Jaisalmer Desert National Park

Mr Ramanan, along with his family, visited the Jaisalmer Desert National Park earlier this year. Jaisalmer is in the western part of Rajasthan in the heart of the Thar Desert. An outpost in the desert, it has its share of forts and palaces as well. In fact, most tourists visit Jaisalmer to get a feel of the desert, and to see its fort, havelis and the local culture.

The Jaisalmer DNP is a large sanctuary and one of the important ones in India, showcasing desert flora and fauna. So, here is his trip report, which makes for interesting reading! And of course his wonderful photos.

We in the south are so familiar with rain-fed forests like Top slip and kalakaddu, so a first-time visit to a DNP leads us to wonder what living thing can there possibly be, in such a bone-dry area? We reached Jaisalmer by the only train which runs daily from Delhi to Jaisalmer.

We boarded the train at Jaipur around 12.30 in the night and one has to be very careful to board the right bogie as the train splits in to two! One goes to Barmer and the other Jaisalmer. After 13 hours we were in Jaisalmer, and after Jodhpur on the either side of the track from the train itself we started seeing desert creatures like peacock, demoiselle crane, vultures and foxes.

From here we have proceeded to Sam Dhani which is about 50 KM from Jaisalmer where we stayed with RTDC resort. As we didn’t have the time to go DNP on the same evening we enjoyed a package tourist thamasha at Sam Dhani. The package includes a drive on the camel to sand dunes, where we were allowed to stay and enjoy the sunset. We were then taken to another resort to witness a local cultural programme for two hours.

The next day we could enter the DNP only after 7.30 am as the people are reluctant to start very early morning. To get into the park a permit is compulsory, as we knew about it we got it from the Director DNP at Jaisalmer itself. For an Indian for a day permit cost about Rs 285 and for foreigners it is difficult as they have to get first permission from the district magistrate. Then, based on this the Director will issue permit for them and it is expensive for them.

The drive to DNP is 30 odd KM from Sam Dhani. Along the way, we saw several BSF and army camps as the DNP is situated close to the Pakistan border. Our vehicle is not permitted inside and the only mode of sight seeing inside the park is by camel cart and it is really indeed eco-tourism!

Laggar Falcon

The terrain is made up of rocks, compact salt lake bottoms and sand. Huge sand dunes form about 20 percent of the park but you will probably not get a chance to see it. The flora comprises of Dhok, Ronj, Salai, Bear and Palm trees. We proceeded on the camel cart and inspite of the open terrain we were unable to locate any of the game there as all of them are so well camouflaged. So in the first drive we solely depended on the cart driver. He described all the desert species in the local language.

Quails
On the second day our eyes got used to the terrain and we ourselves started spotting and enjoying all the birds and animals. We sighted various types of vultures - white backed, long billed, cinerous,white scavenger and the red headed. Also, all the three sand grouses - black bellied, spotted and chestnut coloured.

Immature Egyptian vulture?
Cinerous vulture - seen only in semi-arid terrain
White-rumped or white-backed vulture- Gyps bengalensis

Eurasian collared doveWe also sighted falcons and lot of eagles which I couldn’t ID. Brown-headed ravens, bulbuls, house sparrows, shrikes, doves and desert wheater are commonly sighted. And finally of course the Great Indian Bustard very far off. They are very shy and photographing them inside the park, for that matter any birds or animals is very difficult as they are not at photographic distances.

Great Indian Bustard

Chinkara and foxes are commonly sighted inside. We saw two kinds of foxes the one with black tipped tail is known as Desert fox and another with white tailed which is slightly smaller than the other one is Bengal fox.

Desert fox

I didn’t make a note of all the species as I was concentrating on photography and still I was sure that I would have seen more than 80 species of birds and three species of animals!
Cinkara - male and female

A dust storm started on the second day evening. This was an experience in itself. We couldn’t get to the park but we witnessed the beautiful sight of changing shape of sand dunes from our resort. The storm covered what we tourists spread over it like plastic cups and bags and empty bottles and we saw the real beauty of the desert. But the sad part of it was that the next day again our tourists invaded the area with more and more of plastic bags and bottles. The “YELLOW BEAUTY”, as the local call the sand dunes lasted only for a few hours.

