Himachal Archives

The Rock Cut Temple Complex of Masrur  Rock cut monoliths are an interesting and rare feature in India. Himachal Pradesh, curiously, houses one such set. Only four monolith temple structures are known in India in places as far away from each other as one can imagine. Mahabalipuram in Tamil Nadu and Ellora in Maharashtra are globally famous, carrying a reputation of their own. The monoliths are not restricted to just the south though - Dhamnar in Rajasthan, and Masrur in Himachal Pradesh are the other two sites of India. Masrur in Guler, Kangra district, in fact is the highest in terms of altitude, located 2500 feet above sea level. As per Professor N P Singh , the local legend of Masrur is linked directly to the Pandavas of the Mahabharata. This is not surprising, given that this is located in the old Jalandhara/Trigarta kingdom which also apparently fought on the side of the Kauravas in the war. The temples, as per legend, were built by the Pandavas during their agyatvas ...

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 wh...

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,...

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 ...

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...