Konark's Saturday Fair

S Balakrishnan *

Saturdays draw more people to Konark in Odisha. It is not the Sun Temple that attracts them but rather a piece of sculpture from that massive and magnificent temple. It is the Nava-graha (Nine Planets) panel that draws devotees on Saturdays to perform pacification rituals (graha shanthi) to the nava grahas as mentioned in Hindu astrology; it is believed to ward off evil and bring in good luck. Naturally, shop keepers as well throng on Saturdays, creating a fair ('mela')-like ambience.

The first time I chanced to enjoy this ambience was in 1983, not by plan but by fluke. It was a Second Saturday (12th February), so I went on a two-day trip to Konark to immerse in the beauty of Sun Temple. As a bachelor I had nothing worthwhile to kill the two-day off of Saturday & Sunday.

I was not aware then that it would be my last trip to Konark as I was packed off on transfer to the enchanting Sikkim within a few months. I left my YMCA room in Cuttack at 7 am for Bhubaneswar by bus and caught another bus there at 9 am for Konark. The rickety bus reached Konark by 11.30 via Pipli (9.30 am, famous for appliqué work) and Nimapara (10.15).

The few private lodges had been pre-booked for All-Orissa Political Science Conference in a nearby college; I was lucky to get accommodation at 'Pantha Nivas' of Orissa Tourism Development Corporation. As I neared the Temple, I was pleasantly surprised to find a mela having sprung up around the Navagraha temple.

At the fair I bought a statue of Sun God for Rs 15 (duped by the black paint that gave an impression that it was made of polished granite) and a miniature of the jagmohana mandap (worship hall of the temple) for Rs 10; both are made of soap stone. They are so cute that they permanently occupy a pride of place in our showcase. Though the glass paintings sold by a young boy were attractive, I was wary of carrying them safely back to Cuttack.

Navagraha Panel: Made of chlorite stone, the panel of Navagrahas was originally above the lintel of the main eastern entrance of the temple's Jagmohana hall. The other two entrances on South and North also had such panels but sadly the other two door frames along with this panel are completely lost. As the Sun Temple was desecrated by invading Muslim rulers, the temple was abandoned without worship and slowly disintegrated.

People started removing the stones for construction and metal clamps/beams for their value. The king of Khurda too, on his part, started removing stones for construction of a temple in his Palace. The eastern architrave (lintel) containing the nava-graha was brought down before 1838. Fortunately before Khurda Raja could remove it to Puri, the Government directed him in that very year not to remove any more stones from the site.

But neither did the Govt. initiate steps to restore the dismantled stones to their original position; so the Asiatic Society of Bengal proposed in 1859 to remove the dislodged nava-graha panel to the Indian Museum in Calcutta. But only a paltry sum of Rs 3000 was granted which was not enough for laying a tram-road.

So the initial attempt in 1867 did not materialize as the money got simply exhausted for carrying the Navagraha panel to a very short distance, just outside the south-eastern corner of the enclosure; the sea, by which the stone was to be taken to Calcutta, was still 3 km away ! A second attempt was made in 1892 to take this panel and other figures/sculptures to Calcutta's Indian Museum.

On a visit to the temple, the Lt.-Governor, Sir Charles A. Elliot, moved by the plight of the Temple, felt the need for inspection and conservation. It was then decided to slice the panel longitudinally to reduce its thickness and make it lighter for movement.

This done, the uncarved back portion was left at the spot and the carved front slice was loaded on to a specially-made truck and carried some metres further towards Telikood Creek; from there it was planned to be loaded on to a barge for Calcutta along with other sculpted stones fallen/removed from the temple.

But the local people objected to this shifting, so in 1893 the Bengal Government ordered the PWD not to touch the panel in future, respecting the religious sentiment of the locals. However, 13 other sculptures were brought to Indian Museum, Calcutta. The carved slab with Navagrahas, therefore, was left there itself till 1920s when it was shifted to a shed.

So, to this day, even after 122 years, the panel of Nine Planets is housed in a simple concrete structure that is just a plain room with three entrances to have a darshan of the long panel. This measures (after slicing) 6.146 m long, 1.143 m high and 53 cm thick. The panel is now housed outside the Temple compound at its north-east corner. Each of these nine grahas is under multifoil arch of attired pavilion.

Surya is richly bejewelled and seated cross-legged with lotus stalk in each hand. Next is Chandra (Soma/Moon), Mangla (Mars), Budha (mercury), pot-bellied bearded Brihaspati (Jupiter), Sukra (Venus) and Sani (Saturn), all seated cross-legged on a lotus, carrying in the left hand a water pot and a rosary in the right.

The fierce-looking Rahu holds a crescent each, while Ketu holds a bowl of flame in left hand and a sword or staff in the right. The door frame had a big central figure of a seated Surya above this panel which is seen in old drawings of 1825.

When we planned our visit to Orissa in (now it is Odisha), at last after a long 35 years, I drew up the schedule to spend one Saturday in Konark to re-experience the mela atmosphere. Accordingly, we reached Konark on Friday night to spend the Saturday (27th January) there. We stayed at the same Pantha Nivas but this was not the same place; it was big and developed.

As we reached the Temple by 6.30 am, it looked mystic, covered completely in thick fog. Lovely ! There was not much visitors then but as we returned for breakfast by 8 am, visitors were trickling in. You see, the breakfast was so-called complimentary (with hidden cost), so how could we miss it ? The menu was–kichdi, puri & aaloo subji, toast, omelette, tea/coffee.

After two hours when we reached the Temple complex again, it was fully packed. Around the Navagraha temple, the priests/pandas were busy performing the pacification homa (Navgraha puja) for the believers who were in very good numbers.

The temporary shops at the mela were selling the usual stuff - fancy items, cheap plastic toys, utensils, makeup items, etc., that did not interest me but for tin oil lamps that reminded me of olden days when it came handy during power cuts (no inverter then!).

As we were window shopping in the shops lined up outside on the roadside ('Only window shopping, no purchase', my wife had ordered), we saw a curious image of a Jain muni. How come ? I enquired. Just a few pieces were left after a bulk order from Rajasthan, the vendor replied.

As it was unique, we purchased it; also an image of Rahu, one of the Navagrahas (without knowing and realising only now as I write this), and a tiny piece of a lady with a mirror. But I never found such unique pieces as I bought in 1985.

Yes, I was glad I could revisit the Sun Temple and the Saturday Fair after 35 years but, at the same time, I missed the calm & quiet Konark of 1985 when eerie silence after 6 pm even scared me. I must be a fool longing for old world charm when crass commercialization has completely engulfed not only the Sun Temple but the whole of Konark as well.