Hanuman temple, Sariska Tiger Reserve.
Alwar, Rajasthan, India.
The Hanuman temple at Pandupol lies some fifteen miles inside what in this century we know as the Sariska National Park. It is a simple building of brick and mortar and has thick walls surrounding a courtyard in the centre. The walls are painted in a shade of pink, a colour that’s auspicious in this part of Rajasthan, and the entire structure sits on a raised platform requiring a short flight of steps to reach.
Neighbouring the temple on all sides is dense Sariska jungle. There is the Dhok and Dhak, two lovely species of trees that grows on the higher and lower slopes of the sanctuary. The Ber and the Salar, that comes into view now and then. Not to mention the Ronj, the Khair and the jungle palm.
The hanuman langoor, that begets its nickname from the demigod, can be frequently spotted in the vicinity. Swinging from trees or more commonly by the roadside and on the parapets right adjacent. Waiting for a passerby to hand over a fruit or a parcel of food.
The main attraction.
Throughout the year, barring aside the rain soaked months, this temple is a hub of pilgrims. People from near and far gather in great numbers to pay obeisance to the demigod, who has a rather unique idol harboured inside. Yet the unique idol isn’t the main attraction that draws people to visit.
What actually draws them to this remote part of the sanctuary, is the belief that the temple was originally built by the Pandavas – heroes of the epic Mahabharata. An ancient poem of colossal length that had taken almost four hundred years to attain its final form, after it was first composed by its author, the bard Krishna Dvaipayana – a dark complexioned sage more popularly known as Veda Vyasa.
Mirroring the belief is a cenotaph in the courtyard of the temple that narrates the tale of how the temple came to be. This narrative encompasses a passage from the Mahabharata that describes an encounter between the Pandavas and the demigod Hanuman in the forests of Sariska. As well as explains the existence of the unique idol.
Narrative on the Cenotaph.
The short passage that makes up a part of the narrative is about an adventure the Pandavas had experienced when they were living in exile – after having lost their kingdom of Indraprasta to their cousins the Kauravas.
It tells of their wanderings in the realm of the Matsaya, and how one day, enroute to Viratnagar, the capital of the Matsaya kingdom, Bhima, the strongest of the brothers, had created a passageway through an impassable Aravali mountain with his iron mace.
How this feat of strength had filled Bhima with immense pride. Yet, shortly afterwards he had met his match in the demigod Hanuman – who had appeared before him in the disguise of a frail old monkey to teach him a lesson in humility.
Encounter with the demigod Hanuman.
The latter episode is described as follows.
Soon after Bhima had appeared on the other side of the mountain. He had found his path blocked by a frail old monkey. Unknown to him, this old monkey was none other than the demigod Hanuman.
Sent by the all seeing lord to teach Bhima a lesson in humility.
Thus Hanuman had met Bhima in the guise of an old monkey that was reclined on the ground in a resting position – with its tail placed on the path in front of Bhima.
When Bhima had demanded of the creature the right of passage. The demigod had refused, claiming he was too old and tired to move, and that Bhima should find another way around.
Bhima’s pride and vanity.
The reply had infuriated the arrogant Bhima to no end and he had not wasted a moment to acquaint the frail old creature with his royal lineage, sheer might and achievements. After witnessing Bhima’s display of vanity, Hanuman had then reiterated, that if Bhima so wished to proceed, Bhima would himself have to move the tail – for he was too old and tired to do so.
Furious at being rebuked by a lowly creature, that too a primate. Bhima had with gusto set upon the seemingly easy task, and with the diabolical intent of twirling the monkey around by its tail and dashing it to its death upon the ground.
Yet when Bhima had gripped its tail with both hands, to his utter amazement, he had found that he had not the strength to even lift it an inch of the ground.
Later, after Hanuman had revealed his real identity, he had instructed the Pandavas to build a temple to commemorate their meeting. Close to the passageway, that Bhima had not too long ago carved out of the Aravail mountain.
Thus had come about the temple and the passageway henceforth to be known as Pandupol or the gateway of the Pandavas.
The narrative on the cenotaph, however, doesn’t just encompass this passage that describes the events that led to the building of the temple. Below the passage, it further acquaints the reader with the name of the head priest of the temple, one Pandit R.B. Sharma. Revealing that his family has served this very temple for five generations.
Message in the passage.
As Vedic writers often mixed inspiration with imagination to create stories ingrained with moral messages. The passage in essence educates readers about the pitfalls associated with arrogance and pride.
It tells us that arrogance and pride are two vices that makes people blind and eventually brings about their humiliation and misfortune. The passage also warns us that looks can be deceptive, and that we should refrain from making hasty judgements based on appearances alone.