Sand dunes after the dust storm

The next day morning again we ventured into the DNP but sighting was very poor because of the dust storm but we were enthralled by the camel cart driver who insisted that we should get married to many girls so that we will have lot of boy children and further narrated that he was married to four wives and had more than fourteen children!! I hope at least he will remember his number of children.

Feeding treepie

From there we travelled back to Jaipur and made a one day trip to Sariska Tiger reserve only in vain. We didn’t see the radio collared Ranthambhore tigers but when we were inside a check post which is called as Kalli Katti, one of the jeep drivers and the forest guard asked us do you have biscuits with you? So we gave him a few and immediately he ground it into a fine powder, asked my daughter to spread both hands and poured them on her hands. From nowhere about 30 tree pies emerged and without any hesitation started feeding from my daughters’ hands.

We really enjoyed it but on our way back I saw the instruction board of the forest department which instructed tourist not to feed the animals. Did it apply to the birds as well?

Mugger-Sariska
Grey Langur relaxing - Sariska
Black-tailed Godwit - Sariska
Sunset - Jaisalmer

Mysore clock vine - Thunbergia mysorensis

Spectacular and strange
Yellow, rust and orange.

Fern leaf Jacaranda in Yercaud

Arittapatti, Tamil Brahmi and Lakulisa

Continued from here.

Dec 19th 2009

More rocks and more discoveries!

After some off-road driving we arrived at Arittapatti village, in Melur taluk. Once again there was the side-by-side existence of old Hindu relics and vestiges of Jainism.

We visited the Siva temple first and then came back to the Jain site, but I shall narrate in reverse order, since the Jains were there first!

The path was overgrown, indicating that it was a well-hidden secret, and the trees were filled with calls of treepies, sunbirds and the ubiquitous crow. The odd coucal was heard in the distance.

We clambered around the shrubbery around to the base of the large rock in the picture above.

Rounding the corner, we came across a single tirthankara, carved into the stone, with Vattuezhuttu under it.

But we were after more ancient markings - Tamil Brahmi script, brought to the south by these very Jains!

I must confess that when I saw them, I was sorely disappointed!

We reached a cave like this. It was smelly, dusty and on the whole unimpressive.

If somebody had not pointed out the writing, I surely would not have noticed it!

On the brow of the cave was some faint just visible markings!

Do you see it? They are important and ancient! Like cave art. Arittapatti has one of the earliest known Tamil Brahmi inscriptions.

Second Century BC! Dr I Mahadevan is an important name to know in this context. He was awarded a Padma Shri in 2009, and is a pioneering epigraphist in our land.

An epigraphist is one who spends his life deciphering ancient scripts. Now Dr Mahadevan specialised in early Tamil epigraphy and so basically deciphered the Tamil brahmi script!

Now isn't that cool! If I'm not mistaken, these faint markings on the wall relate to a chieftain from Nelveli, Velliyan, who "caused to be given the cave". Please forgive me, but I dont remember now whether that meant he lived there, or whether he gave the cave to someone else!

There's more on the Arittapatti inscriptions here.

My mind wandered back to those ancient times, trying to recreate how the area must have looked. A bustling centre, filled with travellers, monks and traders, and now only these slender tell-tale signs to mark their presence.

The lotus pond was an important symbol for the Jain travellers, I learnt. If they saw a pond, it meant that there would be a sacred image on the rock/hill, along the line drawn from the centre of the pond, due south. And a monastery would be in the vicinity.

The monasteries also played a role like a bank it appears, protecting money and goods for traders on their trips back and forth.

Commerce and free trade, at the turn of the century! There was an important trade route between Brahmagiri (now in Karnataka) and Uraiyur (near Trichy). I wonder if Arittapatti was on one of the extensions further south, from this.

From the second century BC, we shall fast forward to the seventh century AD and Lakulisa! The first time I heard of this interesting character.

We had to get to the rock on the other side of this little lake. This lake dries up in summer, which means that one can just walk across to the other side.

But we were visiting after the rains, and so we enjoyed the lovely sight of rippling water, grasses blowing in the wind, and lotus and lilies in the ponds.

We did not hurry, in fact we positively straggled and meandered, in small groups, examining the wildflowers, the strange rock formations, perandai and lemon grass growing wild.

