Rudramahalya

RudraMahalya Coming back to the RudraMahalya temple in Siddhpur, Gujarat. Yes, it was one of the biggest Shiva temples, originally built in 943 AD, finally renovated and completed in the 12th century by Siddharaj Jaisimha, described by the scribes of the day as "rising 14 storeys, with 7000 pillars, 1800 statues,e tc" - which of course is mostly poetic license and exaggeration. Nevertheless, it was one of the most important spiritual and political centers of Gujarat. Destroyed and converted to a mosque in 1297-98 by Ulugh Khan and then again in 1415 by Ahmedshah. The sad thing is that even though we cannot change what happened in the 15th century, we are unable to do anything about what is happening in the 20th and 21st century either, thanks to our pseudo-secular leadership. For the full details of the shameful cover-up of the findings of this beautiful and glorious example of our heritage, one needs to read the book by Sita Ram Goel, "Hindu Temples....vol II". I urge every self-respecting Hindu to read the two volumes of this great work by Mr. Goel. It opened my eyes, I guarantee it will open yours. These and other books are available from Voice of India. THE STORY OF RUDRAMAHÃLAYA In order to understand fully the meaning of what was exposed at Sidhpur and the strife it caused, we have to know what the Rudramahãlaya was, how it came to be built at Sidhpur and how a Jãmi Masjid was raised on its site and from its debris. The Report of the Minorities Commission provides some historical background. So does the Note from the Government of Gujarat. But the information is meagre and leaves a lot to be told. Both of them were dealing with a communal problem and were not expected to give a detailed history of Sidhpur, the Rudramahãlaya and the Jãmi Masjid. Sidhpur The Note from the Government of Gujarat gives no information about the historical or religious importance of Sidhpur. The Report of the Minorities Commission says that Sidhpur is a historical town and that it was ruled successively by Hindu Rajas and Muslim Sultans.1 There is no reference to the religious importance of Sidhpur as a place of Hindu pilgrimage. The article by B.L. Nagarch brings out that point when it says that as the obsequial offerings to the paternal ancestors must be made at Gaya, so corresponding offerings to the maternal ancestors have to be performed at Sidhpur. Nagarch tells us also that the ancient name of Sidhpur appears to have been rîsthala or rîsthalaka and that the name of Sidhapur was given to this place in honour of Siddharãja JayasiMha who completed the Temple of Rudra-Mahãdeva in the twelfth century here.2 The PurãNas regard rîsthala as the most sacred spot in the Sãrasvata-maNDala of Gujarat. The Bhãgvata PurãNa associates it with Kardama rishi, who had his hermitage here, and also with Kapila muni, who was born in this place on the bank of the sacred Sarasvati river. It was also known as Vindusara.3 It is said that ANahillapãTaka or ANahillapaTTaNa, the capital of medieval Gujarat before Ahmadabad came up in the first quarter of the fifteenth century, was founded where it was because of its nearness to rîsthala. ANahillapaTTaNa, now known as Patan, was built in AD 745 by Vanarãja, the founder of the ChãvoTkaTa or Chãpã or Chãvdã dynasty. It reached its greatest glory, however, in the reign of JayasiMha (AD 1094-1143), the most illustrious ruler of the Chaulukya or Solãñkî dynasty of Gujarat. Jayasimha was very much devoted to rîsthala and visited it often in order to keep the company of sages and saints living at this place. There is a popular legend that JayasiMha defeated and captured Barbara, a demon who was molesting the holy men at rîsthala. Barbara, we are told, became his obedient servant and performed many superhuman deeds for him. That is how JayasiMha earned the sobriquet of Siddharãja. He built at rîsthala a temple dedicated to Rudra Mahãkãla which became known as Rudramahãlaya or simply Rudramãla. Because of its close association with Siddharãja, rîsthala became known as Siddhapura which name was corrupted to Sidhpur in course of time. The spiritual fame of Sidhpur, however, proved to be its misfortune when Gujarat passed under a long spell of Muslim rule towards the close of the thirteenth century. Thereafter it attracted the attention of every Islamic iconoclast. Its temples were reduced to ruins and its holy men were either killed or scared away. Its spiritual importance had become greatly reduced when MuNhata NaiNasî, the famous historian of Rajasthan, visited it in Samvat 1717 (AD 1660). NaiNasî was at that time the Dîwãn of Mahãrãja Jaswant Singh of Jodhpur who had been