A Matter of Faith

The curious thing about history is, it just occurs.

Indian history particularly, appears to be one long occurrence in the course of humanity with as many probabilities and improbabilities; ponderable and imponderable; myths and realities, generously concocted so as to defy an ordinary mind. This is also one such story that may belie belief but for the fact that it is a fact of history.

Yesterday, we happened to drive down to Bhavani, a town that sits on the confluence of two major rivers of South India, the Cauvery and Bhavani. Right at the confluence of both the rivers is the Sangameswara Temple, literally meaning “Lord of the Confluence”. My mother was born in this town, at a mere walking distance from the temple and my father joined school here. The story of their union in marriage is 60 years old, but as full of life as these two mighty rivers to the Tamil region!

So, we were in the temple. As is customary, we prayed to the Lord first and then proceeded to the mother’s sanctum. She is called Vedanayaki, meaning ‘the one who is the soul of Vedas or the one who presides over the Vedas’. After our prayers at her sanctum, as we completed the circumambulation of the inner sanctum, we saw a stone inscription. Frankly, there are so many inscriptions in every temple that one merely passes by them generally. We were about to do the same when a name and date in the inscription caught our attention – William Garrow, 11-01-1804. Now, here is the story:

William Garrow (1776-1815) was the Collector of Coimbatore District. Once he arrived at Bhavani and was resting in the travelers’ bungalow (incidentally adjoining the temple and even today looks every bit colonial!!). Sometime in the night, he felt as though a young girl was in front of him, beckoning him to come out of his room. Being curious and unable to think anything more, William came out of his room. As he tried to follow the young girl, she disappeared into the temple that adjoins the bungalow.

Even as he tried to follow her, William Garrow was startled to find the whole roof of the room which he just left came crashing down. A shocked and frozen William Garrow could not even hazard to think of his fate had he stayed indoors. In the course of the excitement that followed the collapse of the roof, the reminder of the night passed and the priests of the temple arrived for “ushat Kala pooja” (ritualistic pooja of the early morning). Finding the Collector at a loss, the priests made three holes in the outer wall of the temple facing the deity and asked him to see whether the girl who saved his life was inside [The present wall was constructed much later. At the time of the incident, the wall was very close to the ‘dwaja sthamba’ (flag post) from where one could see the sanctum.

Even as William Garrow looked inside, he realized that the girl who appeared before him in the night was Vedanayaki Thayar (mother), who was present in all her glory inside the sanctum.

Not just grateful, but William Garrow thereon became an ardent devotee of the Mother. He presented an ivory palanquin for the mother on 11 January 1804 and continued to visit the temple for seeking Her blessings.

This story inscribed in the stone plaque took me to check on William Garrow. What I found makes me say what I said in the beginning: The curious thing about history is, it just occurs.

William Garrow was born to Edward Garrow (1751-1820), who joined the East India Company as a junior writer in 1769 at the age of 18. He later served as Mayor of Madras in 1782. Edward Garrow, apart from marrying Sophia Dawson of England in Fort St George, had many Indian women as his begums [Please read William Dalrymple’s White Mughals[1]. It was common among white men to keep many begums, in the style of the Mughals in India]. William Garrow was born to the native women and Edward Garrow. William also had a sister, Myra. Edward and Sophia also had a son, George. Sophia and George spent their life only in England whereas William followed his father and served East India Company with distinction.

William Garrow rose to be the Collector of Coimbatore and is distinguished as an able administrator. His name figures as the first Collector to have sent English shikaris to Nilgiris in 1812, paving way for the English to habitat Ootacamund[2].

It is also interesting to note that while William’s father made his fortunes in India, his uncle, Sir William Garrow (1760-1840), is credited to be one of the most brilliant barristers in English history. In fact, it was Sir William Garrow (the uncle) is credited with the Adversarial System of jurisprudence that many countries follow today[3]. With the BBC TV series Garrow’s Law and this book Sir William Garrow is about to enter the nation’s consciousness for his ‘gifts to the world’ - as the originator of the modern-day presumption of innocence, the right to universal legal representation and access to justice in a criminal court, expert crossexamination and early traces of human rights[4].

The Sangameswara temple is also a treat to art/culture lovers with some extraordinary and exquisite sculptures that reflect the architectural traditions of Tamil Nadu.

Bhakthi as India teaches us, is not just about rituals and practices. It is about faith that transcends cultures.

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[1] Dalrymple, William. (2003). White Mughals: love and betrayal in eighteenth-century India. New York: Viking.

[2] Vijaya Ramadas Mandala (Ed) (2019). Shooting a Tiger: Big-Game Hunting and Conservation in Colonial India, New Delhi: OUP.

