It has been mentioned in
Mahagranth that Temples of Shree Nathji and Mateshwari Devi were build and
worshiped by Their devotees. But unfortunately there are no photographs of
those temples and their Vigrahas. {Idols of Deities in which Prana Pratishta (impersonification)
has been done} These photos are nor published or are in circulation among the
devotees. Perhaps the complete significance of this event has not been understood. I make a
humble attempt to elucidate the exceptionality of this leela (pastime) of Shree
Nathji an effort to invoke great exigency among the devotees, to diligently
preserve and broadcast this epic event, for the good of the entire human race.
I would like to broach the fact that, in all the previous avataras (incarnations)of God, there has never been any mention of temples and Vigrahas of a personality of Godhead being erected by His devotees during the period of the stay of that avatar in this world. There were no temples dedicated to Lord Rama when he was in this earth. Nor Lord Krishna had any temple build by any of his devotee when he was on this earth. Their Temples were build and Idols worshiped by the masses only when they had completed their pastimes in this world. Yes! They had devotees who worshiped them, but no evidence to suggest that it was ever done in form of Vigrahas. Also Gautama Buddha didn’t have these huge figures of His worshipped in his life time, that we see in Buddhist monasteries today. Nor Jesus was as object of worship, when he was on earth, in churches as we see today.
So Shree Nathji is the only incarnation of God who along with His Shakti (Mateshwari ji) was worshiped as a Vigraha in a Temple exclusively dedicated to them. Thus it is a very important event. In the coming ages, when as predicted, Nath Dharma will flourish and many temples will be erected in Shree Nath ji’s worship, devotees will like to pay their respected obeisances to the oldest vigrahas of Nathji. How thrilled they would be to know that such and such Vigraha of Nathji and Mateshwari were installed by Their devotees from the time when Shree Nathji was in this world.
I give the following example to further illustrate my point. The first temple dedicated to Lord Krishna was made by King Brajnabh the great Grand son of Krishna and the only serving member of the Yadu dynasty in Mathura District who was made king of Mathura by Maharaj Parikshit who also happened to be the only surviving member of the Pandu dynasty. Infect Brajnabh build quite a few temples of Krishna in whole of Brajmandal but only one (Some say two) have survived. It was build around a 100 years after Lord Krishna completed His pastimes in this world. Say around 5010 years from now. (This year is the 5112th year since Lord Krishna’s departure, which commemorates the start of Kaliyuga - which is going to last a total of 432000 years.) When I visit t this temple I was filled with much holiness, awe and wonder. The feel and vibe of the place was so different. Perhaps that’s how people will feel when they will see the temples of Shree Nathji and Maha Matheswariji which were erected by their devotees which They were themselves present on this earth.
I had spoken to my aunt, wife of Gopal Swami a great devotee of Shree Nathji, about the temple of Sree Nathji in Akola. She said she had visited it last in 1978. It was on first floor of a building and had the Vigraha of Nath ji. She is not aware of its current status. I thus humbly request the devotees of Akola to help us with the following information –
a) Please post photographs of the temples and the Vigraha
b) Enlighten us as to when this Vigraha was installed, by whom and under what circumstances.
c) Please share with us important events associated with this temple.
d) Please update us about its current status, rituals which are followed, mode and routine of worship, name of the present care takers, etc
e) Please give exact location and postal address, and help me in marking and enlisting it on google earth and maps.
Now the most important question. If some one can tell who did the Prana pratishta ((impersonification ceremony) of this Vigraha? There may be a chance that Shree Nathji Himself had done Prana Pratishta of this Vigraha at the request of the devotees? If that be the case then it is an event of infinite significance on the face of this earth as no incarnation of Godhead has ever been reported to impersonify His own Vigraha. I appeal to all NAth Bhaktas to update us on the existence of all other temples of Shree Nathji and Maha Matheshwari ji.
There are Vigrahas of Avataras which are Swayambu (Self manifested )or impersonified by great sages or Demi Gods which were already present on earth before the advent of the Avatar. But there has been no case were the Vigraha of the Avatar was worshiped in temples during the time, the Avatar was on this earth.
For example there is a place by the name of Sambal in Bhim Nagar District of Uttar Pradesh near Moradabad. It has a temple dedicated to Kalki Bhagwan. In scriptures this place is notified to be the place where Kalki Bhagan will appear at the end of Kaliyuga which as around 426000 years from now. With His appearance there will be the end of Kaliyuga, followed by a small parlaya (cosmic inundation) after which the Charur Yugas will began again with the start of Satyuga. So there is a Vigraha before the advent of the Avatar.
