Land of Kashyapa - Page#24 - Last Page

Land of Kashyapa - Page#24

Last Page

Sir Walter Lawrence in his ‘The Valley of Kashmir’ writes "Kashmir is full of temples, shrines, and centers of pilgrimage or ‘Teertha’. Almost every mountain peak, cave, and spring have temples dedicated to Lord Shiva and the different forms of Divine Mother Bhawani". But time is relentless. "marching forever onward, stripping away everything in its path". How else can you explain the near demise of a fertile civilization?

We gave the world Arthashastra and yet we failed when it came to defending our lands. To understand the invader we need to understand his mind. When Mahmud Ghaznavi came to demolish the Somnath temple, the priests of the temple negotiated with him, offering to pay gold equal in weight to the idol. Ghaznavi rejected the offer saying "I'd rather be known as but-shikan (idol breaker) than as but-farosh (idol seller)".

India is vibrant because it has different colours. Kashmir once had several vibrant faiths all healthily interacting with each other and having great synergy until the Abrahamic monotheistic religion painted the land and valley in only one color. The thiruvasagam verses - "ஒன்றாய் முளைத்தெழுந் தெத்தனையோ கவடுவிட்டு" says that even when there are different branches the tree is only one. We need the flexibility of attaching our focus to different manifestations or qualities of the One God to understand him.

We should encourage our young to travel to Kashmir. The common man in Kashmir does not want turmoil and anarchy. For too long the power brokers have been calling the shots. The Indian Army has brought back the sanity that this land requires. People still live in fear. When I spoke to the locals, many said they hold stocks of provisions for 3-6 months at home - "Just in case".

Our youth should be inspired by the sacrifices of faceless young Jawans and try and work to make this world a better place. I saw Army folks shuttered inside armoured cars, hiding inside recesses of trees and bunks to protect themselves from bullets and wondered how I would cope with the claustrophobic environment. I saw them making tea, eating, and sleeping inside thin tin roof sheds on vacant highways open to the elements and enemy.

I never believed that I would travel to this land ridden with conflicts during my lifetime. My thanks to Priya Thyagarajan for making this possible. I wish to recall the verse from the Natya Shastra, the ancient Sanskrit treatise on performing arts by Bharata Muni:

"Yatho Manah thatho Bhaava

Yatho Bhaava thatho Rasa"

"where the mind goes, there is an expression of inner feeling (bhaava) and

where there is bhaava, mood or sentiment (rasa) is evoked."

With her unwavering focus and enthusiasm, she had made recces to several places before filtering the best for the viewer. She had to fight with the laid-back attitude of the regular Kashmiri to deliver her promises. Every day on this well-curated tour there was a different impediment to surmount. There were too many unknown variables that she had to manage and overcome. With her "bhava" of wanting to deliver the best for the experiencing public, she evoked the "rasa" - the essence of this place and made the visit to the land of Kashyapa, unforgettable.

About Sri Madhusudhanan Kalaichelvan - only last week I had the blessings to be at one of his discourses during Kanda Shasti. Only on தூது - being a messenger - he spoke for half hour, connecting various epics and the events therein. Having such a "gyana sagaram" explaining the Kings, dynasties, invaders, temples, architecture, and culture of Kashmir was an absolute treat.

I would be looking forward to more such curated travel by Priya and Sri Madhusudhanan Kalaichelvan. And I wish for every one of you who have travelled with me by reading these pages to be a part of Priya's and Sri Madhusudhanan's future travels.

I remember the verses from Thirukothumbi here :

"நன்றாக வைத்தென்னை நாய்சிவிகை ஏற்றுவித்த"

When our flight out of Srinagar took off and flew over the Himalayas I wondered about the grace of my Shiva and my Vishnu in caring to bring me here and return me safe after filling me with experiences that will last many lifetimes. The kind of experiences which I can share for posterity, as I did with you all with these 24 pages.

Shivoham!

Sriram(Hari)