appointed the Governor of Gujarat by Aurangzeb in AD 1658. He has left for us a brief description, historical and topographical, of Sidhpur as he saw it. Sidhpur, writes NaiNasî is a pleasant city. It was founded by Sidharão after his own name. He invited from the East one thousand Udîchya BrãhmaNas who were well-versed in the Vedas and gave them seven hundred villages around Sidhpur He had built a big temple named Rudramãla. That was razed to the ground by Sultãn Alãuddîn. Even so, several temples survive today. Beyond the city, towards the east, there is the river Sarasvarî. A temple dedicated to Mãdhava had been built on its bank. A ghãTa [flight of steps leading to the river] has also been constructed. The temple was destroyed by the Mughals but the ghãTa can still be seen A Turk has built his bungalow on the ghãTa.4 Sidhpur was liberated from the Muslim stranglehold by the Marathas in the first quarter of the eighteenth century. By the first quarter of the nineteenth, the Marathas lost to the British and in the settlement that followed Sidhpur was included in the princely state of Baroda along with Patan. The Marathas made no attempt to revive Sidhpur as a centre of Hindu pilgrimage. Nor did they try to restore Patan as the seat of a Hindu government. Neither the spiritual nor the political capital of Gujarat at one time has retained anything of a great past except wistful memories. Rudramahãlaya The Note from the Government of Gujarat says that the Rudramahãlaya was built by Siddharaja Jayasimha in the 12th century and that it had eleven shrines dedicated to Akadasa Rudras.5 The Report of the Minorities Commission repeats this description with the elucidation that in the centre of this complex was situated the temple and in and around the courtyard were 11 other shrines dedicated to the Rudras6 Both of them say that the temple was profusely sculptured and ornamented. But none of them mentions what has survived of the central temple or the surrounding shrines. B.L. Nagarch gives greater details in his aforementioned article. He writes: In about AD 944 Mûlarãja had founded the Rudra Mahãlaya, but as he had to remain busy in invasions and other engagements he could not complete it. This temple fell into ruins during the following centuries. Siddharãja JayasiMha took up the work of reconstruction of this temple on a scale greater than that originally conceived and could not finish the work till his death in AD 1143. Rudramahãlaya is the grandest and the most imposing conception of a temple dedicated to iva. Only a few fragments of the mighty shrine now survive, namely, four pillars in the north and five in the eastern side, porches of the three storeyed maNDapa. Four pillars in the back of it, a toraNa and a cell at the back remain in situ after being dismantled in the 13th century AD. With its adjacent shrines, possibly eleven, part of which was converted into Jami mosque later in the Mughal period, it must have formed part of a grand conception dedicated to Ekãdaa Rudras. Originally it covered an area of 100 x 66 mtrs. The central building itself occupies an area of about 50 x 33 mtrs. The mighty pillars of this temple are the tallest so far known in Gujarat.7 It is difficult to visualize what the Rudramahãlaya looked like when it stood intact and in all its majesty. No other edifice of a similar conception has survived. We have only some legendary accounts, one of which is from NaiNasî who tells us how the Rudramahãlaya was conceived and constructed. We give below a summary of what he has written at length. Sidharão, says NaiNasî, saw the Earth in a dream, appearing in the form of a damsel and demanding that she be decorated with a choice ornament. The king consulted the learned men who could divine dreams and they told him that the ornament for the Earth could mean only a magnificent temple. So the king invited architects from every land and they presented to him models of what they could conceive to be the best. But no model satisfied Sidharão and he became despondent. At that time there were two notorious thieves in his kingdom, Khãprã and Kãlã. As they started gambling on the Dîvãlî day, Khãprã wagered that he would give KoDidhaja, the renowned steed of Sidharão, if he lost the game. He lost and promised to the winner that he would procure the steed by the time of the next Dîvãlî day. He wormed himself into the confidence of Sidharão, first as a sweeper in the royal stable and then as a syce of KoDidhaja. The king who visited the stable everyday was very much pleased with Khãprãs services and spent some time talking to him.

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