A little bit of context before you begin reading this book review. I have recently enrolled for an MA in Philosophy at the University of Mumbai. Philosophy is something I have been getting interested in, over the past few years, as those of you who have been reading my blogs and Instagram posts would know. During the pandemic, I thought long and hard about what I wanted to do next, and this is what I eventually came up with. It has been a challenge, getting back into academics as a student at this age, especially in a subject I have no academic background in. However, it has also been very exciting, especially thanks to my wonderful classmates (who, surprisingly, are of all age-groups, including some quite near my own) and my teachers, who have been very supportive and understanding. How well I will do is something that remains to be seen, but so far, I am enjoying this new journey and look forward to where it leads. Now that you know the background , you probably get an idea of how
Today
is Ganesh Chaturthi, and with everyone writing about Ganesha in some way or the other, I thought
I should do a post too, but related to something I saw on my recent visit to
Jaisalmer. Are you now confused? And wondering what connection Ganesha has to
Govardhan and that too, Jaisalmer? Well, then, first, let me show you what I am
talking about….
And
now that you have seen it, let me draw your attention to the ‘a’ in the title. I am not talking
about ‘The Govardhan Mountain’ but ‘a Govardhan’, and therein lies the
difference! This Govardhan is a stone, a sort of marker, identifying a spot –
usually water, in the desert. These markers were extensively used by the
Paliwal community in Jaisalmer, to identify special sites. It could be the
presence of water, or mark a tunnel, or a site for a temple. These stones were
usually aligned with the directions of the compass, and had the figures of
deities inscribed on them, usually, Ganesha, Vishnu, Hanuman, and another
figure, which could be Rama or Krishna.
Here are some other views of the same Govardhan I showed you before…
Its certainly Vishnu on the left. Am not sure of the one on the right |
This pair looks like Rama and Hanuman. What do you think? |
An
interesting tidbit, wouldn’t you agree? Thanks to the folks at Suryagarh for pointing them
out and telling me about them!
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