The Monsoon Temple
So often we don’t notice things which may be either staring at us or at least around us. Having lived most of my life around Kanpur and Lucknow, wonder how did I miss so much. It ofcourse helps that it is much easier now to find things one is looking for… but one must know what one is looking for !!!!
This time I knew what I wanted to find. A nearly three hours drive from Lucknow, into the rural countryside of Kanpur district I went. At some point we got off the NH and turned into a narrow but well laid road, snaking through mustard fields, through villages, nearly touching the mud caked huts on both sides of the road.
I was heading to the Jagannath temple in the village of Behata Buzurg in Kanpur district. A Jagannath temple in a tiny village of UP. Also called the monsoon temple it is a temple with an enigma attached to its history.
The temple built on a large raised platform could be seen from a distance with a pond nearby. The structure was unusual and unique with two big stupa like structures joint together. On closer look, it sort of looked like a chariot held by a lotus flower as four lotus petal shaped walls seemed to be holding it. A priest wearing a colourful shawl and dhoti and a ASI employee appeared from the sleepy village around it, both vying with each other to relate the story of this beautiful temple.
The construction and age of the temple is a mystery. Attributed to be built anytime between the 11th and 14th century, the temple has been added to and restored by several kings down the centuries. Like the Puri temple, on the top of the temple , is the Nila Chakra, the sacred wheel, said to be there from times immemorial, the metal still free of rust.
The outer walls are surprisingly plain with a few carvings at places..a couple of carved peacocks and a few lotus chakras. On one side of the stupa type wall are small mehrab shaped cavities serving as the steps to the roof to change the flags. Was it the restoration which erased an elaborate carved temple or was this meant to be.The carved columns lying in the courtyard point to more that was there.
The temple which looks so big from the outside has a surprisingly small sanctum sanctorum. The walls are as thick as 15 ft on all sides. A large black stone statue of Lord Jagannath , around 7 ft high, towers in the garbhgriha. Smaller statues of Subadhra and Balbhadra stand alongside, hidden in the robes of the deity. The pedestal on which the statue stands is said to be the oldest part of the temple. There are 12 beautifully carved columns in the sanctum. One of the carved signs seems to persist in different carvings, perhaps being the insignia of one of the kings who built/restored it, trying to stamp history.
And now for the highlight of the temple, also called the Monsoon temple for a reason. A square stone on the ceiling right above the Lord, predicts the monsoon !The stone starts getting wet on its own, drips water, and when it does, rains follow within a fortnight. The larger and more the droplets , better the rainfall in the region. Even more surprising is the fact that as soon as the rain begins the ceiling of the temple dries completely. Much scientific research on the phenomenon has not yielded any conclusion as to the origins of this water.
The priest happily concluded and declared it as the only temple in the country, of its kind…but looking at what I am discovering everyday, I am sceptical…there are many mystries still to be revealed !!
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