Sri Dharmarayaswamy Temple:
It is said that the Mauryan Kings introduced writing to India 2,300 years ago and Vedic hymns started being put down in writing less than 2,000 years back. Until then the corpus of Vedic knowledge was transmitted orally. Modern studies using powerful software that can reconstruct the ancient skies indicates 3102 BC as the dates of the Mahabharatha war. The Mahabharatha epic itself in its original version contained 8,800 verses, named Jaya. Later, it became 24,000 verses and was called Bharatha. Finally it was recited as 1,00,000 verses epic, which could mean that all the additional verses may have been poetic exaggerations or imagined material. We are talking about events that occurred roughly 5,200 years ago from the present times.
The five powerful and skilled sons of Pandu, the King of Hastinapur (Haryana as is presently known) and the hundred sons of Pandu's cousin Dhritarashtra were engaged in the Kurukshetra war and that is how the epic Mahabharatha came to be recited as a report of the events that were unfolding day-by-day. Vedic hymns and shlokas have a unique feature in its construction and recitation. Once committed to memory, the structure and words remains intact, because there is only this one single way of creating and reciting. When the structure and words remain intact, there is virtually no chance of this being altered, when passed on by word of mouth. Generation after generation this knowledge of the verses have been passed on with no change in the structure of the verses. This was perhaps a pristine way of communication, absolutely faultless...an individual's interpretation after reading aloud the verses could vary but the content over generations has remained intact and hence, a good part of what we hear today is extremely accurate description of the events that occurred more than 5,200 years back.
Even the scholars of the present times acknowledge that the Vedic hymns were structured in a manner that memorising and recalling them when necessary would be easy and it also helps the scholars memorise thousands of verses with ease. We also understand that it enhances the capacity to retain...
The birth of Pandavas is traced back to 3229 BCE, when Yudhistira was born to Kunti, through her boon that she could call any of the divine Gods and bear a child. She invoked Yama, the God of Death and Dharma and Yudhistira was born, also known as Dharmaraya. Yudhistira's name indicates steadfastness at all times, even at war when things are most difficult. As he was the son of Yama, he was the most righteous and steadfast, a follower of Dharma in all walks of life, and shining like the brilliant sun in the knowledge of law, ethics, and morality. He was the most righteous of the brothers never having spoken a lie in his life, except during the final war where he was made selectively to suppress the truth.
As part of our Monday routine, to visit a Temple constructed in the bygone era, both my wife and I chanced upon a write-up regarding a temple dedicated to the Pandavas. Honestly, this was something new and I bet none of us had possibly heard of a temple being dedicated to the Pandavas. It got us very curious to know more about this temple and off we went visiting today. It is in the heart of the city, in the extremely busy and congested K R Market area. it is believed that the temple was constructed by the Ganga Arasu people. These people also known as Vanhi Kula Kshatriyas or "Thigalas" (communities that was into agriculture and horticulture).
The Archaeology Survey of India which had undertaken a study of the stone and masonry, has concluded that this temple is about 800 years old. It is also learnt that when Bangalore city was built by Kempe Gowda in the 16th century, the Kempegowda Gopuras (towers) were built in the four corners of the city keeping the Sri Dharmarayaswamy Temple as a centre point. The four towers are the Ulsoor tower in the North-East, The Bellary Road Tower in the North-West, The Lalbagh Tower in the South-East, The Gavipura Tower in the South-West.
The Gonga Arasu or Ganga Arasu kings used to build their towns near lakes or river beds and also, built their temples at a lower level to the ground with a further lower level pradakshina patha. Sri Dharmaraya Swamy temple was built in the Sidhikatte lake bed area and it is below the land level that existed prior to current Bangalore. It is also learnt that this old town was called as Kalyanapuri, a Town of Temples, Ponds & Religious centres. Later, it was named as "Bendhakaluru" and then as "Bengaluru". Built in the Dravidian style, it is one of those rare temples dedicated to the Pandavas and Draupadi. While it is named after Dharmaraya aka Yudhishtira, the eldest of the five Pandavas, it is Draupadi, wife of the Pandavas, who is worshipped. Next to them are idols of Arjuna, Bheema, Nakula and Sahadeva, apart from Krishna and Adi Shakti. The temple resembles the architectural features of the Gangas, the Pallavas and the Vijayanagara styles. The garbhagruha is in Ganga style, the Vimanagopura is in Pallava style and the mukhamantapa is in Vijayanagar style, which shows the development of this temple in three different ages. The fourth stage of development of rajagopura and sabhangana was taken up in the 20th century.
Mythology has it that Draupadi created an army of soldiers, called Veerakumaras, after the Mahabharata war, to fight a demon called Timirasura. When the Pandavas were ascending to heaven, the Veerakumaras asked her to stay back. She promised them that she would come back to earth once every year. The ten-day Karaga marks the symbolic homecoming of Draupadi. It celebrates the triumph of good over evil. The temple records reveal that Sri Krishnaraja Wodeyar visited this temple in 1811 AD, was an ardent devotee and donated huge properties in the form of land and jewels to the temple. The administration of the temple was undertaken by the Mysore royal family. After independence, the temple was taken up by Muzrai department and as per the Muzrai records this is the oldest temple maintained by the department.
There is a beautiful idol of Gopalakrishna flanked by Rukmani and Radhe, immediately behind the Sri Dharmarayaswamy temple, within the same temple complex, while at the entrance to the temple is Lord Vigneshwara to the right and Gramadevethe on the left flank. We considered ourselves blessed that we got Lord Krishna's darshan on the auspicious occasion of Gokulashtami.
As we were returning home, in the immediate vicinity was Jalakanteshwara Swamy temple. How do we not visit Lord Shiva, especially on Shravana Somvara and take his blessings? As mentioned above, the Ganga Arasu built their temples at a lower level to the ground. This temple of Jalakanteshwara Swamy temple has been built in an area that was a Kalyani (sacred pond), between 300 and 400 years back. While the superstructure is in a sorry state of disrepair, the temple idols, Prasanna Gangadheshwara Swamy, Vigneshwara, Subramanya and Goddess Parvathi in a standing position (and not the normally seen cross legged seated position) are beautiful.
We were far removed from the hustle and bustle of the city's most busy locality for the two hours that we spent inside. It was great to have transported our minds to the day and age of the Gods when they were in their mortal form. The message they have left behind, although archaic, still has crystal clear clarity! Today, we are armed with the most sophisticated means to communicate, but can we really take pride in what message we are passing on to our next generation and whether we are understood? Are we, at all?
