Worship of Balarama in Coochbehar: a Historical Study
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Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bangladesh (Hum.), Vol. 60(1), 2015, pp. 79-90 WORSHIP OF BALARAMA IN COOCHBEHAR: A HISTORICAL STUDY Bijoy Kumar Sarkar* Abstract The worship of Balarama, the elder of Krishna was very popular in the Kamta- Koch Kingdom; he is still worshipped independently or along with Krishna in a number of temples in Coochbehar. However, he still remains utterly untouched historically and independently as he should have been. An attempt has been made here to study the background, nature and extent of Balarama’s worship in the Coochbehar State along with exploring out the causes of its immense popularity. The question of Balarama’s worship as one of the Vyuhas and/or of the Avataras or something else has also been addressed. Keeping in view the simultaneous worship of Balarama and Manasa on special occasions, their relationship in popular concept has also been investigated. We have consulted the original source materials complementing with relevant secondary sources and undertaken field trips to explore the issue. It is found that Balaram’s identity as a patron of agriculture and a deity of fertility - Hala (ploughshare) being his most distinctive weapon and Halayudha as his nomenclature – contributed considerably to his popularity among the pre-dominantly agricultural people of the Kamata-Koch Kingdom. The history of Vishnu-worship may be traced in Kamarupa from early times in light of erection of a cave temple for Balabhadrasvamin in the 5th century A.D. In Kamarupa and Kamata-Koch Kingdom, the Bhakti movement, known as Neo- Vaishnavism, was launched by Sankaradeva. Earlier, there was profound influence of Saktism and Tantrism, which ritually approved wine drinking, human sacrifice, flesh curry, etc. Sankaradeva’s teaching formed qualified monism of absolute surrender to paramabrahma, the all pervasive Supreme Being in the form of Vishnu (Krisna) and no distinction were made of caste, creed, sex and religion. Cooked rice that became the prasada of Jagannath was distributed among the people. The erudition and noble qualities of Sankaradeva impressed Maharaja Naranarayana, who extended all facilities to him in order to propagate Neo-Vaishnavism. It appears that the Kamata-Koch rulers following Maharaja Naranarayana embraced Vaishnvism, though they had inclination * Associate Professor, Department of History, University of North Bengal, WB, India 80 Bijoy Kumar Sarkar towards Saivism. The Vaishnava movement in the Kamata-Koch Kingdom practically continued in full swing for three generations of rulers. Subsequently Vaisnavism remained confined in the initiation of the Maharajas due to the more popular cult of Siva as well as the opposition of the priestly class and the Brahmas. Balarama was perhaps older than Krishna and lived in Gokula along with Him. According to the Pancharatrins, Sankarsana along with Vasudeva, Pradyumna, and Aniruddha formed together what is known as vyuha. Sankarsana-Balarama is not only a primary Vyuha, but also a Vibhava (avatara), the same name or form denoting either of the two aspects of the cult-god Vishnu. Balarama is also recognized as the eighth avatara (vibhava) of Vishnu by some as the eighth avatara of Vishnu; by others as an incarnation of the cosmic serpent Sesa/Ananta. Balarama was a patron of agriculture. His special weapons are a club, ploughshare and pestle (musala) and he is called Halayudha, Halabhrita, Langali, Sankarsana and Musali. It is to be noted that hala (ploughshare) is his most distinctive ayudha. In independent images of Balarama, found in other parts of India, the god is seen to have a canopy of snake hood over his head. This iconographic trait is a reflection of a tradition that describes him as an incarnation of the mythical, cosmic serpent Sesa/Ananta. He was of great strength and was much addicted to wine (Madhu-priya). He had one wife, Revati; and he was faithful to her. The worship of Balarama (and also of Bishahari) was very popular in the Kamta- Koch kingdom. Almost every substantial farmer would get mandaps or huts in his house where puja would be offered to them.1 Special occasions, such as the marriage of children, tonsure (churakaran), adaption in the family and first-rice (annaprasana), would invariably include the worship and propitiation of gods Balarama as well as Bishahari. Balarama is worshipped in iconic form in the Balarama temple at Tufanganj; the ceremony connected with the worship is conducted by a Brahmana from Kamarupa.2 The temple is situated in the village of Bhuchungmari at Natabari in the Tufanganj sub-division. It stands about a mile west of the river Kaljani. After 1 H. N. Choudhury, The Cooch Behar State and its Land Revenue Settlements, First published in 1903, ed. by N. N. Pal (Siliguri 2010 ), p.140. 