Monthly Archives: August 2015

“Pratiksha Dixit, a Jaipur-based freelancer,elicits this less renowned shopping souk of the walled city which, in consonance with her, remains busier than a one-armed paper hanger all week long.”

The narrow lanes of Old Jaipur are glittering with the spirit of festivity, and scintillating Rakhis of all kinds. This festive time of the year carries a bundle of excitement for the city dwellers, and a fortune for seasonal vendors. On the backdrop of Pink walls of Chhoti Choupad, the sparkling and multicoloured Rakhis are a feast to one’s eyes. You may catch sight of a bunch of foreigners bagging some of these. Alice and Cynthia from Germany were so curious and psyched up by the festive tradition and mythological story behind the concept. One of the petty vendors, Nazira Bano had her customers glued to the artistic collection of Zardosi and Stone-engraved Rakhis. That’s the beauty of Indian festivals-a Muslim lady selling the artifacts of a Hindu festival with equal fervent and felicity.

“We just cannot miss out on this festive season when we have a leverage of being at the Shopping Heart of the old city,” says Dilip, another seasonal vendor for last 25 years. Dilip runs an electronic shop in the area for rest of the year. “The lanes are stuffed up with crowd all week long, and some of the hot picks of the season are selling like groceries,” adds his assistant.

This year’s Pandora’s Box, has in store, a mélange of varieties for the sisters. The faddish ‘Couple Rakhis’ are in the mainstream with a regular Zari, Zardosi or Floral Rakhi, embellished by flashing stones and intensely hued Kalavas, paired up with a Lumba Rakhi (Crowning with a Zari and stone engraved Cone with falling Lathkans). The Lumba Rakhis are for the sister-in-laws, and are worn like a pendant on the bangles or bracelet. The extravagant diamond studded or gold and silver plated Rakhis range around 450 to 1500 bucks. Some of the other intricately designed picks are the elegant Beads and Sandalwood Rakhis, Kundan and Pearl engraved Rakhis and last but not the least the Om and Swastik encrypted ones.

For the fantasy smitten toddlers, there is hardly any cartoon character left out to be embraced in the whimsical Kids Rakhi collection. Bal Ganesh, Doraemon, Spiderman, Chhota Bheem, and Disney Cartoons, are domineering the market this year, the musical and dancing Toy Rakhis being the show-stoppers.

The sleek and subtle use of threads and exquisite coloured stones has been the hallmark of Jaipur since centuries, which is the reason why these Rakhis possess an element of the city’s grandiose as well. These trivial artists of the less talked about by lanes of Jaipur are in fact the promulgators of the aesthetic culture of the city.

It might be a single day chapter of my life-a vividly hued chapter, but it comprises a whole different world for the minor hucksters who have high hopes on the niche market, and the paying propensity of city buyers.

“Inscribed, propagandized the teachings of Mahabharata”: Emergence of Vaishnava edifices

Apurva Sinha is an Archaeologist and an ardent lover of the ancient past explores the Vidisa region, junction point of ancient Indian trade route.

Road transport is the best way to get acquainted with the local traditions. With local music, dialect and delicacies, my mind and soul was filled with vibrant energy. I started off on the SH 9 of Madhya Pradesh to turn another page of our rich past. The scorching heat of the month of May had already made me nauseous but the uncontrollable eagerness to locate one of the earliest remnants of ‘Vaishnava edifices’ propelled me to explore the ‘Heliodorus Pillar’ and its surroundings at Vidisa, Madhya Pradesh. In the midst of a hamlet is located the famous pillar and my destination point.

The ancient city popular for many aeons is credited for the nascence of Vaishnava edifices, testified by the colossal, ‘Garuda-Pillar of Heliodorus’ of 2^nd century BCE, locally known as ‘Khambaba’. It is the most important surviving record of the political and social history of ancient India and is a momentous traceable evidence of the Vaishnava sect of Hinduism. The slender pillar, fashioned in the Mauryan style, once was surmounted by a Garuda (‘vahana’of Vishnu). The inscription in Brahmi script and Prakrit language speaks about Heliodorus, an ambassador from the court of Antialkidas (Greek ruler), Taxila. He starts with Vishnu’s incantation, ‘Devadevasa Vasudevas’ and further claims to have erected the pillar during the regime of 14^thSunga ruler, Bhagbhadra, showing a sheer devotion toward the Bhagwat sect. The notable feature present in the second part of the inscription is the verse from Mahabharata, “Trini amutapadani‹[su] anuthitani nayamti svaga damo chago apramado” that can be translated as “Three immortal precepts (footsteps), when practiced lead to heaven: self-restraint, charity, consciousness”. It clearly indicates towards the prevalence of the teachings of Mahabharata and leaves us with a valuable message that the epic played pivotal role in the ancient Indian society and Vidisa marks the emergence of Vaishnava edifices.

The pillar stood in front of a Vaishnava temple, no more into existence. A team of Archaeologists, from the Archaeological Survey of India, Bhopal Circle carried out excavations and unearthed few sculptures of deities of which some can be seen displayed in its precincts. After a deep study, an apsidal plan of the temple was derived. Apart from the Garuda pillar, there were seven other pillars of which only the capital remains.

The popularity and expanse of Vaishnava tradition cannot be dismissed as a Greek envoy from the north-west frontiers of the Indian subcontinent (Taxila) practised Vaishnavism that led to the erection of a commemorative pillar. Vaishnavism is a sect of Hinduism in which Vishnu and Dasavatara (ten-incarnations) are of central importance. Now the question is what could possibly be reason of erection of pillar at Vidisa?

Vidisa (Vaishyanagar) or ‘Vedisgiri’, located at the confluence of river Betwa & Bes, in the ancient times was a junction point of the trade routes going to-and-fro from north to south and was also a hub for ivory carvers. It held an important position during the Mauryan times (3rd Century BCE), the Great Emperor Asoka was its governor before ascending over the Mauryan throne at Magadha and his chief queen too hailed from here.

By the crack of dusk, the urge of an explorer was fulfilled and the mind was in sync with the philosophical leaning. Hare Ram !!! Hare Krishna !!!