A lovely little girl, she became a thief quite soon:
Honored by the townsfolk during the changes of the moon,
She was invited to their homes where the little dear
Made all their sacred vessels completely disappear.
When she was only seven, her voice already bold,
Her mother started teaching her how she could be sold;
Out of greed mom tutored her to play the harlot’s game,
And at the market gate, Deathtrap soon became her name.
She wore a pair of falsies and shells upon a string;
Hugs and kisses pleased her lovers – she’d do most anything.
One day a merchant’s son, Master Fullofit Esquire,
Shopping for some saffron, just happened to pass by her;
He was young and handsome – he wore fourteen carat gold.
Later in a gambling joint, where drinks were also sold,
She winked her eye, raised her brow, did all that she could do
To rouse his eagerness for a nighttime rendezvous.
While clinging to his neck that night as he lay fast asleep,
(since he had had a lot t drink his snooze was very deep),
She stole his golden earrings – he still did not awaken –
And the rings from off his fingers quietly were taken.
“Help! Help!” the girl then shouted, “Oh! Oh! I have been robbed!”
As if to stop a thief, “Help! Help!” she loudly sobbed.
Robbed and awakened, to avoid a family disgrace,
The salesman ran away, using his clothes to hide his face.
All decked out in dazzling duds, looking young and pretty,
She changed her name and moved along to another city.
~ ‘Samayamatrika’ of Kshemendra written during the reign of King Ananta, around A.D. 1050. Starting with a hymn in praise of Goddess Kali, it narrates the comic exploits of a harlot named Kankali (Skeleton) as her narration travels around Kashmir, from childhood to old age, from one heroine to another, from one adventure to another. The (improvised) translation given above is from Lee Siegel in his book ‘Laughing Matters: Comic Tradition in India’ (1987 ). These particular lines are about a girl named Arghagharghatika (Gurgling Little Pot).
“These terracotta plaques at Harwan each of which was
moulded with a design in bas-relief, are of a character which makes them unique
in Indian art. Pressed out of moulds so that the same pattern is frequently repeated, although spirited and naive in some instances, they are not highly
finished productions, but their value lies in the fact that they represent
motifs suggestive of more than half a dozen alien civilizations of the ancient
world, besides others which are indigenous and local. Such are the Bahraut railing,
the Greek swan, the Sasanian foliated bird, the Persian vase, the Roman rosette,
the Chinese fret, the Indian elephant, the Assyrian lion, with figures of
dancers, musicians, cavaliers and ascetics, and racial types from many sources,
as may be seen by their costumes and accessories.”
~ Percy Brown, Indian Architecture: Buddhist and Hindu
periods (1942)
Aurel Stein in his edition (1892) of Kalhana’s Rajatarangini identified terraced site of Harwan as Sadarhadvana, ‘The wood of six saints’, the place where once lived the famous Bodhisattva Nagarjuna of Kushan period in the time of King Kanishka. The site was first excavated in year 1923 by Pandit Ram Chandra Kak. Based on masonry styles Kak categorical the structures and findings into three types: (i) Pebble style (ii) Diapher Pebble style, and (iii) Diapher Rubble style. The pebble style being earliest in date, the diapher pebble of about 300 A.D. and the last one of about 500 A.D. and later.
Here are some of the photographs of the tiles of Harwan ( Harichandrun, originally in Kashmir) provide by Kak (came across in booklet ‘Early Terracotta Art of Kashmir’ by Aijaz A. Bandey for Centre of Central Asian Studies, University of Kashmir, Srinagar (1992)):
First one, a tile that gave me an opportunity to interpret a symbol.
Here above are shown four full blown lotus flowers; below a procession of geese running with their wings open. It is to be noted here the four geese from left have already picked up a stalked flower in their bills while the extreme right bird is about to pick it up. This males the scene more alive.
The point here is that it is not just an ‘alive scene’, it is an animated scene, there are no four, five geese, there is only one goose, the way the scene is set, it looks like an “animation cel;”, it is as if the artist was not trying to capture just the subject but also motion, hence we have an animated scene of a geese in motion, catching, leaving, holding on to a flower.
Why geese? What does this motion symbolize?
Goose in Indian motifs (both in Buddhist, to a great degree also in Hindu art and lore ) is the most common and recurring symbol of an ascetic in search of truth. In art, geese with a flower in beak would be the state of perfection, and the flight would be the journey that an ascetic undertakes. And then in addition, there is this impression of “passing” time that the flight symbolizes. It is a simple and obvious explanation.
