Deities of the Kullu Valley

In different aspects of life - religion, language, food, culture and festivals - India shows a "unity in diversity".

In the Kullu Valley in Himachal Pradesh in north of India, every village and hamlet has its own deity, a devi or a devta. This photo-essay looks at some of those deities, their cultural traditions and their links with other streams of Hinduism.

FORGING INDIA'S CULTURAL-RELIGIOUS UNITY

Each community in India often has its own ideas about gods and goddesses. All these are usually grouped together under Hinduism. Apart from their own distinctive cultural-religious traditions, they usually share some aspects of religion as explained in ancient texts of Vedas and Upanishads.

Mythological stories about some local events link together villages and cities, near and far, in different corners of India. Thus, often each village temple and sacred-site around trees, rocks, caves, rivers and mountains, invariably has a mythological story about the passage of some god or goddess in that place that provides an explanation of its sacredness.

Drops of immortality nectar (amrit) fallen from Vishnu's vase, pieces of the body of Parvati strewn over different parts of India, travels of Rama and Pandavas across India described in Ramayana and Mahabharata - they all create a network of stories that builds the essential sharing of sacredness, while conserving the distinctive characteristics of each place.

Diana Eck in her wonderful book "India: a sacred geography" provides a delightful mosaic of this diversity-unity.

DEITIES OF KULLU VALLEY

It has been estimated that there are around 250 devi and devta (gods and goddesses) in the villages and hamlets of Kullu valley in Himchal Pradesh. Local persons call these deities collectively as "Tharah Kardu".

Hidamba Devi, the deity of Manali, is considered to be the most important of these deities as she is the deity of the royal family of the Kullu. The royal family of Kullu believe that Hidamba Devi had gifted the kingdom of Kullu to their ancestor Behangamani Pal. The descendants of the king had established their royal house in Jagatsukh, a small village about 10 km from Manali.

The original temple of Hidamba Devi was in Chiuni, about 90 km from the town of Mandi. A new temple of this deity has been built in Manali in 2013, that is a replica of the old Chiuni temple with intricate wood carvings.

Hidamba Devi appears as a minor character in Mahabharata, where she falls in love with Bhim, one of the Pandava brothers. Together they have a son, Ghatotkach. Both Hidamba Devi and Ghatotkach also play a role in the legendary war between the Pandavas and the Kauravas.





Mahabharata describes Hidamba (Hidambi) as belonging to a "Rakshas" clan - one of the indigenous clans that were usually considered as enemies of the Aryans.

Omchanda Handa in his book "Buddhist art and antiquities of Himachal Pradesh" (Indus books) explains that the figures of ancient Hindu ascetic-sages like Gautam rishi and Lomasa rishi were also linked to Buddhist traditions, and indigenous community traditions of clans like Nagas, Rakshasas, Yakshas, etc. These different traditions all combine together in the mythologies of the Kullu deities.

Phyllis Granoff and Koichi Shinohara in their book "Images in Asian Religions: texts and contexts" (UBC press) explain another peculiarity of the Kullu valley deities - the sacredness is not limited to the statue of the deity but is "composed of different elements assembled together" including the wooden palanquins carrying multiple metal mohras (faces) of the deity, his/her attendants and other things used to decorate the palanquins.

STORIES OF KULLU DEITIES

The blog Tharah Kardu presents a lot of information about the deities of the Kullu valley, including the mythological stories about them. Reading these stories gives an idea of the diversity of origins of these deities.

For example, god Shangchul ji originally came from a place called Basu Desh. Shangchul's journey brought him in contact with different significant symbols of Hindu mythology such as Shakti and Kamdhenu. His story involves different small towns and villages of Kullu Valley, binding them together in a unified geographical matrix, linking his story to those of other local gods and goddesses.

This story also includes episodes of discrimination and negative attitudes towards the "lower" castes and the "untouchables". For example, Shangchul had caused a flood which had washed away most of "Marechhas and Tanguls". Marechhas (lower castes) are described as "dirty persons with dirty utensils" and have a "bad way of calling their mothers", so their killing by the Shangchul are justified.

Thus, these stories, while they maintain alive the ancient traditions of the people, they also contribute to continuation of caste hierarchies and discriminations.

DUSSHERA OF KULLU

Dusshera is one of the most important festivals of the Kullu valley. Dusshera is celebrated in different ways in different parts of India. For example, in the north and west parts of India, it celebrates the victory of Rama over the Rakshas king Ravana. In the north-east it celebrates the victory of goddess Durga over the asura king Mahishasur. Kullu has its own variation of the Dusshera celebrations.

The Kullu dusshera starts on the day of Vijaydakshmi, the concluding day of dusshera celebrations in the rest of India. It's main focus is on the gathering of all the local gods and goddesses from all the villages and hamlets of Kullu valley. Villagers carry their gods-goddesses in palanquins and walk to Kullu for this event.

In Kullu, raja Maheshwar Singh, the old king, together with the head-priest of Kullu temple, participate in the daily ritual prayers, while different gods and goddesses come to pay their respects to Hidimba Devi.

The Kullu deities are also linked to a mythological story - Parvati (God Shiva's wife), was carrying the gods and goddesses in a basket; she had stopped for rest in the Kullu valley when a sudden gust of wind had scattered the different deities all over the villages of the valley.

Kullu dusshera also has the traditional theatre of Ramlila and the burning of the effigy of Ravana. Finally the celebrations are accompanied by different sport competitions and cultural programmes in which young persons from different parts of the valley take part.

