Pilgrimage on Saturday

On saturday my family, now including my brother-in-law, went for a pilgrimage to Kesariyaji and Mahudi. We couldnt get tickets to Udaipur that day, (the city closest to Kesariyaji, Eklingji and Nathdwara), so we flew to Ahmedabad and hired a car to take us there and back.

Basically Kesariyaji, also known as Rushabdevji or Rikhabdevji, is a Jain Pilgrimage site in the Mewar District of Rajasthan and comes under state jurisdiction. However Hindu pilgrims also come here both for Kesariyaji's famed wish-granting powers as well as for the fact that it contains images of Saraswati and a one of a kind Standing Nataraja. The highways are superb and a small town has been developing recently around it, so its quite pleasant.

Whatw as really cute was that my brother-in-law is a Sthanakvasi Jain (which means they dont pray at temples but in prayer halls), while we are derawasi (which means that we do). Therefore he had NO IDEA what to do in a temple, how to wear a dhoti, anoint the idol, etc. He had never even really been on a pilgrimage before, plus he lives abroad. So there we were walking down a narrow mud lane towards the temple, tiny shops lining the street on either side of us, selling cheap trinkets, rakhis, pilgrimage material, fabrics, foodstuff, utensils, etc. My 6-foot-plus jiju, still groggy with sleep (they had suffered through Kabhi Alvida Na Kehna the night before, which, incidentallym Im going to see tomorrow), was striding through the bazaar looking straight ahead without a clue as to where he was going. We stopped in just in time from running into an ox/cow, whatever those white bovines with horns are, wandering about minding her own business. He jumped back, hiding behind my sister, receiving the shock of his life! We BURST out laughing and my mother told him that THIS is the real India. He was a bit shaken throughout the pilgrimage, which was really amusing.

Anyway, on we went inside the temple, and to the courtyard around it for a rinse and to change into our pooja clothes. The temple, our guide told us (his family having served our family for the generations my family has been worshipping here), is 2400 years old. We didnt believe him, because though old, it is quite stunningly maintained. However, I did a bit of research and that figure seems about correct, in Gregorian time, if not Hindu time. The temple is called Kesariyaji because the devotees anoint the deity with kesar or saffron with all 5 fingers, sometimes using as much as the weight of their child at birth. The temple is made of cool marble from Makrana, and one must ascend steep slippery stairs to get to the inner sanctum, and the bathing area.

The inner sanctum - the main one, houses Rushabdevji, the first tirthankara or teacher of the Jain religion. This deity was supposedly found by Rama in Lanka, and taken up North to Ayodhya, Ujjain and elsewhere before a home was made for it here. Rushabdev believed to be the 8th Avatar of Vishnu, according to one website. But how can that be when Ram himself was the 7th avatar of Vishnu, if he was to have found the idol? Obviously the teacher must have existed before the idol to have been found as such. Therefore either this information is wrong or some Hindutva organisation has nothing better to do than to appropriate every God in every religion (and therefore hates Islam because, having appropriated all its saints, cant seem to sppropriate Allah and His surrounding rituals). Sigh. People are morons.

Anyway, the temple comprises 52 minarets and is really beautiful. Right opposite the main idol above the entrance is a statue of a 4-foot elephant with Rushabdevji's mother atop it, and it is believed that whoever can slide under the feet of the elephant will attain moksh or Salvation. Ive done it! And though its a narrow space, Ive seen fat grandmothers also being pulled though. There are also footprints of all 24 tirthankaras. The passageways house idols, and around the sanctum are 4 big idols of Parshvanath, Shantinath and Adinath, Rushabdevji's avatars. One of the passages was closed because the idols were being restored to shiny blackness by the priests. apparently the restoration mix is made out of plaster of paris, amongst other things. However, the shiny blackness reminds me of that valuable stone, Obsidian, that Phoenicians traded in ancient times. I love history! Anyway. This is a picture of the main idol:

It's a tiny sanctum and can get quite hot. But this time we had a lovely relatively quiet worship, not like the time I had gone with my fiance and they were auctioning the anointing of the idol, in water milk and saffron (Pakshal, it's called, and the auctioning is called Boli). My father in law had planned for us to do teh anointing first, but At the time there was a whole group of pilgrims that had come who also wished to do the worship first, so the Boli reaped in quite a bit of money that day for the temple! This time though, it hardly felt like a pooja because we were talking throughout guiding my brother-in-law what to do. However, at one point in the upward round ceiling that is a common characteristic of Jain temples, i saw bats!!!!! Bats hanging from the cornices, sleeping! Eewwww! Most fascinating. Made me smile to think romantically that temples truly are shelters for everyone.

At the end of the pooja, a couple of the priests/trust employees recognised me as my fiance's family's daughter in law! What a memory! But I guess these temples thrive on memory and legacy. My brother-in-law told them his father's name and his family name, and some menfollowed him around constantly, reminiscing, but at the end of it they showed him records of his grandfather's coming to the temple in 1944, his uncle visiting in 1970 and 1992 when he had made donations. KK got so excited that he immediately signed and donated money. I know there are temples in Mathura that can trace lineage back almost a millenium. I'd love to do that for myself! I'd love to know who we actually are, what caste, creed, racial type, occupational type, village, lineage.... 1000 years is a long time! A lot can change in that period. Damn, a lot changed in a month for me, didnt it?!

After that we went to Asopalav Pure Veg hotel on the Ahmedabad highway for lunch. We ordered roti, dal fry, veg kolhapuri, kashmiri dum aloo and chili paneer dry. The chinese paneer came deep fried but soft in manchurian gravy and with a firm kick of green chili. The Kolhapuri was also spicy, and the sweet Dum aloo served as a perfect accompaniment. The Dal was ok. The ghee in it mademe nervous. Washed that down with an old-fashioned mango dolly yum!

Then we left for Mahudi. This is a temple dedicated to the Warrior aspect of the Tirthankara Mahavir, called ghantakarna Mahavir. i dont know what his story is, but I know that at this temple there is a bureaucratic process through which golpapdi (a flat sweetmeat made from jaggery) is bought, presented before the idol (of pure gold), blessed, and eaten within the premises, and offered to everyone in sight. For some long-winded theological reason it cannot be taken out. It's hot, soft and sweetish. There is also a massive bell and a dharamshala in the premises and the temple saw some pleasant crowds. Then we went to Ahmedabad toa relative's house where we were fed sev-khaman and other assorted Gujarati snacks, before we took off only to be tortured at the airport. The rest is history. I have to tell you about out experience in Shrinathji, but we will save it for later. Have a great weekend guys!