The year was 1290 . A crowd had gathered around a clearing, where broken down pillars marked the presence of an ancient temple, now long gone. A young boy, just 14 years old, leaned against one of those pillars, deep in thought. Then, he began speaking, and the crowd fell silent, listening to his every word. He spoke without any notes, translating the Bhagavat Gita, from Sanskrit, which only the pundits knew, to the language everyone in the village knew and spoke – a variety of Prakrit which developed into the Marathi language. Even as he spoke, one of the men in the audience realized how momentous this event was, and how important this composition would be. He began writing down the words the young boy spoke, and this composition was named by its author and composer, the Bhavartha Deepika – the enlightening meaning (of the Bhagavat Gita). Now, the ancient, holy text, was no longer restricted to the pundits, but accessible to all, understood easily by them, composed as it was, in their...
One of the most famous temples in Ujjain , this temple adds to the similarity of Ujjain and Kashi. As at Kashi, Kal Bhairav is the Kshetrapal, or the guardian deity of the city, and it is the custom to leave the keys with the deity when the temple is closed at night, in the belief that he takes care of the temple and its properties. However, this temple is famous, not for its origins or its importance in the scheme of temples, but for its deity who guzzles wine by the gallons. Yes, the main offering to the deity is wine, and this is also the only Prasad given to the devotees. People flock to this temple, all carrying bottles of wine as an offering. Liquor is available 365 days a year outside the temple. Our driver had an interesting tale to tell regarding this custom. According to him (let me make it very clear to anyone wishing to argue about the veracity of this tale, that this is completely his version of the story!!!!), when Indira Gandhi was the PM, some doubts were raised ...