'Me’, Sheetlesvara - The Sheetalnath

English translation of the original paper written in Hindi by (Embedded image moved to file: pic02469.jpg)IMG_0406.JPG
Dr. Triloki Nath Ganjoo In Sheetal Nath rendered by S. N. Pandit Several thousand years ago ‘my’ present day boundaries formed the edges of small lake whose one end lay as far as the Brihad Vihara, the modern day Badiyar. To cross this stretch, a foot-over bridge comprising of wooden planks was made by the members of the Razdan clan. To ‘my’ north is the temple of Mangalaesvara Bhairava situated on a mound. But nay, it may be more appropriate to call it a place of belief and faith worthy of devotion and worship. Perhaps, past seventeen years, all of you may have forgotten ‘me’; but trust me, even for a single moment none among you has receded from my thoughts, for ‘I’ am the forlorn and neglected historical precinct of the Sathu Sheetalnath Bhairav. About two thousand five hundred years ago ‘my’ geographical location and the topography of the nearby locales was interestingly very different and beautiful. On ‘my’ south-west stood the magnificent and imposing temple of Gourisvari where the festive celebration was held on the third day of the moon-lit fortnight during the month of January. However, after 1390 A.D. the temple was never to be seen again! Only a heap of stone rubble now marks its location. The place now called Gowkadal is but a reminder to perpetuate the hallowed memory of this Gouri temple. Nearby flows Chuntkual, the Candrakuliya of olden times and seen as the outlet to modern Dal Lake, formerly known as Mahasarit or the Satadal, and flowing further in the west meets the river Vitasta at Dubhuja, presently known as Duboonch. To ‘my’ south across the Candrakuliya lies the locality of Makshikasvamin, the present day Maisama. This is the abode of Anandaesvara Bhairav. Nearby, between the eight and eleventh century, on the bank of the Vitasta river stood a great centre of knowledge and learning. It was here Acharaya Abhinave Gupta, in the temple of Bhairava, composed his devotional hymns in the praise of the Lord. To ‘my’ north is the temple of Mangalaesvara Bhairava situated on a mound. But nay, it may be more appropriate to call it a place of belief and faith worthy of devotion and worship. Around it spreads a small lake called Bhattarika Nadvali known presently by the modern name of Brari Nambal. About two thousand years ago, the then king of Kashmir, Pravarasena, erected here a strong embankment to secure his capital city Pravesa Nagri from the devastating flood waters of Candrakuliya, the present day Chuntkual. This embankment erected by him stretched nearly a mile long and originated on the right side of Durga Galika, the modern day Drugian onward right of Chuntkual rivulet reaching right up to the Gourisvari temple or the modern Gowkadal. As a result, the raised ground to the north of the embankment came to be known by the name of Sathu. Right in ‘my’ front, towards the west above the riverbed, came up the locality of Ganit Vihara presently called as Ganpatyar. The Brihad Vihara or the modern Badiyar in the north is an ancient habitation. Several thousand years ago ‘my’ present day boundaries formed the edges of small lake whose one end lay as far as the Brihad Vihara, the modern day Badiyar. To cross this stretch, a foot-over bridge comprising of wooden planks was made by the members of the Razdan clan. It was called as Razdan Kadal. In the south-west ‘my’ lake-waters spread from Gowkadal to Basant Bagh. In those days all the present day habitated areas beyond the Rattan Rani Hospital did not exist. Only the beautiful lake waters spread in the beyond. Those who loved ‘me’ called this stretch as Gundahlad Math which as a result of colloquia corruption of the tongue is now known as Gundahlamar. Not too far away to ‘my’ south-west lies an island spot called Kashram Teng. During the eighth century this place was inhabited by the Brahmans of the Kaushik Gotra who had come here from Central India. Here, they laid many magnificent gardens. As a result people called these gardens as ‘Kaushik Retreats’ or simply the ‘Kaushik Gardens’. The area being situated on a mound, as such subsequently came to be called as ‘Tengs’ due to the aberrations of the tongue. Off-course, as Sheetlesvara Sheetalnath, ‘I’ do not count among the eight Bhairava Lords, but for thousands of years i.e. right from the beginning of the auspicious Kashmir Samvat era, Kashmir has been a seat of the followers of the Sakta religion. The Nilamatapurana too attests this belief by attributing the name of Kashmir as Parvati Taej. In the olden times all the ascetics of Kashmir before beginning their penance would pay a visit to ‘my precinct’ to attain equanimity of their physical mental and expounded attributes. It is for these reasons. From times immemorial to 1990 A.D., ‘I’ have become a seat of action for the intellectual and social reformists. The Gowd