My visit to Harihareshwara temple
Poet Kaalidasa starts his epic Raghuvamsha, the story of lineage of Raghu, in which Lord Vishnu incarnated as Sri Ramachandra, with the following invocation
Vaagarthaviva sampraktau Vaagartha pratipattaye
Jagatah pitarau vande ParvatIparameshwarau
ವಾಗರ್ಥಾವಿವ ಸಂಪ್ರಕ್ತೌ ವಾಗರ್ಥ ಪ್ರತಿಪತ್ತಯೇ
ಜಗತಃ ಪಿತರೌ ವಂದೇ ಪಾರ್ವತೀಪರಮೇಶ್ವರೌ
I salute to parents (maata cha pitaa cha -> Pitarau) of this universe, Parvati and Parameshwara, who are as united as Vak (word) and its meaning - to attain the knowledge of words and their meaning.
This famous invocation is rich with beauty of the imagery and meaning. It is quite natural that Kalidasa, a devotee of Shiva seeks the blessing of Divine parents for the vocabulary before undertaking such a huge task as that of writing an epic. This brings to the mind the image of Ardha-narishwara - half Lord Shiva and half Mother Parvati.
It is intersting to note that Kalidasa invokes Lord Shiva at the beginning of an epic which is the story of Lord Rama's lineage. As a matter of fact Saint Tulasidasa belonged to a smarta family. Kumara Vyasa Gadugina Naranappa's family again are Smartas, but the poet composed Mahabharata with Krishna as hero. This is as historically true as the fact - that Sri Ramanuja had to flee to Kannada land to escape from the zealout Shaiva king, and that many vaishnava look upon Lord Shiva as "inferior" to Lord Vishnu.
DVG in his jnapaka chitrashale mentions about his teacher who gave a different interpretation to the above verse.
I salute to fathers of this universe, Shiva and Narayana (parvatIpah cha Rameshwarascha -> Paarvatiparameshwarau - husband of Parvati, Shiva and husband of Ramaa ರಮಾ, Vishnu) who are as united as Vak (word) and its meaning - to attain the knowledge of words and their meaning.
Harihara which marked the boundary of earstwhile undivided Dharwad district and Chitradurga district houses a temple of Lord Harihara. The city of Harihara currently in Haveri/Chitradurga districts is located on the banks of holy Tungabhadra. The part of the city in chitradurga district is called Harihara and the other part of the city is called Kumarapattana. Kumarapattana is mainly the Harihar Polyfiber factory. The ancient temple is established in around 900 AD - 1100 AD had a huge statue of the Lord. The temple in the Hoysala style was added in stages during the subsequent years. Like all the Hoysala temples, this temple too has beautiful carvings on its outer walls. The temple has cylindrical pillars, which have a mirror-polish. They must have something like lathe machine to produce these pillars. The usual star shaped platform, typical to Hoysala temples is said to be beneth the present ground level, for which there are sufficient evidences.The statues of Nandi and Garuda are located in front of the temple. Beside the main temple the temple dedicated to Mahalakshmi, Ganesha and Shanmukha swamy (Represented as snake) is present.
I reached the temple at 8 pm in the evening, time of maha-mangala-arathi. The temple was calm with hardly a handful of devoteess. The climate was cool. As we entered the temple, the arathi began. Couple of priests chanted the sholkas in praise of Lord Hara, while the next stanza chanted by the other priests was in praise of Lord Hari. The shloka contrasted and compared Hari and Hara. While one was "Karpoora Gaura", the other was "Krishna Varna" and so on. I was simply thrilled to the chantings and felt a kind of bliss. The UNESCO has recognised the vedic chanting as intangible heritage and Jagmohna, the minister of Culture in the ministry of Vajapayee had put efforts in preserving this great art. The whole temple reverberated with the chantings and i stood with gaze staring at the Lord. Half the statue is of Hara, with Shaivite symbols on the crown, Trident in one hand etc. The other half is of Hari, with Viashnavite symbols on the crown and Sudarshana Disc in the other hand. Thus the statue is not according to any of the Agamas.
