Idols smuggled in

Idols of Mirabai and Krishna are placed surreptitiously in a temple situated inside the famous Chittorgarh fort, which is in the charge of the Archaeological Survey of India.

NO divine intervention is attributed to the mysterious appearance of the idols of Krishna and his 16th century bhajan-singing devotee, Mirabai, in a 500-year-old temple situated inside the famous Chittorgarh fort in Rajasthan. Yet no one, including the Mira Mandir Trust that runs the temple and conducts special rituals every year on Sharad Purnima day, supposed to be Mirabai's birth anniversary, has taken responsibility for the act.

The only people who are worried about the presence of the marble idols, weighing about three quintals and now well ensconced in the sanctum sanctorum, are officials of the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI). The ASI, which is in charge of the fort and its premises, has filed a complaint under the ASI Act with the district administration. Interestingly, the Mira Smrithi Sansathan (Mira Memorial Trust) in the district town of Chittorgarh in south Rajasthan has the patronage of the administration as well.

The "undercover" operation of placing the idols of Mirabai and Girdhar Gopal took place on the night of October 20, one day before the start of the Mira Mahotsav, festivities associated with the birth of the saint of the bhakti movement who sang her way into the hearts of Krishna devotees the world over.

Eyewitnesses say that they saw unusual activities in the vicinity of the Mira Mandir on the night of October 20. Around 8 p.m., people started assembling near the temple as the sound of bhajans rent the air. The ASI staff came to the vicinity. However, by 3 a.m. most of the devotees dispersed and the singing of bhajans came to an end.

The placing of idols, according to informed sources, took place around the same time. The idols were brought near the temple in a vehicle. A few persons carried them without inviting the attention of anyone in the neighbourhood and consecrated them by around 4 a.m. amidst the chanting of Vedic mantras. The ASI officials woke up by 6 a.m. to discover the idols. By then, the police were also summoned.

Informed sources in the office of the ASI in Jaipur said that the installation of the idols was done without the ASI's permission. Local ASI officials have lodged a first information report (FIR) with the local police and sought directions from the ASI office in New Delhi on the action to be taken.

ASI officials pointed that though the installation of the idols might not damage or alter the protected monument, the placing of an idol within the premises was forbidden by law. "What will happen if everywhere people do such things and turn monuments into places of worship," they asked.

However, the ASI authorities have not demanded the removal of the idols as they fear such a move would create public displeasure. They are waiting for the report of the inquiry commission, headed by the Additional Collector, to proceed further on the issue.

R.N. Arvind, District Collector, Chittorgarh, said: "If I issue orders to remove the idols, there will be riots in the town. People are happy about the installation of idols. There are no complaints from any other party." Arvind said that there had been a long-pending demand from the public for the installation of the statues. Moreover, no political party - neither the ruling Congress(I) nor the Opposition Bharatiya Janata Party - has raised the issue with the district administration. "The ASI did not seek the removal of the idols. It has sought action against those who are responsible for the installation," Arvind said.

The demand for the installation of idols of Mirabai and Krishna has been there for quite some time. In the past, there were also reports that a leading industrial house from Rajasthan had financed the carving of the idols. The demand used to intensify during the time of the festivities associated with the legend.

For several centuries, there was no idol of either Mirabai or Krishna in the temple. The worship of the two used to be carried out in front of a picture. There are as many legends about the present location of the original idols in the temple as the myths about Mira herself who, several historians believe, lived in the first half of the 16th century.

However, such a claim is not beyond dispute as there are experts who consider that the historical evidence available on Mirabai is too little to establish her existence. Frances Taft, an independent scholar on the history of Rajasthan during the Mughal and British periods, considers Mirabai a historical person, born to Ratan Singh, son of Rao Duda Jodhavat, ruler of Merta. In A.D. 1516, Mirabai was married to Kunwar Bhojraj, eldest son of Rana Sanga of Mewar. Bhojraj predeceased his father.

One belief is that the original idol of Mira is with the Udaipur royal family, into which she was married. Another belief is that the original Mira/Krishna idol is in Vrindavan, Mathura, the seat of Krishna. However, there are people who claim that the former ruler of Jaipur, Maharaja Man Singh, brought the idol from Mathura to Jaipur.

Mirabai is worshipped in the Jagat Shiromani temple in Amber, the town that used to be the capital of the Kachchawa rulers, before they shifted to Jaipur. There is also a temple in Mirabai's name in Merta, her birthplace in the Nagaur district of Rajasthan.

Idolatry and oneupmanship notwithstanding, there is a renewed academic interest in Mira and the myth and reality surrounding her. The recent seminar on Mira in Los Angeles, in which many scholars from India and other countries, including Komal Kothari and Rudolph and Susanne Lloyd, participated, is testimony to such a growing interest.

R.C. Swarankar, head of the Department of Anthropology at the University of Rajasthan, who has studied the legends about Mira extensively, thinks that the saint who sang "Virag ke geet" (songs of separation) has, of late, emerged as an icon for feminists. Her perceived role as a person who fought against the feudal society and rigid social norms and marriage has tended to make her a new favourite of certain feminist groups.

Swarankar, who attended the Los Angles seminar, points out that the new socio-cultural trends, including the search for roots in folklore by the oppressed and backward classes, have made people to look for new meanings in Mira - the saint poet who had made Raidas, a Dalit, her guru and sang bhajans and padavalis in the folk idiom to identify with the ordinary people.