Similarly in Lord Rama’s time there was a Vigraha of Rama before the advent of Rama. I am depicting this story in short. –
Chaturmukha (four-faced) Brahma delights in constantly worshipping the Lord in various forms and manners. He once got the divine sculptor Vishvakarma to prepare an authentic icon of Lord Rama. He worshipped this for a long time and then handed it over to another celestial for worshipping. This continued for a long time and eventually, in the course of time, the icon landed in the Sun dynasty (Surya Vamsha). Dasharatha, one of the emperors in this dynasty, performed Putra Kameshti Yaga (a sacrifice performed to obtain offspring) and had 4 sons. The eldest amongst these was the Lord Himself. Dashratha named his first son as Ramachandra, in honor of the icon that his family had traditionally worshipped. From then on, the word ‘Rama’ was used to identify Dasharatha’s son , and the icon got a new name ‘Moola Rama’.
The Moola Rama icon was reverently worshipped by Sita, Sri Hanumanta, and others. During the Dwapara Yuga the icon ended up in the Moon Dynasty (Chandra Vamsha) and was worshipped by Bhimasena. With the course of time, it kept changing hands until it reached the Orissa kingdom. From there, it finally reached the hands of Sri Madhvacharya. He worshipped it with great reverence and devotion. After Sri Madhvacharya, the icon was in turn worshipped by Sri Padmanabha teertha, and all the successive decedents of Madhva Sampradaya. This Moola Rama Vigraha is worshiped today at the Rayara Matha, Mantralayam in Kurnool district of Andhra Pradesh. ( I have attached the photograph of the Vighraha of Moola Rama with that of Laxman and Sita who are decorated with splendid emerald, diamond and rubies.)
In Lord Krishna’s time also there was a Vigraha of Vishnu which Lord Krishna Himself worshiped. I am narrating it’s story in very few words.
This idol was originally worshipped by Maha Vishnu in Vaikunta and Vishnu handed it over to Brahma. King Suthapas and his wife worshipped Brahma for a child and being gratified with their devotion, they received this idol from him and advised them to start worshipping it. Being pleased with their worship, Lord Vishnu appeared before them and blessed them with the boon that he himself will be born as their child in their three re-births in three different forms and in three different situations, with the idol.
Thus they got the good fortune to worship the same deity in all three rebirths. They gave birth to Prsnigarbha who gave to the world the practice of Brahmacharya Vratha (Celibacy). In their next birth, Suthapas and his wife were born as Kashyapa and Aditi and their son was Vamana. In the third rebirth as Vasudeva and Devaki, the Lord was born as their eighth son Krishna. In the long run, Lord Krishna himself installed this idol in a grand temple at Dwaraka and worshipped it.
At the time of Lord Krishna's ascension to Vaikunta, his devotee Uddhava became sad thinking of the departure of the Lord. The Lord then gave his foremost disciple and devotee Uddhava this idol and instructed him to entrust Brihaspathi (the Guru of the Devas) with the task of taking the idol to a suitable location.
A deluge had closed in on Dwaraka, but Guru salvaged the idol floating in the water, with the help of his prime disciple Vayu. Guru and Vayu went around the world in search of an ideal place. At last they met Parasurama who led them to a lush green spot with a beautiful lotus lake in Kerela, where they felt the presence of Lord Siva. Lord Siva along with Parvathy welcomed them and told them that this would be the ideal spot for installing the deity. This Vigraha is now in the grand temple of Guruvayur in Kerela. This Vigraha is addressed as Krishna because it was worshipped by Uddhava but it has infect four hands, similar to Vishu. (I have given the photo of Guruyayur Vigraha next to the Moola Rama Vigraha)
By these examples, I want to show how important and sacred are the Vigrahas of earlier Avataras which were present before the advent of those Avatars. How much reverence is attached to them by their devotees now when they see and visit them? So we must also preserve and propagate the Vigrahars and temples of Nathji for the future generation when the time will come for grand propagation of Nath Dharma. Unlike the examples which I had given, the Vigrahas of Nathji and Maha Mateshwari were worshiped when They were present in this world. So we can imagine how much ecstasy and blissful serenity will be felt by future generations of Nath Bhaktas when they see these Vigrahas.
I would like to broach the fact that, in all the previous avataras (incarnations)of God, there has never been any mention of temples and Vigrahas of a personality of Godhead being erected by His devotees during the period of the stay of that avatar in this world. There were no temples dedicated to Lord Rama when he was in this earth. Nor Lord Krishna had any temple build by any of his devotee when he was on this earth. Their Temples were build and Idols worshiped by the masses only when they had completed their pastimes in this world. Yes! They had devotees who worshiped them, but no evidence to suggest that it was ever done in form of Vigrahas. Also Gautama Buddha didn’t have these huge figures of His worshipped in his life time, that we see in Buddhist monasteries today. Nor Jesus was as object of worship, when he was on earth, in churches as we see today.