In fact, it must have occurred to some other observers too. In ‘The Goose in Indian Literature and Art’ (1962), Jean Philippe Vogel cautions against such a tempting answer easily. “It is tempting to assume a connection between the yogis and the geese, although the latter appear also on tiles belonging to the courtyard where they seem to have a merely decorative function.”
Can’t a religious symbol be used in a secular space with a decorative function? But then, that would be akin to how in present times say a ‘Ganesha’ statue might be found in a corner of drawing room of a Hindu household, performing a decorative and a religious function. Is is difficult to assume that people back then too were capable of doing something like this.
Dating back to third and the fifth century, Harwan is not an easy site to decipher. Each symbol is capable of throwing interesting questions at the observer. Take the case of ascetics. When we see ascetics in these tiles, are we seeing Buddhist ascetics? Although Harwan is often thought as a Buddhist site, there are theories according to which the Buddhist site was built on top of an existing site claimed by a religious sect called Ajaivika belonging to Nastika thought system. The sect peaked at the time of Mauryan emperor Bindusara around the 4th century BC. But by the time of Ashoka the sect quickly went downhill (apparently, the fact they published a photograph of Buddha in negative light didn’t go well with Ashoka the Great and he had around 18000 followers of the sect executed in Pundravardhana, present day Bengal). The sect disappeared without leaving much trace.
However, it is interesting the only image of an Ajaivika ascetic may have been provided by Kashmir. Below is given a page from ‘Indian Sculpture: Circa 500 B.C.-A.D. 700’ by Pratapaditya Pal.
Some other tiles from Harwan (a site that was almost lost again and buried after a cloud burst in 1970s):
A female holding a flower vase in upright hand, the left hand lifts the end of transparent long robe. The woman on either side has lotus petals, below in a separate register is a procession of four geese. The marked difference, this tile from harwan displays, is in its shape which is unconventional but could have fitted in the pavement plan at the site.
Medallions contaning cocks, regardant, with stylized foliate tails. Below in running spiral in an unending whorl.
A squarish tile has in the centre two seperate stamps, the left one in a dotted boarder a standing male figure with splayed out feet, a long tunic extending upto knees, holding in the left hand a long spear, while the right rests on the lip. All along the border of the tile on each side is a procession of four geese.
A female holding flower vase, a male holding spear, medallion with cock, and procession of geese.
In the left a deer looking back, with moon at the top and wheel below. right, a mounted archer “The Parthian shot” of ancient Iran.
Upper register, a couple in a balcony. The coarse features of the couple having high cheek-bones, prominent noses and low receding fore head, allowed thr excavator (R.C. Kak) to identify them with a racial group of Central Asian people. Below, a feeling deer who is just to be struck with an arrow.
A composite mortified tile from Harwan. the tile above has lotus flowers; below in one compartment is a winged conch-shell, through the upper part of it protrudes neck of a bird (?) emitting pearl. This composite creature is flanked on either side by a fish at the bottom. To its right in a separate compartment is another composite figure, in this case half human and half vegetal; the upper part is of a female bust.
Three lotus petals and two rams.
Two cocks fighting over a lotus bud. Two deers at night.
Medallions with cocks with grape vines scroll above and below
Shared by Rafiq Pirzada who came across it inside a Mughal Sarai along the Mughal Route in Rajouri called Darhali More, an old monument in shambles, reduced to dilapidated outer walls and a ruined outer gate. On one of the inner walls he saw this strange image. He wrote in to ask if anyone has any clues about it.
I wasn’t able to find any reference to it but to me it looks like remnant of some other structure. It looks like a battle scene, possibly a victor king slaying an enemy king. The scene seems like a dedication to the winning king. What stands out is the elaborate headgear on the entities, a symbol of royalty perhaps. I am tempted to think that it may be Greco-Buddhist because Rajouri did fall under that belt but then there aren’t many battle scene depicted in Greco-Buddhist art found in Kashmir.
Damaged image of Laksmi-Narayana, seated on Garuda, 9th cent. A.D., Zeithyar (Srinagar)
From ‘Vaishava Art and Iconography of Kashmir’ (1996) by Bansi Lal Malla
Below: Something I randomly clicked back in 2008 at Zeethyar because I found the setting interesting.
Guest post by Man Mohan Munshi Ji. Towards the end I am adding an old photograph of the place and a bit about a Kashmiri proverb related to the place.
