Cool, airy
and spacious, the ancient temple seemed almost cathedral-like, with a towering
central dome, balconies running all round on four levels and the sanctum at the
far end, with its curtain drawn. Unlike the more modern Ram Raja Mandir next
door, this place was somewhat in ruins and almost empty. A few hundred years
ago it would have thronged daily with devotees of the main deity, LaxmiNarayana,
but today it stood unused. It wasn’t entirely still, however. This was
evidently a popular hangout for local children… and curious tourists. An
enterprising youth had acquired the keys to the inner stairwell and offered to
open doors in exchange for a fee! After bargaining him down a bit we agreed on
a price and spent the next half an hour exploring the balconies, stopping every
now and then to take pictures of the picturesque town of Orchcha spread out at
the feet of this monument.
We were asked
to end our explorations by the self-assigned gatekeeper who felt we had had
our money’s worth, and having had our fill of photographs, we obeyed and made
our way out. I turned around as we were leaving, and noticed that the sanctum
curtain was now partly open and a light shining through. As I walked towards
it, I realized that this was actually a functioning temple. The sanctum had a
resident deity and was manned! I took my shoes off some distance away before approaching
the sanctum. As I neared it I realized that I was witnessing a miracle – an
image that somehow, in that moment, felt powerful, and filled me with a sense
of happiness, calm… and hope.
It was
simply that sanctum was being guarded and maintained by a young girl, in her
early teens. As she was still in uniform, she had probably come here straight
from school. Oblivious to the conversations between the tourists and the
self-appointed gate-keeper youth, the shouts and laughter from the other
children running around the place, she sat there giving the deity company,
reading diligently from a notebook. A plate with a lamp, some kumkum and
turmeric, some flowers and some rupee notes sat beside her, along with a pile
of text and note-books. I had approached the sanctum with the intention of
seeing the deity and praying, but I backed away, not wanting to disturb her, so
peaceful and absorbed in her reading! I decided
that I would have to capture this scene, and did so rather guiltily, all the
time feeling like I was invading the privacy of a sacred space. But I’m glad I
did, for looking at that image a few months on, at a time when the country is being rocked by shocking scandals, brings back those feelings.
It is
difficult to explain why I found - and still find - it so powerful – there is something about
this image of a school-going girl, maintaining a temple sanctum while reading
her textbooks, in an old, quiet, ruined temple that seems…right.