[3] John Hostettler and Richard Braby (2009), Sir William Garrow: His Life, Times and Fight for Justice, London: Waterside Press Ltd.

[4] https://www.wildy.com/isbn/9781904380559/sir-william-garrow-his-life-times-and-fight-for-justice-hardback-waterside-press

Imaging Our Gods

One of my friends recently sent me a message asking whether I knew that the Shiv Ling is made as per scientific principles. I asked him to explain the scientific principles. He replied saying he was told emphatically by his guru that it is written in the shastras that Ling is the ultimate expression of divinity and therefore it is the most scientific physical representation. I asked him to find out which ‘shastras’ and ‘what is scientific’. He replied that he felt offended by such agnostic questions coming from me.

I was taken back though it was nice to see someone so devoted to his guru. While I expressed my sincere apologies to him for offending his sensibilities, I thought I must also share what little bit that I do know.

There are two periods of Indian history when India can be said to have reached the pinnacles of intellectual acumen. First was from 2500 to 500 AD and the next is from 400 to 1500 BC. In the first period came the Vedas and Upanishads as the result of a peaceful pastoral Indian community searching for the purpose of life. The second period saw the birth of Vedanga (the six sciences), mathematics, astronomy, astrology and a host of other sciences. One of the Vedangas is the science of constructing divine images called SHILPA SHASTRA. In fact experts believe though Panini and Patanjali of 500 BC were familiar with images of gods, no evidence exists of constructing ‘pratima’ for worship. The art and science of constructing images for worship grew thereafter and in 1500 AD, the SHILPA SHASTRA was written.

There are very few experts who can be said to know the Shilpa Sashtra now. In the early 1930s, Dr AN Tagore, Dr A Coomaraswami, Mr OC Ganguly, etc were considered to be expert art-critics with deep insights into Shilpa Shastra.

It is Shilpa Shastra that defines what measurements are to be taken in constructing images of gods. Measurements in Shilpa Shastra are in ‘angula’. An ‘angula’ is 1/4th of a ‘musti’, meaning closed fist. Sukra Niti, Maya Sastra and Matsya Puran further give various measurements and criteria for constructing the images of gods with stone, metal or even painting them. Together with these measurement standards and the rites to be performed to install the stone/metal image of a god for worship is known as the AGAMA Shastra. 

The measurements are for three purposes – to give aesthetic beauty, to mark the purpose of that particular image and to physically symbolize the god as described in Purans. For example, gods with the thumb of the open palm of either hand touching the chest symbolize ‘protection’. That means the bhakt will seek to be protected by the deity. The image with the palm touching the abdomen symbolizes ‘vardhan’, that means the bhakt will seek boons. There may be deities with one palm near the chest and another near the abdomen. This deity is worshipped for both protection and boons.

Now let us see the construction of Shiv Ling. In the Shiv and other Purans, Shiv is the only god described as TRIMURTHI. Brahma, as we know is just Brahma. In so far as Visnu is concerned, we say ‘Sivaya Visnu rupaya, Siva Rupaya Visnave’ – meaning both are same. So, TRIMURTI is a god who has to be represented as the one carrying out all three functions in equal measure. Also, he cannot be represented in human form as the description of Brahma, Visnu and Siva is quite distinct from each other. Therefore, Trimurti is represented as an oval (all encompassing, the whole), mounted on a circular platform with a base. Each of these segments is to be of equal height to symbolize that He carries on the three acts of creation, protection and destruction equally.

This is the science behind Shiv Ling. Have a great day.

Tamil Architectural Traditions

A mention of Tamil Nadu automatically invokes a culture that, as one school of historians say, predates the Indus Valley Vedic culture. Whether that claim is supported by archaeological evidence is a question that we must consider separately. But, Tamil culture bequeathed to the world some of the finest achievements in the field of architecture, irrigation, sculpture, dance, drama and literary renderings that remain unparalleled.

One unique expression of the finesse of Tamil culture is the Brihadeeswara Temple at Tanjore. However, during a recent visit to that area, we came across two more temples which are mirror images of Brihadeeswara, Tanjore, that was built by Rajaraja Chola I in 1010 AD.

The first is another Brihadeeswara temple built by Rajaraja's son Rajendra, after his conquest of the regions of the Ganges up North at Gangaikonda Cholapuram. This was built in 1035 AD.

Rajendra's son, Rajaraja II also built a mirror image, the Airawatheswara temple at Dhravaram near Kumbakonam some time in 1155 AD or a little later. We were amazed at the similarity and realized that the son and grandson of Rajaraja I, in deference to their elder, made only the linga and the nandi (sacred bull of Shiva) smaller. In another post, a bit more of their history will be shared. For now, here are pics of Airawatheswara temple.