Meenakshi Jain's book, Flight of Deities and Rebirth of Temples - Episodes from Indian History examines the medieval response to temple destruction and image desecration. While temples were destroyed on a considerable scale, also noteworthy were the repeated endeavours to reconstruct them. In each instance of rebirth, the temple retained its original name, even though there was a visible downsizing in its scale and grandeur. The Keshava temple at Mathura, the Vishwanath temple at Kashi, the Somnath temple in Saurashtra, the Rama mandir at Ayodhya were among the shrines continually restored, well after Hindus had lost all semblance of political power. The Bindu Madhava, the most important Vishnu temple in Varanasi, was demolished in 1669 and a mosque constructed in its place. The temple now bearing the name Bindu Madhava is a modest structure in the shadow of the mosque, but continues the traditions associated with the site. Intriguingly, mosques built on temple sites often retained the sacred names - Bijamandal mosque, Lat masjid, Atala masjid, Gyanvapi mosque, and not to forget, masjid-i- janamsthan.
Equally worthy of study was the fate of images enshrined in temples. Many were swiftly removed by anxious devotees, many more were hurriedly buried; some remained on the move for decades, till such time they could be escorted back to their abodes. In several cases, images were damaged in flight. Countless images were lost, as their places of burial were forgotten over time. That necessitated the consecration of new images in more peaceable circumstances. So there were temples of the tenth-eleventh centuries, which housed images instated in the sixteenth. In situations where neither temple nor image could be safeguarded, the memory endured, and a shrine was recreated after an interval of several centuries.
ABOUT THE SPEAKER:
Dr Meenakshi Jain is an Indian political scientist and historian. A scholar on relations between caste and politics with specialization in cultural studies,[1] she is Senior Fellow at Nehru Memorial Museum and Library. She is a prolific writer/scholar and has authored 8 books and several articles, revealing the least known parts of Indian history.
Some of her works include Congress Party, 1967-77: Role of Caste in Indian Politics, Rama and Ayodhya , Sati: Evangelicals, Baptist Missionaries, and the Changing Colonial Discourse, The Battle for Rama: Case of the Temple at Ayodhya , "Flight of Deities and Rebirth of Temples:
----
SUGGESTED READINGS:
Flight of Deities and Rebirth of Temples - Episodes from Indian History by Meenakshi Jain
Hindu Temples: What Happened to Them (Vol. 1 & 2), by Sita Ram Goel
TOPICS COVERED
0:00 Purpose of the book, Flight of Deities and Rebirth of Temples - Episodes from Indian History
1:33 Icononoclasm began in Mecca in the 7th century.
5:58 Sustained, deliberate, brutal assault on sacred Indian heritage & sites.
7:12 1st sustained case of iconoclasm was in Multan
9:04 Al Baruni
13:52 Leftist that dieties were broken even by Hindu kings before the Mughals
16:20 Image appropriation vs Image destruction
23:26 Ayodhya was referred to as ‘janmsthan’ even in Persian records
29:07 Flight of Deities and Shrinathji
41:56 Even now, the false History books have not been changed
44:50 Kanchipuram Temple, Shakya rulers, and temple inscription
50:20 Preventing distortion of history
55:32 ‘Islamic Art’ was present in India before the coming of Islam
56:03 Destruction of the temples in Delhi
Join our newsletter for getting updates on upcoming lectures:
https://www.sangamtalks.com/subscribe
Join our YouTube video channel for learning about new video releases:
Hindi : https://www.youtube.com/sangamhindi
English : https://www.youtube.com/c/SangamTalks
Tamil : https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCH3afXBAYabOqTIi4uKFbZg
Punjabi : https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCiJdh1RmnQIYnGERJ2jAFCA
Bhojpuri : https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCVQERR3gS0PmEDHKUgCW9LA
Marathi : https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCPmqDkiFNgGs95D3g6mBcmg
Malayalam : https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCMVssln7NCnwv88-UVMtNpw
Shorts : https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC1a89nobV2ozUlFpDhp7QIw
Bangla : https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC8ehxDugiAxBxPLsZNTM_rQ
For updates you may follow us on:
Facebook : https://www.facebook.com/sangamtalks
Instagram : https://www.instagram.com/sangamtalks/
Telegram : https://t.me/sangamtalks
Twitter : https://twitter.com/sangamtalks
Koo : https://www.kooapp.com/profile/sangamtalks
Website : https://www.sangamtalks.org
Donate : https://www.sangamtalks.org/donate