revised: Divine intervention
Several local deities in upper Himachal have made contributions to help in the fight against corona. In the past too, in times of famine, epidemics or war, they always lent a helping hand
Subhash Rajta
Humanity is under siege, the threat is grave. No wonder, even deities are rushing to the aid to beleaguered humans. In the upper regions of Himachal Pradesh, several local deities have made contributions to local administration or the Chief Minister Fund to help in the grim battle against coronavirus. The gesture, as a matter of fact, is very much in keeping with the past – in the times gone by, whenever any famine or epidemic threatened the existence of human beings, local deities always came to the rescue their people. “In the early 1950s, a major famine hit this region. I remember local deities opening up their bhandaars (stores) and distributing grains to the suffering people,” recalls Mohan Rathore, senior vice-president of District Shimla Kaardar Sangh, an association of people managing the affairs of local deities.
Almost every temple belonging to local deities had stores called durgs, in which grains like bathu and koda, which do not go bad for years, were stored. “Whenever there was a famine or any epidemic, the temples would distribute the grains among people,” says Rathore. Interestingly, many temples still have these durgs. “We have two and they are partially filled with the grains since long. Ever since famines became a thing of past, they have not been opened,” says LR Bhandari, a kaardaar (functionary) of Mata Dharech temple.
Reaching out
Normally, the area of influence and working of a deity is limited to the region inhabited by its devotees. However, there have been exceptions, rare though, to this rule – the 1962 India-China War being one such instance. “The country was facing a massive shortage of resources and ammunition. The deities opened up their bhandaars right away and donated large amounts of gold. Also, with the help of erstwhile royal families, hundreds of guns too were given away to help the country,” says Virender Kanwar, a descendant of an erstwhile ruling family of Madhan. Rathore agrees. “Our devta, Chikreshwar Maharaj, contributed 200 gram of gold during the war, it’s documented.”
Many kaardaars of different deities remember having heard stories from their ancestors/predecessors about how the deities helped out during epidemics. Rai Lal Mehta, a kaardaar of Nageshwar Devta, Mandhol, recalls their area was hit by an epidemic during World War II. “Our devta came out of his temple and moved from village to village, assuring people he was there to take care of them,” says Mehta. “One can imagine how reassuring it would have been for the people.”
While several stories of divine intervention may sound quite incredible in modern times, a few come with a reasonable dose of evidence. One such story goes like this: Long time back, Raja Mahendra Sen of Junga was afflicted with an incurable disease. He tried everything but to no avail. Once he was travelling with his wife when they spotted the temple of Mata Tiyali. The wife prayed for the wellbeing of her husband. Miraculously, the Raja was cured instantly. As a mark of gratitude, he offered a 210 bigha jungle around the temple to the deity. “That jungle is still with the temple. It stands as a proof of that centuries-old incident,” says Laiq Ram Sharma, a kaardaar of Tiyali Mata. Incidentally, most deities have their own forests, in which felling of trees is totally prohibited. “So, you see, our deities play an important role in environment conservation too,” says Sharma.
Connect stays strong
Even today, the pact between the deities as their devotees hasn’t eroded much. They continue to be their “protector, advisor and deliverer of justice”. “If someone feels wronged at the hands of someone powerful, all he needs to do is apprise the deity. Once it’s done, everyone, including the offender, knows justice will be served sooner or later,” says Sharma. “This unshakeable faith in deity’s justice keeps society humane and promotes peace and brotherhood.”
Such is the faith that many a time people prefer to settle their land disputes with the help of deities rather in the court of law. “A while back there were a lot of land dispute cases from the Kotkhai region. All of a sudden, they were withdrawn. Later, we found out that their deity had resolved all of them,” said Madan Chauhan, an advocate and president of District Shimla Kaardar Sangh. The process is simple – from wherever the deity, carried by its pujarais in a palki, crosses through the disputed side, it’s accepted as a boundary by the parties involved.
Going beyond their traditional roles, a few deities are creating new opportunities to be of more help and relevance in modern times. “We have created a trust that helps in creating infrastructure in local schools, offers stipend to schools, help people construct link roads, et al,” said Chauhan, a kaardaar of Shadi Devi, Matiana.
No wonder, the devotees have stayed faithful and grateful over the centuries.
