Type: Prelims Only

Kashmiri Hindus, locally known as Pandits, will celebrate the Zyestha Ashtami at the Mata Kheerbhawani temple at Tulmulla in central Kashmir’s Ganderbal.

Kheerbhawani Temple

• The temple is dedicated to the goddess Ragnya Devi.
• The festival, known as Mela Kheerbhawani, is the largest gathering of Hindus in Kashmir after the annual Amarnath Yatra.
• Situated 30 km from Srinagar city, it is one of the most sacred pilgrimage sites for Kashmiri Hindus.
• The temple gets its name from kheer, or milk and rice pudding that pilgrims pour into the spring inside the temple complex as an offering to the goddess.
• Hundreds of local Muslims, too, traditionally join the celebrations.

Legend of the festival

• Legend has it that the water of the temple’s spring changes colour from white to red and black.
• The colour of the water is said to predict the impending future.
• If it changes to black, it is seen as inauspicious or an impending disaster.
• Kashmiri Pandits say that the water had turned black before they were forced to flee Kashmir during the militancy of 1990.

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Festivals, Dances, Theatre, Literature, Art in News

Try this PYQ:

Q.Consider the following pairs:

Traditions- Communities

1. Chaliha Sahib Festival- Sindhis
2. Nanda Raj Jaat Yatra- Gonds
3. Wari-Warkari- Santhals

Which of the pairs given above is/are correctly matched?

(a) 1 only

(b) 2 and 3

(c) 1 and 3

(d) None of the above

 

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President Kovind inaugurated the Sant Kabir Academy and Research Centre Swadesh Darshan Yojana and paid tribute to the Bhakti saint, Kabir at Maghar, his resting place in Uttar Pradesh.

Kabir and the Bhakti Movement

• The Bhakti movement, which began in the 7th century in South India, had begun to spread across north India in the 14th and the 15th centuries.
• The movement was characterized by popular poet-saints who sang devotional songs to God in vernacular languages.
• Most of the preaching were meant for abolishing the Varna system and promoting Hindu-Muslim unity.
• They emphasized an intense emotional attachment with God.

Who was Sant Kabir?

• One school within the Bhakti movement was the Nirguni tradition and Sant Kabir was a prominent member of it.
• In this tradition, God was understood to be a universal and formless being.
• Many of the saints of the Bhakti movement came from the ranks of the lower to middle artisanal classes.
• Kabir was an alleged ‘low caste’ weaver (Julaha), Raidas was a leather worker and Dadu a cotton carder.
• Their radical dissent against orthodoxy and rejection of caste made these poet-saints extremely popular among the masses and their ideology of egalitarianism spread across India.

His life

• He was born in Varanasi and lived between the years 1398 and 1448, or till the year 1518 according to popular belief.
• He was from a community of ‘lower caste’ weavers of the Julaha caste, a group that had recently converted to Islam.
• He learned the art of weaving, likely studied meditative and devotional practices under the guidance of a Hindu guru and grew to become an eminent teacher and poet-singer.
• Kabir’s beliefs were deeply radical, and he was known for his intense and outspoken voice which he used to attack the dominant religions and entrenched caste systems of the time.
• He composed his verses orally and is generally assumed to be illiterate.

His literary works

• Kabir’s compositions can be classified into three literary forms – dohas (short two liners), ramanas (rhymed 4 liners), sung compositions of varying length, known as padas (verses) and sabdas (words).
• There are myriad legendary accounts on the other hand, for which there exists less of a factual historical basis.

Kabir’s critique of religion and caste

• Kabir is in modern times portrayed as a figure that synthesized Islam and Hinduism.
• While he did borrow elements from different traditions, he very forcefully proclaimed his independence from them.
• He did not only target the rituals and practices of both Hinduism and Islam, but also dismissed the sacred authority of their religious books, the Vedas and the Quran.
• He even combined Allah and Ram in his poems.
• He sought to eradicate caste distinctions and attempted to create an egalitarian society, by stressing the notion that a Bhakt (devotee) was neither a Brahmin nor an ‘untouchable’ but just a Bhakt.

