Features: Magazine | Literary Review | Life | Metro Plus | Open Page | Education Plus | Book Review | Business | SciTech | Friday Review | Young World | Property Plus | Quest | Folio |

ROAD LESS TRAVELLED

Barefoot in the forest!

The line between lore and reality blurs here, writes PANKAJA SRIN IVASAN

PHOTO: K. ANANTHAN

DID THE GODS DISCUSS THE FUTURE HERE? The Maaliga Swami temple

A stone bench under an ancient tree. It is not difficult to picture Draupadi sitting here combing her long tresses as she waits for her husbands to come home with the day's catch. A flash of silver and a closer inspection reveals a pond with water rippling in the wind. Cool green woods with diffused sunshine; they call this deva sholai or the forest of the Gods.

We are at Banagudi, which loosely translated means `forest temple'. In fact, there are three temples. Draupadi's bench stands near a little grotto where great stone slabs with the carved figures of the Pandavas with their wife occupy pride of place. It's believed that the Pandavas lived in the forest in the course of their exile and this temple was erected in memory of that stay.

A little off that clearing, down a leaf strewn path, we walk deeper and deeper into the forest. Suddenly, another clearing and we are in front of a low stonewall encircling a thatched enclosure. We can't see anything at all as it is dim inside. Banagudi village headman Nataraj invites us to enter the temple. Leaving our shoes outside the stone wall, we do so. As our eyes get accustomed to the darkness inside, we see a small shiva linga and a stone Nandi by its side.

Once a year the temple comes alive as offerings of raagi (millets), avarakkai (lab lab) and milk are made to Maaliga Swami, the resident deity. We back out of the temple all the way till we exit the circular clearing. It is a mark of respect. We then make our way to Dodda Gudi (the big temple). This time we leave our footwear outside the forest itself before we move in. Along the way are trees with overhanging twines that the Kurumba locals (who are traditionally honey-gatherers) call `manali kodi'. They use it to make sturdy ladders to reach honeycombs high up in the trees. Thorn bushes block your way — as if resentful of allowing strangers into sacred territory.

And soon, we are in the presence of another temple; actually it looks more like an ancient altar. A big round stone stands there. Lore has it that it was originally a huge kizhangu (tuber) and when a villager tried to prise it out of the earth and cut it open, blood poured out of one half and milk came out of the other. Realising it was no ordinary phenomenon; the area became a place of worship.

Yearly sacrifices are performed here and it is said that worshippers have to leave the forest after the sacrifice as a fierce storm sweeps through it immediately afterwards.

The Pandava temple at Banagudi

They also believe that at one time the forest was host to an assembly of gods who discussed and planned their moves for the year to come. The Pandavas also worshipped here. Hence, deva sholai.

We get back to the Pandava temple, wondering on the way if the scattered rocks we saw were all actually hapless victims, turned into stone because of the gods' wrath! We are told that the area conceals a stockpile of divine weapons that are not visible to the naked eye. Also, the forest is a treasure house of medicinal plants left there by the gods that the tribals still collect and use.

As we leave, Nataraj tells us another story. This happened more recently. A man with his accompanying donkey once decided to take a short nap in this forest. The gods appeared to him in his dream and asked him to worship at the temple. He did that and promptly won three lakh rupees in a lottery draw!

How to get there:

Drive up till Aravenu on the Kotagiri-Mettupalayam road. Take the road leading to Banagudi, four kilometres away.

To know more, contact the Nilgiri Adivasi Welfare Association (NAWA) at 04266-271596.

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail