Skip to main content

Gulab Singh and the Battle of Jammu 1809

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 ...
Post a Comment

Mandi's Links to Padma Sambhava



Padma Sambhava
Padma Sambhava, the Vajra Guru in Tibetan Vajrayana Buddhism, is a widely revered figure, and his imagery is seen in many monasteries, temples and on frescoes and thangkas alike. His contributions to the introduction of Buddhism into Tibet is well recorded in Tibetan Buddhist literature, where a mix of belief and history overlap to identify him as a very powerful mystical figure. It is interesting though that very few people realize and remember the link of Pamda Sambhava with India. Even fewer are aware of the link of Padma Sambhava with Himachal Pradesh.

Among Tibetans, Mandi was always known as Zahor, from where the great Guru Padma Sambhava had come at the behest of the then Tibetan king Trisong Detsen somewhere between 750-800 A.D.. As noted by Hutchison and Vogel in their magnum opus on the Punjab Hill States, Padma Sambhava appeared in Tibet in the ancient dress of Mandi, which even today is known as Zahorma by the Tibetans. Zahor is the place from where several Buddhist texts were introduced into Tibet in the first place. Tibetans still believe that during the rule of the Buddhist persecuting king Langdarma, many texts were taken away to Zahor or Mandi, and hidden somewhere in the region.



Rewalsar Lake
Hutchison and Vogel had noted that Tibetans used to come for pilgrimage to a holy lake in Mandi they called Padmacan or Co Pema, where the spirit of Padma Sambhava, whom they worship, is still believed to reside on the lake's floating islands. This lake, better known as Rewalsar in India, is equally holy to the local Mandi residents as well, as it is the place identified to be the residence of Lomasa Rishi, who finds extensive reference in the Skanda Purana. It is interesting to note that Hutchison and Vogel seem to note the identification of Padma Sambhava as Lomasa Rishi. Lomasa Rishi find extensive reference even in the Mahabharata as the sage who went on a pilgrimage with Yudhishthira, and was known as the man whose curse led to the birth of the great scholar Kakabhushundi.


Mandarava in Mata Kuan Rani Temple
Interestingly, some scholars have argued that Mandi is named after Mandarava, one of the two principal consorts of Padma Sambhava, who as per legend was the local princess and later an important disciple of the Guru. Her temple, sacred equally to both local Hindus as well as Tibetan Buddhists, still stands today near the banks of the Beas River in Mandi, and is famous by the name of Mata Kuan Rani's temple. It used to be a major pilgrimage site for Tibetan Buddhists before the Chinese invaded Tibet and sealed off the border in 1949, since which their numbers have significantly fallen.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Gulab Singh and the Battle of Jammu 1809

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 ...
Post a Comment
Read more

The Living Memories of Skanda

Skanda, or Kartikeya, was a very important deity upto the 9th century AD across North India, before it starts to fade. Several Gupta era as well as other period sculptures and panels and wall panels evidence the importance,as can be evidenced in the National Museum collection in New Delhi. For instance, there is a 6th century AD panel of Skanda from the Punjab region (shown on the side)highlights a beautiful peacock on which Skanda is seated, with his trademark spear. Professor T S Maxwell writes about the earliest references to Skanda and his iconography in the north as follows: ' Probably the earliest six-headed representations of this god-and, apparently, of his consort-occur upon coins minted by the Yaudheyas, a traditionally warlike people settled in modern Rajasthan who 'lived by their weapons' (āyudhajīvinaḥ) and had Skanda as their principal god. Although the Yaudheyas persisted as a social group during the rule of the Guptas,...
Post a Comment
Read more

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. Entr...
Post a Comment
Read more