Jagmohan Sharma
Apropos the write up by Mrigu Sambyal titled “Dress Code in Religious Places” in DE on 28.07.2023.
Through this write up I would like to assure the author of the said article that Jammu continues to be a beautiful place and its people continue to be amazingly beautiful, largely honest and industrious. They love the mountains, the rivers, the streams, the old city and the newer parts as well as the markets and also the ” mithai shops” and its street food. Several national and international business chains have also arrived in Jammu and people enjoy, if nothing else, at least window shopping.
That is not all, the celebration of “Mitthi e Dogran di boli te khand mitthe log Dogre” (sweet is the Dogri language and so are the Dogra people) has not vanished. There is warmth in the air of this city even today and “Bahu wali Matta” willing will continue to enliven and enrich the lives of people – the ones who are residents or choose to visit Jammu as tourists or “Bhakts” visiting Bahu wali Matta, Vaishnav Matta or any of the temples and shrines that abound Jammu from other parts of the country and the world – for all times to come. I am sure she is also benevolent to those who don’t worship her or are atheists or probably are agnostic.
Realistically speaking, Jammu is a statement of Parmatman.
Jammu is beautifully perched on the banks of river Tawi and looks heavenly, especially during monsoons when you view it from any of the bridges over the river with Tawi river brimming waters racing towards the 4th bridge andbeyond.
Sure enough, the province is an amalgam of languages, dialects, culture, traditions and festivals. It’s graced by its lofty mountains, deodar and pine forests, majestic rivers like Chenab and Ravi and hundreds of rivulets andstreams that join the brimming rivers reminding of the poem “The Brook” by Alfred Tennyson.
Jammu is also home to people of various religions viz Hindus, Muslims, Sikhs, Christians, Jains, Buddhists and tribes viz, Gujjars, Bakkarvals and Gaddis who speak Dogri, Punjabi, Hindi, Urdu, Kashmiri, Bhaderwahi, Kishtwari, Pogli, Saraji, Bharmouri, Pahari, Gojri & of course English. It’s also home to refugees from Kashmir who escaped to Jammu in the face of flare up in Kashmir in 1989/90 and also the refugees from POJK who came hare during 1947/48, 1965 and some in 1971 too. Many other Kashmiris moved into Jammu subsequently and made it their second home. Whether you like it or not Jammu also houses illegal Bangladeshis and Rohingyas.
This the milieu that constitutes Jammu and every Jammuite loves it. Illegal migrants of course is a security issue.
As per Hindu tradition, handed down to Jammuites from generation to generation, “Bahu wali Matta” is the tutelary deity or guardian deity of Jammu town. It’s because of this faith that millions of Hindus visit the temple, the year around, with a big rush especially on Tuesdays and Saturdays. The rush of “Bhakts” increase manifold during the the “Vasant” and “Sharad” Navratri when the faith of the devotees is seen to be believed. The fort in which the temple is located, the monkeys and their “natkhat kids” on the campus and the adjacent park add to the charm in the atmosphere.
What attracts the devotees to “Bawe Wali Matta”? It’s the sense of peace and calm that an individual feels in the presence of the Goddess. Swami Vivekanand also felt a similar peace and tranquility when he surrendered himself in the presence of “Kali Matta” at Dakshineswar temple in Kolkata. “Kali Matta” is a Benevolent Mother. She is omnipresent, be it in Kolkata or in Jammu. Her gaze and divine brush with individuals is enough to enliven the hearts of the devotees and assure them of progress and prosperity, both spiritual and worldly. She, the embodiment of Shakti, knows what is good for her devotees and what is not and that is why Swami Vivekanand was literally unable to ask Her for anything that was worldly, when She made Her presence felt to him at the temple. It’s this faith in Her that raised the Swami, in his short life of 39 years, to a level that any mortal would always aspire for. Ramakrishna Mission testifies to the enduring spirit of Swami Vivekanand.
When Ramakrishna Paramahans asked Swami Vivekanand as to why he did not ask “Maa Kaali” anything for himself or his family that was in distress, his reply was that what could he have asked her? He said that if a king were to come to you & ask you for a gift, would you request him for a pumpkin?! Similarly, when “Maa Kalli”, the Adi Shakti, made Her presence felt to him, any worldly request to Her would have been like asking Her for a worthless pumpkin. He asked Her for spiritual strength and “right buddhi” and may also have asked for strength to discriminate between right and wrong and also give him strength to always stand with the right.