The present Vitasta -Sindhu -Samgama the conflunce of Jhelum and Sind rivers at Naranbagh near Shadipur. The river in the left foreground with greyish coloured water is the Sind river and the other with the bluish green coloured water in the right background is the Jhelum. Suyya the able engineer of King Avantivarman by his skill shifted the position of Vitastasindhusamgama from Parihaspura Trigami area to its present location in the vicinity of Sundribhavana (Naran Bagh) by forcing the course of Vitasta north east wards by blocking its original course with embankments to reclaim the cultivable land from flood prone areas and marshes. A Vishnu temple by the name of Yogavasmin was also built by Suyya at the instance of Avantivarman.
The solitary Chinar standing in water in the immediate vicinity of the confluence is considered holy and compared to the holy fig tree at Triveni near Allahbad
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The Chinar tree at Shadipore in a photograph by Fred Bremner. 1905
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Preyaghuch buni nah thadan nah lokan nah badan.
The chinar of preyag neither become taller, nor shorter, nor bigger.
A poor sickly child, who does not grow or become fat.
An explanation about the Chinar tree of prayag that can be found in the book ‘A Dictionary of Kashmiri Proverbs and Sayings’ by James Hinton Knowles (1885):
This chinar tree is in the middle of a little island just big enough to pitch your tent on, in the midst of the Jhelum river by the village Shadipur. The Hindus have consecrated the place, and a Brahman is to be seen twice every day paddling himself along in a little boat to the spot, to worship and to make his offerings.
This chinar tree at Shadipur is believed to be the (sangam) confluence of rivers Indus (Sind) and Jhelum (Vitasta) and is called `Prayag’ by Kashmiri pandits – alluding to Prayag that is Allahabad where Yamuna and Ganga meet up. Kashmiri Pandits used to immerse the ashes and remains of their dead at this spot.
The following six images pertain to the temple of Govardanahara, built and dedicated by Laltaditya Mukhpida of Karkota Dynasty in 8th century AD, one of the greatest Monarchs who ever ruled Kashmir. The great Monarch founded his capital at Parihaspura and built numerous temples of Vishnu, Shiva and Bhudha. He built Viharas, Agarharas and palaces at and around
Parihaspura. According to Kalhana a silver image of Vishnu was installed in the Govardanahara temple. But the capital did not survive for long as the royal residence was removed by his son Vajradatya. The Vitastasindhusamgama which during Laldatiya existed between Parihaspura and Trigami (Trigom) karewas was shifted to its present location opposite Naranbagh by Soyya, the able engineer of King Avantivarman in 9th century who shifted the capital to Avantipura. Later the temples were vandalised during the Muslim rule during 14th-15th century.
Distant view of Govardanadhara temple
Closer view of the ruins only staircases and plinth is left
Only surviving statues
ASI Notice Board
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To these images I am adding following notes:
Note on the ancient site by Pandit Anand Koul from his book ‘Archaeological Remains In Kashmir’ (1935) . [You can read the complete book here]:
Ruins at Paraspur
The site of ancient Paraspur (Parihasapura) lies nearly 2 1/2 miles south-west from Shadipur. On leaving the boat one crosses some corn field and, after ascending a gradual slope and passing through Trigam, reaches the plateau on which the ancient mounds rise. This city, says Kalhana, was founded by Lalitaditya Muktapida (A.D. 701-37) one of the greatest sovereigns of Kashmir, and a brief account is given of the five large buildings he erected here viz.,(1) the temple of Mukta-keshva with a golden image of Vishnu, (2) the temple of Parihasa-keshava with a silver image of Vishnu.(3) the temple of Mahavaraha with its image of Vishnu clad in golden armour, (4) the temple of Govardhanadhara with a silver image and (5) the so-called Rajavihara with a large quadrangle.