Brahmans of India now called as Gandhyas have been my staunch followers. Acharaya Sukhananda Shastri had given the ancient holy scroll of ‘my’ autobiographical text to late Pandit Tara Chand and his brother. In fact the way that led to ‘my precinct’ passed through an adjacent lane where they lived. On a mound nearby ‘me’ stood a temple of dedicated Bhairava architecture which in 1766 A.D. was raised to the ground by the Afghans of Kabul. Even now, the strewn debris of it lies buried at the spot. The event dates to the time when ascetics and sages, on way to the Amaresvara pilgrimage, would assemble at the high ground situated in the north. It is probable that religious intolerance and bigotry for such a tradition may have led to the destruction of the temple here and is attested by the fact that whenever Siddhakak Ji Khounmashi would offer his routine prayers to ‘me’, he invariably recited the verse: Sheetlaesvara aarambya amaresvara pooryantam meaning from sheetalnath to amaranth. Following land settlement and survey of the Kashmir Valley by the English civil servant Mr. Lawrence, total land, measuring seven hundred Kanals, was appropriated to my campus and the file which retained this record was available in the archives till 1947 A.D. Occasionally, ‘I’ would reassert the claim and remain reassured by verification of the land appropriated to ‘me’. However, regretfully, ‘I’ recall the unlawful annexation of my land measuring nearly three to four hundred Kanals by the erstwhile Dogra minister late Paras Ram and his family members. My land assets situated in the Mandir Bagh area were grabbed by the Madans. The spread of ‘my’ area extended to Barbar Shah in Gowkadal. In fact the sinister design to grab unlawfully the land appropriated to me began with the misdemeanor of the Arazbeg family who lived near Barbar Shah Embankment. As a result, the campus repeatedly got sub divided in a manner as is narrated in the proverbial cat and monkey story. Today the prime portion of ‘my’ land is held under the massive structure of buildings, bungalows and mansions. Gradually ‘my’ area squeezed just to the stretch that extends to the former minister late Pyare Lal Handoo’s boundary walls enclosing the north, south and western sides of his house. In the south, where a footpath winds on ‘my’ very own land, barbed wire fencing with a big hoarding has come up illegally to demarcate the Rishi Park. At the south-east end, half a Kanal of land has been grabbed by Haji Son Makru and a Kanal has simply become a thoroughfare for public passage! Some members of the Sheetalnath Sabha have swallowed the returns of rent that accrues from the school and by granting renewed and fresh lease have simply become fat with the lap. The temple here is closed since 1990 A.D. The priest, worshipers and the effects ordained for worship, all the three are either absconding or else have deserted ‘me’. The complete name of the Hindu School is simply reduced to H. High School. ‘I’ feel by hearing my tale of woes, you may be bored with disinterest. But my woes do not end here, since ‘I’ continue to be the past, present and yet to come historical land mark of the Kashmiri Pandit community. ‘My’ tragedy at present is caused by a self proclaimed usurper named Shri Gulbod who, following his pivotal role in having greased the palms of well meaning members of the Sheetalnath Sabha with a bribe of rupees one lakh, thinks ‘I’ am his fiefdom. Two years ago Shri Gulbod did not allow Shri Sri Ashok even to place his foot in ‘my’ precinct. [‘Me’, Sheetalesvara Sheetalnath ever since 1340 A.D. right up to 1818 A.D. have withstood the horrors of barbaric history. Between 1818 and 1947 A.D., when ‘I’ had just recovered from the horrendous onslaughts, ‘I’ yet again fell to the cruel hands of time, only to stand on the cross road of history. In fact ‘My’ very existence came under threat during the fierce 1931 up-rise. In order to safeguard my identity. ‘I’ raised my own slogan : “We too have a right to exist”] In return a howling cry of hatred and challenge rand the air. “Kashmiri Pandits –vanish or perish.’ “Kashmiri Pandits – leave your home and hearth.” “Kashmiri Pandits – let your identity dissolve, lose thy name by taking to the faith of the majority.” Before the early decades of the twentieth century, many a reformists and social activists including late Shri Hargopal and others who held the banner of social reform afloat, did not raise their voice of concern from ‘my’ precinct. In fact they had no permanent banner under which they stood. Of course, the historic event when the ‘brave man of action’ – Kashyap Bandhu offered the supreme sacrifice of his blood, drained after incising his finger, during the foundation laying ceremony of the Sharika Bhawan in ‘my’ very precinct ushered a unique new chapter in the history of Kashmiri Pandits. Witnessing the establishment of the All India Kashmir Hindu Yuva Sanatan Dharma Sabha, simply overwhelmed ‘me’. The