Chapter V Religious Organization in Space
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CHAPTER V RELIGIOUS ORGANIZATION IN SPACE CHAPTER - V RELIGIOUS ORGANIZATIONS IN SPACE 1) SACRED TERRITORY: Ritualization of local territory, often the village territory, is found in tribal areas. Actual demarcation of the ritualized village space takes place periodically among tribal folks in Maharashtra, e.g., on the occasion of Gao Bandhani festival. Tribal bhagat demarcates the boundary by drawing a line with his spear round the village and burying hens, eggs, lemons, haldi and kumkum along it at night in the Kolam tribal community. No one is allowed to leave the village on the day of Gao Bandhini. In an Hindu village the caste territory, a close sub-field of circulation and interaction, is clearly discernible in the distribution of castes, and is also made explicit in caste rules. The houses of the particular caste are located at specific place in Maharashtrian villages . The houses of Brahmins are at the centre of the village Rui (Kinwat tahsil) that in turn are surrounded by houses of Marathas (Refer Fig. No. 5.1A). The low caste Hindus and Muslims live on the periphery of the same village, as expected. The tribal Bhil community has settled beyond the road in the south. The houses of Brahmins and Marathas are close to the square in the village Nivall (BK.) (Refer Fig. No. 5.IB). The houses of the low caste Hindus (Mahar, Mang, SKETCH MAP OF:VILLAGE RUI (KINWAT TAHSIL) B B rahmin lb Mohor Maratha K Kumbhar Field D Dhobi 0Nhav, C Chonn bhar =1 Mahar Mong SKETCH MAP_OF: VILLAGE NIWALI(BK) Su Sutar JINTUR TAHSIL) -+ + ^J B 1S%<; -*-t Bh.l T M 3 B @ r*<A)]g ^ Muslim Shop Gram PanchyGt M aruli Temple FIG. 5-1 -103- Chambar, Kumbhar) are found on the fringe of the village, whereas, those of Muslims occur towards west i.e., facing Mecca. Maruti temple is located at entrance to the village, obviously, with a religious faith that the god will defend the villagers from calamities. 2) SPATIAL DISTRIBUTION OF RELIGIOUS PLACES IN MAHARASHTRA: The religious spirit, patronage of Royalty, devotion of people and nature of the landform were some of the causes for the establishment of temples dedicated to various gods, goddesses and saints through the past one and a half millennium in Maharashtra. Places having the privilege of being places of birth of saints, preaching religious gospels and/or composing religious works and where they took samadhis have invariably assumed religious importance as places of worship and pilgrimage. Specific examples discussed below will bring out these facts clearly. Alandi rose into religious prominence because Dnyaneshwara composed Bhavarth^aCdeepika and took samadhi at this place. Paithan is important religiously as it is the birth place of saint Eknath where he preached Hindu philosophy. Edlabad is important as Muktabai took samadhi at this place and Haji Malangwadi is a Muslim place of pilgrimage as Haji Malang Baba has been entombed there. Moreover, the Shilahara kings, the Yadavas of Deogiri and the Maratha rulers give patronage to several important Hindu and Muslim religious places. -104- Hinduism being one of the oldest religions and also of the majority of the population, there are innumerable temples dedicated to numerous Hindu gods, goddesses, saints etc. in villages and cities. However, the important places of worship of as of the Hindus Shiva, Ganesha, Vishnu, Bhavani and Datta deserve attention. Though the Muslims, followed by Christians, ruled over this territory during the past not many significant places of worship/prayer are found belonging to Muslims and Christians in Maharashtra. A) SPATIAL DISTRIBUTION OF HINDU RELIGIOUS PLACES; Spatial distribution of the important places of Hindu worship, as indicated in figure No. 5.2, reveals a concentration of such centres in the western part. This can be explained on the ground that the tract from Nasik-Tryamakeshwar to Pandharpur was traversed by ancient and mediaeval highways and thus, one finds a considerable concentration of Hindu places of worship in this historical area. Paithan, Edlabad, Amravati and Kolhapur also occur along mediaeval highways. The detailed maps Nos. 5.3, 5.4 and 5.5 reveal the spatial distribution of Mahadeva, Khandoba and Viththala temples in Maharashtra (Refer Table No. 5.1). The Devi cult (mother goddess) is found all over Maharashtra and might represent one of the oldest deities worshipped from the 2 Mediterranean right upto India . w H w X < oc o 1•S ?°- u I Z 1/1 10 -g S 5 1 =! < 5 UJ < Q. * z 5 g - * 5 « 3 § S J * ? *z o 4J. •*< d< ±5 • « * • « m !• f* !