So Shree Nathji is the only incarnation of God who along with His Shakti (Mateshwari ji) was worshiped as a Vigraha in a Temple exclusively dedicated to them. Thus it is a very important event. In the coming ages, when as predicted, Nath Dharma will flourish and many temples will be erected in Shree Nath ji’s worship, devotees will like to pay their respected obeisances to the oldest vigrahas of Nathji. How thrilled they would be to know that such and such Vigraha of Nathji and Mateshwari were installed by Their devotees from the time when Shree Nathji was in this world.
I give the following example to further illustrate my point. The first temple dedicated to Lord Krishna was made by King Brajnabh the great Grand son of Krishna and the only serving member of the Yadu dynasty in Mathura District who was made king of Mathura by Maharaj Parikshit who also happened to be the only surviving member of the Pandu dynasty. Infect Brajnabh build quite a few temples of Krishna in whole of Brajmandal but only one (Some say two) have survived. It was build around a 100 years after Lord Krishna completed His pastimes in this world. Say around 5010 years from now. (This year is the 5112th year since Lord Krishna’s departure, which commemorates the start of Kaliyuga - which is going to last a total of 432000 years.) When I visit t this temple I was filled with much holiness, awe and wonder. The feel and vibe of the place was so different. Perhaps that’s how people will feel when they will see the temples of Shree Nathji and Maha Matheswariji which were erected by their devotees which They were themselves present on this earth.
I had spoken to my aunt, wife of Gopal Swami a great devotee of Shree Nathji, about the temple of Sree Nathji in Akola. She said she had visited it last in 1978. It was on first floor of a building and had the Vigraha of Nath ji. She is not aware of its current status. I thus humbly request the devotees of Akola to help us with the following information –
a) Please post photographs of the temples and the Vigraha
b) Enlighten us as to when this Vigraha was installed, by whom and under what circumstances.
c) Please share with us important events associated with this temple.
d) Please update us about its current status, rituals which are followed, mode and routine of worship, name of the present care takers, etc
e) Please give exact location and postal address, and help me in marking and enlisting it on google earth and maps.
Now the most important question. If some one can tell who did the Prana pratishta ((impersonification ceremony) of this Vigraha? There may be a chance that Shree Nathji Himself had done Prana Pratishta of this Vigraha at the request of the devotees? If that be the case then it is an event of infinite significance on the face of this earth as no incarnation of Godhead has ever been reported to impersonify His own Vigraha. I appeal to all NAth Bhaktas to update us on the existence of all other temples of Shree Nathji and Maha Matheshwari ji.
There are Vigrahas of Avataras which are Swayambu (Self manifested )or impersonified by great sages or Demi Gods which were already present on earth before the advent of the Avatar. But there has been no case were the Vigraha of the Avatar was worshiped in temples during the time, the Avatar was on this earth.
For example there is a place by the name of Sambal in Bhim Nagar District of Uttar Pradesh near Moradabad. It has a temple dedicated to Kalki Bhagwan. In scriptures this place is notified to be the place where Kalki Bhagan will appear at the end of Kaliyuga which as around 426000 years from now. With His appearance there will be the end of Kaliyuga, followed by a small parlaya (cosmic inundation) after which the Charur Yugas will began again with the start of Satyuga. So there is a Vigraha before the advent of the Avatar.
Similarly in Lord Rama’s time there was a Vigraha of Rama before the advent of Rama. I am depicting this story in short. –
Chaturmukha (four-faced) Brahma delights in constantly worshipping the Lord in various forms and manners. He once got the divine sculptor Vishvakarma to prepare an authentic icon of Lord Rama. He worshipped this for a long time and then handed it over to another celestial for worshipping. This continued for a long time and eventually, in the course of time, the icon landed in the Sun dynasty (Surya Vamsha). Dasharatha, one of the emperors in this dynasty, performed Putra Kameshti Yaga (a sacrifice performed to obtain offspring) and had 4 sons. The eldest amongst these was the Lord Himself. Dashratha named his first son as Ramachandra, in honor of the icon that his family had traditionally worshipped. From then on, the word ‘Rama’ was used to identify Dasharatha’s son , and the icon got a new name ‘Moola Rama’.
The Moola Rama icon was reverently worshipped by Sita, Sri Hanumanta, and others. During the Dwapara Yuga the icon ended up in the Moon Dynasty (Chandra Vamsha) and was worshipped by Bhimasena. With the course of time, it kept changing hands until it reached the Orissa kingdom. From there, it finally reached the hands of Sri Madhvacharya. He worshipped it with great reverence and devotion. After Sri Madhvacharya, the icon was in turn worshipped by Sri Padmanabha teertha, and all the successive decedents of Madhva Sampradaya. This Moola Rama Vigraha is worshiped today at the Rayara Matha, Mantralayam in Kurnool district of Andhra Pradesh. ( I have attached the photograph of the Vighraha of Moola Rama with that of Laxman and Sita who are decorated with splendid emerald, diamond and rubies.)