Here was a colossal statue of Buddha in copper. The confluences of the Sindhu and Vitasta was at this place inn ancient times. It was a very renowned place in by-gone days. There are many ruins of ancient temples still found in and near it, e.g.(1) temple ruins at Paraspur, (2) well preserved foundation of the temple of Vainya-swamin on the Paraspur Udar, near Ekmanpur, and (3) ruins at Malikpur. Of the temples to the west of Divar village there remains only a confused mass of huge blocks. The quadrangle too is utterly ruined and traceable only by wall foundations and broken pillars, etc. The large dimensions of these temples are indicated by the fact that the peristyle of the one further to the west formed a square of about2 75 feet. and that of the other an oblong of 230 feet by 170 feet. There are other ruined temples at this place, but they are all in a state of destruction. On the top of the mound lies a block remarkable for its size, being 8 1/2 feet square and 4 1/2 feet in height which, to judge from the large circular hole cut in its centre, must evidently have formed the base of a high column, or of a colossal image. The character of the ruins at Divar agrees exactly with that of the shrines mentioned in Kalhana’s account.The shrine Vainya-swamin can be recognized with certainty in the ruined temple at Malikpur, one mile from the northern group of the Divar ruins. Sir Aurel Stein writes in the Rajatarangini about this place: –
“The vicissitudes, through which Parihaspura has passed after the reign of Lalitaditya, explain sufficiently the condition of utter decay exhibited by the Divar ruins. The royal residence, which Lalitaditya had placed at Parihasapura, was removed from there already by his son Vajraditya. The great change of the Vitasta, removed the junction of this river with the Sindhu from Parihasapura to the present Shadipur,nearly three miles away. This must have seriously impaired the importance of Parihasapura. Scarcely a century and a half after Lalitadiya’s death,King Shankaravarman (A.D. 883-901) used materials from Parihasapura for the construction of his new town and temples at Pattan. Some of the shrines, however, must have survived to a later period, as we find the Purohitas of Parihasapura referred to as an apparently influential body in the reign of Samgramaraja (A.D. 1003-28). Under King Harsha the colossal Buddha image of Parihasapura is mentioned among the few sacred statues which escaped being seized and melted down by that king. The silver image of Vishnu Parihasakeshava was subsequently carried away and broken up by King Harsha. The final destruction of the temple of Parihasapora is attributed to Sikandar But-Shikan (A.D. 1394-1416).Even up to the year 1727 A.D. the Paraspur plateau showed architectural fragments of great size, which have since been carried away as building materials.It is interesting to find that these ruins were yet at a comparatively so recent time generally attributed to Lalitaditya’s building”
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Aurel Stein made a spot visit to Paraspora in Sept. 1892. There he traced the actual ruins of the building describedin the Rajatarangini. These remains were situated near the village Sambal on a small plateau (Udar) between themarshes of Panznor and village Haratrath. Stein identidied five great buildings which Lalitaditya had erected at Parihaspura. These were identified as Parihasakeswa, Mukatakeswa, Mahavaraha, Govardhanadhara and Rajavihara.The first four were temples dedicated to worship of Vishnu and the last named was a Buddhist convent. However whenrevisiting the site in May 1896, Stein found many of the stones missing that existed in 1892. On inquiry heleared that these stones were taken away by the contractors engaged in building the new Tonga road to Srinagar.To prevent such callous damage that was being caused to these relics of past, Stein made a representation to theResident Sir Adelbert Talbot for urgent need of protecting the remains. The Resident supposted his petition andeffective steps were ordered by the Maharaja to prevent repetion of similar vandalism
Note on the site from ‘Ancient Monuments of Kashmir’ (1933) by Ram Chandra Kak.[Read the complete book here at KOA]:
Plate LV
The karewas of Paraspor and Divar are situated at a distance of fourteen miles from Srinagar on the Baramula road. They were chosen by King Lalitaditya (c. A.D. 750) for the erection of a new capital city, and it is certain that, given a sufficient supply of drinking water, the high and dry Plateaus of Parihasapura have every advantage over the low, swampy Srinagar as a building site. Lalitaditya and his ministers seem to have vied with each other in embellishing the new city with magnificent edifices which were intended to be worthy alike of the king’s glory and the ministers’ affluence. The Plateau is studded with heaps of ruins of which a few have been excavated. Among these the most important are three Buddhist structures, a stupaj a monastery, and a chaitya. Their common features are the enormous size of the blocks of limestone used in their construction, the smoothness of their dressing, and the fineness of their joints. The immense pile at the north-eastern corner of the Plateau is the stupa (Plate LV) of Chankuna, the Turkoman (?) minister of Lalitaditya. Its superstructure has entirely disappeared, leaving behind a huge mass of scorched boulders which completely cover the top of the base. There is a large massive block in the middle of this debris, which has a circular hole in the middle, 5′ deep. It is probable that this stone belonged to the hti (finial) of the stupa, and that the hole is the mortice in which was embedded the lower end of the staff of the stone umbrellas which crowned the drum.
