History: Major Temples of Garhwal in Gurkha/Gorkha Period -7

History Discussion on Gurkha/Gorkha Administration in Garhwal - 24

History of Gorkha /Nepal Rule over Kumaun, Garhwal and Himachal (1790-1815) -89    

   History of Uttarakhand (Garhwal, Kumaon and Haridwar) -608

                          By: Bhishma Kukreti (A History Student)

            History:  Temples in Devalgarh, Garhwal in Gurkha/Gorkha Period

    There were three major temples in Devalgarh near Shrinagar.

Rajrajeshwari Temple in Devalgarh –Uniyal caste Pundit was priest

Gaurja Temple in Devalgarh –Bahuguna caste Pundit used to be Priest of Gaurja Temple

Satyanath or Satpir Math in Devalgarh - The Math had importance in the society and administration. The priests and people of Shrinagar and nearby used to visit Math and temples in Navratra.

 Gurkha administration kept those temples under ‘Sadavrat’ that is land was provided to temple. All used to offer gifts .

                 History: Temples in Rudraprayag Garhwal in Gurkha/Gorkha Period

         There was a small Math in Rudraprayag. Asiatic Researches (Vol. 11, page 503) reported that there were a few houses in Rudraprayag occupied by Brahmins.

            History:  Temples in Karnaprayag Garhwal in Gurkha/Gorkha Period

  There was a small Math in Karnaprayag. It was said that there was an idol of King Karna inside the Math or temple in Karnaprayag. There were seven eight houses in Karnaprayag. Gurkha Administration built a rope way bridge on Pindar River in Karnaprayag.

            History:  Temples in Nandprayag Garhwal in Gurkha/Gorkha Period

   Nandprayag was a barren village in 1808. The temples were ruined by 1808 due to earthquake of 1803. Two or three shopkeepers used to sell necessary materials in Nandprayag. There was a very small stone temple and a couple of deity idols were kept there. A Brahmin used to be there for necessary rituals.

            History:  Temples in Joshimath Garhwal in Gurkha/Gorkha Period

Most of temples of Joshimath were destroyed in 1803 Earthquake. However, following deity temples were still safe in 1808-

Vishnu Temple of Joshimath

Ganesh temple of Joshimath

Surya Temple of Joshimath

Navdurga Temple of Joshimath

People used to paste butter on idol of Navdurga and butter was used in such quantity that idol was never seen by the pilgrims.

            History:  Temples Pandukeshwar in Garhwal in Gurkha/Gorkha Period

      There were two ancient temples in Pandukeshwar in 1808. There were 20-30 Houses in Pandukeshwar in 1808.

                   History:  Temples in Vishnuprayag Garhwal in Gurkha/Gorkha Period

 There was a fife feet broad wooden bridge on Dhauli Ganga River in Vishnu Prayag. There were 2 or 3 houses in Vishnuprayag.

   The land (Goonth) was donated for all the above temples.

            Badrinath or Rajbadri Temple in Mana Village

       Badrinath region had importance from Mahabharata time. Badrinath temple was in very bad condition due to 1803 Earthquake. When Daulat Rav Scindia repaired Badrinath temple its ancient style was lost.

          In 1808, There ws Katyuri Shikhar on temple and a copper was covering Katyri Shikhar. On top of Shikhar there was Gold Pot (Kalas). The height of temple was 40-50 Feet.

Taptakund was 20-30 square feet. The roof of Taptakund was of wood.

         Garbhgrih and Idol in Badrinath temple in Gurkha Period

         There was three feet black marble Idol inside the temple. Pujari used to dress Idol by gem clothing and gem crown. On crown, there was a small mirror. There was adiamond on crown. There was no any source of light in Garbhgrig beside door. There used to be two lamp lighted for24x7. There was aChauki (squares low height table) before the idol covered by clothing.

  The temple door used to open in morning. The Bhog used to complete at one Pm and then door were closed. In evening, the door used to open and those were open till night till bedding for God was prepared and in night the door were closed. Main ritual was performed by Rawal or Priest. There were Dharmadhikari and other officers and servants for the Temple. There were Devdasi too in Badrinath Temple.

 In winter the temple was closed and people used to shift to Pandukeshwar and Joshimath.

                Rawal or Main Priest of Badrinath Temple   

  The main priest was called Rawal who used to be a Kerlaite Nambudiparad Brahmin. He used to enter into Garbhgrih and light the place. In 1808, Narayan was Rawal of Badrinath.