As i returned from the temple, i felt a kind of calmness in my mind too. This calmness was there for several minutes, and i unwillingly had to proceed to Dharwad.
Vaagarthaviva sampraktau Vaagartha pratipattaye
Jagatah pitarau vande ParvatIparameshwarau
ವಾಗರ್ಥಾವಿವ ಸಂಪ್ರಕ್ತೌ ವಾಗರ್ಥ ಪ್ರತಿಪತ್ತಯೇ
ಜಗತಃ ಪಿತರೌ ವಂದೇ ಪಾರ್ವತೀಪರಮೇಶ್ವರೌ
I salute to parents (maata cha pitaa cha -> Pitarau) of this universe, Parvati and Parameshwara, who are as united as Vak (word) and its meaning - to attain the knowledge of words and their meaning.
This famous invocation is rich with beauty of the imagery and meaning. It is quite natural that Kalidasa, a devotee of Shiva seeks the blessing of Divine parents for the vocabulary before undertaking such a huge task as that of writing an epic. This brings to the mind the image of Ardha-narishwara - half Lord Shiva and half Mother Parvati.
It is intersting to note that Kalidasa invokes Lord Shiva at the beginning of an epic which is the story of Lord Rama's lineage. As a matter of fact Saint Tulasidasa belonged to a smarta family. Kumara Vyasa Gadugina Naranappa's family again are Smartas, but the poet composed Mahabharata with Krishna as hero. This is as historically true as the fact - that Sri Ramanuja had to flee to Kannada land to escape from the zealout Shaiva king, and that many vaishnava look upon Lord Shiva as "inferior" to Lord Vishnu.
DVG in his jnapaka chitrashale mentions about his teacher who gave a different interpretation to the above verse.
I salute to fathers of this universe, Shiva and Narayana (parvatIpah cha Rameshwarascha -> Paarvatiparameshwarau - husband of Parvati, Shiva and husband of Ramaa ರಮಾ, Vishnu) who are as united as Vak (word) and its meaning - to attain the knowledge of words and their meaning.
Harihara which marked the boundary of earstwhile undivided Dharwad district and Chitradurga district houses a temple of Lord Harihara. The city of Harihara currently in Haveri/Chitradurga districts is located on the banks of holy Tungabhadra. The part of the city in chitradurga district is called Harihara and the other part of the city is called Kumarapattana. Kumarapattana is mainly the Harihar Polyfiber factory. The ancient temple is established in around 900 AD - 1100 AD had a huge statue of the Lord. The temple in the Hoysala style was added in stages during the subsequent years. Like all the Hoysala temples, this temple too has beautiful carvings on its outer walls. The temple has cylindrical pillars, which have a mirror-polish. They must have something like lathe machine to produce these pillars. The usual star shaped platform, typical to Hoysala temples is said to be beneth the present ground level, for which there are sufficient evidences.The statues of Nandi and Garuda are located in front of the temple. Beside the main temple the temple dedicated to Mahalakshmi, Ganesha and Shanmukha swamy (Represented as snake) is present.
I reached the temple at 8 pm in the evening, time of maha-mangala-arathi. The temple was calm with hardly a handful of devoteess. The climate was cool. As we entered the temple, the arathi began. Couple of priests chanted the sholkas in praise of Lord Hara, while the next stanza chanted by the other priests was in praise of Lord Hari. The shloka contrasted and compared Hari and Hara. While one was "Karpoora Gaura", the other was "Krishna Varna" and so on. I was simply thrilled to the chantings and felt a kind of bliss. The UNESCO has recognised the vedic chanting as intangible heritage and Jagmohna, the minister of Culture in the ministry of Vajapayee had put efforts in preserving this great art. The whole temple reverberated with the chantings and i stood with gaze staring at the Lord. Half the statue is of Hara, with Shaivite symbols on the crown, Trident in one hand etc. The other half is of Hari, with Viashnavite symbols on the crown and Sudarshana Disc in the other hand. Thus the statue is not according to any of the Agamas.
As i returned from the temple, i felt a kind of calmness in my mind too. This calmness was there for several minutes, and i unwillingly had to proceed to Dharwad.
posted by Ramashray at 5:33 AM
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