In The Doon Valley, A Ramayana Painting Waits…
In Dehradun’s Rispana Valley, at Rajpur,
next to the headworks of the British built Rispana Canal, stands the ancient
temple of Kelaghat which has now been abandoned. Dehradun, the valley, has
always been at the crossroads between the plains and the Himalayas with ancient
caravan routes carved out along its river courses, in days when roads were not
the norm and people either walked or rode over mules and horses into the
mountains.
Like many temples around the valley, the
Kelaghat temple is, or was, profusely painted in the rare Ala-Gila technique.
In Ala-Gila one paints on fresh lime plaster with pigments mixed with an
organic binder or binding medium. An extra luster is added to the painting by
means of burnishing. The technique
gained popularity in the Doon Valley owing to abundant high-quality lime and
patronage to the Garhwal School of Painting by the Tehri Kings.
Framed in an elaborate floral pattern, the
painting projects the frontal view of Bharata, with bow and arrow held akimbo,
even as Hanuman sits on the arrowhead, ready to be launched towards Lanka.
Bharata's eyes indicate a meditative posture, as if conscious of the
significant mission being accomplished by the arrow he is about to shoot. Since
the temple is approached from the river bed, and the site is placed at a
considerable elevation, the human figure is life sized to catch the casual
traveller's attention.
Due north from the Rispana Valley, ahead
of Badrinath at the border with Tibet, lies the Niti Valley. The people of
Dronagiri region in the Niti Valley still refuse to worship Hanuman, since he
stands accused of stealing their mountain. We are all aware of the Ramayana
episode where, in the middle of the pitched battle at Lanka, Lakshman is
mortally wounded. Hanuman is sent to the Himalayas in search of the Sanjeevani
herb, the only remedy to cure Lord Rama’s brother. Not able to locate the
medicinal herb, Hanuman decides to dislodge the entire mountain!
As the Lanka Kand of Ramcharitmanas tells
us, the moment Hanuman approached Nandigram, carrying the mountain over his
head, his heart fills with vanity about how pleased Rama would be with him for
his efforts to save Lakshman. At this same point in time, Bharata, who is
entrusted with Ayodhya’s security, and is eternally vigilant, espies a colossal figure coursing through the air. Thinking it is a demon, he shoots an
arrow with a headless shaft, towards the creature carrying the mountain. The
arrow hits Hanuman, who along with his ego crashes to the ground, uttering “Hey
Ram! Hey Raghu!”
Bharata regrets shooting the arrow the
moment he hears these words. Once he realizes the objective of Hanuman’s
exertions, he places the devoted servant of Rama and the Dronagiri mountain on
his most powerful arrow and shoots it towards the battlefield of Lanka. Hanuman
reaches in quick time to save Lakshman.
The wall painting at Kelaghat (before and after defacement) depicted this episode. Painted over two and a half centuries ago, the wall painting, sadly, was painted over and still awaits restoration.
References
- Kamboj, B.P. (2003) Early Wall Paintings of Garhwal. New Delhi: Indus Publishing Company.
- Pandey D.K. (2000) Glorius Dehra Dun. Dehradun: Tuhina Publication House.
- William, G.R.C. (1874) Memoir of Dehra Doon. Dehradun: Natraj Publishers.
- Ohri, L. (2019) Walking with Laata. Dehradun: Book World.
- William, S. (2009) Rispana Valley Historical Area. Mumbai: esocialsciences.
Very good
ReplyDeleteThere are many other sites where Krishanleela has been depicted with Mughal attires. I always wander why the site of Kelaghat has this episode of Ramayana when majorly Krishanleela dominates the sites of Rangharwala Temple, Darbar, Samidhi and other of region....
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