once were enshrined

Kamadeva with his consorts

Apsaras, female demigods, carved into the stairwells

The columns and broken archways of the temple, very similar to Greek architecture

Base of broken columns, again simiar to Greek architecture

Sculpted railings

Maybe the king, maybe Kamadeva?

Intricately sculpted pillars of the archways

Structural supports, resembling rectangular lingams

Beautifully sculpted panels

Upon arrival in Srinagar and after another delicious, mouthwatering Kashmiri lunch, my appetite for immersing amidst these ancient sites was not yet satiated. We moved on to the next shrine at Hari Parbat. After a drawn out questioning by the army, who guard all major Hindu sites, I finally made my way up a remaining set of stairs to the shrine. It is believed that the Goddess Sharika, an 18-armed form of the Goddess Shakthi or the Divine Mother, manifested herself in the form of a Shilla (natural rock formation). The Chakreshwar shrine was built to enclose the Shilla for preservation and worship. The large, orange formation depicts the back of the Goddess, seated on a lion. On her back is believed to be a natural protrusion in the shape of the Sri Chakra Yantra. If you know me well, well then you can imagine by excitement to see this symbol here and all over the walls of the shrine! It is, by far, the symbol of Hinduism that resonates most deeply with me and captures the essence of existence cosmically, mathematically, and philosophically. The ‘Sri Yantra,’ as it is commonly referred to by Hindus, is composed of circles and lotus petals and contains nine independent triangles mystically drawn, one within the other. The four triangles pointed upwards represent Shiva (the male force), while the other five triangles pointed downwards represent Shakthi (the female force). The intersecting triangles represent the play of creation, protection, and absorption of the whole universe by the pure divine force known as Sudha Shakthi. The central point in the chakra is the Bindhu, which symbolizes the union of Shiva with Shakthi. It is one of the most densely meaningful, yet concurrently, most simplistically designed symbol that captures it “all”.

Entrance to the Chakreshwar Shrine

The enshrined Sharika Shilla

The Sharika Shilla

Where meditators claim to see the natural Sri Yantra

The last place I could visit before closing times was the Shankaracharya Temple, overlooking Kashmir Valley and the Dal Lake. This petite temple is believed to have been originally constructed as early as the 5th century BC by the Pandavas themselves and is situated at the very top of the Gopadari Hill, now known as the Takht-e-Suleiman. The temple, before Shankaracharya’s visit, was known as the Jyesteshwara Temple and is dedicated to Lord Shiva. It, too, contains a Lingam, which can be touched by worshippers, and is considered to be the oldest shrine in the Kashmir Valley. Here, too, I felt significantly humbled and emotionally overwhelmed to be literally rubbing shoulders with the divine and with history. The top of the temple provides one of the grandest panoramic views of the entire valley. Most of the sites did not allow photography, and I was left with the option of purchasing postcards and photos of the shrines and the deities within, which I will hopefully scan and upload here soon.

Hazy view of the Shankaracharya Temple

Photo from http://www.rainbowskill.com/ of the Shankaracharya Temple

In the meantime, those interested can visit the many websites describing the many wonders of the ancient Hindu world of Kashmir. One I referred to while there was http://ikashmir.net/temples/index.html, which also describes some of the holiest pilgrimage sites of the religion, including Kheer Bhawani, dedicated to the Goddess, whose waters turn black during significant events of turmoil in the world, the Amarnath Caves, believed to be 5,000 years old, in which an ice stalagmite resembling the Shiva Lingam rises and falls with the phases of the moon, and the Mata Vaishno Devi shrine, where statues depicting the three primary forms of the Goddess, Durga, Laxmi, and Saraswati, are worshipped. Kashmir is a gem and a wonder I can’t wait to return to and continue exploring.