CONCLUSIONS

The cultural customs, rituals and mythological stories around the deities of Kullu valley, provide a fascinating glimpse into the diversity of Hinduism in India. They also give an idea of how different groups of people and their customs were brought together in Hinduism over a period of centuries, that preserved their specificities and peculiarities, while knitting a common thread of unity through them.

The continuing relevance of ancient religious customs and mythologies today influences caste hierarchies and discriminations against the "lower" castes. How to bring about social reforms without cancelling the mythologies remains a challenge.

Most persons think of Kullu and Manali only as tourist destinations for their snow covered mountains, rafting, skiing and nature walks. However, Kullu valley also offers wonderful opportunities to understand the richness of India's cultural diversity.

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Vicenza - The City of Andrea Palladio

Vicenza is a small and beautiful city. Its name is linked to Andrea Palladio, one of the most influential medieval architects whose works and ideas continue to inspire architects even today. This post is about a walking tour of Vicenza and an introduction to some of the works of Andrea Palladio.

The image above is from the Marine monument near the railway station of Vicenza. Some one had put a christmas cap on the head of Antonio Pigafetta's statue, one of the mariners on the Portuguese ship that went around the world in 1521-22 AD.

Vicenza is on the railway line connecting Venice to Verona and Milan. Usually people visit Venice and then go to Verona for its connection to the Romeo-Juliet story. However, if you have a little time, I recommend that you visit Vicenza and Padova (Padua) on the way - both cities are worth a visit.

Andrea Palladio

Andrea Palladio was born as Andrea di Pietro in Padua in 1508 and his father had a flour mill. When he was 13 years old he came to Vicenza to work as a stone cutter and then as a mason. From this lowly job he rose up to become one of the most admired architects of his time and wrote 4 important books to explain his principles and ideas about architecture.

The statue of Andrea Palladio shown below is from the main city square called Piazza della Signoria (Square of the Lords) in Vicenza.

After his death, Palladio's name slowly became famous in the English speaking world where his follower architects called themselves as Palladians. A few years ago, on the occasion of a Palladian exhibition in UK, Jonathan Glancy had written an article about Palladio in The Guardian - The stonecutter who shook the world. Palladio brought back the Roman style of architecture (based on the classical Greek), focusing on symmetery, essential clean lines and grace, avoiding heavy embellishments.

Villa Rotunda, one of Palladio's creations just outside Vicenza (shown in the image below) is one of his more famous buildings. It has inspired a number of important buildings around the world including the White House in USA.

The main city square of Vicenza, Piazza dei Signori, is rectangular with a green domed Basilica (Court house) built by Palladio on one side (shown in the image below). In this building you can see the style of windows that became famous as Palladian windows, with a central arched opening in the middle, and narrower, flat roofed openings on the two sides.

At one end of the square, two towers carry the symbols of the Venetian republic, of which Vicenza was an important part in the medieval period.

On the other end of the square, opposite the Basilica is another of Palladio's creations - the lodge of Capitanio, that now hosts the municiple assembly.

A short distance away from the Basilica, is the Academic Theatre (Teatro Academico), another of Palladio's creations.

City has many other buildings by Palladio including a Palladio museum. Some other buildings, such as the Valmarana lodge (in the image below) in the beautiful Salvi gardens, carry unmistakable signs of Palladio's influence.

To honour Palladio, the central street of the old part of Vicenza is called Corso Palladio. Flanked by beautiful shops, medieval buildings and sculptures, it is the street where Vicentini (people of Vicenza) come out for their walk on the weekends.

Other places to Visit in Vicenza

The pink coloured medieval cathedral of Vicenza (il Duomo) is worth a visit. Its dome was also designed by Palladio.

The cathedral has a number of beautiful paintings such as the one shown below (by Bartolomeo Montagna from early sixteenth century).

Another important church of Vicenza, just off Corso Palladio, is Santa Corona (Holy crown). Palladio is buried here and he had also designed parts of this church.

Santa Corona church is full of wonderful paintings like the one shown below (by Gianbattista Pittoni).

Another nice place to visit in Vicenza is the wonderful Querini gardens with a canal, water birds and medieval statues.

San Michele bridge, also called the old bridge, from sixteenth century is closed to the traffic and is a romantic looking place.

Around San Michele bridge and just behind the Basilica is the oldest part of the city.

San Lorenzo church from 13th century is one of the older churches of Vicenza.

Close to the city, behind the railway station is a small hill called Monte Berico that has the Monte Berico church, built at a place where a peasant had seen the Madonna in 15th century. Going up the hill along a passage covered with archways, is a wonderful way to look at the snow-covered Alps mountains surrounding Vicenza and for the beautiful panoramas of the city, as shown in the images below.

In the panoramic view of Vicenza seen in the image below, you can easily see the green dome shaped roof of Palladio's Basilica.

Parts of Vicenza shown in these pictures are all situated in a relatively small area and are easy to visit on a walking tour, starting from the railway station.

The last image of this walking tour has a wonderful sculpture by a Vicentini artist called Nereo Quagliato and in it, you can also see the dome of the Cathedral,designed by Andrea Palladio.

When you visit Vicenza, works of Palladio accompany you every where. If you have time you can even join tours that take you to the different villas designed by Palladio in the surrounding small towns and countrysides. I have been told that it is a wonderful tour with wonderful views of vineyards.

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