moment connoted a clarion call of the social resurgence. It followed with the publication of the Martanda newspaper in Urdu that represented the mute and muffled voice of the Kashmiri Pandit community. And following the public spirited Kashyap Bandhu Ji, many a leaders with zest and zeal like Shri Fotedar, Shri Teng, Shri Kilam, Shri Dar, Shri Jalali (Kaul), Shri Bhat and others carried the mission from this very platform. Their voice still echoes in ‘my’ ears! From thisvery seat of the Sheetalesvara Sheetalnath, both Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru and Shrimati Indira Gandhi addressed their rallies. And from here only late Shri Nehru Ji sounded the impending danger when he stated, “If suddenly and somehow the security assurances of Maharaja Hari Singh give away, think, what all can happen then’’! From here, the Pakhtoon leader of west India, Badshah Khan, too made his speech. ‘I’ know that you may not have forgotten the event of the great Indian nationalist Veer Savarkar’s visit to ‘me’. Before he took to the speech podium, ‘I’ recall, he prostrated at the temple altar here, and drank the libation offered to him by Srikanth Bansri-the priest, and only afterwards took his steps towards the podium to make the speech. ‘I’ have seen here, the man of ages, Mahatma Gandhi, calm and serene. It was a Monday, the day to observe silence for Gandhi Ji. So he did not speak at all, instead Sheikh’s wife late Begum Sahiba spoke at length. In September 1947, as a result of the raid by Pakistan based tribal, many Hindus of north-west Kashmir had to flee from there. Hindu and Sikhrefugees thronged Srinagar. Even though there were few places for rehabilitation, yet arrangements were made to accommodate them. The Jammu & Kashmir Sudhar Samiti played a vital role in this task. For next five years, the platform abounding ‘my’ precinct remained an active ground of action. Trust ‘me’, Sheetallesvara Sheetalnath is neither a temple nor a place of worship, nor is it to be looked simply as a piece of land, but indeed it is the sacrificial ground of the Kashmiri Hindus. Following the sinister Paramesvari episode, one is reminded of the sacrifice of those martyred and claimed by the brute force of the government in which innocent and unarmed men were shot to death while the hapless women became the victims of criminal acid-spray as the innocent Hindu girl was abducted at the point of rape. This happened despite Shrimati Indira Gandhi being the Prime Minister, who however, remained a mute spectator to these events. Raising the voice of concern about these happenings, the then President of the erstwhile Jana Sangha, Professor Balraj Madhok thundered to remind that “the medieval Islamic barbarity still remained to be undone.” ‘I’ Sheetalesvara Sheetalnath have not forgotten anything, have been witness from ‘my’ very own precinct to two annual festivals dedicated to ‘me’. The first one that marked ‘my birthday’ was held on Basant Panchmi when the entire campus would remain covered by a blanket of white snow, but still the enthusiastic crowd thronged the venue. And while the smoke from the sacrificial fire spread in all the four directions, the children amused themselves with fire-crackers and pelting of snow-balls with mirth and frolic. Amidst the chanting of the Vedic hymns and verses dedicated to Bhairva, the fragrant aura and aromatic ambience emanating from the temple complex enticed one to all enthralled feelings of the senses. A day before Jammashtami, a large number of decorated tableau would assemble in ‘my’ precinct and from there roll out in a festive procession through the main bzaars only to return to the very same spot by the sunset. Holding flutes, the smiling young boys simply felt overjoyed and bewildered to play Sri Krishna. Various streets and roads of the city were done upto a bridal look by the display of the merchandise of the shops. Next day on the Ashtami, the entire precinct with the erected canopies and colorful spreads would look fabulous to eye. On that particular day, saints, sages, learned scholars and thinkers etc. gave enthralling discourses while the gathering felt greeted by the garland of their oratory acumen. Occasionally, these discourses were sequestered by the melodious music dedicated to Sri Krishna. But past seventeen years now, though these days have repeated, ‘I’ forsake any celebrations and mirth and simply yearned like a hapless forlorn. Today, ‘I’ exist but as a barren abandonment. Without the chant of prayers. ‘I’ have turned into a desolate idol. Someone has torn away my festive apparel of Basant Panchmi, Instead of hearing the Bhairava hymns, hallucinating voices rend me at present. Often ‘I’ dream of past journeys and live on going up and down the memory lane. However, never for a moment have ‘I’ forgotten the fact that ‘I’ am the religious, social and political hub of the Kashmiri Pandits and a seat of their continuing crusade. ************