In Lord Krishna’s time also there was a Vigraha of Vishnu which Lord Krishna Himself worshiped. I am narrating it’s story in very few words.
This idol was originally worshipped by Maha Vishnu in Vaikunta and Vishnu handed it over to Brahma. King Suthapas and his wife worshipped Brahma for a child and being gratified with their devotion, they received this idol from him and advised them to start worshipping it. Being pleased with their worship, Lord Vishnu appeared before them and blessed them with the boon that he himself will be born as their child in their three re-births in three different forms and in three different situations, with the idol.
Thus they got the good fortune to worship the same deity in all three rebirths. They gave birth to Prsnigarbha who gave to the world the practice of Brahmacharya Vratha (Celibacy). In their next birth, Suthapas and his wife were born as Kashyapa and Aditi and their son was Vamana. In the third rebirth as Vasudeva and Devaki, the Lord was born as their eighth son Krishna. In the long run, Lord Krishna himself installed this idol in a grand temple at Dwaraka and worshipped it.
At the time of Lord Krishna's ascension to Vaikunta, his devotee Uddhava became sad thinking of the departure of the Lord. The Lord then gave his foremost disciple and devotee Uddhava this idol and instructed him to entrust Brihaspathi (the Guru of the Devas) with the task of taking the idol to a suitable location.
A deluge had closed in on Dwaraka, but Guru salvaged the idol floating in the water, with the help of his prime disciple Vayu. Guru and Vayu went around the world in search of an ideal place. At last they met Parasurama who led them to a lush green spot with a beautiful lotus lake in Kerela, where they felt the presence of Lord Siva. Lord Siva along with Parvathy welcomed them and told them that this would be the ideal spot for installing the deity. This Vigraha is now in the grand temple of Guruvayur in Kerela. This Vigraha is addressed as Krishna because it was worshipped by Uddhava but it has infect four hands, similar to Vishu. (I have given the photo of Guruyayur Vigraha next to the Moola Rama Vigraha)
By these examples, I want to show how important and sacred are the Vigrahas of earlier Avataras which were present before the advent of those Avatars. How much reverence is attached to them by their devotees now when they see and visit them? So we must also preserve and propagate the Vigrahars and temples of Nathji for the future generation when the time will come for grand propagation of Nath Dharma. Unlike the examples which I had given, the Vigrahas of Nathji and Maha Mateshwari were worshiped when They were present in this world. So we can imagine how much ecstasy and blissful serenity will be felt by future generations of Nath Bhaktas when they see these Vigrahas.
Comments –
Priya Nath Mehta
- Absolute work of Genius! Siddharta!
Congratulations! It is your own feeling and faith which is uniquely your own!
If others are free to follow their own faiths, then you certainly are free to
follow yours!
Siddharth Gaur - Prabhuji! I am glad that you appreciated
my article. I am actually not much inclined to ritualistic idol worship even
though I have done that in my years as ascetic at the Math. This article has
been written for the benefit those Nath devotees who favor Vigraha worship. In
my experience there are many Hindus who like that as it is easy to love and
identify Godhead in form of an idol and this tradition in deep rooted in Indian
culture.
I personally like to experience the grace and devotion of
Shri Nathji in all His creations and in all the phases and experiences of my
life. I like to bask under His divine loving light in state of
Bepanah(boundless) and Beparvah (Carefree) bliss which induces Bekhudi (Self
forgetfulness) and transcendental mellowness. As Babaji said - “Choro Mujhe
Bekhud Mera Aaram Yahi Hee”
For me worship is when my body and senses are moved to
fulfill His commands or to partake in His pastimes or to undertake such
enterprises which induce ecstasy in Him or when my thoughts are overwhelmed by
His splendor and benevolence to such an extent that I am rendered completely
useless for this mundane world. Then when I bow before Him , thoroughly
possessed by His captivating Beauty, utterly drenched in the downpour of His
munificence and oblivious of any sense of space and time, I do not know what
words I speak or actions I do. That state I attempt to explain in Urdu in these
lines - “Me Tere Isaq me Sajade Karta ho, Kuch Hosh me kuch Behoshe Me”
To be very honest I do not feel most blissful to do even
aarti, the most basic of ritualistic devotional practice. It somehow feels
unnatural to my spiritual temperament. When I am at your Darbar and there is
Aarti time, I feel anxious. I try to follow how others have done and return the
aarti to the next person as soon as possible
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