The idea of India’s unity is as old as civilisation itself: An Alarnath temple saga

Since their formation, nations have striven to make themselves stronger and sustainable. The idea of unity has been fundamental to their stability, sustainability and longevity. Time and again bigger states have been formed only to disintegrate into smaller ones. For example, Europe has hardly been a united entity except for few periods, such as under Charlemagne, when large part of Europe was under him. However, after brief sojourns like that, Europe has always splintered into various nation states.

Similarly, attempts of Caliphate to impose political unity in the name of religion over heterogeneous lands rarely succeeded. In modern times, the globe is dominated by nation-states having homogeneous traits. Two big exceptions are India and China, who despite enormous diversity have been able to sustain the idea of unity. If in difficult times, they splintered into smaller states, very soon they bounced back to more or less united formations.

Since Confucius’s Analects in 6th century BCE the quest for unity has been a cherished idea in China. As Confucius puts the need for one China during violent usurpation of his native state Lu, “when the Way prevails under Heaven, rites, music and punitive expeditions are ordered by the Son of the Heaven.”

This idea of unity is further extended by other Chinese sages, and unity was accepted as a necessary condition for the stability. By the 3rd century BCE, Chinese thinkers agreed that unity of the government was the precondition to implement the principles of the Way (the Dao), leading to peace and Great Unity of the Dao, Heaven, Earth and the King.

Throughout the Chinese history since 1045 BCE when the rule of the Zhou began, who claimed to have the mandate of the Heaven, the idea of China’s unity has been very strong. In fact, historians say that the remarkable fact is not that many times China has disintegrated, but the fact that it has always come back together as a united China.

India is perhaps the only country where diversity has been cherished since times immemorial. In India, diversity has flourished like thousands flowers and leaves of a tree with deep cultural roots. In India the idea of unity has been there since ages and it has not been left to few thinkers alone but has been sown in the consciousness of every individual through centres of faith and associated stories. A deep cultural unity across the Indian sub-continent has been the basis of the concept of India.

The Vishnu Purana declares:

उत्तरं यत्समुद्रस्य हिमाद्रेश्चैव दक्षिणम् ।

वर्षं तद् भारतं नाम भारती यत्र संततिः ॥

(Bharat is the land which lies to the north of the ocean and to the south of the Himalayas, and its residents are called Bharati.)

Even in difficult historical times, the idea of unity was never abandoned in India. However, unlike China where the vision of unity is a composite of political and metaphysical orders, in India cultural ethos and the profound sense of belongingness and attachment with the characters and stories of the two epics and the Puranas make the deep core of unity among the Indians.

That’s why we find birthplace of Bharat (son of King Dushyant and Shakuntala), the ashram of Sage Kanva at Kanalda in Maharashtra and also at Kanvashrama near Kotdwar in Uttarakhand; and the demon King Banasura’s fort at Lohaghat in Uttarakhand and also at Agnigarh, Tezpur in Assam. There are numerous such places across all over India where you will find different versions of the stories from the epics.

That is why if Shri Krishna’s childhood is cherished in north India, as a statesman he is Dwarkadheesh in west India, and becomes Lord Jagannath in east. The Shri Bhagwan at Puri has been so much in the heart, mind and soul of the people of Odisha that He needs to be woken up, bathed, fed, nursed and amused. Often I wonder how effortlessly the devotees at Puri become mother Yashoda of Gokul and Vrindavana.

Lord Jagannath not only connects East with the West and the North, but South India as well. Both great and little traditions work at Jagannath and other associated temples. There is a temple of Lord Alarnath at Brahmagiri, 25 km west of Puri. This is a sacred place for Krishna devotees. After annual bathing ritual (Snan yatra), the Lord suffers from fever and takes rest in isolation for two weeks. This period is called anavasara (literally no opportunity to see the Lord). During this period, devotees see Lord Jagannath in Lord Alarnath.

It is said that bhakti saint Chaitanya Mahaprabhu saw the appearance of Lord Jagannath at Alarnath during anavasara and spent a long period worshipping Him here. People believe that during anavasara Alarnath’s darshan gives them the blessings of the Lord Jagannatha. Thousands of devotees visit Alarnath temple during these two weeks to seek blessings of Lord Jagannatha and taste the holy porridge (kheer) as prasadam.

