[Reader-list] Another Amarnath Pilgrimage: Exactly A Year Ago

[Shuddhabrata Sengupta]

Dear All,

Given the efforts being made to raise the pitch everywhere, this  
report (below) by Shabir Dar,  from almost exactly a year ago, seems  
to suggest the possibility of reality quite different from what we  
have become accustomed to hearing and seeing on the spectacle called  
television in recent days.

Here is 'another' Amarnath Pilgrimage, in Kashmir, one that has not  
been on the radar of those crying themselves hoarse about the  
imagined insult and injury done to the devotees of Shiva.

Here is the little history of a local initiative, in a small town, by  
local people, with 'valley' Pandits, as well as with migrant Pandits,  
working together with their Muslim neighbours, and former neighbours.  
You will notice, that this story has no martyrs, no heroes, no  
protests, no loud rhetoric, not even a respectable 'land transfer',  
nothing that is other than the ordinary re-assertion of a traditional  
ritual practice. And meetings of long lost friends and neighbours.

Perhaps when things work at a 'local' level, they do not always  
conform to the dictates of bigger agendas that have of necessity to  
carry flags of different colours, some tricolor, some green and  
white, some green, some saffron, some black.

This is not necessarily to romanticize 'little' traditions over  
bigger ones, or 'Chhota' Amarnath, over 'Bara' Amarnath, but just to  
note that flagless agendas get less notice than they ought to.  
However, in the end, i do believe that they contribute more to life,  
because they do not carry real or imagined armies and militias behind  
them. Their imagination is not coloured by the need to be validated  
by sacrifices of any kind.

One way of thinking of Shiva, is to think of him as the lord of the  
'little' people, the ganas and bhootas - the misunderstood and  
marginal who make up the merry band of his wedding party. High  
Hinduism has not always been comfortable with this merry crowd. And  
so has sought to transform him (Shiva) into the supreme ascetic, the  
lord of destruction, distancing him from his occasionally not very  
sanctimonious flock, forgetting, that Shiva also dances with the  
little people, happily, at peace, intoxicated. The taming of Shiva is  
one of the many tragedies of civilizational amnesia in indic cultures.

I see this story, of 'Cchota' or 'little' Amarnath, as a welcome  
reminder that even Shiva has many faces. And those who seek to make  
him the head of a 'national' upsurge to protect the abstractions of  
borders and nationalities, forget, that Shiva, in the extremely  
complex spectrum of the Shaivite tradition, which is not the personal  
property of those who are his loudest adherents today, often slips  
away, escapes, borders, escapes definition. In Bengal, and in  
Kashmir, (and in many other parts of South Asia) there is a lively  
awareness of this subaltern Shiva, and those who seek to dress him up  
as a high deity of Hindutva today, probably do more violence to their  
own traditions than they can imagine.

Perhaps reading the report below might help us all understand that  
the starkest of binaries are simply choices made to see things, one  
way or another, and not necessarily an effort to realize that the  
texture of ordinary life is always more complex and more beautiful  
than the reductive 'all or nothing' logic of the headlines that feed  
and feed on the making of a crisis. i have never been a believer in  
much, but to 'Chhota' Amarnath, I am happy to say, 'bam bam bholey'.

regards

Shuddha

-----------------
Chotta Amarnath reopens in South Kashmir after18 years with Hindu- 
Muslim bonhomie
Aug 31 2007
http://vinayk.sulekha.com/blog/post/2007/08/chotta-amarnath-reopens- 
in-south-kashmir-after18-years.htm

