Mount Abu A Mythical hill station rife with folklore
Some time back when the whole of Abu was hype about ‘Crocks’ and the local newspapers were having a hay day at the expense of the so called rogue crocks I decided to also join the bandwagon and snap some of these wandering crocks. I had taken a friend along Harry, as he is a great assistance when it comes to speaking the local dialect Marwari. The first destination we chose was the water body behind the ‘Delwara” temple, on reaching there we asked some local lads if any crocks were seen there? They humoured us by saying “Yea, only yesterday the forest officials had picked up the crock that was in the pond and have taken it back to the sanctuary.While returning I chose to snap some photographs of the temple dedicated to “Kunwaari Kanyaa” behind the famous Delwara Jain Temples.
The statue of Balam Rasia with a red cloth covering
a coconut with the holy water of the lake
a coconut with the holy water of the lake
Temple dedicated to Kunwaari Kanyaa
Bang opposite is the statue of Balam Rasia
Bang opposite is the statue of Balam Rasia
Kunwaari Kanyaa
Photography on this hallowed premises is permitted after one has paid a token fee of Rs 10/-. While snapping, the caretaker offered to give us the gist of the folklore surrounding the legend of Balam Rasia and Kunwaari Kanyaa. The version he gave us sure did not live up to the original version I’m sure he meant well even if he did not do any research on the topic at hand, anyway folklore is what one generation perceives and passes it down to the next, even though I had heard vaguely about this tragic love tale, I decided to hear this dudes version of it.
He began by telling me the king of Arbud ( some Chauhan), who had a huge palace in the rural region of Arbudanchal, had made a proclamation that who so ever could fulfill a task he set out for them to complete he would wed his daughter to that prince or layman. Many came but none could be equal to the king’s expectation. One day in his dejected moods he went into the Delwara Temple to find solace. There he met a craftsman, a man of exceptional skills, he inquired of this man as to who he was. The man humbly told him his name was ‘Balam Rasia’, a craftsman by profession and a devotee of Adhar Devi. The king then asked Balam Rasia if he could do the task where all the others had failed,
Balam Rasia accepted the challenge and set out to accomplish it. He was to dig a lake for the princess with his bare nails, and the task was to be completed before the crowing of the cock. Rasia concentrated on the task at hand and had the lake dug before the crack of dawn. He then cut open a coconut filled it with the holy water of the lake covered it with a red cloth mounted his steed and rode to claim the princess. The queen who had exceptional power and was totally opposed to this man of humbles origins marrying her daughter of royal blood, changed herself into a cock so that she could crow before the stipulated time thwarting the effort of the gallant Rasia. Balam who himself was empowered with the blessings of Ambe Mata saw through her poly and immediately changed into a cat and pounced on the cock before it could crow, the queen who was a witch cast a spell with her dying words that the two could never be wed and would be turned into stone facing each other for the rest of eternity.
He began by telling me the king of Arbud ( some Chauhan), who had a huge palace in the rural region of Arbudanchal, had made a proclamation that who so ever could fulfill a task he set out for them to complete he would wed his daughter to that prince or layman. Many came but none could be equal to the king’s expectation. One day in his dejected moods he went into the Delwara Temple to find solace. There he met a craftsman, a man of exceptional skills, he inquired of this man as to who he was. The man humbly told him his name was ‘Balam Rasia’, a craftsman by profession and a devotee of Adhar Devi. The king then asked Balam Rasia if he could do the task where all the others had failed,
Balam Rasia accepted the challenge and set out to accomplish it. He was to dig a lake for the princess with his bare nails, and the task was to be completed before the crowing of the cock. Rasia concentrated on the task at hand and had the lake dug before the crack of dawn. He then cut open a coconut filled it with the holy water of the lake covered it with a red cloth mounted his steed and rode to claim the princess. The queen who had exceptional power and was totally opposed to this man of humbles origins marrying her daughter of royal blood, changed herself into a cock so that she could crow before the stipulated time thwarting the effort of the gallant Rasia. Balam who himself was empowered with the blessings of Ambe Mata saw through her poly and immediately changed into a cat and pounced on the cock before it could crow, the queen who was a witch cast a spell with her dying words that the two could never be wed and would be turned into stone facing each other for the rest of eternity.
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