The glorious lineage of Maa Hidimba Devi

Idumban Karlai is one of the most unique and peculiar club that is loved by the Karlakattai community worldwide. Shaped like three pots stacked one over the other in increasing order of size, it also has a namesake primary sutru (rotations) in the ancient warrior art of Karlakattai. The statue of Idumban's nephew, named Ghatotkacha (Ghat translates to pot), outside Bali airport (Indonesia), sports a fancy Idumban club with three tiers of increasing size. Isn't it interesting how the information we think is esoteric is carried by cultures & traditions without a care of national boundaries and millenias of times. Idumban holds a reverential place in the Karlakattai practice and so does its eponymous club.

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Idumban's club is of the shape of three pots set one over the other, similar to how the Tamils set pots during Pongal. This symbolizes the fact that Idumban & Idumbi knew the past, the present and the future.

-- DR. K. JOTHI SENTHIL KANNAN. KARLAKATTAI : ANCIENT WARRIOR PRACTICE

All the four corners of Bharat i.e. current day India, Nepal and the islands of Bali, Jawa etc. in the south eastern island nation of Indonesia sing the glories of Idumban and his family. The echoes of these melodies travel far and wide, surpassing the boundaries of nations, sects, religion and numerous such artificial constructs. The story of Idumban, his equally gallant sister Idumbi and their family is one of great valour to uphold Dharma and devotion to Shiva and Hari. It is thus no wonder that they have carved a special place in the various grand as well as local temples ( i.e. ancient knowledge centers & museums) that receive a footfall of lakhs of devotees. Their story continues to be retold generation after generation in many local traditions, each one adding their own embellishments, celebrated in various local traditions and festivals (Jatars/Jagars) with different classical and folk dances & songs. Let us barge on a journey to unravel the story of Idumban, his family and many other great warriors of those times.

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Yodha Idumban: the Shiva Devotee

Idumban was an ardent devotee of Shiva and Murugan and a disciple of Rishi Agastya. While Shiva is the progenitor of Dhanurveda (knowledge of war strategy & warrior training), both Murugan and Rishi Agastya are one of the earliest Gurus in different Guru Paramparas (lineages) of the Dhanurveda such as KalariPayattu, Silambam etc. Idumban himself was a formidable warrior who once carried two sacred hills on his Kavadi on the command of his Guru, Agastya. Visiting his temple at Palani, TamilNadu is a prerequisite before visiting the Murugan temple. Idumbuvanam hamlet in Thiruvarur, Tamil Nadu also houses a temple dedicated to him.

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Idumbi & Bhim: A tale of love and separation

Idumban, the King of Idumbavanam, had the strength of a thousand elephants. To destroy him was beyond human means. Veeman, who was exiled to Idumbavanam, fought a battle with King Idumban and with his wrestling skills slayed him. After that, that club was kept in place of the King. Veeman refused to be the King. He married Idumbai, sister of Idumban, who gave birth to a son named, Gadthgajan. Veeman announced Gadothgajan as the king of the country and left to live as a hermit.

-- DR. K. JOTHI SENTHIL KANNAN. KARLAKATTAI : ANCIENT WARRIOR PRACTICE

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Narrated above is the famous story of Hidimba (Idumbai), Bhim (Veeman) and Ghatotkach(Gadothgajan) from the ancient Itihasa of Mahabharata Kaal.Mahabharata traces the journey of the Pandavas where they try to discover and tread the path of Dharma in the most compelling and complicated situations. Among the Pandavas the bravest and the strongest was the Gada Dhari (Mace bearer) Shiv Bhakta Bhim, obedient to the eldest Dharm-raj Yudhishthir, sharing a great bond with the younger Arjun, the greatest archer, and most caring to the yongest twins, the sharp war strategist Sahdev and the unparalleled sword weilder Nakul. Bhim meets Hidimba when the five brothers and their mother Kunti were forced to flee to the jungle. Wandering in the woods, they end up in the territory of Hidimb (Idumban), the brother of Hidimba (Idumbai). When Hidimb sends Hidimba to kill the Pandavas alongwith Kunti, she meets Bheem and both fall in love. Despite being aware of the fact that Bheem will eventually have to move back to his state and face the unfinished battles, she proceeds mindfully and marries the love of her life. Hidimba and the Pandava family share many beautiful moments together for about an year.With the blessings of Shiv Shambho, Hidimba gives birth to a kid whose bald head resembles a pot and thus he is lovingly named Ghatotkach (after the term Ghat for pot).

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The kid was loved and blessed by everyone in the family. The brave Ghatotkach gets the knowledge and wisdom of Dhanurveda from his parents and practices Gada with tremendous fervour just like his father. From his mother he inherits the special powers of Rakshasa lineage along with the qualities of kindness and Dharma necessary for any great ruler. Finally, the time arrives when the Pandavas needed to return to settle the score with their cousins. Ghatotkatch promises his father and family that they will find him alongside them whenever his need will arise.

