YAKSHA THE BENEVOLENT

In this post we begin our journey of ARCHAEOLOGICAL HERITAGE to explore YAKSHA 

The history of Yaksha - Yakshi cult is a fascinating one. They have a special place in Hinduism, Jainism and Buddhism. Etymologically, the words Yaksha and Yakshi have their origins in “yas”, “yak” or “yaj”, meaning “mysterious”, “marvellous”, or “semi-divine beings”. People in rural areas worshipped them as guardian deities that resided in a formless manner on trees, in rivers, lakes and ponds, and on highways. People made offerings to the trees, rivers or lakes where they believed Yakshas resided. Later, the Brahminical religion, Jainism and Buddhism took Yakshas into the fold and converted them into secondary deities.  The famous Yaksha Prashna episode in Aranyaparva of the Mahabharatha, where Yaksha questions Dharmaraya, gives an excellent explanation of art of living and the Dharma.  In Buddhist and Jain art sculptures, Yakshas are depicted as associates and attendant deities of Bodhisatvas and Thirthankaras. Yaksha worship co-existed with priest conducted sacrifices of vedic period.

 Yakshas are referred to diverse kind of beings - super human or sub - human or extra terrestrials coming down to earth. They are powerful magicians who change their size, shape, disappear or fly as per their will and wish. The classic Indian epics the Mahabharatha and the Ramayana refer to yakshas as a tribe ruled over the Himalayan kingdom. Kubera is the king of the yakshas.

Kalidasa used Yaksha as the central character in his lyrical Sanskrit work ‘Meghadoota’. The popular ‘Yakshagana’, the traditional theatre of coastal and malnad regions of Karnataka, literally means the song (gana) of a Yaksha.

In many regions of India there is a folk tradition of worshiping Yaksha. People in tribal areas and rural areas worship Yaksha as a deity of the forest, lake or well. An interesting large image of Yaksha is found in Haigunda island near Honnavar in Uttara Kannada District. The image, dated to 2^nd or 3^rd c AD, is 1.69m tall. The Yaksha at Haigunda exhibits Graeco - Roman influence in his dressing. He has broad face, knotted hair at the top with a strand of beads tied to it. His earrings are big in size and round in shape and appear like having the tiger face at the end of the drop. The earrings entwine the earlobes. A broad necklace adorns his neck. His head gear is very interesting. It’s like a band and on the right side just above the ear, it has a circular shaped jewellery with ribbon like droppings at the center. The right hand of Yaksha is broken but a close look at the arm reveals the presence of armlet. The left hand rests on his waist and has a big ‘Kada’ (a bracelet). The Yaksha has a pot belly surrounded by a waist band which is tied on both the sides and the excess cloth with folds hangs on sides reaching till ground.

The villagers of Haigunda have high regards for Yaksha. They call him ‘Bobri’ and believe that he is the protector of the island. Legend says that Yaksha used to signal the locals with a ‘cockoo’ sound to indicate a danger. Local people say that when the British tried to trespass the island to take the hidden treasure, Yaksha made a loud ‘cockoo’ sound to wake up the villagers and the British had to retreat in vain. Yaksha at Haigunda signifies strength and protection. Villagers worship Yaksha with kumkum (vermillion) and areca flowers and one has to be barefoot to go near Yaksha.

Haigunda has rich historical and cultural heritage. The calm island may lose its serenity with the proposed bridge construction. What is going to happen to this beautiful idol of Yaksha is the real ‘Yaksha Prashne’.  Will Yaksha wake up the villagers with his ‘cockoo’ again? Or the enlightened villagers volunteer to protect their protector?

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Whispering Woods

In our first post in this joint blog, we begin with the most important wealth that we inherit from nature, the ‘GREEN HERITAGE’.

Welcome to the Western Ghats- Range of mountains listed by UNESCO under World Heritage Sites. Western Ghats are older than the Himalayas and it is a chain of mountains running parallel to India’s west coast. They give a welcome relief to the otherwise hot climate of India. Western Ghats raise like bulwark of evergreen and deciduous tangle of mountains transversing the states of Kerala, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Goa and Maharashtra.

The Western Ghats of Karnataka is somewhat special in many aspects!! It is richly credited with varied kind of vegetation and unimaginable topographical features and hence the Crowning Glory of the State. The Western Ghats mountain topography in Karnataka is broader and lengthier than other states. Invariably the rain bearing winds travel long distances resulting in heavier rainfall. Besides, the gentle gradient slopes allow greater absorption of sunlight and convection as compared to abrupt and steep slopes in other states. The rain gives Western Ghats its flavor, color and richness. Heavy rainfall has made the region as one of the wettest places on earth.

The significant characteristic of the Western Ghats is the exceptionally rich biological diversity and endemism, which can’t be found anywhere else. It is the most inaccessible and least studied habitats on the earth. This mountain chain is recognized as one of the world’s eight HOTTEST HOTSPOTS of biological diversity. Evergreen Forests of the Western Ghats are abundant in flora and fauna. More than 5000 species of plants are found here and 35% of them are endemic, including rare orchids and flowering plants. The Ghats is one of the major repositories of medicinal plants. It harbors 4000 species of medicinal plants which is the highest for any mountain range. It is also notable centre of commercially important domesticated plant species such as pepper, cardamom, cinnamon, mango and jackfruit. Abundant vegetation has given life to a large number of herbivorous animals-Lion tailed Macaque, Malabar Giant Squirrel, Indian Giant Flying Squrrel Indian Elephant, Sambar, Gaur to name a few.

One of the rarest and exclusive feature of this mountain range is the fresh water swamps known as MYRISTICA SWAMPS, which are not found anywhere in the world. These swamp forest systems with intricate biodiversity are having interesting adaptations of plants. The specialty of Myristica plant is that the root comes out of the earth, as if to breathe and goes back to the earth, then resembling the shape of a hook. It is an interesting fact that a kind of deep rooted paddy that grows only in anaerobic conditions needs the genes taken from Myristica plants. Plants like ‘Jaikayi’ belong to the Myristica group.

Our forefathers had given more importance to forests than we have. The people living amidst Western Ghats call it ‘DEVARA KADU’ which, in Kannada language, means ‘FOREST of GOD’. Since time immemorial, people lived with harmony in these Ghats range, imbibing immense knowledge from the mysterious rain forests and advocating traditional knowledge of varied nature to their future generations. The fear and devotion aspect in the human mind ensures the protection and preservation of this GREEN HERITAGE. ‘Love Thy Neighbour’ concept helps us to survive and live in harmony with nature.