THE MANI PARVAT FAIR OF AYODHYA

AYODHYA JUNCTION DURING MANI-PARVAT MELA

DEVOTEES THRONG THE TOWN DURING THE MELA DAYS

A CONGREGATION OF SADHUS

SITARAM TEMPLE OF BIRLA TRUST

THE BHAJAN MANDLI OF SADHUS ENGAGED IN KIRTAN DURING MANI-PARVAT MELA

THE FAMOUS SITARAM IDOL AT KANAK-BHAVAN READY FOR A VISIT TO MANI-PARVAT

DEVOTEES WHICH INCLUDE ENUCH AFTER A SONG AND DANCE PROGRAMME AT KANAK BHAVAN

ON THE WAY TO MANI-PARVAT

DEVOTEES FROM FARAWAY PLACES THRONG AT THE MANI-PARVAT MELA SITE

THE NOTICE AT THE MANI-PARVAT TEMPLE SITE

SITA-RAM ON A SWING AT MANI-PARVAT

SITARAM SWAROOP AT MELA SITE

SITARAM SWAROOP AT THE MELA SITE WHERE DEVOTEES TAKE A TURN TO PLEASE THEIR GOD

A SHOPKEEPER SELLING HIS GOODS AT THE MELA SITE

THE PROCESSION ON WAY TO MANI-PARVAT

ANOTHER PROCESSION ON WAY TO MANI-PARVAT WITH SITARAM ON A SWING

LORD SITARAM ON WAY TO MANI-PARVAT MELA SITE ON A TRACTOR

ANOTHER AKHADA WITH THEIR LORD ON WAY TO MANI-PARVAT

ANOTHER PROCESSION ON WAY TO MELA SITE

THE KANAK BHAVAN LORD AND HIS CONSORT ON WAY TO MANI-PARVAT MEL SITE IN A PROCESSION 

ANOTHER PROCESSION

The traditional Hindu calendar is replete with fairs and festivals. India is predominantly an agricultural society and the Hindu religion and culture provides for festivals and fairs whenever there is a lull in agricultural activity. This helps a grihastha (householders) to unwind from the rigours of physical labour. Various festivals and fairs dot the Hindu calendar to herald the sowing or the harvesting of crops. Thus Hindus celebrate Durga Puja, Bihu and several other festivals both at the culmination of Kharif and rabi cropping season. In between also several festivals and fairs are organized. The auspicious month of Shravan (August) when the paddy have already been sown and there is a lull in agricultural activities, Shravan jhulas are organized and places like Mathura and Vrindavan are abuzz with devotees of Lord Krishna and His consort Radha, who love to see their Lord and His consort enjoy a ride on a swing. The month of Shrawan is regarded as one of the most romantic months when, it is said, even Gods relish a ride on the swing with their consort. Several bhakti poets have described the love life of Krishna and Radha where a reference to the Shravan-jhula is invariably made. Some numerous verses and couplets describe Lord Krishna enjoying Shravan-jhula with Radha. However, instances of Lord Rama enjoying such a company with Devi Sita are less and poets who have described the life of Maryada Purushottam Lord Rama has been quite restrained in their description. But there are a few references of Lord Rama enjoying a swing ride with his consort Devi Sita at Ayodhya. This event is observed as the fair of Mani Parvat in Ayodhya every year. This fair begins on the Shravan-Shukla-Tritiya and continues up to Shravan-Purnima. This year the event will be observed from 23^rd July to 3^rd August.  

I visited Ayodhya on this auspicious occasion to enjoy this event, which is famously known as the Mani-Parvat ka Mela (The Fair of Main-Parvat). The inflow of Ram-bhakts (devotees of Lord Rama) in this small town of Ayodhya on this occasion is simply unbelievable. Every vacant space comes to be covered by them- the railway platform, the bus stand, the temple courtyard, the lodges and dharamshalas, the orchard and the bye-lanes- poor villagers from remote villages converge at this holy town, unmindful of the hardship they face in the process, just to have a glimpse of Lord Rama and His consort Devi Sita enjoying a ride on a swing at the hillock of Mani-Parvat. Their faith in Lord is indeed unfathomable. 

I waded through the crowd of devotees to reach the Sitaram Temple on the hillock called Mani-Parvat. The temple at the summit lies in a dilapidated condition and despite a warning to this effect on the stairs leading to the temple; there is simply no control on the rush of pilgrims to the temple. This may prove disastrous any day. I seek an audience with the main priest Sri Ram Charan Dasji Maharaj and request him to explain the significance and origin of this religious congregation. The libraries at Valmiki Bhavan and the one at Tulsi Shodh Sansthan failed to provide any record about the Mela. Sri Ram Charan Dasji was more than happy to share the information with me. He informed that as per religious folklore, when Devi Sita came to Ayodhya for the first time after her marriage along with Lord Rama, queen Kaikeyi gifted the famous Kanak-Bhavan (The palace of gold) to the daughter-in-law as per the custom of munh-dikhayi (the Hindu custom of gifting something when one sees the bride’s face for the first time). At the same time, she gifted a precious Manimala (a necklace of precious jewels) to Lord Rama. This necklace was gifted to Queen Kaikeyi by Lord Indra’s wife Indrani. Fascination for jewellery is quite common among women and Devi Sita was no exception. The message was not missed upon Lord Rama. He decided to put on the manimala only after arranging for a similar necklace for Devi Sita. But it was a rare necklace which was found during the Samudra Manthan (the churning of the ocean) and another such necklace could not be found in Raja Dashrath’s treasury. Devi Sita got disappointed. Incidentally, Raja Janaka had come to Ayodhya at that time and was camping at Jankauda village on the periphery of Ayodhya. Hindu culture forbids the bride’s parental family members to stay at the bride’s in-laws place, until the birth of a child. Hence whenever Raja Janaka, visited Ayodhya to meet his daughter, he camped at the village of Jankauda, which he had acquired on the periphery of Ayodhya. When Raja Janaka heard about the precious manimala that had no match in Ayodhya, he decided to check for such a manimala in his treasury. Fortunately, he found several manimalas even more precious than the Indrani’s manimala. He at once got these loaded on bullock carts and ordered his son Yuvraj Veer Dhwaj to take them to Ayodhya. Prince Veer Dhwaj reached Ayodhya on the Shravan-Shukla-Tritiya (third day of the waxing moon in the month of Shravan) and conveyed the message to Lord Rama and Devi Sita of his arrival with the manimala. Since the treasury of Raja Dashrath was already overflowing, these precious manimalas were offloaded on the south-eastern corner of the city of Ayodhya. This took the shape of a hillock and this hillock of precious jewels came to be known as Mani-Parvat (The Mountain of Jewels). When Devi Sita heard about the arrival of her brother with a hoard of precious jewels, she rushed to the spot with Lord Rama. Devi Sita celebrated the occasion with a ride on the swing with Lord Rama. Devi Sita came to have a special affection and soft corner for this place as she regarded this place as part of her maika (parental place) and she visited this place every year in the month of Shrawan to enjoy the Shravan-jhula along with Lord Rama. I took leave of Sri Ram Charan Dasji to move around the Mela place. 

