Birth of a temple

You have probably seen this happen so many times. Temples spring up out of nowhere but each temple has a story behind it. The one I am going to write here unfolded right before my eyes. This time when I went home, this is what I saw. The view is from the terrace of my house.


15 years ago, our house faced a barren rocky stretch of land that I used to cross to reach the rail lines and place those 10paise coins on the tracks and wait for the trains. By the time I reached college the whole scene had changed. The row of thatched huts you see on the other side of the rails, filled up this space. The people in the 'jhopdis' slowly formed a part of our lives. The maid who used to work in our house brought in an amusing snapshot of their lives. An absolute chatterbox, I remember her telling my mother about how a kid in the Basti got miraculously cured. The granny of the child had seen in a dream that if she places a photo of 'Maa Tarini' and worships daily her grandson would get cured. And my mother latter told me how the neighbourhood aunty had forced the mother of the kid to go to the health care center (against the wishes of her mother in law) and take the required medicine for Malaria without which the survial of the poor kid was doubtful.

Anyway, that's how a small photo of 'Maa Tarini' reached this place. It was placed under a tree alongside a vermillon covered stone. The basti kept growing and slowly stories of faith started building around it. Soon there was were mud walls around it and you could spot incense sticks in the evening.

One day the Railways realized that the basti was an encroachment on their land and it was needed to lay an extra track. It was time to move. A partial demolition was carried out some time latter but the shrine survived and so did the basti. By this time I kept moving from pune to banglore and wherever my projects took me, but whenever I went home I couldnt help notice the shrine and how things were unfolding around it. I learnt that the Demolition drive had infact been reduced to 'Partial demolition' as people rallied around this small shrine and simply sat around it infront of the bulldozer inspite of the police presence.

The tussle continued and it seems the Railways and the State Officials (who now wanted to widen the road) managed to broker a deal with them. They got a good compensation (for encroching!!!) to aid in shifting and not only that the shrine which had become the rallying point got a great sponsorship. The contractor who had taken up the project promised to make it up by building temple provided they quickly vaccate as they had agreed.

So by the time I made my next visit, I found that that the people had taken the compensation amount and conviniently shifted to the other side of the rail track. The shrine had now turned into a temple thanks to the deal cut witht the contractor. There is a proper "Sandhya Alati" in the evening where a good number of people gather everyday. The stories around the shrine that had always originated from the other side of the road had expanded its circle of influence. My 'Kaki' had turn a 'bhakt' and I had to listen to her story about how she was saved from an accident by the blessings of 'Maa Tarini'. I tried in vain to argue but here was the clincher "How many vermillion smeared stones have you seen on the roads and how many of them have ended up in a temple like this..!!!"

Hmmm... I left it at that.. Sometimes it is difficult to take a stand on issues of faith.

The road has been 4-laned to be a highway, the much awaited rail-over bridge has also been completed and the Railways is working on laying an extra track near the old one. The basti has flourished on the other side of the track. The signs of improvement were clearly visible...there were handpumps, electricity bulbs... interestingly enough a few hundred meters down the road (on the other side of the track) there is a new vermillion smeared stone under a tree...