Author:
Publication: The Pioneer
Date: May 17, 2001
The Gobind Deva temple in Vrindavan,
Mathura, is indeed massive; its plinth is 105 to 117 feet. Its height today
is about 55 feet. It is estimated that the original height was twice this,
without which the mashaal (torch) could not have been possible to be seen
either from Agra or from Delhi. The temple was built in 1590 by Maharaja
Mansingh of Jaipur.
The Gobind Deva temple is unique
also for two other reasons but we shall come to these a little later. For
the satisfaction of its desecraters, the celia, or the sanctum sanctorum,
was destroyed. Fortunately, the idol of Sri Krishna or Gobind had been
removed to Jaipur by the pujaris in anticipation of Aurangzeb's proposed
visit in 1670; the emperor was already notorious as an iconoclast. The
roof of the truncated edifice was to be reserved, for names. No sooner
than the mehraab was constructed, as illustrated in the photograph copied
from History of Indian and Eastern Architecture by James Fergusson, (John
Murray; London), Aurangzeb inaugurated it by himself offering prayers.
All except two statuettes were defaced
including the one at the door of what is now the temple after crossing
the foyer hall. The destruction was not confined to the upper floors. It
extended to the many hundred statuettes that even today adorn the temple
walls outside as well as inside, whether on the walls, the ceilings or
the doors. Uncannily, the iconoclasts overlooked two small statuettes,
one of Sri Krishna and the other of Radha, on the outside of the left wall
that faces the temple.
An American historian of Indian
architecture, George Michell (on page 121 of Gobind Deva Temple published
by Indira Gandhi Centre for National Arts - 1991) has concluded that the
original sanctum sanctorum was destroyed. In his own words, "once the garbhagriha
has been torn down, there was little point in further wreckage... It seems
to me that only those with some understanding of the ritual significance
of the garbhagriha would have been capable of desecrating a temple in this
careful manner."
Prof R Nath, author of History of
Mughal Architecture (Delhi, Abhinav 1985) introduces the subject of the
Gobind Deva temple by quoting Aurangzeb's decree of April, 1669. It said,
"...eager to establish Islam, (Aurangzeb) issued orders to the governors
of all the provinces to demolish the schools and temples of the infidels
(Hindus) and with the utmost urgency put down the teaching and the public
practice of the religion of these disbelievers. The great temple of Gobind
Deva fell a victim to iconoclastic vandalism within a year of the decree.
Its inner sanctum and its superstructure were almost entirely destroyed.
The main hall was also damaged. Sculpted figures on the dvarasakha were
literally defaced."
Almost two centuries later, FS Grouse,
a Bengal civil service official who was at the time the District Magistrate
of Matura, had the mehraab removed. Firstly because it was an eyesore and
secondly in an endeavour to redeem whatever character was left of the temple.
Although the original idol remained at Jaipur, another set of deities was
installed by the pujaris. Thereafter, the temple has a flat roof. Probably,
no other desecrated temple had been the subject of so much repair and refurbishment
by the British rulers.
The temple has yet another unique
feature. According to an article in the Calcutta Review quoted by FS Grouse:
"Aurangzeb had often remarked about a very bright light shining in the
far distant south cast horizon and in reply to his enquiries regarding
it, was told that it was a light burning in a temple of great wealth and
magnificence at Vrindavan. He accordingly resolved that it should he put
out and soon after sent some troops to the place who plundered and threw
down as much of the temple as they could and then erected on the top of
the ruins a mosque wall where, in order to complete the desecration, the
emperor is said to have offered up his prayers."
Incidentally, the canopy standing
on four pillars, which must have acted as the shed to the burning torch
or mashaal, is lying outside at the back of the present sanctum sanctorum.
As, for where it has been Fixed, presumably in the time of GS Frowse in
the 1870s, has no relevance to the temple's architecture. This all the
more supports the belief that this canopy must belong to the top of the
once towering temple.
While Aurangzeb's ego might have
been gratified, this desecration took with it what is described by Fergusson
as one of the most elegant temples in India, and the only one, perhaps,
from which an European architect might borrow a few hints. What Grouse
had to say about this? "I should myself have thought that solemn or imposing
was a more appropriate term than elegance for so massive a budding and
that the suggestions that might be, derived from its study wore many rather
than few."
A number of motives have been attributed
to the invaders who desecrated temples, such as loot of treasure, subduing
the populace by arousing dread, informing the area that a sultan had replaced
the raja. There is, however, no other instance of a temple being desecrated
because it defied the ego of a Mughal emperor.
Henry Hardy Cole has written in
his book, illustrious Buildings Near Muttra and Agra: "I am not sure that
the restoration of the uppermost parapet is correct, and think that it
would have been better to leave the superstructure, as it appeared when
I first saw it, with all the evidence of Aurangzeb's destructive hand."
