Editing Dharmic Circuits: The Tale of Many Kailashas (section)

==== Recreation of Sacred Kshetras ====
Kailash is not the only sacred teertha that is recreated. This is not the place to mention them all but a few names will illustrate the view point. For example, there are many Gangas. Godavari is Dakshin Ganga, but so is Kaveri. Even sacred ponds like the temple tank of the Brihadeeswar Temple, Gangaikondacholapuram is also considered Ganga. Across the seas, in the south-east Asia, the Mekong, the tenth largest river of the world (larger than Ganga), is literally Maa Ganga (Me + Kong).

Ayodhya is an eternal city. The capital city of Thailand until just a few centuries ago was Ayutthaya. Mathura is recreated in deep south, in Madurai. Kashi is recreated in Kanchipuram. Not only the teerthas or the sacred mountains and rivers are recreated, but also the entire circuits are recreated like the Char Dhams. There are the Char Dhams sanctified by Adi Shankara: Badrinath, Dwaraka, Rameshwaram and Puri. But Uttarakhand has its own Char Dhams: Gangotri, Yamunotri, Badrinath and Kedarnath. Kedarnath is not one. There are five Kedar temples in Uttarakhand itself called Panch Kedar.

The concept of Char Dhams is repeated on ever smaller scales in ever smaller circuits but with the same sacredness. Morena district in the northernmost parts of Madhya Pradesh has its own local Char Dhams: Bairare, Ishwara, Shyam Dev Baba and Dev Van. These four local teerthas are great centers for the people of Morena and the Chambal Valley. Great gatherings occur on many festivals at these temples various times across the year and for those who visit them for darshana, these Dhams are no less than the great Char Dhams.

In this spirit, a Hindu looks on across the border with wistfulness in the direction of the great Mount Kailash but not without absolute dismay. He, of course wants that Mount Kailash should also be included in Bharat’s national boundaries at some point of time in future, but in the meanwhile he has the recourse of the many Kailashas that are still a part of the sacred geography of Bharat, four of which lie in the state of Himachal Pradesh itself.

Explore Dharmic Circuits.