Datiyana
This is a collection of articles archived for the excellence of their content. |
Bhooton wala mandir
HIGHLIGHTS
Locally known as 'Bhootonwala mandir', the city legends claim that the temple was constructed overnight by ghosts.
The villagers say, rather than haunting the village, the temple acts as a protective cover to the village from any type of calamity
Though the villagers believe that the temple in Hapur was built by ghosts, historians say it is a rumour.Though the villagers believe that the temple in Hapur was built by ghosts, historians say it is a rumour.
In every religion, people who build a place of worship are usually regarded as blessed souls and messengers of peace. Rarely would you hear demons or ghouls being credited as the builders of a temple. But the Shiva temple at Simbhaoli's Datiyana village in Hapur is an exception.
Locally known as 'Bhootonwala mandir', the city legends claim that the temple was constructed overnight by ghosts.
Built almost entirely of red bricks -without using any cement to bind the bricks together -the ancient temple, said to be thousands of years old, does not seem to register any wear and tear from the elements of weather.
Only the spire (shikhar) of the temple is harmed by rain and has a lot of algae deposit but villagers say that it is because that part was completed later with cement and `not built by ghosts' like the rest of the structure.
"This temple was built by ghosts overnight; you can see for yourself that the entire temple is made of red bricks except the spire (shikhar). The spire was left incomplete because the sun rose and the ghosts had to leave the construction in between. The spire's construction was later completed by the villagers. In fact, in 1980, the spire got cracks and had to be reconstructed unlike the whole temple which is simply unharmed by the elements of weather," said Rakesh Kumar Goswami, the fourth generation priest of the temple. So, does the Bhootonwala mandir cause any harm to the village? The villagers say, rather than haunting the village, the temple acts as a protective cover to the village from any type of calamity - drought, flood, hailstones or any other extreme weather conditions for that matter. Kulbhushan Tyagi, a villager and a farmer by profession, said, "This monsoon when the farmers in the northern India faced huge losses of crops due to hailstones and heavy rainfall, our fields remained untouched. My farmer friends in nearby villagers committed suicide but our village did not get any hailstorms or heavy rains; our crops stood did not have to suffer any such calamity thanks to the temple. It protects us all the time."
The entry of the temple was very recently covered by marble and the little cement that a new visitor will find on the bricks was put during reconstruction of the spire when the masons climbed up on the temple as "they were scared that the bricks might fall because of no binding cement".
Further talking about the religious value of the temple, Ram Pal Singh, a 62-year-old villager, said, "Apart from being made by the ghosts, the temple also has value for all the four religions; there is a Christ cross marked by characteristic two red and the only two black bricks in the centre of the temple, the dome marking the architectural design of mosques and the spire resembles that of a gurudwara. So, it has a special value for each one of us here."
Though the villagers have every reason to believe that the temple was made by ghosts, historians say it is a "rumour" which has been prevalent for so many years that it is difficult to convince the people by reasoning. "Though it is not clear that who built the temple but seeing the architecture adopted for the temple, its construction dates back to 3rd Century AD i.e. the Gupta period when brick temples were a tradition.Though its reconstruction seems to have continued in different years due to which the spire and the temple doesn't match when it comes to architecture. There are carvings done in the foundation of the temple, which also depict Gupta period," said Krishna Kant Sharma, associate professor, department of history , MM PG College in Modinagar. Asked about the belief of the villagers that the temple was constructed by ghosts, historian and archaeologist Sharma, said, "Sometimes, a rumour starts so as to protect a particular monument; that is what I feel about it. There are chances that people spread this rumour years ago so that no one tries to destroy the temple for the fear of ghosts. Talking about the usage of cement, in early years cement did not exist, natural pastes were used to bind bricks together and that is why there is hardly any trace of cement used in binding these bricks."
