Around this time last year, I visited Lohargal in the Shekhawati region of Rajasthan in search of a stepwell. I found the stepwell or Chetan Das ki Baoli, And along the way also stumbled upon a temple dedicated to the Pandavas, with a very interesting story attached to it.
The Pandava temple (shrine would actually be a more appropriate word) is on one side of the narrow pathway that leads to the main and ancient temple, dedicated to the sun. I would not have given this shrine, whose walls are covered with subway tiles, a second look if the priest hadn’t called out to me and told me to stop. I did out of politeness and was glad that I did for I had never seen or heard of a Pandava temple in worship till then.
The Pandava shrine is a small one with the Pandavas and Draupadi arranged on either side of Krishna. Framed pictures of other gods are also placed inside the shrine as are packets of clothes, sarees and shawls — offerings from devotees. As I look on and take photographs, the priest narrates the Pandava / Mahabharata connection with Lohargal.
The water tank attached to the Sun temple at Lohargal is considered to be holy, with the power of absolving one of all sins. After the winning Kurukshetra war, the Pandavas came to Lohargal to bathe in the holy waters and also clean their blood-stained weapons in the kund or pond. As the weapons were immersed in the waters of the pond, they dissolved away giving Lohargal its name — Loha (iron)+Gal (dissolve).
Fascinating story, isn’t it? This connect and faith with our epics never ceases to amaze and delight. 🙂
In a land as ancient as India, it is impossible to travel anywhere in the country and not discover a mythical and/or mythological legend associated with it or a connection to one of the great epics — Ramayana or Mahabharata. If all the legends are to be believed then the main characters from both the epics are extremely well travelled people !
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Very interesting.
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Yes it is. One is so used to temples and legends around the Ramayana that this one came as a complete surprise.
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Interesting story.
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One can never travel for even a kilometer anywhere in India without an interesting story coming your way 😀
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Thats very true.
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Very nice, Sudha. You always write such interesting stuff and even though I am hardly the one to be interested in Mythology, I feel a slight bent now. The joy of blogs! 🙂
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Thank you, Ishita. You just broke my heart when you said that you are not interested in Mythology. 😛
Maybe I can tempt you something from Himachal Pradesh which has such a unique take on Hinduism. That reminds me that I am yet to write about the Ghatotkacha shrines outside Devi temples in Himachal !
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Sorry for that, Sudha 😛 But the good part is your posts are so interesting that I end up reading it all 😉 Oh yes maybe il be more biased towards Himachali mythology 😀
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I have always been fascinated with Mahabharata. I have seen Pandava caves in Nasik and heard of their temples, but I wasn’t aware that they are still being maintained and worshipped!
The idol’s have such a ‘tej’ on their faces. Sorry, no apt English word for them. There is so much to learn and follow from mythology, only if we want to see and take the positives.
My first time here, and am going to stay. 🙂
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Hello Varsh, thank you very much for stopping by and commenting here.
No, there is no English equivalent for the word “Tej”. It is unique to the subcontinent and I know exactly what you mean
I haven’t been to the Pandava Leni near Nashik and it is very much on my list of caves places to travel to. It is impossible to go to every place in a single lifetime but I’ll do my best.
Hope you enjoy your stay here 🙂
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This is the first time I heard about the Pandav temple. Krishna never fought any war. This can, at the most, be called a family photograph (of that era) post the ”Mahabharat war”…
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Maybe Krishna did not fight the war, but he was with the Pandavas throughout. If one were to believe in the legend, then he could also have have accompanied the Pandavas to m to Lohargal, Either way, it is difficult to think of the Mahabharata without Krishna.
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Interesting read though…
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And an interesting place to visit as well !
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During our trip to Delhi I discovered that Agrasen ki baoli in Delhi may have been commissioned by Raja Ugrasen, Kamsa’s father and Krishna’s maternal granddad 🙂 It was the only Pre-Mughal building of any significance in Delhi. I would like to know, though if you know of any PreMughal buildings in the capital that the larger public may be unaware of.
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You know I haven’t seen Agrasen ki Baoli yet? For that matter I haven’t really explored Delhi well even though I have visited the city a few times.
Did you mean pre-Islamic when you mention pre-Mughal? For Delhi is full of pre-Mughal buildings – especially, Khilji, Tughlaq and Lodi. If you wish to explore them then I would recommend that you read the posts of Rana Safvi at ranasafvi.com No one does Delhi better than her.
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beautiful pictures
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Thank you, Harshita. Though the temple itself is rather kitschy, its location at the foothills of the Aravallis is beautiful.
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Definitely it is interesting indeed!!
http://www.myunfinishedlife.com
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I doubt if there is any place connected to mythology in India that is not interesting. Whether one believes in the legend or not, the story is always interesting and fun to hear.
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Does that mean that those who recorded the deeds of these well-travelled warriors were travel bloggers? 😛
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I never though about it that way but yes ! Travel bloggers seems so much cool today than mere scribes 😛
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😀
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Sudhagee, I came to know of this unique place through your intriguing post. I would love to visit here sometime 🙂 Thanks for sharing.
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Glad you liked this post, Footlooseinme. When you visit Lohargal, do remember that the Pandava temple is at the entrance to the main Surya Temple.
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This sounds intriguing! Had never thought such a place exists. But then, there is a dog temple in Bangalore. So what do we know?
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And a rat temple near Bikaner and a frog temple somewhere in MP (so I’ve heard) !
Welcome here, Soulmuser. Thank you so much for stopping by and commenting. Hope you’ll keep visiting.
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Nice Post!. I never heard about Pandava Temple before read this post. Thanks for sharing this wonderful post.
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Welcome here, Esha87. Thank you so much for stopping by and commenting. Glad that you liked it. 🙂
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