Under the trees, a baby lay fast asleep in a cloth-cradle hung to a tree. We dont see that these days in our cities anymore.

Closeby, a man sat, tending his goats, and chewing on a stick with one hand, while staring at a cellphone in the other!

Some of the ladies asked him whether there was a signal here. He drawled in Tamil that he really didn't know since he didnt know how to use the phone, but was given it by is friend!

It was here that I was introduced to Lakulisa.

We came to this rock-cut Siva temple, now under the protection of the ASI - see the grille gates, but it is still used for worship by the locals and is called Idaichhi mandapam.

Let me narrate the legend of Lakulisa, believed to be the last avatar of Shiva by some.

I was fascinated by the story/legend, which goes like this:

Lakulisa was born in Gujarat, and when a little boy, was struck by illness and given up as dead. He was taken to the ghats to be cremated, when he is supposed to have "come back to life". He asked the people to leave him, and grew up in the ghats, with special mystical and spiritual powers.

Prof V expounded that his name could mean "na-kula-isa" - a god with no kula/ancestry. The popular meaning is that it stands for the lord with the club.

Anyway Lakulisa then grows up to become the proponent of the Pasupatha dharma, a strongly ascetic, Saivite way of life. He had four main sishyas - Kushika, Gargya, Maitreya and Kaurusha. It appears that these sishyas did a good job, because before long, the dharma had spread to various parts of India. Its still important in Nepal, isnt it? From what I've understood, the sect had a dark side, and the true practiser could carry out much black magic and sorcery!

The presence of this Lakulisa in Arittapatti indicates that his influence had spread so far south - in the eighth century...all very fascinating, when you consider what the nature of communication and transport was in those days.

I guess it was too austere and severe to survive among us comfort-loving Indians for long, and by the 15th century, the sect had shrunk, and became restricted to Gujarat, the Himlayan region including Nepal.

There isn't much written or codified about this mystery sect, which in its heyday in the eight to tenth centuries had a huge number of followers.

There is a book titled "The iconography and ritual of Śiva at Elephanta" By Charles Dillard Collins that mentions that Hsuan-tsang wrote about the considerable Pasupata sect activity during his travels!

And here he was - my first encounter with Lakulisa - in this rock carving, along side a huge lingam, carved out of natural rock.

How little I know about the country of my birth.

Kazhugumalai - Jain bas reliefs

Continued from here.

December 18, 2009

After the wonder of the Vettuvan kovil, I did not think that I would be further surprised that day. As the others hung around the temple, chatting and laughing excitedly, I got into one of my solitary wandering moods and clambered further up the rock.

An ASI guard sat chewing on a grass, smiled and pointed to a brick structure up the hill. "Ange mattu poyittu paarunga maa, Jaina murthigal irrukkum".

Oh, ok, that seemed an interesting thing to check out I thought, and so off I went up the hill. I followed the crude signs that said "Jain carvings" and soon I was much further up, looking down on the hill. I spied the top of the Vettuvan kovil, the fields and farms, but not one eagle.

Kazhugumalai - the abode of eagles, thats where I was, but there wasn't an eagle in sight. I looked up and saw a shikra circling for a while before it lost interest and zoomed off.


A rickety gate past which I stepped and this is what I saw!



I stepped a little closer, crunching through the fallen leaves, and took a closer look through the ficus branches that swept low, growing unhindered and wild up here.

What a sight it was - row upon row of seated monks!

Some of the decorative motifs were beautiful, but it made no sense to me. Why were they all lined up on the wall like this? What were those squiggly, Tamil-looking inscriptions at the bottom saying? Why were there some, more elaborate friezes and what were the stories they were recounting?

So many questions, and Prof Venkatraman was still below at the Vettuvan kovil! They would make their way up here eventually I knew, so I wandered some more.

I was horrified by this ugly white wall hiding some of the bas reliefs behind it.

Maybe its considered graffiti, the better to hide? Or maybe we just have so much around us that we just dont appreciate it?

I ruminated on this, and walked further on and above. A path beckoned, and on an impulse I climbed. It was a way used to reach the top of the hill.

