Chapter Two: Places of Prayers in Pune
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Chapter Two: Places of prayers in Pune 2.1 Introduction After the discussion regarding the dynamic relation between music and religion in the first chapter, two points are taken up for discussion in this chapter – 1. Religions and cults of faith in Pune – a brief history and 2. A general outline of places of prayer in Pune Being the cultural capital of Maharashtra, the city of Pune has always remained an important centre for devotional musical activities. For the last seven hundred years, in the vicinity of Pune, the unbroken tradition of Naradiya, Warkari and Ramdasi tradition of devotional music has embellished both, the sentiments of the devotees and the ears of connoisseurs. Arati, Haridasi Keertan, Warkari Abhanga - Bhajan, Owi, Abhang, Wasudev Geet, Waghya- Murali Geet, Gondhal, Jogawa, Bharud, etc. practiced by Hindus and other forms practiced by various other religions1. There are many other religious beliefs besides Hindu religion in Pune. One finds numerous Muslim Mosques and Dargah-s, Christian churches and chapels, Parsee Agiaries, Jain temples, Buddhist Vihar-s, etc. in Pune. In all these places of prayer, different kinds of music have been performed. This chapter deals with the historical review of the religious spaces in Pune, where music has been performed. 1 Ramachandra Dekhane, in Tikekar, 2000 (vol.2): pp. 19-20 30 2.2 Historical perspective on religions and the places of prayer in Pune The earliest archaeological evidence of the habitation of Pune occurs in copper plate of the Rashtrakoot King Krishnaraj, dated 758 AD. In this copper plate, there is a mention of King Krishnaraj‟s donation of Bopakhalu village in the Punya Vishay (Pune district) to a Brahmin called Poogadi Bhat on the occasion of a solar eclipse on Ashwin Amawasya Shake 670. It also mentions the boundaries of the village as Kalash (Kalas) to the east, Darpapudika (Dapodi) to the west, Muila (Mula) river to the south, and Bhesauri (Bhosari) to the north2. The original inhabitants were Hindus and Buddhist. The famous cave temple of Pataleshwar (also mentioned as Panchaleshwar3) belongs to circa 8th century. Though not in actual Pune but in its neighborhood, there were many Mahayana Buddhist cave shrines from 1st century BC to 7th century AD. It is also proposed by Dhere that the cave temples of Chatushringi in Pune and Tarakeshwar in Yerwada were originally Buddhist caves which were converted into Hindu temples after the decline of Buddhism in ancient times4. The two important temples in Pune, Punyeshwar and Nageshwar (दक्षिण े प赍ु येश्वर दवे ो | नागेश्वर महादवे ो ||) are mentioned by Sant Namdeo (early 13th century) while explaining the boundaries of Alandi5. 2.2(A) - Hindu Places of Prayer The „Tambadi Jogeshwari‟ is a tutelary goddess of Pune. Günther Sontheimer states that this might be originally a „Rakshak Yakshini‟, i.e. a minor guardian deity, who was 2 R. C. Dhere, in Tikekar, 2000 (vol. 1): pp. 11 3 Fergusson, 2012: pp. 130 4 Dhere, op. cit. pp. 15 5 ibid: pp. 12 31 uplifted as a „Graam Devata’6. There are many Shakti temples in Pune, including Bhavani Mandir in Bhavani Peth, Piwali Jogeshwari, Kali Jogeshwari, Mahakali Mandir, Ashtabhuja Devi, Mahalakshmi Mandir, etc. From the 14th century onwards, the Warkari cult became predominant in the Pune region and the temples of Vitthal became centers for Warkari Bhajan. From the 16th century, Ramdasi cult too became a major sect and many temples of Ram and Maruti were established. As the Peshwa were worshipers of Ganesh, the cult of Ganapati flourished in the vicinity of Pune in 17th and 18th century. The Datta and Nath cult also got followership in Pune region in the same period. Many Gosavi-s from Nath cult and Shaiva cult settled in Pune and established their hermitages and temples. In the Peshwa period, many Vaishnav temples (other than Warkari cult) were built in Pune, such as Narpatigir Vishnu Mandir (1760), Ramji Devasthan in Tulshibaug (1761), Vishnu Mandir in Belbaug which was built by Nana Phadanvis (1769), Lakshmi-Nrusimha Mandir in Sadashiv Peth (1774), Khunya Muralidhar Mandir (1797), etc.7 The Peshwas took initiative in building a huge complex of temples on Parvati hill (1749-1760). Natu8 mentions the popular places of worship in Pune during 20th century as following – Kasba Ganapati, Modi Ganapati, Gundacha Ganapati, Trishund Ganapati, Dagdushet Halwai Ganapati, Belbaug Vishnu, Nava Vishnu, Nrusimha Mandir of Joshis, Khunya Muralidhar, Tulshibaug Ram Mandir, Kenjale Vitthoba, Bhikardas Maruti, Dangalya Maruti, Dulya Maruti, Sonya Maruti, Tambadi Jogeshwari, Omkareshwar, Pataleshwar, 6 Sontheimer, in Tikekar, 2000 (vol.1): pp. 33 7 ibid.: pp. 40-44 8 V N Natu, 1995: pp. 51 32 Someshwar, Amruteshwar, Rameshwar, Nageshwar, and the Parvati temple complex with shrines of Vishnu, Vitthal, Ganesh, Kartikeya, Shankar, and