Kabir’s legacy

• Kabir’s own humble origins and his radical message of egalitarianism fostered a community of his followers called the Kabir Panth.
• A sect in northern and central India, many of their members are from the Dalit community.
• All regard Kabir as their guru and treat the Bijak as their holy scripture.
• The Bijak contains works attributed to Kabir and is argued by historians to have been written in the 17th century.
• Several of Kabir’s verses and songs form a vital part of the Guru Granth Sahib.

Try this PYQ from CSP 2019:

Q.Consider the following statements:

1.Saint Nimbarka was a contemporary of Akbar.

2.Saint Kabir was greatly influenced by Shaikh Ahmad Sirhindi.

Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

(a) 1 only

(b) 2 only

(c) Both 1 and 2

(d) Neither 1 nor 2

 

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Ten antiquities (sculptures) retrieved from Australia and the United States were handed over to the Government of Tamil Nadu.

Some of the returned antiquities, and how they had gone missing:

(1) Dvarapala:

• Retrieved in 2020 from Australia, this stone sculpture belongs to the Vijayanagar dynasty dating to the 15th-16th century.
• He is holding a gada in one hand and has another leg raised up to the level of his knee.
• The sculpture was burgled from Moondreeswaramudayar Temple, Tiruneveli in1994.

(2) Nataraja:

• Retrieved in 2021 from the US, this image of Nataraja, a depiction of Shiva, in his divine cosmic dance form, is in tribhanga posture, standing on the lotus pedestal.
• It is dateable to the 11th-12th century. Possibly, ananda tandava or the Dance of Bliss is portrayed here.
• The sculpture was burgled from the strong room of Punnainallur Arulmigu Mariyamman Temple, Thanjavur, in 2018.

(3) Kankalamurti:

• Retrieved in 2021 from the US, Kankalamurti is depicted as a fearsome aspect of Lord Shiva and Bhairava.
• The sculpture is four-armed, holding ayudhas such as damaru and trishula in the upper hands and a bowl and a trefoil shaped object, as a treat for the playful fawn, in the lower right hand.
• The idol is dateable to the 12th-13th century, and was stolen from Narasinganadhar Swamy Temple, Tirunelveli in 1985.

(4) Nandikeshvara:

• Retrieved in 2021 from the US, this bronze image of Nandikeshvara is dateable to the 13th century.
• It is shown standing in tribhanga posture with folded arms, holding an axe and a fawn in the upper arms, with his forearms in namaskara mudra.
• This sculpture was stolen from Narasinganadhar Swamy Temple, Tirunelveli, in 1985.

(5) Four-armed Vishnu:

• Retrieved in 2021 from the US, dateable to the 11th century, and belonging to the later Chola period.
• The sculpture has Lord Vishnu standing on a padma pedestal holding attributes such as shankha and chakra in two hands; while the lower right hand is in abhaya mudra.
• It was stolen from Arulmigu Varadharaja Perumal Temple, Ariyalur, in 2008.

(6) Goddess Parvati:

• Retrieved in 2021 from the US, the image depicts a Chola-period sculpture dateable to the 11th century.
• She is shown holding a lotus in the left hand whereas the right is hanging down near her kati.
• This sculpture was also stolen from Arulmigu Varadharaja Perumal Temple, Ariyalur in 2008.

(7) Standing child Sambandar:

• Retrieved in 2022 from Australia. Sambandar, the popular 7th-century child saint, is one of the Muvar, the three principal saints of South India.
• The sculpture is dateable to the 11th century.
• The legend goes that after receiving a bowl of milk from Goddess Uma, the infant Sambandar devoted his life to composing hymns in praise of Lord Shiva.
• The sculpture displays the saint’s childlike quality, while also empowering him with the maturity and authority of a spiritual leader.
• It was stolen from Sayavaneeswarar Temple, Nagapattinam, between 1965 and 1975.

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