Tuesday, March 24, 2009

INDIAN IDOLS...

The Maruti Mandir near Mulund Station bustles like any temple situated near a busy station and in an even busier market. Like any temple situated such, it is swamped with crowds during the Hindu month of 'Saawan', and during festivals like Shivratri, Govinda, Ganpati, Navratri and Diwali. Originating from a supposedly Swayam Prakat Hanuman Moorti (a statue whose features were as per legend outlined on stone, not by man, but by natural elements) in this one time sleepy hamlet, the temple has spread to approximately 700 square feet of enclosed space and sprung a carved pyramidal dome, just as the hamlet shed its cocoon and emerged a North Eastern suburb, boasting multiplexes, malls and skyscrapers. Again, like any other temple. A less obvious fact, however, is that in this sacred sanctorum lie two old statues and a Shivling which trace their origin to Pakistan. Also unobvious, is the real connection between these subjects of worship and their official address: Ganatra Chowk, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel Marg.



The statues of Laxmi and Narayan, together as always and splendidly dressed in ornaments and colourful garments, have been sculpted from marble in the style of the traditional Jaipur school. The Shivling has been encased in silver, both for conservation and adornment. Engraved marble plaques lie in between the statues and the shivling citing their original location, names of those whose possession they were in before, and those who've contributed to their maintenance as to that of this temple ever since. Belonging to a famous temple at Karachi, they were removed during the partition, when communal violence caused both Hindu and Muslim faiths to guard their religious artifacts zealously for fear of damage. Sent from that port to this one by sea, they lay for months unattended in a storage go-down at the Bombay Docks. Then, freedom fighter Ganatra who was informed about the statues asked Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel to help in overriding red tape with the dock authorities to release them, telling Patel he had found a suitable spot at which to have them re-instituted.


"And so this temple, on Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel Road, at Ganatra Chowk, is held by many to have blessed the area of Mulund as a whole, not just individual residents," drones Ratan Maharaj, a priest herein. "So, besides granting personal wishes, it has also led to the area's rapid development." The temple is supposedly maintained only on what devotees slip into its donation boxes. And it still manages to donate upto Rs 50,000 yearly, for the medicinal needs of the impoverished. Part of the reason for this popularity, according to Ratan Maharaj, is that the Laxmi-Narayan statues and Shivling have undergone a "Double pratishtha" (been instituted twice), hence the rituals and prayers accompanying the second institution granting them twice their original religious potency. But none relate to the potency of these symbols made of marble and stone, like old migrants in the area from the then West and East Pakistans, who themselves settled in the area half a century ago, removing themselves from a country that they were told was no longer theirs. Like the statues and Shivling, they were left in the dock for long before being given a chance to redeem themselves. And like them, they re-built their fortunes and significance, sometimes attaining even greater prosperity than before. Yet, as one aged gentleman from Lahore , a regular visitor here who wishes to remain unnamed, chats with us, trying to make sense of his journey, consternation sweeps his brow. "To some questions, only God has the answers," he smiles, before folding his hands towards the temple and leaving. All he can pray for, is that he won't have to ask them again.

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