Myths and half-truths surround some places of devotion. Some of these claims, even though not supported by history, thrive through generations because they help strengthen our belief in certain times, certain things.
Some such claims ring around the popular Hanuman Mandir in Connaught Place too. It also happens to be a temple popularly said to be in existence since “the Mahabharata times”.
One such myth of the temple – as cited in its Wikipedia page and www.hanumantempledelhi.com website -- is a ‘Guinness World record’ for non-stop chanting of the shloka “Sri Ram Jai Ram, Jai Jai Ram” since 1964. Apparently, priests have been taking turns to keep the tradition going.
A visit to the temple – my first ever – hinged on the high hope of finding a new element of the city, turns out to be, well, a hoax. One of its senior priests, Srikant Sharma, however tells this reporter, “It did start but fizzled out after some time.” No. he is not aware of the act awarded any world record. “I have been in this temple for the last 42 years, I have no news of it,” he responds. Interestingly, Sharma has “no clue” about who runs the temple’s “official” website launched in 2010. Yet another old priest, Mangal Das, thinks, “It is the NDMC.”
With trepidation, I enquire about the other claim. Both the sites on the Internet state that the façade of the mandir bears a crescent. They surprise me when they say yes.
One of them offers to show me “where exactly it is.” High up, on the spire of the white structure, is indeed engraved a half-moon-like crescent.
Both Sharma and Mangal Das belong to the same family root, a family that has been running the temple affairs “for the last 42 generations.” They have been hearing about the existence of the crescent since childhood.
“Earlier, there was only one priest who came from Galta, near Jaipur in Rajasthan. This was the jagir of Maharaja Man Singh I of Amber, the powerful general of Mughal Emperor Akbar. Man Singh brought the priest from his region. The family grew and two sons were born to the priest and then three sons each to the two sons, making it six original families that have claims on the temple. Today, we are a big family, most of us stay in the quarters just behind the temple,” relates Mangal Das, perched on a settee meant for the head priest in a prominent corner of the temple.
However, don’t expect to find Das on the seat every time of the year. “We rotate the family members’ claim on the temple through the year. The days are divided according to the size of the family of each of the six initial families. So while some might get a month or more, some others get just a week or two in a year,” Sharma tries explaining the family spiral to me. He calls himself lucky as, from his great grandfather onwards, there has been only one son in every generation on his part of the family. “I was my father’s only son. I have just one son and so does my son. So we have claim over the temple two months a year,” he adds. The temple offerings go to whoever the claimant is for that period.
Coming back to ‘the crescent story’, both claim it to be an example of Mughal Emperor Akbar’s religious tolerance. “Badshah Akbar gave grants to the temple; he then put a crescent on it. It was his greatness. Because of it, the subsequent Muslim invaders didn’t touch the temple,” state both.
There is no place for this claim in historicity. Eminent historian and professor of Aligarh Muslim University Shireen Moosvi points out, “I find it difficult to believe it as the crescent was not the sign of Islam during Akbar’s time. It became one during the decline of the Ottoman Empire. Therefore, you will not find any crescent engraved anywhere on the Jama Masjid in Delhi.” Former secretary of Indian History Congress, Moosvi, a scholar on Akbar’s period, says, “Unlike Jehangir, Akbar never visited a temple, was against idol worship but he didn’t stop anyone from it.” The author of the critically acclaimed book “Episodes in the Life of Akbar” relates an interesting story about the Mughal king. “Once some qazis protested after he gave a grant to a Hindu temple. He told them, everyone is equally entitled to pray to God. Later, after giving a huge grant to a Jain temple, some Hindu priests objected. He gave them the same answer.”
Moosvi calls attention to a pertinent point here, “Certain myths are good. Sometimes, a popular story is better for the society than those based only on historicity. The story about the crescent of the Hanuman Mandir is one such example.”
Meanwhile, priests Das, Sharma and his son Durgesh state, “Hanuman Ji has a great heart, it goes across communities. Because of the crescent, you will find the Muslim churriwallahs (glass bangle sellers) sitting outside the Hanuman Mandir visiting it as devotees every Tuesday.”
Well, some myths are indeed good, this one particularly so for the fragile secular fabric of the society.
