The vanishing temple culture of Himachal

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By: Satyakam Bharti

It has been nearly a fortnight that five 17th-century bronze idols were stolen from the Miya Ka Mandir in Nahan, but there has been no official word over it except for the police version. The religious heritage wealth of the state is almost up for grabs, but paradoxically hardly anybody is complaining, not even the guardians of the faith. It’s another irony that the state government pays great attention to preserving and promoting the British heritage buildings, while the local history has been fading away on the walls of village temples and even vanishing with every stolen ashthdhatu idol.

No leader of any worth has ever been heard expressing concern about temple idols going missing at an alarming rate. Himachal is no Egypt to have a department of antiquities, but somebody certainly needs to be answerable for large-scale smuggling and thefts of idols of historical importance. As per the government records, Himachal has over 2,000 temples and monasteries that are centuries old. Of these, only 60 are under the supervision of the ASI, while 31 are being looked after by the state language, art and culture department that has hardly any expertise and resources in the field. Besides these, almost every other village in the state has a temple with a history that has no other recorded proof except for folk lores.

The government needs to act fast if the remaining chunks of this history are to be preserved, and the initiative needs to come from the very top. The problem itself cannot be described as simple thefts of temple idols because there are several factors that have contributed to it.

We should understand that the socio-economic culture in the state is undergoing great transformation and therefore there is unrest all around. There was a time when no village house would be found locked, but today no one can afford to have that kind of faith. Even if organised smuggling gangs are operating in the state, the fact cannot be denied that there is local support, be it in temple thefts or drug trafficking. The lure of easy money has been corrupting people and there is hardly anything that can be done about it because the model of capitalism and consumerist society that we are pursuing hardly takes care of this aspect of social living. Of course, there can be alternatives, like measuring our progress in terms of gross happiness index, but for that we need strong leadership to steer the transformation.
The village needs to be rejuvenated and for that every individual has to contribute, but it will again depend on leadership we give ourselves. Logistically, a system needs to be worked out whereby every individual in the village should be assigned responsibility and a hierarchy needs to be defined to fix responsibility.

The fact that village temples in Himachal, though having great historical significance, have little influence outside a cluster of villages around them, may be the reason why politicians can afford to ignore theft of an idol worth crores. The tourism department has its job cut here to document and promote such temples as tourist places so that the villagers start taking pride in preserving and protecting their little monuments.

The task at hand appear monumental, but a beginning has to be made somewhere – the sooner the better it would be to preserve out way of living.

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6 COMMENTS

  1. I like the idea of preservation of village temples by tourism deptt. As it can ultimately turn into cultural tourism which is popular at present in 4 states of India (RajasthanTamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh, Uttaranchal). with cultural Tourism we can somehow fit 'village tourism'. 

    If implemented 'village tourism' is one affair which i believe can bring unemployment levels down. Himachali people by nature are sweet, generous and caring; which makes them fit for hospitality industry without going to any hospitality school 🙂 

     I have little idea about whether its happening or not (village tourism). Please enlighten if some one has any knowledge to share.

  2. It's ironic that the vision of the self-proclaimed guardians of Hindutva in power is limited only to Ayodhya's Ram Temple ! Even that's nowhere in sight?! Like the famous play "TAJ MAHAL KA TENDER" may be they shall too float one "RAM MANDIR KA TENDER" !

  3. The problem is not so much of preservation as of protection and safeguard against theft.This can only be done by the law&order machinery I think this due to the tag "rare" and "ancient " attached to the idols. There is lack of proper documentation. Once these are documented, there will be no lure left for the idol thieves or smugglers of these items.Tourism department could well look after this aspect.

  4. The problem is not so much of preservation as of protection and safeguard against theft.This can only be done by the law & order machinery. I think this is due to the tag “rare” and “ancient ” attached to the idols. There is lack of proper documentation. Once these are documented, there will be no lure left for the idol thieves or smugglers of these items.Tourism department could well look after this aspect.

  5. everything should not be seen from economic perspective. Village tourism is secondary & different call. it is an issue of taking care of & preserving our past and cultural value which always inspire and signifies strong faith in our roots and helps in development of community on humanitarian background

    • Dear friend I do agree that everything should not be seen from economic perspective. We should value and preserve our antiquity.

      But if we take a look at the minute aspects of this problem (here am mentioning to theft of idols and adornments on them), we will find that economic perspective does come into picture. The people who are into business of theft (of idols) are the individuals who have strayed in the absence of sufficient economic opportunities. The basic needs are the first and foremost priority for every human being and everything else fall in line if a person feels secured of getting his basic needs fulfilled.

      Second perspective to relate village tourism is because; if village tourism has to sustain due care and preservation of these ancient sculptures, which are neglected at times by villagers themselves, will be a compulsion for them.

      Past does affects and inspires by setting standards for future generations but development of community is possible when their socio-economic conditions are elevated.

      So what's your say on this?

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