The deity here is not a wooden carved Jagannatha, but a black granite idol of Lord Vishnu similar to deities in South India. The deity has four arms holding a chakra, a club, and a conch shell. His right hand is in abhaya mudra, granting fearlessness and security to devotees. Lord Vishnu’s carrier Garuda kneels at the feet of the deity with hands folded in prayer. Rukmini and Satyabhama, two consorts of the Lord are also there. There is a lake behind the temple where Chandan Yatra (Sandalwood Festival) is celebrated for 21 days every year.

By integrating south Indian Alvars (devotees of Vishnu) and their deity to the Lord Jagannath (Lord Shri Krishna in North and West India) our ancestors had understood, worked and propagated the idea of unity in India. This was done through devotional stories linking one place and the deity with another.

The existence of Lord Alarnath has been connected with great tradition through a traditional belief. It is said that in Sat Yuga (the first epoch in Indian mythology), the progenitor Brahma worshipped Adi Vishnu on top of a hill. Pleased with his penance, Lord Vishnu appeared before him and instructed him to make a black stone four-armed deity of Adi Vishnu holding a chakra, a club, and a conch shell. Since then the place is called Brahmagiri (Brahma’s hill).

The right hand fingers of the deity are broken or incomplete and there are blisters on his body. For this the great tradition of Alvars is beautifully linked with a local story, associated with a child devotee. It is said that one day, after prayers, a child devotee offered hot kheer to the Lord. The Lord, immensely pleased with the child’s love, hurriedly dipped his fingers in the hot kheer bowl. As a result, his right hand fingers got burnt.

The legend is that, once upon a time there was a poor Tamil priest serving Lord Alarnath since many years. His name was Sri Ketan. He had a twelve-year-old son named Madhusudan. Once the priest went to a distant place. Before leaving he asked his son to offer kheer to the Lord in his absence. Next day, when the boy offered kheer for the Lord, he became nervous. His father used to perform many rituals and chant mantras before offering kheer. The boy knew nothing of them. The boy got scared that if the Lord won’t accept the offering, his father would be very angry and get chastised. With tears in his eyes, he prayed to the Lord to eat the porridge.

To the boy’s surprise, the deity moved and began eating the porridge. When an overwhelmed boy narrated this incident to his mother, she could not believe it. She doubted the boy and thought, “my husband has been offering kheer to the lord since many years that too after taking bath and performing sixteen rituals. Never ever the kheer container came back emptied. The boy must be lying.”

Next day, she followed her son. Through a small hole on the closed door, she watched Madhusudan offering kheer to the Lord. To her shock, the Lord descended from the throne and started eating the porridge. After few weeks when Sri Ketan returned, she told him about this miracle. Sri Ketan first doubted it and later became suspicious and jealous of his son. After all he was a priest offering kheer to the Lord with precise rituals for so many years without even believing this possibility! “Was the boy eating it?”

Next day, he asked his son to offer very hot kheer to the Lord. The innocent boy, unaware of his father’s scheme, offered hot kheer to the Lord. How could the Lord resist prayer of His innocent devotee? He put His fingers in hot kheer. In the process his right hand fingers got burnt. At the same time, an astonished Sri Ketan opened the door. As a result, the hot kheer spilled over the body of the Lord which left blister marks on His body.

After this incident, Sri Ketan left the temple. For many years in absence of a priest nobody worshipped at Brahmagiri temple. Much later the Gajapati king of Odisha arranged for local Brahmins to worship the Lord as priests. Since then, every devotee is offered kheer as prasad here.

Further cultural linkages are also found at Alarnath. A stone slab kept inside the temple premise, it is said, bears the impressions of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu’s body. It is said that when he first lay in full obeisance before the Lord, the stone beneath him melted with his divine touch. Thus, for Gaudiya Vaishnavas Alarnath is one of the most revered holy places. A holy place like Alarnath and an innocent story of Madhusudan exist all over India and such places and stories are the strongest glue that binds Indians.

The writer is an author and essayist. Views expressed here are personal.

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