Tired of the pretentious, conspicuous, and perpetual coverage of the political drama erupting, post-Rhea’s arrest in Mumbai, I decided to take a break, watch something that did not belong to this world. I opted to watch the old television serial, 'Mahadev'. It was such a relief to settle in the soul-stirring musical score of the masterpiece serial.  Soon I found myself engrossed in the perplexing relationship anxieties of Goddess Parvati, Lord Shiva, and their son Kartikey. The episode narrated the story of Kartikey’s feelings of remorse and how he decided to go through the atonement. In that story, I learned that Kartikey’s second name was ‘Kumar’ and that reminded me of my visit to the ‘Kukke Subramanya Temple’ in Karnataka. Lord Kartikey, the Hindu god of war, is also known as Skanda, Kumara, Murugan, and Subrahmanya, and is popularly worshipped in South India, Sri Lanka, Singapore, and Malaysia as Murugan.

This story took me down memory lane when I had the fortune to visit the ‘Kukke Subramanya Temple’, thanks to my wise friend Jyotika Kotian’s advice.

Nestled in the beauty of nature, the village of Subramanya lies in the Kadaba Taluk in south Karnataka. We took a bus from Mangalore as it is only 105 km from there. The dense green forest on the way and the breathtaking beauty of mountains, in the midst of which stood the temple, were enchanting. The misty mountains bejeweled with waterfalls gave us company till we reached the temple. Offering a fascinating background to the temple portico a huge mountain overlooked the temple forming a unique backdrop for any shutterbugs delight. I came to know it was the famous ‘Kumara Parvatha’ the highest peak in the state.  

Luck favored me and I got a room with a beautiful view of the mountains. The next day we woke up early to get ready for the darshan. Like all devotees, we were asked to take a dip in the holy waters of the Kumaradhara river before we could enter the temple. It was the coolest water my feet had ever touched and the walk from the river to the temple was so peaceful.

On reaching the temple we were shocked to see the crowd, there were hundreds of people in the queue waiting for the darshan and the pujas to be performed. It was certainly one of the most revered temples and religious practices. We were among the few Hindi-speaking people there. The pillars of the temple, the statue of Lord Garuda, and the puja rituals enthralled us. We quietly and patiently waited for our turn and repeated the verses of sacred prayers as recited by the pujaris. There was hardly any place for people to move but we were assured of the darshan and finally, our patience paid off. We had the opportunity to stand in front of the deity Lord Subrahmanya, even though it was for a few seconds. The divinity of the ancient temple, the stoic faith of the people, and the entire atmosphere were so mystical that there was no room for any skepticism or uncertainties. 

If you happen to visit Mangalore or Bangalore, a visit to the ‘Kukke Subramanya Temple’ will revive your faith in the ancient rituals and temples.         

 

Vithala – in search of you!

The quest and the yearning for Shri Vishnu had never been as crucial as it is in this era of strife, the Kaliyuga. When no one is spared of pain and struggle, the few moments of touching the true essence of your soul can be a rare momentary occurrence. This is what happened to me, when I visited the Vithala temple, in my locality on the occasion of Janmasthami. I returned home with some humility, thanks to the sight of Varkaris, the pilgrims of lord Vithala.

The Varkari (meaning "a pilgrim") is a community of people from Maharashtra who follow a religious movement within the bhakti spiritual tradition of Vaishnavite Hinduism. They worship Lord Vitthal (also known as Vithoba), the presiding deity of Pandharpur, as a form of Shri Krishna.

I was lucky to hear the bhajans and kirtans sung by the Varkaris on the eve of Janmasthami as if it was a gift of Janmasthami for me. The Varkaris wear white attire and follow a religious movement that includes fasting, refraining from vices, and singing poems written by saints through bhajans and kirtans. Their simplicity, earnest, and selfless devotion to Vithoba and the absence of any outward demonstration of rituals particularly caught my attention. I was stunned. I realized the simplicity of God. How simple it is just to call upon the name of God through singing! Nothing can match the beauty of singing and music to call upon God. One does not need any pomp, grandeur, rituals, and exhibition; the rights and the wrongs of the outward rituals. It is only the truthful yearning for the love of God that can invoke such spiritual bhava (emotion).

Voluntarily, I picked up the 'taal', tried to emulate them, and played it in tune with the ‘aarti’, calling upon the name of Vithala.  The beauty of the musical instruments played in combination with the invoking of the name of 'Vithala' with such fervent affection touched my soul. No mics, no speakers, no digital tuning, no photos, no mobiles, no video recordings, no compering, no organizers! What a rare beautiful experience! The most striking thing was the unassuming humility of the Varkaris. Many times one sees pride in the face of priests, learned pundits, and the so-called guardians of religion and religious practices. However,  having witnessed the Varkaris, the spiritual awakening was so easy. Although it lasted for a few brief moments, it was exhilarating. As they say, the company of truthful seekers is ‘Satsang’, the opportunity to sing the ‘aartis’ with the Varkaris was a blessing of Lord Krishna on the concluding day of Janmasthami. 