The base is 128′ 2″ square in plan, with offsets and a flight of steps on each side. Its mouldings are of the usual type, a round torus in the middle and a filleted torus as the cornice. The steps were flanked by plain rails and side walls which had pilasters in front decorated with carved figures of seated and standing atlantes. Some of these are in position, while others, which were lying about loose, have been transported to the Srinagar Museum. They are not grotesque creatures like those so commonly seen in Gandhara, but have the appearance of ordinary respectable gentlemen, whose placid features seem to indicate that the superincumbent weight sits lightly upon them. The top surface of each of the two plinths is broad and affords adequate space for circumambulation. Among the loose architectural stones lying scattered about the site are a few curious blocks in the south-eastern and south-western corners. They are round torus stones adorned with four slanting bands or fillets running round the body. As this type of torus moulding is not used in either of the bases, it is probable that it belonged to the string-course on the drum of the stupa. There are fragments of trefoiled arches also, which contained images of the Buddha and Bodhisattvas.
The large square structure to the south of the stupa is the rajavihara, or royal monastery. A flight of steps in the east wall gives access to one of its cells which served as a verandah. The monastery is a quadrangle of twenty-six cells enclosing a square courtyard which was originally paved with stone flags, some of which are extant. In front of the cells was a broad verandah, which was probably covered, the roof being supported by a colonnade which ran along the edge of the plinth. A flight of steps corresponding to the one mentioned above leads down to the courtyard. Exactly opposite to this, in the middle of the west wall, are three cells preceded by a vestibule, which is built on a plinth projected into the courtyard. It is probable that these were the apartments occupied by the abbot of the monastery. Near a corner of it is a large stone trough, which may have served as a water reservoir for bathing purposes. A couple of stone drains passing underneath cells Nos. 18 and 21 (if we begin counting from the cell to the south of the entrance chamber) carry off the rain and other surplus water from the courtyard. Externally the plinth is about 10′ high. In cell No. 25 (that is the one to the north of the entrance chamber) was found a small earthen jug which contained forty-four silver coins in excellent preservation. They belonged to the time of kings Vinayaditya, Vigraha, and Durlabha. They are now exhibited in the Numismatic Section of the Srinagar Museum. The monastery was repaired at a subsequent period. The repairs are plainly distinguishable in the exterior of the wall on the eastern and western sides.
The building next to it on the south side is the chaitya built by Lalitaditya. It stands on a double base of the usual type. A flight of steps on the east side leads to the entrance, which must originally have been covered by a large trefoil-arch, fragments of which are Iying about the site. This building possesses some of the most massive blocks of stone that have ever been used in Kashmiri temples, and which compare favourably with those used in ancient Egyptian buildings. The floor of the sanctum is a single block 14′ by 12′ 6″ by 5′ 2″.
The sanctum is 27′ square surrounded by a circumambulatory passage. It is probable that its ceiling was supported on four columns, the bases only of which survive at the four corners. The roof, which was probably supported on the massive stone walls of the pradakshina, may have been of the pyramidal type.
The courtyard is enclosed by a rubble-stone wall which has nothing remarkable about it. In front of the temple steps is the base of a column which probably supported the dhvaja, or banner, bearing the special emblem of the deity enshrined in the sanctuary.
The flank walls of the stair were adorned with atlantes similar to those of the stupa.
Near the chaitya is the foundation of a small building of the diaper-rubble style.
While this Plateau was reserved for the erection of Buddhist buildings only, the other two were exclusively appropriated by Hindus. Perhaps the arrangement was intentional, to avoid possible friction between the two powerful religious bodies. On the karewa locally known as Gordan there are ruins of a Hindu temple which are probably all that remain of Lalitaditya’s temple of Govardhanadhara. Crossing the ravine in which nestles the little village of Diwar- Yakmanpura, and ascending the Plateau opposite, are seen the immense ruins of two extraordinarily large temples – one of them has a peristyle larger than that of Martand – which may represent Lalitaditya’s favourite shrines of Parihasakesava and Muktakesava.
Man Mohan Munshi Ji shares photograph of Submerged ancient temple at Manasaras (Manasbal). It is an ancient spot recently re-discovered and re-claimed. About the place he says:
The temple is an ancient one but not much is known about its antiquity. Some time back it was reported in the print media that it was recently uncovered. I visited the place last month and found that a parapet and fence was built around it but the level of water has remained the same and water was oozing out from an underground spring. I took a plunge inside the water logged temple and felt with my hands about one foot tall Shivling inside the temple.
I do not believe that the Manasbal temple was built under water. Probably the submergence of the temple was caused by (i) silting of the outlet of the lake near Sumbal, subsequent rising of the level of the lake or by (ii) the sinking of an underground cavern below the temple.
