Iconoclasm in India - Stories from Himachal

Iconoclasm is a known reality of India's violent invasion period. People trying to deny it are lying to themselves, be it out of naivety or malice. Dr. Meenakshi Jain, a highly underrated historian, in a recent public lecture, discussed her new research project on this very important topic, and how she has been collecting evidence to the same from various sources. While there are several well documented evidences across many parts of India, including the Northern plains, what Dr Jain has found so far is a broad lack of accounts of important events being captured in the hill regions, particularly in the North-Western Himalayas. To that end, there seem to be signs, based on my own research, that there seem to be cases that are famous and may be preserved in oral traditions and written records in various ways, but need to be pieced together by proper historians, though of course people will deep interests can certainly help contribute by finding out more and sharing records.

Entrance to Brij Raj Swami temple (Courtesy: A Wandering Mind)

One such case, which is not well known, is the case of the Brij Raj Swami temple in Nurpur, Himachal Pradesh. Located inside the ruins of Nurpur fort, the temple has a long history of its existence. There are very interesting stories to the temple and the idol of Krishna in an otherwise Saiva region, mostly preserved in the oral traditions today. As Maulu Ram Thakur, a lecturer from Himachal Pradesh, in his book 'Folk Arts and Beliefs of Himachal Pradesh', has touched upon the oral legend of how the Brij Raj Swami idol came to Nurpur. As recorded in a folk song of the region, the king of Nurpur at the time, Raja Jagat Singh (1619-1646) had brought the idol of Brij Raj Swami from Chittorgarh, by tricking the King of Mewar, Rana Karan Singh (1620-1628) at the time into donating it to him.

Idol of Krishna and Meera (Courtesy TripAdvisor)

A distinct feature of this idol is that unlike most temples where Radha is worshipped with Krishna, the consort of Krishna worshiped here is the fabled saint-poetess Mirabai, of whom very little is confirmed in history. Moreover, local legend says that it was the same murti that was worshipped by Mirabai herself. This idol is almost forgotten by history, though legends live on. In recent years, Ashish Bhagoria, a YouTube subscriber, uploaded an interview of the priest about the temple's history. The priest here clearly lays out the history of the idol and the temple, that potentially changes perspectives about the importance of the idol.

Translation of the key excerpt of the priest's interview is as follows:

"The murti originally kept in another bigger, grander temple, which lies in ruins near the school across the road. That temple was destroyed by Muslim invaders. Raja Jagat Singh wanted to re-establish the temple, which he did in 1619, by recovering the idol, which had been submerged in water to save from the Muslim invaders....later, he recovered the murti and set it up in his durbar..."

Jagat Singh Pathania had been installed as the ruler by Jahangir back in the day, and like his brother and father, ruled out of Dhameri, later known as Nurpur. A famed warrior, he was renowned for his feat in capturing Kabul during Jahangir's rule, and had been on great terms with Nur Jahan herself. However, during Shah Jahan's rule, the rebellious nature which had been well conceived till then came to light, when he declared freedom from the Mughal empire.

The date the priest mentions is off-mark to an extent, though it corresponds with the date of Jagat Singh's ascension to the throne of Nurpur. However, what he mentions is spot on in terms of the sequence of events, as can be corroborated from Hutchinson and Vogel in the History of Punjab Hill States Vol.1 recall the battle between Shah Jahan's forces and Jagat Singh and his son's forces between 1640 and 1641 A.D.. In this battle, Mau and Nurpur forts had fallen to Shah Jahan's forces, and Jagat Singh had fortified himself inside Taragarh fort. In this confusion, much destruction had been unleashed onto the temple. Padhshahnamah does recall the destruction of Hindu temples in Allahabad and Benaras; of course, it may have been a much wider phenomenon judging by the fact that he had refused to waive off jizya despite pleas from even some Sikh gurus. So, the destruction of the original temple was certainly a given. Later, upon the restoration of Jagat Singh's empire after negotiations from Taragarh with the intervention of Nur Jahan, the murti was recovered and reinstalled, this time in the court premises which were redeveloped into a temple.

Now, it is my belief that we need to pay attention to this idol in greater detail, and not just for reasons of it being saved from destruction in only Nurpur. This idol, brought from Chittor, is believed to have been worshiped herself by Meerabai. Within Chittorgarh, among the places associated with Mirabai, the Kumbha Shyam-Meera Temples originally built by Rana Kumbha stand out, as they are believed to have been built for her. This temple certainly must have come under attack during the monumental Siege of Chittor in Akbar's time, and in the Fatahnama-i-Chittor, Akbar is declared to be a destroyer of temples as well. In such a circumstance, one may be led to believe a distinct possibility - that the idol from the Kumbha Shyam Mandir may have been saved and somehow reached Nurpur with time. The temple in fact had been abandoned after the Siege, thus reinforcing the idea of the idol of Krishna somehow having been saved by the Ranas of Mewar, eventually reaching Nurpur. Thus, this may be an idol which has in fact been saved not once but twice from Islamic iconoclasm in India.