• t 1/1 a • O UJ _i a. 0 -< 1 4 1 I 1 1— UJ oi — >> 0 0 1 • • ,- O < *• CD ' £ I O • • UJ •'5 * X O < • z: 1 *j\ 0 a. _c <x (fa 1— • • • I > 1 LO • rf. -0 < u. • a- 0 • 7i * cr a. .c A CO r> LU AH _) Z Q. • - >• £ 51 LU JO a, -0 1— • • • • • • • • f - • • • • • • • • • • • • • • * • • • • • • • • 1? V/ • • • • • • • 9 f • • • -105- Mahadeva is the god of the Anaryas and has been incorporated into Vedic Hinduism that has been introduced in India by Aryans. A concentration of the temples dedicated to this god is found in Marathwada region and in Pune and Ahmadnagar, the upland districts of western Maharashtra. Khandoba an Anarya god, is the Kuldaivat (family deity) of so many families and temples dedicated to him occur mostly in basins of the rivers Bhima/ Neera, Krishna, Manjra and a few in Godavari valley. There are two or three of them along Arabian sea coast and almost none in north and eastern parts of Maharashtra. This shows that southern and central Maharashtra have much in common with Dravidian (non-Aryan) culture of the south. The inscriptional records of Pandurangapalli, i.e., Pandharpur go back nearly to 6th and 12th century respectively and the Varkari cult goes back to 13th century in Marathi litera- 3 ture . There are small temples of Viththala all over Maharashtra. A concentration of these temples is found in Ratnagiri, Raigad and Thana, the coastal districts of Maharashtra. They all were built after the famous temple of Viththala at Pandharpur. Several shrines dedicated to Viththala occur outside Maharashtra along routes traversed by Maratha armies and places established by them as capitals. General significance and location of representative places have been indicated below, for purpose of enhancing understanding. -106- i) KOLHAPUR: The city of Kolhapur is situated on the high bank not fdr away from the ford, on the river Panchaganga . The city of Kolhapur a class I settlement, enjoys a central position between the rugged terrain of the Western Ghats to the west and rolling plain in the east. Recent excavations at Brahraapuri have revealed that "a city of well-built brick houses stood on the banks of the Panchanganga river, when the Satavahana Emperor, Gautamiputra Satkarni ruled in the Deccan about A.D. 106-130" 5. The beginnings of this city were probably laid in the preceding one or two centuries. The important old road from Bijapur to the sea coast passed through Kolhapur. As a religious centre, Kolhapur is known as the Dakshin Kashi (Banaras) or the Kashi of the south, the ancient temple of Mahalaxmi being the main attraction. Mahalaxmi of Kolhapur is one of the four most important and popular deities of Maharashtra. The temple attracts a large congregation of devotees during nine day festival of 'Navaratra' preceding Dasara festival. Females visit the shrine during Navaratra and on Tuesdays and Fridays of the year on religious ground. ii) TULAJAPUR: Tulajapur is a town of Medium size and is situated on the western fringe of the Balaghat plateau. Tulajapur, however, is known for the sacred temple of goddess Bhavani whose antiquity -107- goes back upto 13th century A.D. it is this goddess, the Kulswamini of Maharashtra, who is believed to have rewarded Chhatrapati Sivaji, the founder of the Maratha Empire, with the legendary Bhavani sword and inspired him to carve out the Maratha kingdom. Two fairs are held in honour of the goddess every year; one by the end of September or beginning of October and the other in the month of April. iii) TRYAMBAKESHWAR: Tryambakeshwar, the municipal town, is located at the base of the eastern spur of the Sahyadris. The Brahmagiri hills (Anjaneri range) surrounds the town on three sides and on the fourth side i.e. north side, there is the Neela hill. Nivrittinatha 7 samadhi is said to be about 700 years old . This place has acquired considerable religious importance due to the occurence of Mahadeva temple and Nivrittinatha' s samadhi. Two fairs are held every year at Mahadeva temple; one on Kartika full moon day and the other on Magha vad chaturdashi or the great shivaratri day. Another large fair is held at Samadhi temple of Nivrittinatha on Pausha Vad. 11 as he took samadhi on this day. iv) JEJURI: Historically Jejuri is an old place located along mediaeval highway to Bijapur. Due to its location along highway it was visited by passing Hindu and Muslim armies during the past. The temple of Khandoba, therefore, occurs on a small hill and is -108 duly fortified. It is popularly recognised as god of Dhanagars (shepherds), who occur in the droughtprone tract of Maharashtra in large number. Jejuri is located in Kama river valley and is not far off from the tip of spur on the top of which Kadepathar is located. It has been popular religious place over at least past thousand years . Khandoba of Jejuri, is one of the four important gods and goddesses worshipped in Maharashtra. Annual fairs are held at Jejuri at four times in a year.