The year was 1808. The place, Jammu. Raja Jaid Singh was placed on the throne of Jammu to be its king, supported by the presence of Mian Mota Singh, the all-powerful kingmaker of Jammu. In this period of madness in the province of Jammu, one hoped that Jammu would witness a semblance of balance and stability being created. Jammu had been in a free fall following the death of Raja Brijraj Dev. Sampuran Singh, the successor, succumbed to smallpox, leading to the situation that a new successor had to be found desperately. In the scramble, the name of Jaid Singh came forward, and with Mian Mota Singh’s support, Jaid Singh ascended the throne. Raja Brijraj Dev of Jammu ( painting with San Diego Museum of Art) Contributing to the constant madness in Jammu were the Khalsa forces who would raid Jammu and pillage it constantly, devoiding it of its wealth. The 1783 pillage of Jammu remained afresh in the minds of the people and the aristocrats alike - for two months, one witnessed not a single
Svayambhu Sri Chakra at Sharika Devi in Srinagar (Temples of India) In my previous blog I had talked about the project of Dr Meenakshi Jain on iconoclasm in India, and how the Hindus of India responded to it by protecting the idol. This was a talk I had attended, and afterwards I had a chance to interact with Dr Jain, and had the chance to tell her more about an interesting story I had nearly forgotten. This is the story of the curious case of Sharika Devi. In the state of Jammu and Kashmir, particularly in Kashmir valley, Sharika Devi is a very important goddess in the Kashmir Tantra traditions, particularly of the Vaishnava Tantra, which is an even rarer school. This Devi, the Aadi Devi or Mother Goddess, is often identified by scholars with Tripurasundari or Lalitha Devi. The city of Srinagar, where Sharika Devi's temple, also known as Pradyumna Peetha , is located on Hari Parbat, has an interesting legend to it. Hari Parbat is a corruption of the name ShAri , the name