The ancient tradition of Shravan-jhula has been maintained even today and every year a fair is organized at the Mani-Parvat which begins on the Shravan Shukla-Tritiya and goes on till the Shravan-Purnima. The icon of Sitaram from various temples of Ayodhya are taken out in procession on the first day of the Mela (fair) and brought to the Mani-Parvat. This is indeed a spectacular event. Some temples take out a procession with small children dressed as Sitaram. At the foothills of the Mani-Parvat, several children dressed as Sita and Ram sit on a swing while devotees pay their obeisance to them. 

Visiting the Mela was an enriching experience. The Mela (fair) is organized at the foothills of the Mani-Parvat which is approachable from a thin lane around 3 kilometres from the main street of Ayodhya. I was amazed to see that the lane got overcrowded by pilgrims. By evening it became choke a block, when processions from various temples began entering this narrow lane from the main street of Ayodhya. To add to the rush of devotees, the Shiv Bhakts Kanwadiyas also follow the same path to worship their lord at the Mani-Parvat. This being the month of Shrawan, Kanwadiyas lift the holy water from Saryuji (the famous river Saryu) and immerses it at the Shivlinga at the Mela site. 

Plying of vehicles in this lane during the Mela period is stopped by order of the district administration. Yet this does not discourage Mahants of various temples to drive in with their vehicle in this narrow lane along with the rath (vehicle decked as chariot) carrying Sitaram on swing. While the administration looks the other way, the loudspeaker just three kilometres away at the Mela site keeps on directing pilgrims to avoid use of vehicles and to maintain discipline. These appeared mere formalities. Such announcements were few and far between. The administration was more interested in patting its own back by announcing the names of the officials, engaged in Mela administration, and appreciating them for their hard work and efforts, repeatedly. It was quite amusing and was cheap publicity. There appeared chaos; nonetheless, it did not deter pilgrims from swarming at the Mela (fair) site. 

The pilgrims kept swarming at the Mela (fair) site in huge numbers, which by a rough estimate was more than a million. They enjoy the spectacle of the Shravan-jhula by Sita-Ram Swaroop (young boys and girls dressed as Sitaram sitting on a swing at the foothills). They also watch with considerable anxiety as the procession from various temples from Ayodhya passes through the narrow lane and converges at the Mani-Parvat. Some akhadas organize for puja and temporary halt for procession on way to the Mani-parvat.

Small-time temporary shanties selling clothes, cheap cosmetics, imitation jewellery, tulsi beads, traditional Indian snacks such as jalebis and samosas, religious books and chalisas (Ode to Gods), body oil and massage oils etc come up in huge numbers in the big field at the foothills of the Mani-Parvat and fill the entire space. This is a traditional village fair and the buyers swarm in huge numbers to buy these stuffs. It is considered auspicious to buy sindoor (vermillion), chudis (bangles) and other items of suhaag (symbolic cosmetic items of a married Hindu lady) items as the Shravan-jhula coincides with the festival of Hariyali-Teej, which every married woman perform for the longevity of her husband. 

Some of the Mahants (Temple Priests) also organize dangals (bouts of wrestling) where pilgrims enjoy a bout of wrestling by the wrestlers of local akhadas (organizations of Wrestlers) often patronized by the political big-wigs of the area. Local cultural groups also organize cultural shows and Ram-lila plays to enthral pilgrims visiting the fair. District administration had made few arrangements for the safe stay of pilgrims. Other than providing each adult with a litre of kerosene oil, for cooking purposes, at subsidized rates, I did not find any intervention of the district administration in any way which could have made the visit of pilgrims to this Mela comfortable. On the contrary, the waiting hall of the Ayodhya railway station encroached upon by the para-military forces on duty to maintain law and order in this sensitive town, forcing the villagers to take shelter on the railway platform, where I found them not only busy in cooking food but also trying to protect themselves from rainwater, in vain. Yet the spirit of fair does not dissipate and every year millions of pilgrims from faraway places throng the Mani-Parvat fair just to watch their Lord and His consort enjoy Shraavan-jhula. This is the spirit of rural India, of poor India, which binds India in one cultural thread. I returned from Ayodhya with sweet memories of the Mela and the grit and determination of common man that shall forever remain etched in my mind.