JOR (MAHARASHTRA): Really, where was the Krishna River born? From a gushing torrent or in multiple streaks of water draining down the hills around Mahabaleshwar? Or perhaps magically from the mouth of a stone sculpture of a cow, filling up a kund and then spilling over? The Krishnabai Temple at Kshetra Mahabaleshwar makes the most strident claim of being the river’s source. But its path is not promising. In an unwitting prelude to the state of the river downstream, it is strewn with garbage. The tower is covered with moss, and monument bonsais sprout through the cracks in the masonry.
At Krishnabai, it’s hard to imagine the scale and devotion of the millions observing the Krishna Pushkaram festival in four states. The temple is said to be 800 years old but its priest Mangesh Homble puts it back to 5,000 years. He says it couldn’t be more popular, given that there’s no signage to the temple, barring some tattered banners strung to the trees. Who would be curious enough to trudge a few hundred metres through the mud?
The ASI protects the monument and has it weeded thrice a year. The Krishnabai Temple’s claim of being the river’s source is disputed locally. The river hides in the valleys and ghats of Mahabaleshwar only to remerge downstream close to the village of Jor in Wai taluk, where too its birthplace is claimed, much to the outrage of the people of Mahabaleshwar.
In Wai taluk, however, the farmers are Jor fans. “Oh, Jor? You want to see the birthplace of the Krishna?” a farmer exclaims. To cement its claim, Wai organises an annual fair called the Krishnabai festival, which is celebrated for eight days.
Jor lies beyond the end of a meandering drive round the folds of the Sahyadri range, framed by scenic waterfalls on one side and glimpses of the Krishna on the other. Then suddenly round a bend, the path vanishes into the misty green, leaving one in the middle of nowhere. This right here, a local inhabitant tells us, is Jor, and there, an hour’s trek further up the hill, is the real birthplace of the Krishna. Alas, it is presently inaccessible due to landslides. Jor is fed by rivulets streaking down the hills, Krishna is already a force. It rushes up and divides the village into two.