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Ghatotkach, Morvi, Barkarik & other warriors

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Ghatotkach played an immensly important role in the war challenges of Pandavas to conquer all the four directions during the Rajsuiya Yajna, specifically in the travels of his father Bhim to the south east. Mahabharata lists out world geography and kingdoms of those times very accurately as the Pandavas travel in different directions. Ghatotkach accompanied Bhim, conquered many kingdoms with his excellent Kshatriya vidya and won the hearts of all the people south east to Burma to the tip of the South China Sea near Laos. He married a Naga princess Morvi who was a great warrior in her own right and could equal the might of ChanurMardan Sri Krishna in a battle. Morvi raised a great warrior and noble prince named Barbarik.

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Ghatotkach and Barbarik both died in the war of Mahabharata, happily sacrificing for upholding Dharma. In various versions of Mahabharata, Ghatotkach shares a good bonding with his cousins Abhimanyu and Iravan. Infact he avenged the death of Iravan in Mahabharata and fought fiercely with great warriors like Bhagadatta, son of Narakasura who had given a tough fight to Sri Krishna and was slayed by great warrior queen Satyabhama. Iravan too is celebrated well in Tamil culture as the God of various communities and as the main devata of transgenders.

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Cultural heritage of Idumbi

The lineage of Idumbi continues to this day with various kings tracing their Vanshawali to them. These Bhagwat bhaktas have a lot of temples and shrines across the regions they travelled. We have already looked at the spiritual aspect of Idumban as the devotee of Shiva, Murugan and Agastya which is especially celebrated in Tamil tradition. So let us look at the rich traditional heritage that the Idumban family has left across different places:

Himachal Pradesh

Hidimba, who exemplified Maa Durga, be it in fight, in expression of love or in raising warriors of great characters, is now the Kula devi of Kullu and Manali.

The kindgdom of Kullu still traces their lineage to Maa Hidimba devi. There are various temples of Maa Hidimba devi, Ghatotkacha and Barbarik in the Dungri village of Sirag valley in Himachal. The beautiful and serene temple dedicated to her is one of the must visit place for any traveller in Manali. Around these hills she worshipped Girija (Maa Durga) and became one with her. Being the Kula devi, a grand festival is held during Navratri and Dusshehra and various Devtas of nearby villages also visit this place.

There are local festivals, Jagars / Jatars that have their own distinctive understanding of the powers of these places and their Kula devatas. It could seem eccentric to the outsiders but that is more a reflection of their lack of understanding than of the natives. These Jatars across the sanatan cultures have kept the Itihasa and its dharmic values alive in farthest of the places and in roughest of times of cultish attacks and invasions.

Rajasthan & Gujarat

The most famous and unique deity of these areas is Khatu-Shyam or BaliYadev who is none other than Barbarik. Barbarik is worshipped in the form of Khatu-Shyam across north India. He is worshipped alongside Krishna. There are countless temples, fairs and festivals pertaining to Khatu-Shyam.

There is a Dungrapur village in Rajasthan which has Kedareshwar temple of Shiva that hosts the Bhim's Pujniye Shivalinga. The name of Dungrapur in Rajasthan resembles Dungri in Himachal and both have temples coming from the same source. It seems possible that Dungri is related to iDumbi in someway.

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Uttarakhand & UttarPradesh

The origin of Panch Kedar including the famous Kedarnath temple in Uttarakhand is closely tied with Bhim. There are various Shiva lingas in these regions that were worshipped by Bhim and Hidimba and now have famous temples built around them such as Hidimbeshwar Mahadev temple in Etawah where Bhim and Hidimba prayed for a son and were blessed with Ghatotkacha, PrithviNath Mahadev in Gonda, Bhimeshawar temple in Bhimtal. The latter is one of the Bheem Shankar range of temples which all have a symbol of lion in them. Many more Shiv lingas and Nandis that are from Mahabharata Kaal have appeared in the excavations and still get unearthened in these regions. In local Jagars/Jatars of Garhwal and Kumaon, the Pandavs and Mahabharat plays a key role as exemplified by the famous folk dance called Pandava Nritya and Pandava Khel. Himalayas including Uttarakhand indeed have rich history during Mahabharata Kaal relating to the people who were exiled to these areas such as Nal-Damyanti, Pandavas etc. The land of Himalayas is naturally connected with Girija (another name of Durga is Daughter of Hills), Shiv (whose abode is Kailash) and Shiv Ganas or Bhaktas. It is no secret to the locals that Himalayas, specifically, Kailash and Mansarovar are the areas where lot of Devtas, Yakshas & Gandharvas reside and come to visit. The local Jatars/Jagars have traditions to invoke kul-devtas & interact with them in an indirect way. In current times they are not supposed to play active role in human activities but still a few mysterious sightings are reported every now and then and also termed as UFOs. Such things in these places are nothing unknown or to be surprised about if you ask the locals.