Rough steps were hewn in the rock, wild grasses grew alongside, and the breeze blew cheerily in my face, threatening to send my cap soaring across the rock!

It was a silly thing to do, in retrospect, wandering off amidst uneven stones and up a path where I could so easily have twisted my ankle or lost my balance trying to hang on to cap, bag, camera and binoculars!

I was rewarded for my efforts by a line of bee eaters on the wire, swinging with the breeze. A warbler of some sort took off in alarm at my intrusion, and I had this lovely panoramic view below me.

It was time to head back and my descent down was somewhat nerve wracking given the treacherous nature of the path and the sudden dawning that I was alone! I made it back to the Jain bas-relief rock face to find the other members assembled there. I sauntered the last few metres trying to be as unobtrusive as possible, (but then everyone who knows me will realise my physical difficulty in being unobtrusive!) since I didn't want to be berated for having gone off! I almost managed - but drat it, that ASI guard (remember the grass-chewing one who had sent me on my way?) remarked rather loudly, "Amma yenna mele mattum poyittu varingala, ungalai pathen". To my relief, the others were engrossed in Prof V's explanations and I skulked back in!

I learnt that Kazhugumalai was a seat of Jain learning in centuries past, and these carvings date to around 800 AD. Did you know there are some hundred Jaina sites in Pandya country? And Kazhugumalai has probably the largest collection of inscriptions and carvings?!

The "squigglies" are called Vattezhuttu (Tamil: வட்டெழுத்து vaṭṭeḻuttu) - the precursors to modern Tamil/Malayalam.

The presence of the writing is all very helpful, I was given to understand. The writing informs us that there were jain monks called battarars who lived in the caves. It was a place of worship, but also a place of learning and a monastery. Male teachers are referred to as kuravars and the female teachers (yes, there were female nuns and teachers) as kurathi.

There are more than hundred inscriptions in Kazhugumalai. For the most part they seem to be sponsorship announcements. "This bas relief was sponsored by such and such merchant in honour of so and so who died ...",etc etc. See, capitalism, advertising and media way back then!

By far the largest donor seems to be Pandya king Maran Sadayan, who has donated towards 17 bas-reliefs. "Stories in Stone" is an interesting article, which gives more details.

The Jains believe that there are 24 tirthankaras, in the current time cycle, with Mahavira being the last.

So the bas-reliefs are of the tirthankaras, sitting on open lotuses. From what I gathered, the more elaborate ones were the more important tirthankaras.

Isn't the one on the right exquisite? If you click on the picture and zoom in, you will see there are little lions in the slab on which he is seated. There are dancing maidens in the trellis work above, and right above is Indira on Airavatham flanked by warriors on horses.

And here is Parasnatha the teerthankara with the yakshi Padmavathi by his side. He is the 23rd one and is always shown with a snake hood. Protecting him above is a yaksha Dharnendra, and bowing before him is Kamdan who had wanted to kill him. Legend goes that he saved two snakes from the fire and blessed them with the navkar mantra before they died. Those two snakes became yaksha/yakshi and watch over him.

And I thought this one was Mahavira, but I may be mistaken...in the deep fog of memory, I thought I remember some mention of the top knot and the elongated ears as being characteristic of Mahavira...

Indra on Airavatha is very prominent here.

I wonder...if the donor gave more, was there more embellishment, more adornments and more figures?

Anyway, the Kazhugumalai story would be incomplete for me without a narration of the legend of Ambika yakshi.

There was a lady called Ambika, who had prepared food for her husband's ancestors. The husband steps out on some work, and a hungry monk visits, and she gives him the food. In those days, this was definitely a no-no. So, when hubby comes back and learns about this, he is enraged and drives her out of the house.

She is despondent, seeks out the monk and goes and cries to him. Its a bit unclear as to what happens now. One version says the monk asks her to return to the husband and that she is so terrified at the prospect that she commits suicide along with her 3 kids. They all become yakshis. Ambika yakshi is the attendant to the 22nd tirthankara Nemminatha.

But Ambika pines for her husband and Indra says, alright go and live with him. Now the ungrateful man her husband on learning that she's a yakshi demands to see her powers. So she does, dazzling him with her true yakshi self, he is stunned and frozen and she converts him into a lion!