Bandini - a tale of imprisonment

 

Yesterday I happened to watch the old classic movie ‘Bandini’, crafted by Bimal Roy in the sixties. Although I had heard the beautiful compositions of S.D. Burman, I had never watched the entire movie. The movie began to catch my attention after I saw the beginning scenes in which the heroine has an impassive, detached and a blank expression on her face while her inmates were not so friendly to her in the prison. Later the story kept me interested and I watched the whole movie.  I couldn’t help but wonder about love and its bondage - how enigmatic, realistic, and inevitable is the pain of love and how conflicting are the emotions that spring from it? How love imprisons our mind and leads to suffering and how our own mind frees us from bondage. I was left with these thoughts after watching this beautiful masterpiece crafted by the legend director, Bimal Roy. The director has painted the story of a simple village woman caught in the realm of love and dilemma, to choose between her distressing past and promising future.   

Undoubtedly the director understands the intricacies of the emotions of women, their inherent anguish and selflessness as he unravels the story of Kalyani, the protagonist, who endures her destiny for long but later succumbs to her ire. It is not a mundane tale of lost love and separation but an extraordinary saga of purity and suffering and how these two emotions go hand in hand. How the soul purifies by smoldering in the fire of sacrifice! Kalyani, a down-to-earth girl, does not know anything other than caretaking; but with her circumstances, she evolves to realize the human capacity of profound greatness and compassion.

After having committed a crime in a moment of fury she shows the truthfulness to accept her crime and go through the punishment, that too with complete seriousness and humility.  Her selflessness, simplicity, and purity cannot be ignored by the men who fall for endearing beauty, while her prison inmates are jealous of the same qualities. It is difficult to accept that a criminal serving a sentence for a crime as grave as murder can be so virtuous. 

Society is unforgiving. What is really inspiring is that the innocent girl never laments even though she becomes a victim to the righteous society.  Her truthfulness and purity serve as a strong contrast to cruelty and futility of the so-called social norms and the so-called guardians of society, who themselves are corrupted in their thoughts, to bring disgrace to such a virtuous woman. Is it the untainted beauty of her soul that reflects on her face and eyes which makes her the target of unwanted attention and jealousy in prison? Why she spends the rest of her life in guilt and deprivation only for having committed one crime and cannot renounce her past?

The yesteryear actress, Nutan gives a brilliant performance, in fact, a once in a lifetime performance. She has the opportunity to express the intricacies and nuances of a range of subtle emotions felt by Kalyani; from tenderness, love, and innocence to fear, anguish, pain, and suffering. Nutan does that in such a highly understated yet undefeatable manner that it is impossible to separate her existence as an artist from the character. During the entire movie, one cannot remember the celebrated vivacious actress but one is just quietly witnessing the life of Kalyani, the girl who learns to brave her misfortunes.

The most astonishing part of the story is that Kalyani never thinks of ending her life nor does she indulge in lamenting as a victim. She is always ready to pick up the pieces and face whatever life has to offer. Her devotion to life, selfless service, and humanity is justified by the poise and grace expressed by Nutan and her distinct style of emoting through her eyes. She carries herself so elegantly, with so much dignity and poise! It is her understated simplicity throughout the movie that creates a contrast to her destiny. How a pure person has no other path other than the pain of suffering and punishment when one does something that is not righteous.

The fascinating style of symbolism is used at many places. For instance, the prisoners are shown witnessing the onset of spring flowers from the prison windows symbolic of the irony of their lives and how the beauty and hope of spring would not change their lives. Many times, the doctor is shown looking at Kalyani through the window bars. The use of bars and people meeting opposite bars seems to be symbolic of their confinement and sacrifice. The backdrop of freedom fighters also depicts the sacrifice of another kind.  In another noteworthy scene, Kalyani gives in to her passion and poisons her lover’s wife. While she watches through the window bars, the welders’ outside are hammering continuously, symbolic of the hammering that is going on in her mind. The light and dark effects symbolize the conflicts going on in her mind. Nutan’s change of facial expressions from helplessness and tragedy to anguish and vengeance in a matter of few seconds is impeccable.

Kalyani often sits on the shore of the river, quite symbolic of her own life story. The backdrop of river Ganga is effectively used in the climax scene, where the haunting song, sung by S.D.Burman, “Ore Majhi …..mere sajan hain us paar… ….”, plays while  Kalyani is caught up in the decision to choose between her past and future. Here the river portrays the magnanimity of Kalyani. Kalyani like the great Ganga has no achievements, no ambitions, and no aspirations; she just flows to serve selflessly. It also states that life is a circle of events. One cannot escape from the clutches of our deeds and how we are attached to our karmas. How we become prisoners in our own confines through bondage and how we can embrace freedom by giving up all bondage.  Righteousness becomes our only duty and that alone can give us freedom! 

- Latika Paithankar