 There used to be three four Chobdar before and behind Rawal whene he used to come for ritual performance in the temple. A servant with Chanvar of peacock wing used to be with Rawal. Brahmins for other rituals used to be with Rawal. Rawal used to put green silk with cotton filled  Choga. The waist tag used to be of white ‘Shaul’. He used to put a red Turban and half colored shocks on foot. He used to put big ear rings those having a Mani too on each ring.Rawal used to put Mani garland. He had a multi gemmed Bajuband on each upper hand.  Rawal used to put rings on fingers.

 When Rawal used to shift to Joshimath in winter he used to spend lustful life.

                     Pilgrims of Badrinath

    It was estimated that around 40-50000 pilgrims visited Badrinath Temple in 1807 (Asiatic Researches) . Sadhus were more in numbers. Two or three hundred pilgrims died on that year. Pilgrims had to offer gifts or Chadhava in many places of Badrinath Temple as in Kund, Door, etc. The last offer used to be inside Badrinath Temple. It was not cheap to visit Badrinath. Though, the food was free from the temple management.

       Distribution of Chadhava in Badrinath Temple

 The offerings from Pilgrims was distributed as follows-

1-Bhent – or Idol offering

2-Bhog – for Temple food and clothing etc

3-Dakshina – for Rawal and other priests

 Raper reported that there was a ledger on which the record was kept for income and expenses of Badrinath temple. Outsiders were not shown the ledger.

                          Opening and Closing of High Altitude Temples

 The temples of Yamunotri, Gangotri, Badrinath, Kedarnath and Tungnath were opened in May and closed around or before Deepawali.

 The people of Kedarnath used to shift to Ukhimath in winter and Joshimath from Badrinath. 

 Gurkha used to offer offering on behalf of Gurkha King to Badrinath. In 1813, Gurkha administrators offered worth Gurkha Rs 280 (Farukhabadi Rupees 210) to Badrinath temple.

                   Guru Ram Rai Durbar Dehradun Temple in Gurkha Rule

Guru Ram Rai Temple was built on the style of Jahangir Makbara.

 In Gurkha Time, Mahant Hari Sewak was Mahant of Shri Guru Ram Rai Durbar. Mahnat used to have a specific dress on the occasion of rituals in Guru Durbar. Mahant used to put a red silk cap on his head. The cap used to be round and erected above. There were embroideries on cap.

            Mahant Hari Sewak did his best to improve the farming situation in Dehradun. 

  Every year, three to four thousand pilgrims used pay tribute to Guru Ram Rai durbar. On Kumbh time, the numbers used to increase dramatically.

                    Income of Guru Ram Rai Durbar

 Garhwal King donated seven villages of Dehradun and six villages of Tehri Garhwal to Guru Ram Rai Durbar. Initially, Gorkha got back villages but later on returned the villages to durbar. William wrote on his Memoir of Dehradun that the annual income from Dehradun villages was for Rs 1600 and income from Tehri Garhwal villages was British Rs 35. There used to be Tribute from pilgrims around 3 to 4000 British rupee. I tmeans in Gurkha period the annual income of Guru Ram Rai Durbar was around

** History, Gurkha/Gorkha Administration in Garhwal...Remaining part, read in next chapter

Copyright@ Bhishma Kukreti Mumbai, India, bckukreti@gmail.com12/4//2015

History of Garhwal – Kumaon-Haridwar (Uttarakhand, India) to be continued… Part -609

*** History of Gorkha/Gurkha /Nepal Rule over Kumaun, Garhwal and Himachal (1790-1815) to be continued in next chapter 

(The History of Garhwal, Kumaon, Haridwar write up is aimed for general readers)

XX

                    Reference

Atkinson E.T., 1884, 1886 , Gazetteer of  Himalayan Districts …

Hamilton F.B. 1819, An Account of Kingdom of Nepal and the territories

Colnol Kirkpatrik 1811, An Account of Kingdom of Nepal

Dr S.P Dabral, Uttarakhand ka Itihas part 5, Veer Gatha Press, Dogadda

Bandana Rai, 2009 Gorkhas,: The Warrior Race

Krishna Rai Aryal, 1975, Monarchy in Making Nepal, Shanti Sadan, Giridhara, Nepal

I.R.Aryan and T.P. Dhungyal, 1975, A New History of Nepal , Voice of Nepal

L.K Pradhan, Thapa Politics:

Gorkhavansavali, Kashi, Bikram Samvat 2021 

Derek J. Waller, The Pundits: British Exploration of Tibet and Central Asia page 172-173

B. D. Pande, Kumaon ka Itihas

Sharma , Nepal ko Aitihasik Rup Rekha

Chaudhari , Anglo  –Nepalese Relations

Pande, Vasudha , Compares Histriographical Traditions of Gorkha Rule in Nepal and Kumaon

Pradhan , Kumar, 1991, The Gorkha Conquests , Oxford University  Press

Minyan Govrdhan Singh , History of Himachal Pradesh

A.P Coleman, 1999, A Special Corps

Captain Thomas Smith, 1852,Narrative of aFive Years Residence at Nepaul Vol.1

Maula Ram/Mola Ram  , Ranbahadurchandrika and Garhrajvanshkavya

J B Fraser , Asiatic Research

Shyam Ganguli, Doon Rediscovered

Minyan Prem Singh, Guldast Tabarikh Koh Tihri Garhwal

Patiram Garhwal , Ancient and Modern

Tara Datt Gairola, Parvtiy Sanskriti

XXX

Nepal Itihas, Garhwal Itihas, Kumaon Itihas, Himachal Itihas; Gurkha/Gorkha ks kumson psr Adhikar Itihas , Gurkha/Gorkha Garhwal par Shasan Itihas;  Gurkha/Gorkha Rule in Kumaon, Garhwal Uttarakhand; History Gurkha/Gorkha  Rule in Himachal, Uttarakhand;कुमाऊं , उत्तराखंड काइतिहास ; गढ़वाल , उत्तराखंड का इतिहास ; डोटी , पूर्व उत्तराखंड का इतिहास;गोरखाओं /गुर्खाओं का कुमाऊं पर अधिकार इतिहास ; गोरखाओं /गुर्खाओं कागढ़वाल पर अधिकार इतिहास ; गोरखाओं /गुर्खाओं का हिमाचल पर अधिकारइतिहास ; गोरखाओं /गुर्खाओं का  इतिहास ; नेपाल इतिहास

Xx

History Discussion on Gurkha/Gorkha Administration in Garhwal; History Discussion on Gurkha/Gorkha Administration in Pauri Garhwal; History Discussion on Gurkha/Gorkha Administration in Chamoli Garhwal; History Discussion on Gurkha/Gorkha Administration in Rudraprayag Garhwal; History Discussion on Gurkha/Gorkha Administration in Tehri Garhwal; History Discussion on Gurkha/Gorkha Administration in Uttarkashi Garhwal; History Discussion on Gurkha/Gorkha Administration in Dehradun Garhwal; 

Xx

History: Major Temples of Garhwal in Gurkha/Gorkha Period; History: Major Temples of Dhangu, Garhwal in Gurkha/Gorkha Period; History: Major Temples of Lansdowne Tehsil Garhwal in Gurkha/Gorkha Period; History: Major Temples of Pauri Garhwal in Gurkha/Gorkha Period; History: Major Temples of Chamoli Garhwal in Gurkha/Gorkha Period; History: Major Temples of Rudraprayag Garhwal in Gurkha/Gorkha Period; History: Major Temples of Tehri Garhwal in Gurkha/Gorkha Period; History: Major Temples of Uttarkashi Garhwal in Gurkha/Gorkha Period; History: Major Temples of Dehradun Garhwal in Gurkha/Gorkha Period; History: Major Temples of Haridwar, Garhwal in Gurkha/Gorkha Period;  History of Yamunotri Temples in Garhwal,  History of Yamunotri Temples in Uttarkashi Garhwal, History of Yamunotri  Temple in Yamuna –Tones Rivers Valley Garhwal, History of Yamunotri Temples in Garhwal,  History of Yamunotri Temple Garhwal, History of Yamunotri Temple Uttarakhand, History of Yamunotri Temple Himalaya, History Gangotri Temple;  History of Barahat or Uttarkashi Temples in context Gurkha /Gorkha Rule; History of Devprayag  Temples in Gurkha/Gorkha rule on Garhwal; History Raghunath Ji temple in Gurkha/Gorkha Rule in Garhwal; History of Shrinagar Garhwal, Temples in Gurkha/Gorkha Rule on Garhwal ; History of Ranihat (Tehri Garhwal) Temples in Gurkha/Gorkha Rule on Garhwal; History Badrinath temple, History  Guru Ram Rai Durbar