Bishnupur – In search of an old Mandir
- Part 2 -

S Balakrishnan *

Temple of Vishnu, Bishenpur District, Bishnupur, Manipur in June 2015 :: Pix - Deepak Oinam

The doorway is flanked by Garuda on the right and a Vaishnavite devotee (it should be Hanuman but it does not look so) on the left, as dwarapalaks. An elongated Shivling is in the verandah for worship by devotees by pouring water and offering flowers. Little metal trishuls offered by devotees are placed in a pot nearby.

After prayers on our behalf, the priest sprinkled water on us and gave flowers from the pedestal of the Lord inside. Outside, two bells were mounted atop tall poles and the ropes were dancing in the air. One seemed to be of iron, rusted and of different shape & design, while the other seemed to be of bell metal.

A humble residence is also seen abutting the temple, probably the official quarters of the priest. A small boy (priest's grandson or why not his son as well?) was meddling in the rainwater. We asked Krishna (our guide, not the Lord in the temple) to find out from the priest the location of the old temple.

But the priest in turn was curious to find out our origin and other details. Then he mumbled something in Manipuri to Krishna and Krishna goaded us back to the vehicle. By then it had started drizzling again and we raced down towards the parked Innova.

As if to test our patience, the drizzling turned into downpour again. Despite the downpour, surprise of surprise, we saw women of all ages running down the street. We looked quizzically at the all-knowing Krishna; he said it was a torch rally to kickoff the sports activities of the local club for Yaoshang.

My fear of a protest torch rally was instantaneously kicked out by his reassuring reply. The involvement of the ladies was just unbelievable, unseen in my State of Tamil Nadu but for the fashionable marathons for ladies in Chennai, organized for this or that lofty cause. Later, as we took a u-turn and proceeded to that old mandir, they were still running in the rain. Amazing!

How long could we be holed up in the car due to rain? So we decided to venture out for some shopping; rain or shine, shopping for curios in a new place is always tempting, no? And we did reap a rich harvest of exquisitely crafted miniature bamboo items. No chiselled stoneware items as the tourism info claimed but only earthenware.

Something is better than nothing, we were philosophically wiser. Had we any inkling that that would be our one and only handicraft shopping opportunity in Manipur because of Yaoshang holidays, we would have loaded our taxi then & there. Added to our bad luck was the rain and the consequent power cut that prevented us from raiding all the shops there. It was bad luck for the Bishnupur shopkeepers as well, I must say.

The shop where we took refuge from the rain had items relating to Sanamahism, the pre-Hindu religion. But due to our ignorance of their significance (we were just one-day-old in Manipur), we ignored buying them. How stupid of us to have missed the religio-cultural aspects of Manipur! Though the shopkeeper knew English, neither did he explain about the products and their significance.

Now that I have learnt something of everything about Manipur, when I see the photo of that shop I feel like banging my head. We saw the Goddess of Wealth of Sanamahism, but thinking it to be a doll of Ima seller, we thought in that case why not buy it at Ima Market itself? And She slipped out of our hands for ever.

The shop next had stocks of items made of cane & bamboo, like mats, baskets, boxes, brooms, etc. In the market, we saw Imas selling mussels & bamboo shoot side by side with variety of local vegetables.

The rain did not seem to cease, so we decided to proceed in search of the old mandir. A shopkeeper directed us to take the right turn near the police station. Exactly the same spot where, during our inward journey to Bishnupur, I suggested Krishna to enquire about the old mandir; sentries were posted there and I was definite they would know about the nooks & corners of the local place.

Later Krishna acknowledged that he was not at all aware of the existence of this more than 600-year-old mandir. And, at the end of our Bishnupur sojourn, he was glad that he got to know a new tourist spot because of our irritatingly persisting exploration operation. Accordingly, we took the right turn between the court and police station and proceeded straight ahead. What next, where to turn? Unsure, the vehicle was moving slowly.

Then an elderly Ima came along the street holding an umbrella. At this moment, the search operation also gave us an opportunity to learn how sweet the word 'Ima' could be! No doubt the word 'Ima' (mother) itself is a sweet word but the way Krishna repeatedly called out to her to find out the way for the mandir, it sounded cho-chweet (so sweet)! Wish I had recorded this incident!

We three winked and smiled at each other at the so sweet a call outs. Then, as directed by this Ima, we went further ahead, took a right turn and then left. Ahoy! The old red-brick temple stood there soaked bright in the rain.

The Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) protected monument stood aloof amidst well-manicured lawn within a fenced complex. Both the main gate and the wooden door of the actual structure were closed. We could not guess if it was due to Yaoshang holiday effect or what.

The rain was playing spoilsport and prevented us from getting down from the car; so we took snaps from the car itself. I wonder if idols are inside and if it continues to be a place of worship or just a protected monument. As we had no choice, we half circumambulated and exited through the left side lane, joined the main road which lead us to the Tiddim highway.

To be continued....