Devi (here Dhrupad singers and Vajantri players were employed for music service). He also gives a list of popular Matthas such as Akkalkot Swami, Raghavendra Swami, Bidkar Maharaj, and Gondawlekar Maharaj Mattha9. The Hindu communities from other parts of India also established their temples in Pune. The Gujarati, Marwari and Rajasthani community started settling in Pune in the later Peshwa period. The Maheshwari and Agrawal communities came in Pune, chiefly, for business and as they become established as citizens of Pune, they created their own places of prayer in Kasba Peth, Raviwar Peth, Budhawar Peth, and Guruwar Peth. There were two Hawelis, i.e. Pushtimargi Mandirs, in Pune. The oldest is Shri Hariray Ji Ki Haweli where religious activities still take place. However, another one, Shri Balkrishnaeay Ji Ki Haweli was shifted to Surat some six years ago10. The influx of Sindhi families into Pune, for the purpose of establishing businesses, began during the pre-independence period itself, but the process of their migration geared up after the partition in 1947. The „Sai Tionaram Tikana‟ in Aggarwal colony, the first Sindhi temple, was established in 1942 followed by „Baba Gurpatsahib Tikana‟ (1946), Jhulelal Mandir in Pimpri (1947), Gur-Sangat (1949), and Amrit Vela Mandir (1973). The most celebrated Sindhi place of worship which has gotten worldwide followership is the Sadhu Vaswani Mission (1978)11. 9 ibid.: pp. 57 10 Interview with Mr. Rasesh Sugandhi in Dec. 2016 11 Jasu Murjani, in Tikekar, 2000 (vol.1): pp. 365-368 33 After 1950‟s, many south Indian and Bengali families settled in Pune after joining civil services, military services and industries. The Kannada, Tamil and Kerala communities have many temples of Ayyappa, Murugan and Balaji, situated mostly in the outer circle localities of Pune. Although the Bengali community also celebrates the Durga Puja festival with enthusiasm, they don‟t have many permanent places of worship in Pune. In the last two decades, due to the development of IT sector in Pune, there has been a constant growth in the temples of non-Marathi Hindu communities in Pune. This has brought a variety of regional flavor in the devotional music culture in Pune. 2.2(B) - Non-Hindu places of prayer: Following the Hindu community, the Muslim Community has the second biggest share in the population of Pune. The communities following other faiths entered in Pune only during Peshwa period, i.e. early 18th to 19th century AD. The sequence of the establishment of these communities can be stated as Hindu > Muslim > Jain > Christian > Jew > Parsee > Sikh > Navayan Buddhists > new cults. Following this chronological sequence, the historical review of settlement of the non-Hindu communities and their places of prayer is taken here. Muslim The history of Muslim community in Pune goes back to 13th century AD. In the latter half of the 13th century, during the movement of Islamic conversions by a group of 700 Sufis 34 under the leadership of Muntajab-ud-din Jarjar-Bakshi of Delhi12, Sufi saint Salah-ud-din came to Pune, with four of his disciples, for the propagation of Islam. The Punyeshwar Mandir, originally a Shaiva temple was converted into the Dargah of senior Sheikh Salah-ud-din and another temple Narayaneshwar was converted as Dargah of junior Sheikh Salah-ud-din13. Senior Sheikh Salah Dargah has the tomb of Hazrat Sheikh Salah- ud-din Gazi. Sheikh Salah-ud-din Gazi was direct descendant of Hazrat Abu Baqar Siddiqi, who was Khalifa or successor of Prophet Mohammad. Salah-ud-din was born in Medina, Arabia in 1238 AD. He travelled India circa 1300 AD and become disciple of Hazrat Nizamuddin Aulia of Delhi. He came to Pune with four followers, namely Akbar Sheikh Abdul, Peer Munim, Peer Abbas and Sayyad Masoob, circa 1340 when Sultan Tughlaq conquered fort Kondana by defeating Nag Nayak, the Koli chieftain on Kondana. Sheikh Salah-ud-din Gazi resided in a mosque in the „Phoolamala‟ area, on the banks of river Mutha in Kasba Peth. He died in 1356 and a Dargah with his tomb was built14. In early 17th century, Pune had four main divisions. The original habitat was known as Kasba Peth. Today‟s Somwar Peth was then known as Shahpur. The area now known as Shaniwar Peth was known as „Murtajabad‟ because Murtaja Nizam Shah of Ahmad Nagar constituted this section. Malik Ambar formed „Malikapur‟, which is known as Raviwar Peth today. In 1660, Shahistekhan formed a new area which was called as „Astapur‟, i.e. today‟s Mangalwar Peth. Today‟s Budhwar Peth was founded by Aurangzeb in 1703 and it was known as „Mohiyabad‟ at that time, which was named after 12 Ibid.: pp. 13 13 Ibid.: pp. 13 14 Jalgaanvi, 2016: pp.21-25 35 Mohi-ul-Millat, Aurangzeb‟s grandson who died at a young age in Pune and was buried near junior Shekh Sallah Dargah. The boundaries of Pune were broadened after 1726 under the reign of Peshwa Bajirao I15.