Lastly, and on a spiritual level, it tells us that no matter how clever or strong we may be. We are nothing compared to the divine one. Thus, even if one has achieved great things in life, one should always be humble, and treat all living beings with respect – for they too are god’s creations.
The passage is also about reviving one’s faith in Hanuman.
A different rendition.
The passage described in the narrative on the cenotaph differs slightly from what can be found in the standard rendition of the epic circulating 21st century India.
Whereas in the standard rendition the Pandavas come upon the demigod Hanuman in the realm of the king Subahu in Kulinda during Bhima’s quest for the Saugandhika flower, and later, journeys for the realm of king Virata of the Matyasa.
The narrative on the cenotaph combines these two different episodes into one and makes them occur in the region of Sariska. While completely omitting the quest for the flower. The deviation, however, does not make the narrative any less authentic in regard to the epic.
For since the time the Mahabharat was first composed by Dvaipayana, it has undergone innumerable modifications at the hands of later bards and poets. Several renditions exists and in different regional languages.
In essence the passage the narrative encompasses possibly comes from a very early date. It also follows a more logical route for the Pandavas to have traveled. The realm of the Matsaya, that is now Sariska was closer to the realm of the Kurus, now Haryana and Delhi.
Historical perspective.
While the Mahabharata is essentially a work of poetic exaggeration, and each rendition presented the audience of its era with inspired versions of events that had transpired way before their time, speculated to be between the 9th-8th century B.C. It has yet been found to contain numerous historically accurate incidences and description of people, tribes and customs.
Originally composed by the sage Krishna Dvaipayana sometime between the 4th-3rd B.C. When the handful of Vedic kingdoms dotting the subcontinent were entering a stage of transition that would eventually usher in the age of the first Vedic empires. The epic has sometimes been regarded by scholars to have been created to glorify the historical Kuru kings – by portraying them as descendants of virtuous heroes who had dwelled in a more enlightened age.
Likewise, in the original epic, one finds Dvaipayana presenting his characters as the ancestors of people living during his time (4-3 B.C).
In this regard it is quite plausible that both the gap in the mountain known as Pandupol and the temple of Hanuman may have existed prior to the age of Dvaipayana. Since the sage in his composition was speaking of events already past and of artifacts already in existence.
Historical Vedic clans mentioned in the epic.
Like the Kurus, the Ghandharans, the Bharatas and the Purus. Ancient tribes and kingdoms that Dvaipayana frequently mentions in his poem. The Matsaya were also a historical Vedic clan and later a kingdom. They had ruled over the regions of present day Sariska, Alwar and Bharatpur with their capital city, Viratnagar, located somewhere near Jaipur.
The dense forests of Sariska that once lay between the realm of the Kurus and the Matyasa was also a heaven for exiles both before and during the time of Dvaipayana. Sages, hermits and those fleeing from their oppressors had indeed lived in the thickly forested areas.
Furthermore, there is also solid evidence to prove that the worship of Hanuman predates the epic. With the earliest mention of the demigod to be found in the oldest of the Vedas, the Rigveda.
Some scholars also hold the opinion that the worship of Hanuman, a major character in the Ramayana, had eroded by the time of the Mahabharata, and needed to be revived. A responsibility that had fallen to the Brahmans, like Krishna Dvaipayana.
Thus in the epic one finds Hanuman instructing the Pandavas to build a temple near the opening to make it easy for devotees to come visit. Explaining, the impassable mountain had for years prevented his devotees from reaching him.
Who really built the temple?
While in our day and age, it has been proven that the gap in the mountain at Pandupol is not a man made tunnel but the result of erosion, and during the Vedic age may have been used as a gateway to reach the realms of the Matyasa and the Kurus. There still exists, a great deal of obscurity, about the people who originally created the idol and the temple.
Which strictly speaking would not have been a temple in the modern sense but a very simple place of worship. Was it the Matsaya themselves, the Kurus or some other historic people living in exile – who had later inspired the tale of the Pandavas?
Within Sariska and Alwar, the original place of worship is widely believed to have been built by a sage named Nirbhaya Das. A website of Rajasthan Tourism states that this sage, a great devotee of the demigod Hanuman, had lived some 5,000 years ago,see Pandupol, Alwar Tourism.
The name ‘Nirbhaya’ refers to a person who is without fear. While one connotation of the word ‘Das’ implies a servant. In this case a servant of the demigod Hanuman. At Sariska, the demigod is also referred to as the Buddha (aged) Hanuman – since he had appeared to Bhima in the guise of a frail old monkey.