The question then arises is as to whether Maa Kali is really bothered about how the visiting devotees dress when they are in Her presence?
And then what is the temple management asking for?
The management of the temple has advised devotees to dress decently & cover their heads & refrain from wearing shorts, miniskirts, ripped jeans & capri pants on the temple premises.
Before I address this question I would like to delve more into the write up by the learned author and bring to the fore her conclusions based on the dress advisory and experiences in the temple.
At one point in her article she writes “from the moment you step in the temple, all you could hear is the authority telling you what you are not allowed to do. If something has kept me so attached to this place was the sense of security I enjoyed here that is very much intertwined with the sense of freedom you feel. Not to mention the fact that once mitthi boli of Jammuites now seem to be consumed in the politically charged wave of radicalism that has never been a part of the culture of Jammu.”
Later she quotes various articles of Indian Constitution enshrining various freedoms like freedom of religion, freedom of individuals with reasonable restrictions including modesty and morality and cases related to Sabrimala.
To begin with, there is a concept of “maryada” that one is required to adhere to while entering any temple or place of worship. Do we enter temples with our shoes on? We don’t. Why? Because that is the “maryada”. Don’t we observe some basic principles when we enter Gurudwaras? Yes, we do. Do we cover our heads? Yes, we do with no questions asked. When Sukhmani Sahib path is conducted in a Sikh home and we attend it, do we cover our head? Again an emphatic yes. Then if a Hindu temple says that we should conduct ourselves in a particular way while entering a temple, why do we get into a protest mode and go on to conclude that “we seem to be consumed in the politically charged wave of radicalism”. Where does this thought come from? An experience of a few minutes, may be with some untrained pushy personnel and you label Jammuites with the brush of radicalism!!
This looks like taking things too far.
It’s high time that Hindu temples and institutions prescribe some minimum dress requirements for the devotees especially as the idea of woke-ism is fast catching up with our youth and we might end up with the kind of people in our temples that were seen to be riding Delhi Metro a few months back. In near future this number is bound to swell. Delhi Metro too had to advise it’s passengers to “dress appropriately” for taking a ride.
Another question; can lawyers attend the Hon’ble courts of the country without the prescribed dress? What if a judge points it out? Is it “radicalism” on part of the judge? Surely not!!
However, I do agree with Ms. Sambyal on a specific point and that is that the management personnel in the temple and the Pujaris should be trained to be polite even while facing heavy rush of pilgrims. Their shouts and pushy behaviour defeats the purpose for which the devotees go to the temple – peace of mind. The people inside, including the Pujaris should not be allowed mobile phones. Their concern and concentration should be with the Deity and not with the “affairs of the world” once they are inside the sanctum sanctorum. Inside there should be all pervading Sanatan calm!!
Coming to the next point where she mentions that “when the time wheel demands progression, I see regressive rules breaking the inertia. It is not at all the debate between tradition and modernity, but the trajectory that suggests that we, as a society, aren’t heading in the forward direction”. This is not an apt argument, to say the least! How does anyone define progress and regress? Here she “touchstones” various articles of constitution to prove he her point.
It’s encouraging to see a lady from Jammu doing well in Delhi in the field of her choosing. She must be congratulated for that. But, why should we throw the articles of constitution at the face of Jammuites who are generally law abiding people. For example, when we tell our kids that “honesty is the best policy” or probably “stealing is a complete no, no” or “don’t cheat in your exams”, we don’t throw the articles of constitution at their faces. We tell them subtly and incessantly and with time this idea gets ingrained into their minds and finally all these and other attributes inculcated by them take the form of their “sanskars”. It isn’t always that quoting the laws do the trick.
At the same time, does freedom to “more exposure” mean progress and freedom to “less exposure” mean regress? It doesn’t.
Yes, everyone has freedom to do whatever she/he wants to do in this country, but when it comes to dressing, the conduct of the individual and the society is governed by the prescribed format of the particular institution, say temples, with which you are dealing, in the same way as the lawyers do in the courts.
Thus, let Jammuites continue to be in the “sanskar” mode with “maryada” as the corner stone of every endeavour. Trust in “Bawe Wali Matta” and preserve “Garima” around her abode. At the same time persevere in whatever you do. That is the key to success – spiritual and material.
Follow our WhatsApp channel