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Nepal

In Hetunda there is a famous temple of Bhutan devi (Maa Hidimba). The city Hetunda is also named after Hidimba. There is a nearby place that is named after Bhim. One of the main ancient kingdom of Nepal that still runs in full glory of their tradition, the Kiratis trace their lineage from Barbarik. He is worshipped there as the form of Akash Bhairava (a form of Shiva) and also known as Yalambar.

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Bali & Java(Indonesia)

As we saw earlier Ghatotkacha travelled to the south east with Bhim and mostly went unaccompanied south to Burma. Hence, he is a famous figure here. Kakawin Bharatayuddha is the name of the Mahabharata epic here with some changes in the story line but keeping the characters and their life messages intact. Bali is home to several active volcanoes, including Mount Batur Agung, Mount Batur, and Mount Merapi. These volcanoes have significant cultural and religious importance. The Ghatotkacha temple featuring his ancient beautiful statue is located on the slopes of Mount Batur while the famous temple of Barbarik is on the slopes of Mount Agung. The temple festivals (Jatars) are celebrated with singing & enacting of the legends of these heros in connection with the volcanoes.

Recently, in 2022 an amazing super hero movie named "Satria Dewa GatotKaca" or "Kshatriya Deva Gatotkaca" (Warrior god Ghatotkacha) was released in Indonesia. In Bali there are magnificent statues of Bhim, Arjun and Krishna but the most attractive one remains the one depicting the great battle between Karna and Ghatotkacha. The ancient Itihasa of Mahabharat is enacted in shadow puppet shows called Wayang. There are various dance forms and perfomances such as Legong and Kechak Dance that depict Mahabharata alongwith several temples, statues and paintings. The festivals and performances resemble the Jatars/Jagars of Kula devatas in Indian villages. The TV serials around Bharatyudha generally get more TRPs than any other sports or shows.

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The Message

Several years have passed since these great warriors, Hari & Shiv-Shakti Bhaktas walked this earth but they are still alive in various traditions and arts surpassing all divisive boundaries. There is no end to the ways that the events of Mahabharata shape our lives whether knowingly or unknowingly.

Infinite is the story of infinite HariHara and infinite are its joyous expressions. Even the people who have tried to put down the native traditions and Itihasa are also bound to talk and popularise Mahabharata, in their futile attempts to mark it as mythology, superstitions, bhraminical, patriarchy, hindutva etc. From the names of the places to individuals, to the knowledge of Bhagvad Geeta that has influnced thinkers, scientists and poets equally around the world, from the meticulously carved temple caves of Ajanta or Ghatotkacha caves to SatyabhamaKalpam of KuchiPudi to various eclectic local Jatars celebrate the deepest of Vedic truths through Mahabharata, Ramayana and Puranas.

Indeed the soul of all the studies including sciences, Ganit (Math), Ayurveda (life sciences), Dhanurveda etc. is their relationship with the Dharma and Brahm (realising one unifying existence pervading everything). Without these two any knowledge can not bring joy and peace in the world. It is this joy that people in sanatani villages who have faced the brunt of invasions, colonisation and mockery by colonial educated minds, still continue to relish the Itihasa in the form of Jatars/Jagars and traditions. Warrior arts are fundamental to these traditions, however after all the opression, banning and abomination due to marxist education the in-depth knowldege of warrior arts is lost in most places with the loss of interest of new generations. In dances like Pandav Nritya, Cholia of Uttarakhand you will see a lot of weapons including Karlakattai but the knowledge of using those weapons is limited.

There were venomous attempts to look at Itihasa from the derogatory angles especially in the academia due to the Marxist and colonial mindset of deriding the local narratives and Sanatan Itihasa. We had become so distant from the original texts and traditions that divisive false narratives that highlighted certain incidents and characters while belittling others had been driving what Mahabharata, Ramayana and the ancient traditions meant. At this point when the truth is set to rise again after the transient myths had their fleeting time, we must read the texts in original. Understand the difference between the creative liberty taken by various local narratives that are meant to celebrate and unite, and the propanganda to divide and conquer in the name of creative liberty and sciences. There are people who still call Itihasa mythology while believing in myths created to colonize and divide. For one, the "science" based myths result in vicious circles that fund the money of a handful of industrialists. The myths made to sell new ideas and products come under the garb of science which is especially true in fitness and nutrition industry. While it is enough to remain healthy and fit with simple yet powerful ancient knowledge, we are still delivered new formulae and sometimes the same old wine in a a new bottle to keep the industry rolling in vicious circles. The fitness industry has been harming the mental and physical health of everyone by removing the ultimate aim of fitness and Kshatriya vidya from the craft and selling the made-up ideal body image as the new aim.We are the Vanshaj of great warriors. Let us then pick up a Karlakattai and train regularly with devotion like our ancestors did. Let us be consistent in our practice and become strong enough to one day swing that Idumban Karlai. Let us also try to understand our Swadharma and courageously walk the path. For Dharma is what brings peace and prosperity to all and valour is what keeps the Dharma alive within us and outside.

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धर्मो रक्षति रक्षितः। नमो नमः।।