2 Pabitra Kumar Debnath, Religion and Religious Establishments of Kamata-Koch Kingdom, unpublished Ph.D. thesis, (University of North Bengal 1993), p. 202. Worship of Balarama 81 the name of the presiding deity of the temple, the place has come to be known as Balaramapur.3 According to Rajopakhyana, Nazirdeo Santanarayana established Balaramapur and gave it the name. However, there is no reference to installing the image of Balarama in this place.4 H. Beveridge also reported that the temple had been built by a Najir Deo. The old temple is now in ruins the traces of which can be noticed in the premises of the present temple. The present temple is square in shape, having four shades of corrugated iron and faces east. Anyway, daily and periodical worship of Balarama in the temple under discussion is still performed. Special puja is, however, held on the annual festive occasions like Rathayatra, Dolyatra, Janmastami, etc,5 which are attended by a large number of devotees with handful of naivedya. Another temple of Balarama could be found on the right bank of the river Gadadhar about two miles west of the Tufanganj town. The place is generally known as Daria Balai Dham.6 The image of Balarama is seen lying flat on the ground inside the temple with the head placed towards the east. The image is said to have been established by Maharaja Narendranarayana.7 Provision was made for meeting the expenses of daily worship of the deity. Endowment of land had also been made by him. It is said that there was no trace of old temple and the place was almost hidden in jungle. Possibly, there was a temple made of perishable materials like bamboo and thatch, which had been replaced by a rectangular temple of four shades of corrugated iron. The walls are made of bamboo, while the floor is kachcha, that is, made of clay. Interestingly, this temple faces the west.8 The west-ward direction of the present temple may be explained on the canonical instruction that if the Sun (i.e. Vishnu)-temple cannot be made to face east, it should face the west. Daily worship of Balarama is performed even today, while special puja is offered on the Astami Tithi during the Basanti Puja. A fair is held on this occasion, to be attended by a large number of people intending to do ‘darshan’ of the deity with offerings. A Kamarupi Brahmana priest is also there for conducting the rituals of the deity. The temple, however once maintained directly by the state, is now maintained by private individuals. 3 Choudhury, Op. cit., p. 241 4 Munshi Joynath Ghosh, Rajopakhyana, ed. by B. Das, (Calcutta 1985), p. 37 5 Dilip Dey, Tufanganj Mahakuma Satabarsha Smarakgrantha, (Tufanganj 1992), p. 93 6 Dey, Op. cit., p. 99 7 cf. Choudhury, Op. cit., p. 703 8 Debnath, Op. cit., p. 202 82 Bijoy Kumar Sarkar The god Balarama is also worshipped in Madan Mohan temple at Mathabhanga. Situated near the S.D.O.'s office of Mathabhanga Sub-division, the temple is adorned with a dome at the top. Images of Krishna and Balaram are installed in the temple. Every year celebrated here are the Ratha Yatra, Raas Yatra, Janmastami and Dol Yatra. About 8 kilometers from Cooch Behar town is situated the village of Baikunthapur, a prosperous locality of the past. It is said that the Maharaj Laksminarayana, king of Cooch Behar, established an idol of Baikunthanath (Vishnu) in this village for which the village came to be known as Baikunthapur.9 Mythologically, the paradise of Vishnu is known as Vaikuntha, sometimes designated as Mount Meru, and at others as in the Northern Ocean. Vishnu himself is sometimes designated by this term.10 Vaikuntha is higher even than the Brahmaloka. Whenever the devotee, by constant adoration of the god renouncing karmaphala, reaches the stature of Bhagavana from guna point of view, he is entitled to live in the Vaikuntha, the adhipati of which is Vaikunthanatha.11 The Vaikunthanatha temple is, however, quite interesting. The floor as well as the altar is made of clay, while the wall is made half with tin and the rest with bamboo. There is no definite information about the founder of this temple, which is constructed in charchala made of tin. Inside the shrine are two idols on the throne – one of Krisna and the other of Balarama. The height of both the octo- alloy images is about 31 cm. (1 ft). The major festivals celebrated here include Rathayatra, Rasa and Dolyatra. Every year a fair is held at the nearby village of Khapaidanga on the occasion of Moari festival on Dol-Purnima, which is visited by a large number of people. The death anniversary of Damodardeva, the disciple of the Assamese Vaishnava guru Sankaradeva, is also another occasion for some small festival.12 Madanmohan or Balarama Thakur Temple at Dinhata13 temple is situated in Dinhata sub-divisional town on the east side of the Cooch Behar on Dinhata Road.