Shabir Dar
KT News
Thajiwara (Bijbehara), Aug 28: As Suneeta Bhat (42) is busy in  
lighting the ratandeep (lal charag) before the idol of Lord Shiva,  
the sounds of aarti (puja) and bhajans continuously echo in the  
surroundings. She has come all the way from Jammu to be part of this  
festival of Hindu-Muslim bonhomie that is being celebrated at  
Pracheev Amarnath cave of Lord Shiva here today, after a gap of 18  
years.
This cave temple also known as Chotta Amaranth (mini-Amarnath), has  
remained closed since 1989 when the militancy surfaced and migration  
of Kashmiri Pandits to Jammu and other parts of India began.
But, now with the initiatives of Devaasthan Prabadhank Committee  
Bijbehara (an organization looking after all the temples in tehsil  
Bijbehara), local administration, local MLA and common people; this  
temple is again abuzz with devotees and performance of all religious  
practices.
Suneeta flanked by many other Pandit relatives and some Muslim  
friends and neighbours, is bursting with emotions and speaks her  
heart out. "I am excited," she says. "Once again Pandits and Muslims  
are exchanging love and amity. I have never thought that such things  
will repeat again here," she said adding that this all happened with  
hearty cooperation of local Muslims.
She is one among thousands (about 2000) of Kashmiri Pandits (KPs),  
who are making a beeline to the temple premises from last two days,  
to perform aarti, light incense and take part in bhajan mandli.  
"Around 1000 KPs from Jammu and Delhi and about the same number from  
different parts of valley have visited here since last two days,"  
said Vishvenathan Jotshi, president of Devaasthan Prabadhank  
Committee (DPC) Bijbehara. "And the count is soaring," he added.
In the premises of the cave temple, a beeline of both KPs and local  
Muslims visiting the temple could be seen, amid hugs and greetings.  
In the courtyard of the temple, Mohammad Shafi a local teacher is  
greeting every Pandit entrant with love and respect. "When are you  
coming back permanently?" he is seen posing the question  
affectionately to everyone. For a moment, the temple looks virtually  
like a pot where emotions are filled with the warmth of love and  
brotherhood.
For Sonika (17), who has come to her native land for the first time,  
the warmth of people and place here has melted her heart. "I have  
missed a lot being outside my own land. Now, I don't want to go  
back," said Sonika Bhat who is here with her parents who actually  
hail from Bijbehara but are now residing in Talab Tillo Jammu. "I  
felt that there is no harm for us living here," she said.
Positioned on a hillock in the form of cave, Thajiwara temple as per  
Professor Moti Lal Malla General Secretary of DPC Bijbehara has a  
historical significance too. "Matta Parvati has a tremendous Tapasiya  
for this place. Thousands of years back she has prayed for 12 years  
to please Lord Shiva in order to reveal amar katha (history about  
making of universe) to her, who later had agreed to her prayers," he  
said.
And since then, Thajiwara annual yatra and festival is celebrated on  
the eve of every Shravan Purnamashi or Raksha Bandhan and people from  
all over the Valley throng this shrine for the darshan of Lord Shiva.  
The yatra has the same religious sanctity and significance as that of  
Swami Amarnath cave pilgrimage. "The temple is also known as Chotta  
Amaranth," he said. "The handicapped, destitute and other people who  
can not make it to Swami Amarnath can visit this temple," said Malla.
The temple has a distinction. From the cave, water - Amar Ganga -  
trickles down from its roof on the idol of Lord Shiva, this  
ultimately collects in the small pond outside the cave. A type of ash  
- Amar Bhabooti - also comes out of the cave, which is applied by the  
devotees on their foreheads.
Ecstatic with the arrival of a good number of Kashmiri Pandits into  
his village, Ghulam Nabi Ashwar, an elderly person of Thajiwara  
village, said that the occasion is like a festival for him. "We are  
very happy with the revival of this temple. After a long gap I am  
experiencing such festivity in my village. Earlier we (Hindus and  
Muslims) used to celebrate every festival together and I don't  
believe my eyes that same is happening once again," he said, while  
holding the hand of a Pandit who happened to be a childhood friend.
In this ambience of revived religious harmony and cultural bonhomie,  
many believe that time has come when the displaced people of the  
valley should come back and settle in their original abodes. "The  
warm welcome from local people and their love and affection is itself  
a certificate for every displaced pandit to return back to valley,"  
said P L Pandita, freelance producer who along with his family has  
come to the temple for puja. "This is a matter of great delight for  
me to witness the revival of our traditional Hindu-Muslim  
brotherhood," he added.
It is important to mention here that most of the arrangements for the  
festival have been done by the locals here, who had been busy in the  
preparations from last three days. The villages reflect a decorated  
look. Most of the materials necessary for running a langar (free  
meals) for devotees are being provided by locals. "Locals have  
provided 70 kilograms of vegetables, 30 kgs of milk, 25 pairs of  
bedding, matting and other furniture free of cost," said a member of  
managing committee of DPC.
An octogenarian Prabhawati Dhar is all praises for the managing  
committee of DPC Bijbehara and the local administration for making  
her dream come true. Dhar who at present lives in Chakoora Pulwama,  
has spent her childhood in the ambience of this Shiva temple. "I used  
to visit this temple regularly before 18 years. And now to be again  
here after a long gap is actually a dream come true. I thank  
everybody who made this to happen," she said.
Abdul Rehman Veeri, the local MLA feels more than happy to be a part  
of this beginning, which as per him has no end now. "It has been our  
solemn initiative to re-open this old temple, which has always been a  
symbol of religious harmony. Today, be it in the premises of this  
temple when centuries old festival is again celebrated here, I have  
no words to express my happiness. This is an encouragement to our  
traditional religious harmony," he said.
Mufti Mohammad Amin, chairman of Bijbehara Municipal Committee, on  
whose efforts the initiative has reached to its logical conclusion  
said that it is a matter of pride for every Kashmiri that age-old  
bonhomie is coming back on its rails. "A garden is perfect with the  
presence of diverse types of flowers. And Pandits and Muslims are two  
flowers of the same garden - Kashmir - which can thrive in one  
another's presence only," he said.
In the temple the local leaders cutting across party lines and  
village elders from whole area were present to welcome the visiting  
guest on the occasion.(Kashmir Times)


Shuddhabrata Sengupta