Dharmakshetre Kurukshetre

About 5 km from the town of Pipli on the Delhi-Amritsar highway NH1 lies the modern town of Kurukshetra, in Haryana. Escape its clamour an...

About 5 km from the town of Pipli on the Delhi-Amritsar highway NH1 lies the modern town of Kurukshetra, in Haryana. Escape its clamour and go looking for the mystique of 8216;Dharmakshetre Kurukshetre8217;. A name that glows in many hearts, like the vision of Sita-Ram revealed when Hanuman tears open his chest. Ancient Kurukshetra was believed to be 48 kosas large 92 sq km and enshrined 360 places of worship! It was here that Brahma created mankind, that Kuru died, that the Great War of the Mahabharat was fought, just before which God spoke to Arjuna and revealed the Bhagavad Gita. The annual Gita Jayanti utsav in November-December is supposed to occasion a spectacular deep daan on the waters of the Brahma Sarovar, while noisy Krishna ballets with plenty of tinsel and gold resound in town. Discourses are a dozen a day, by assorted gurus, godmen and babajis. The public feeling is doubtless sincere, but the mela-maya may be too much for quieter pilgrims 8212; more pakora than pravachan. Nevertheless, a visit to Kurukshetra can be interesting if you8217;re in a relaxed mood of total surrender, without any expectations, and just go with the flow of whatever befalls you.

As Makara Sankranti approaches January 14, it is natural to recall the Kuru grandsire, Bhishma, who chose to pass away on his bed of arrows at that auspicious time. He gave Yudhishtira lots of parting advice on statecraft and his devotion to the throne and resolution in keeping his vow are no doubt admirable. But he ruined Amba8217;s life and passively helped destroy the throne he did so much to protect by not stopping Draupadi8217;s vastraharan. What may intrigue many of us is: why does it still matter so much? Why do we care so desperately, hurt so much, weep such furious tears for these people? It8217;s the passion in the story that haunts us forever. Accordingly Kurukshetra, despite its tacky neo-Hindu bazaar look, still commands our attention, 8220;at least once8221;.

The hotspot is Jyotisar, about 12 km from the railway station e where the Gita was supposedly revealed. There8217;s a marble 8216;Parthasarathiyam8217;, a banyan, a small lake, little ghats and temples. It is all so modern, it hurts. But rather than disdain, it seems best to remember and forgive the reasons for its innocently ugly modernity and cherish the immortal story instead. Similarly, don8217;t weep when at the red bathroom-like stone tiles on the Bhadrakali Mandir, the municipal art lotus in its courtyard. It is a siddha peeth where wishes are fulfilled. Let8217;s quietly offer out terracotta horses at the Devi8217;s well instead and head for Sthaneshwar Mahadev, the presiding deity Thaneswar!. Shiva is about dissolution and change. There is nothing to grieve at in the 8216;PWD palatial8217; architecture that clads Kurukshetra8217;s holy places 8212; they are still holy.