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To these photographs I am adding following old note:
“One of the most attractive places in the valley is the Manasbal lake. Being absolutely free from disturbance of any kind, and nestling in an oval basin surrounded on all sides by hills and uplands, the lake is an ideal abode for the happy lotus-eater, who dreams away his days reclining under the shady chinar, and passes his evenings in watching the long streaks of moonlight flitting across the mirror-like surface of the water. Naturally, such a delightful spot would not have been overlooked either by the devout Hindu or the nature- adoring Mughal. The former have left a small temple, now partially submerged during the greater part of the year. It is a very small structure, and only its two pyramidal roofs are visible in the driest seasons. The cornice of the lower roof, and the horizontal band which divides it from the upper storey, are decorated with series of dentils and metopes. Only the upper part of the pediment of the entrance is visible. It faces west.
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Miniature Temple at Manasbal
At the south-east cornner of the lake of Manasbal is a miniature temple built of stone, standing in the water.
The temple appears to be a square of about six feet and has only one doorway to the west covered by a pyramidal pediment, which is divided into two portions by a horizontal return of the said mouldings as in the case of the Martanda colonnade. The upper portian is occupied by the head and shoulder of a figure holding a sort of staff in the left hand. The angles of the lower portion of the doorway pediment, below the horizontal moulding and above the trefoil, are occupied each with a naked figure leaning against the head of the trfoil, and holding up over the arch a sort of waving scarf which is passed on through the other hand.
Man Mohan Munshi Ji is back after a month and a half long tour of Kashmir Valley visiting remote inaccessible glens, valleys, mountain tops and holy places. He will be sharing his photographs from the tour here at this blog. First in this series is his photographs of Naran Nag. About the place he says:
A number of ruins of ancient temples exist at Narang Nag near Wangat locted by the side of Kankahini (Krenk Nadi) above the township of Kangan in Sind valley. It is believed that these temples were built by well to do Pilgrims as a thanks giving for successful yatra of Haramukh above Utrasaras (Gangabal).
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To these photographs I am adding a note on Naran Nag temple complex by Pandit Anand Koul from his book ‘Archaeological Remains In Kashmir’ (1935) . [You can read the complete book here]:
“Five miles to the east of Vangat (Vasishtbashrama) higer up in the Sindh Valley, there are some
ruined temples near the spring called Naran Nag, at the foot of the Bhutsher or Bhuteshvara spur of
the Haramukuta peaks. They are in two groups, situated at a distance of about 100 yards from each other.
The locality of these temple nearer Vangat is known by the name of Rajdhani, or metropolis.
This group consists of six buildings, all more or lss ruined, and the remains of an enclosing wall, measuring
176 feet by 130 feet, may still be traced, although there is no evidence of the form it originally had.
The largest temple of the group measures 24 feet square and has a projection on each of its four sides, measuring
3 feet by 15 1/2 feet 6 in. The main blovk is surmounted by a pyramidal roof of rubble formerly, no doubt, faced with stone; and
the gables which terminated the porch-like projections on all four sides, can still be traced. Ther are two entrances facing east
and west. Not far from the group is a platform, rectangular in shape, (100 feet by 67 feet) which appears to have been
the basement of some building or temple. A colonnade once existed all round it – numerous bases of pillars are to be seen in their
places on one of the longer sides of the rectangle, and several fragments of fluted columns are lying about, their average diameter being
two feet.
About 20 yards to the north-east of the platform are the ruins of the second group of temples, eleven in number, with the remains of a gateway
in the centre about 22 feer wide, similar to that belonging to the first group. The principal one among them is 25 feet square with projections
on each face.
A mass of stone measuring 22 feet by 7 feet shaped into a tank for water, exists on the south face of the principal temples.
The whole group is encircled by the remains of a rectangular wall of which the foundation can be traced, together with several bases of pillars;
and at the N.W. corner is a large tank of stone, full of cold and clear water. The dome of the chief temple is of rubble masonry, but all the other
parts of the building are of sculptured stones.
The chief peculiarities of these ruins are the number of temples contained withing the same enclosing wall, and the absence of symmetry in their
arrangement. There is a rock in the middle of the Kankanadi stream, half a mile from here, with a room cut into it which is sufficient to accommodate
four persons. In its centre there is a linga and there is also a niche in one wall.
In antiquity these ruins are supposed to rank next to those on the Shankracharya hill. Major Cole assigned the age of these building to about the commencement of
the Christian era.
The worship of Shiva Bhutesha, the Lord of Beings, localised near the sacred mountain-lake of Haramukuta-Ganga, has played an important part in the ancient religion of
Kashmir. Sir Aurel Stein has been able to show the identity of these temples with the buildings which the Kashmir kings had, at the different periods, raised in honour of
Shiva Bhutesha and the neighouring lings of Shiva Jyeshtesha. The small tank above the ruins, which is now known as Naran Nag, is, according to him, identical with the Sodara
spring mentioned in connection with King Jalauka, son of Asoka, and king Samdhimat-Aryaraja (35 B.C.). A large store pith or seat, 15 feet long 8 feet broad and 6 feet high,
has been recently unearthed near Naran Nag. The eastern group clusters round a temple, which Sir Aurel Stein identifies with the Bhutesha shrine and which, according to Kalhana,
was situated close to that of Bhairava. The western group is, therefore, identical with the temple dedicated to Shiva Jyeshtesa. King Jalauka erected here a stone temple to
Shiva Bhutesha, and made donations to the shrine of Shiva Jyeshtesha.
King Narendraditya Khinnkhila (250-214 B.C.) consecrated shrines to Shiva Bhuteshvara here. If he is identical with Khinkhila, whose reign is known from a coin, he probably
belonged to the 5th or 6th century, so says Dr. Sten Konow. Lalitaditya Muktapida (700-36 A.D.) erected a temple for Shiva Jyeshtesha here, which Sir Aurel Stein thinks is the
is the existing principal shrine in the western group. Kalhana inform us that King Avantivarman (855-83 A.D.) visited this place and made a pedestal with silver conduit for bathing
at Bhutesha. He further relates how the temple was plundered in the days of Jyasimha in Kalhana’s time (1128-49, the date when the Rajatarangini was written). No important additions
were believed to have been made to the building there, and the conclusion one arrives at is that the central shrine of the western group belongs to the 8th century A.D., while others
are older.”
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Update: P. Parimoo Ji sends in photographs of the place shot around a year ago on 14th June 2011.
He is intrigued by absence of GI Sheets in the recent photographs.
Man Mohan Munshi Ji adds:
“No sheets were not there during my visit to the place in August but entrances to some of the temples were blocked with wooden planks and crude stone masonry.”
The kind of hacks Freud spawned. Yet, Freud’s impact on people and their way of interpreting stories, written and oral, can’t be ignored.
Here is ‘A Birth of the Hero Myth from Kashmir’ by Captian M. R.C. Macwatters (based at Lucknow) in International Journal of Psycho-Analysis. Volume II, Sept-Dec 1921. [via archive.org]:
The Valley of Kashmir is a wide alluvial plain which to this day is liable to disastrous floods because at its outlet the main river escapes through a narrow gorge which obstructs the escape of any considerable accumulation of water. In fact the whole valley is almost as dependent as Holland on its drainage and other engineering works.
The first serious attempt to protect it by dams and drainage operations was made by Suyya in the ninth century and an account of his exploits is given by a historian named Kalhana who wrote three centuries later. Although much of his story appears to be historical, the account of Suyya’s origin is a typical birth-myth, which utilizes a part of his engineering exploits for its symbolic expression. Kalhana recounts how such protective works as already existed had been neglected by a series of kings until the reign of Avantivamam and how famine had come upon the land in consequence. He then proceeds as follows:
Chapter V, Paragraph 72. Then through the merits of Avantivamam there descended to earth the Lord of Food himself, the illustrious Suyya to give fresh life to the people.
73. The origin of the wise man was not known, and his deeds which deeds which made the world wonder proved that though [he appeared] in the fourth period (Yuga) he was not bom from a [woman’s] womb.
74. Once a Candala woman, Suyya by name, found when sweeping up a dust heap on the road a fresh earthen vessel fitted with a cover.
75. Raising the cover she saw lying in it a baby, which had eyes like two lotus leaves and was sucking his fingers.
76. ‘Some unfortunate woman must have exposed this lovely boy‘ Thus she thought in her mind, and then from tenderness her breasts gave milk.
77. Without defiling the child with her touch she arranged for his keep in the house of a Sudra-nurse and brought him up.
78. Taking the name of Suyya he grew into an intelligent [youth] and having learned his letters became a teacher of small boys in the house of some householder.
79. As he endeared himself to the virttious by observances in regard to fasts, bathing and the like, and showed a brilliant intellect, men of sense kept around him in assemblies.
80. When these were complaining in their conversation of the flood calamity he said ‘I have got the knowledge [for preventing it] but what can I do without means?’
81. When the King heard through spies that he was saying these words persistently, as if he were deranged In his mind, he was surprised.
82. The King had him brought up and questioned him about this saying. He calmly replied also in the royal presence ‘I have got the knowledge.’
83. Thereupon the Lord of the Earth, though his courtiers declared him (Suyya) crazy, was anxious to test that knowledge and placed his own treasures at his disposal.
