Book review: Where the Gods Dwell, anthology on South Asia temples, artfully blurs the lines between history and mythology

The temples of South Asia are an enduring source of delight for people interested in worship, history, and architecture. They draw visitors of diverse ideological persuasions. Some of these magnificent structures have withstood the wear and tear of centuries; others have been reduced to ruins. Some have refashioned themselves time and again, thanks to wealthy patrons. Others have perished from lack of funds, political ill will, and bureaucratic neglect. Readers interested in this subject would enjoy a new book titled  Where The Gods Dwell.

It is a collection of 13 essays that promise to offer “an intriguing mix of historical detail, mythological narrative, and architectural commentary, supplementing and complementing each other to tell a story that is more than the sum of its parts."

This anthology has been published by Westland Books. It comes with an editorial note but the editor remains unnamed. The book opens with Manu S Pillai’s erudite essay on the Padmanabhaswami temple in Thiruvananthapuram. The playful title, “The God Who Ate from a Coconut Shell,” is typical of Pillai’s writing. He is skilled at arousing curiosity, and flooring readers with informational nuggets. Many of these are from academic sources that readers may not look up on their own. Here is one example. Pillai writes, “It is very likely that a great portion of the treasure deposited in the vaults of the Padmanabhaswami temple – which has animated people around the world following a recent effort to quantify the hoard – was originally war booty.” Martanda Varma, former ruler of the kingdom of Travancore, liked to seize “the state jewels of his enemies,” and it is believed that the most valuable items were “donated” to the deity. This book benefits from the perspective of writers who try to excavate the connections between the timeless and the temporal. Trisha Gupta’s essay “The Sacred and the Profane: Experiencing Khajuraho” is certainly a case in point. The author points out the stark difference between the stories that art historians and tourist guides tell about temples.   Gupta writes with care, humour, and a measure of intellectual humility. This makes her essay worth revisiting. She notes, “Khajuraho may look like a blip in our history, its evidence of our capacity for sexual jouissance a lonely little peak in the dry, flat desert of the subcontinent’s present-day reality. But it still casts a long shadow. And for many Indians, it is a welcome bit of shade – one in which we might pause to re-experience our relationship to the sexual.” Another accomplished piece of writing is Meera Iyer’s essay “Rhapsodies in Stone: The Temples at Belur and Halebidu.” During the course of her research, she learnt that several sculptures in the temples “bear inscriptions recording the names of the artists who made them.” The prominent ones mentioned here are Dasoja, Cavana, Birana, and Masada.   While the practice of artists signing their works is not unheard of, Iyer was struck by the sheer number of signed images in these temples and the language in these epigraphs, which is “quite reminiscent of royal eulogies.” She remarks, “Such artistic agency points to the artists’ pride in their work, and also suggests they had a high standing in society. This is in marked contrast to the usual conception of the medieval Indian artist being an anonymous creator.” Amish Raj Mulmi’s rigorously researched essay “Frolicking Among Deer: A Short History of Pashupati” explores how the past continues into the present. According to him, the Pashupatinath temple in Kathmandu is a place where “Indian diplomacy in Nepal finds its cultural anchor.” In 2014, Prime Minister Narendra Modi offered 2,500 kgs of sandalwood and a grant of 25 crore rupees to build a dharamshala on the temple grounds. Mulmi adds, “Indian leaders and diplomats have often recalled the ‘Pashupati-Tirupati’ or other similar connections… in defining the ‘special’ ties between the two countries, most recently by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh in the aftermath of the 2020 territorial dispute.”   Singh tried to ease the tensions by using the framework of faith. “We don’t have just geographical, historical or social relations with Nepal but a spiritual one also. Who can forget Baba Pashupatinath? How can he be separated from Baba Amarnath, Somnath and Kashi Vishwanath? This relation is not from this world but a totally another world,” he said. [caption id=“attachment_10386571” align=“alignnone” width=“640”]  Pashupatinath Temple in Kathmandu, Nepal[/caption] The Katas Raj temple complex in Pakistan is another pilgrimage centre that has been of interest to Indian citizens and the Indian state. In December 2021, the Pakistan High Commission issued visas to over a hundred pilgrims from India. This development took place under the auspices of the Pakistan-India Protocol on Visits to Religious Shrines [1974]. Haroon Khalid, an anthropologist who specialises in the study of pre-Islamic religious traditions and shrines in Pakistan, writes about Katas Raj in his essay “Shivratri at Killa Katas.” It is known to have been a “popular religious site for the Hindus before the Partition” but it was abandoned after 1947. As a result, it fell it “disrepair” and the pond in the temple complex was polluted. Cement factories in the vicinity started sucking out the water. Khalid writes, “Things changed for the shrine in 2005, when the veteran Indian politician LK Advani came here and expressed displeasure at the neglect of the authorities. In response, the Government of Pakistan started renovation work.” Recent news reports suggest that the Pakistani government has been making special efforts to restore shrines of minorities. Unfortunately, the visa regime enforced by both countries allows very few people to travel. The other authors who have contributed to this volume are Indira Viswanathan Peterson, Basav Biradar, Shrenik Rao, Siddhartha Sarma, Neelesh Kulkarni, Vikrant Pande, Siddhartha Gigoo, and Thulasi Muttulingam. They have written about temples in Thanjavur, Hampi, Mulugu, Guwahati, Pandharpur, Veraval, Jaffna, and Kashmir. This book will appeal to a variety of readers – whether they identify as religious or not – and introduce them to the vibrant lore surrounding each temple, blurring the lines between mythology and history. Chintan Girish Modi is a writer, journalist, and commentator who loves reading. Read all the  Latest News ,  Trending News ,  Cricket News ,  Bollywood News , India News  and  Entertainment News  here. Follow us on  Facebook,  Twitter and  Instagram.