Indian sportsmen and athletes are still basking in the glory earned for their performances in the recently concluded Commonwealth Games and people from Pune had even more reason to rejoice since three youths from their city had been selected by the Centre for Environment Education as green champions for the games.
Quite out of the media glare, however, an unusual sporting event which is held annually just about 75 kms away from the city at Jejuri, has unfortunately missed out on the attention it deserves. This event is held as a ritual, a day after Dussera every year at Jejuri’s famous Khandoba temple and the visitors for the event are the devotees who throng from most parts of Maharashtra, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Madhya Pradesh. Khandoba has links with Vaishnava and Jain traditions, and is sometimes identified with Mallanna of Andhra Pradesh and Mailara of Karnataka. Surprisingly, you also spot a few foreigners who gather to witness the event.
The fete involves the contestants lifting a huge sword weighing 42 kg and locally known as a khanda or khadga, not with their hands, but with their teeth! The one who is able to hold it high for the longest time is the winner of a prize.
The exact history of the sword, which is made of rustproof alloy, is still a mystery that has baffled many a researcher. However, the inscriptions on it say that it was gifted to the deity by 17th century Maratha Sardars Mahipatrao Panse and Ramrao Panse as thanks for the granting of their wishes. The name of the deity, Khandoba is derived from the words khadga or the sword, which is the weapon used by Khandoba to kill the demon Mani-Malla. According to Vitthal Thombre, author of Kuldaivat Khandoba, the sword may have been offered after success in some battle somewhere between 1763 and 1766. And the Vishnu Pandit, a priest at the Khandoba temple, says the Maratha warriors worshiped Khandoba as their Kuldev (clan god) and they carried his image on their flag.
The sword lifting participants line up early morning in the temple precincts and most of them come to pay their respects and to give thanks. Since turmeric is the basic offering for the deity, it is sprinkled all around till the grounds shine with a bright yellow hue.
The sword is held by a cloth and raised with one hand while the pommel near the hilt is gripped between the teeth. The other contestants cheer on with chants praising the deity and there is more sprinkling of the yellow spice. Since the sword is extremely heavy, two or three volunteers always stand guard around the contestant in case it falls. According to Vijaykumar Harishchandra, a member of the temple’s organising committee, the competition has been successfully accomplished for many years without any casualties. “The sword has never fallen nor has it caused harm to any contestant. The power to lift the sword like this comes more from the devotion than the human endurance.”
Harishchandra laments that even as the event is
acclaimed by world-renowned researchers who have done extensive studies of the temple and the sword, the state government has never bothered to acknowledge this event. The priests say that several researchers from Europe and Japan have visited the temple and have studied both its history and that of the sword. The late Dr Gunther Sontheimer, director of the Asian Institute at Heidelberg University in Germany, had made a documentary shot by cinematographer-director Henning Stegmuller, on the sword in the Jejuri temple which was shown in various countries. Sontheimer has also written a book called VARI — An Indian Pilgrimage, in which he draws particular attention to Jejuri Khandoba.
“Every known politician from the state and outside, and other famous personalities have visited the temple, but it is still in neglect,” laments Harischandra.
— rommel@expressbuzz.com