84. He took many pots full of money (dinnara) from the treasury and embarking on a boat proceeded in haste to Madavarajya.
85. After dropping there a pot full of money at a village called Nandaka which was submerged in the flood he hurriedly turned back.
86. Though the councillors said ‘that Suyya is surely only a madman’ the King when he heard this account became interested in watching the end of these proceedings.
87. On reaching in Kramajya the locality called Yaksadara he threw with both hands money (dinnara) into the water.
88. 89. There where the rocks which had rolled down from the mountains lining both river banks had compressed the Vitasta and made its waters turn backwards the famine stricken villagers then searched for the money, dragged out the rocks from the river, and thus cleared the [bed of the] Vitasta.
90. After he had in this manner artfully drained off that water for two or three days, he had the Vitasta dammed up in one place by workmen.
91. The whole river which Nila produced was blocked up by Suyya for seven days by the construction of a stone dam — a wonderful work.
92. After having the river bed cleared at the bottom and stone walls constructed to protect it against rocks which might roll down he removed the dam.
93. Then the stream flowing to the ocean set out on its course in haste as if eagerly longing for the sea after its detention.
94. When the water left it the land was covered with mud and with wriggling fishes and thus resembled the [night] sky which when free from clouds displays black darkness and the stars.
96. The river with its numerous great channels branching off from the original channel appeared like a black female serpent which has numerous hoods resting on one body.
Following the example of Otto Rank in ‘The Myth of the Birth of the Hero‘ those points which are common to many such myths are printed in italics. Their analysis has been fully worked out by him and need not be dealt with here, but several features of the present story are worthy of mention.
We may infer that the hero’s real father is the King. It is true that the phrase which attributes his origin to the merits of the King is a common expression in the flattery of oriental courtiers who attribute all fortunate events to the auspiciousness of their ruler, but we may interpret it as an implication of parenthood also, especially as the scene in which the King receives and welcomes him is very reminiscent of the scenes of reconciliation in other hero-myths. The hostility between father and son is not obvious but is perhaps hinted at in the neglect, not of the King but of his predecessors, and in the activity of his spies. The hostility of the courtiers must surely stand for the hostility between the hero and his brothers. Several points in the story show reduplication, for example he is found in a pot and embarks in a boat upon the water, these symbolising the same idea, and the first foster mother, like Pharoah’s daughter, hands him over to a second.
We see the expression of a number of childhood fantasies in the tale. The hero boasts insistently ‘I have the knowledge’ and that even in the presence of the King (father). Just so would the child like to be able to boast of sex-knowledge even to his father but cannot, and even when he has the knowledge he lacks ‘the means’. Whereas in some fantasies it is the father who denies knowledge and power to the son, here the father encourages the one and provides the other (wish-fulfillment). Sir Aurel Stein’s notes on the word ‘dinnara’ here used for money are interesting. A dinnara is a unit of value so small that it was more likely a cowrie than a metal coin (and lends itself therefore to identification with seed) while the ideas of money and grain are largely interchangeable since payments were more often made in grain than in coin even up to recent times in Kashmir.
The ‘infantile theory’ of generation from faeces comes to expression through the dust heap where he is found and through the mud which covered the land and swarmed with wriggling fishes.
We find also an expression of the common fantasy of being one’s own father. The Hero engages in certain interesting operations at the outlet of the valley where he scatters money (or seed), as a result of which there is an accumulation of the waters for seven days, or if we allow ourselves to add the two or three days mentioned in verse 90, a total period of 9 or 10 days corresponding to the 9 months or 10 moons of pregnancy, and he achieves this result by the erection of a dam whose solidity the’ story emphasises, ‘a wonderful work’ indeed! In the opening sentence we are told that he ‘came to give life’ which he does by fertilising Kashmir, his mother-land.
Man Mohan Munshi Ji sends me Maps compiled in 1895-8 by Stein for Rajatarangini. The maps were also included in his work ‘Ancient Geography of Kashmir’ (1899).
Stein’s map of anicent Srinagar
Stein’s 1898 map showing the Sindh-Jhelum confluence near Trigrami
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More information about Stein’s Maps and a whole bunch of maps here at : colorado.edu
The temple is an ancient one but not much is known about its antiquity. Some time back it was reported in the print media that it was recently uncovered. I visited the place last month and found that a parapet and fence was built around it but the level of water has remained the same and water was oozing out from an underground spring. I took a plunge inside the water logged temple and felt with my hands about one foot tall Shivling inside the temple.
