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...
All roads in Ujjain seem to lead to the temple of Mahakaleshwar , which is the focal point of the city. Mahakal, as Shiva is known here, is not only the guardian and patron deity of this holy city, he is also regarded as the ruler of this city. Our car driver regaled us with tales of Vikramaditya, the legendary king of Ujjain , tales which were more of myths, interspersed with history. One such was the tale of how after Vikramaditya, no king was deemed great enough to rule this city, and the baton was handed over to Mahakal. According to the legend, since then, no human king of the area has ever spent the night in the city, and those who did, did not live to tell the tale. I wonder how much of this story is true, but I must admit that hearing the story from a person who instinctively believes in the story was an interesting experience! The Mahakaleshwar Mandir has its roots in ancient times, and the legends of the temple are plentiful, and also quite confusing. The most popular...