Nine Lives: In Search of the Sacred in Modern India (2009)
Author: William Dalrymple
This is a true travelogue—one in which the writer has all the time in the world to identify what he wants to write about and knows the best places to source his writing materials. Of course, being a historian, a prolific award-winning author, and a podcaster on the side helps.
This book is a nice, readable one that looks at some of the sacred practices in India. The writer's job is just to tell things as he sees fit. He respects the local culture and does not insert his elitist twang to belittle the traditions that have gone on for generations. That is the trouble with most anglophile travelogues. They give their condescendingly haughty views on the happenings on the ground. Foreigners and sometimes the English-speaking Western-educated local punks are guilty of this. For the record, Darylmpol was born in Scotland and now resides in Delhi. I guess he is one of the many Caucasians, like François Gautier, Mother Theresa and perhaps Annie Besant who received a calling to reside in India. In the days of the East India Company, James Mills would call this Brahmanisation of the superior European minds. In his syllabus for young officers who were to be posted in the Empire, John Mills told the recruits to beware of being charmed by the mystic of the East. Warren Hastings, who started off hating India, ended up singing praises of the superiority of the Indian culture and the Sanskrit language.
In the first description, 'The Nun's Tale', we see a young, intelligent lady with an excellent future paved in front of her, deciding to give it all up for a life of celibacy and sacrifice as a Jain nun in Sravanabelagola, Karnataka. The most extreme of the Jain ascetic monks are the Digambaras, the completely nude male monks who have reached a level of consciousness where there is a total lack of external appearance in exchange for inner beauty. This youthful nun went fully bald by plucking her every scalp hair follicle. As a Digambara nun @ Mataji, she lives on a rigorous diet that avoids anything that grows below the ground. By plucking these subterrestrial plants, the plants die. By harvesting rice or wheat, the plant does not die, so it is alright to consume these cereals and fruits. The monks and nuns cannot beg for their meals but instead eat what the general public gives them, preferably uncooked.
Another thing that came up is the concept of sallekhana, an act of embracing death by starvation. After performing his worldly duties when he thought it was time, Chandragupta Maurya withered away in this manner. Sallekhana is done voluntarily under the guidance of a guru and, the Jains emphasise, is not a form of suicide. Sravanabelagola is the very place where Chandragupta Maurya decided to end his life.
In the following story, 'The Dancer of Kannur', the author spends time with a man who spends three months of a year as a Theyyam dancer. Theyyam is a religious ritual in Kerala. The dance gives the dancer so much purpose in life. His other jobs are as a jail warder and a well builder. None of the other jobs gives him as much satisfaction. Something that strikes him is that, as he is all dolled up in the outfit of Theyyam and goes in a trance, people look at him beyond his Dalit caste. At that time, he feels like a conduit to connect with the Divine. The concept of Theyyam (God in Sanskrit) is something that popped out of non-Brahminic places of worship. Since it has spread to become a local attraction, its practice continues. In a way, it empowers the Dalits to hold the mantle in worship. Theyyam worship transcends all religions and castes. The Theyyam performers can tell the worshipper's plight to God and the Dalits' to the world. The three months just whizzed through, and he did not realise what he had done throughout.
In 'The Daughters of Yellama', the author speaks to and learns about the plights of sex workers in Karnataka. He goes on to discover the concept of devadasis, when young girls are offered to serve in temples. What started as a noble intention to serve God, pre-pubescent girls were packed off to live in temples, akin to Nuns in a Catholic Church. Some took charge of the temple's upkeep, some helped out the Brahmin priests, and others danced to show their devotion to God. When the Portuguese came to India and saw the grand Chola temples with buxomly murals and statues lining the walls, their first impression was that these temple girls were courtesans, dancing girls or concubines. The erotic Sangam poems cemented their opinions. For information, the female statue that we frequently attribute to Mahinjo-daro is said to be that of a dancing girl.
Devadasi (servants of the Gods) were once held in high esteem as intermediaries between the general public and the ruling class. Now, they must resort to begging or entering the flesh trade for survival. They compare themselves to the Goddess Yellama. Yellama was Lord Parashurama's (Vishnu's 7th avatar) mother. Yellama's husband was a sage who delved deep into spiritual practice and practised celibacy. Once, when walking to fetch water from the river, Yellama saw a couple embraced in passionate lovemaking. After years of celibacy, she momentarily longed for intimacy. Her husband, Jamadagni, a powerful sage, knew of this from his high level of spirituality. After much melodrama of the obedient Parasurama axing his mother and obtaining a boon to revive her, Yellama was sent off by her husband wandering in the wilderness. The devadasis compare themselves to Yellama (their patron goddess), pushed astray when not needed anymore.
In the next stop, the author takes us to the deserts of Rajasthan to tell us 'The Singer of Epics'. Here, we meet a singer of ancient epic poems. It has been his family tradition to sing a 600-year-old oral tradition of Pabuji, a protector deity that protects them from the elements of the harsh Rajasthani elements. The 4,000-line poem is committed to memory, and no one can continue the tradition. It is not merely a song; it is divinity. There were other such poems like 'The Epic of Dev Narayan'. There is a real risk that these poems will lose out to Bollywood songs.
'The Red Fairy' is about the activities in a Sufi shrine in Sindh. The Indian brand of Islam has spread to Southeast Asia. The Muslims I knew when I was growing up were quite accommodating of others and others' way of life. They had no qualms about having non-Muslims consult their holy men in their compound to seek blessings and obtain holy water for ailments from their holy men. One of the reasons for this was the spread of Sufism in India. The Sufis in India accepted mysticism as part of divinity and a legitimate way to reach divinity. In a way, it bridged the demarcation between Hinduism and Islam. Some even tried incorporating Lord Siva's tandava (cosmic dance) into Sufi's journey to divine bliss with music and poems.
Slowly, the Iranians showed the world that the Muslims could stand alone. The Saudis, too, started sending their brand of radical Islam, Wahabbism, worldwide. In the end, we have ended up with a fire-brand intolerant form of Islam that wants to have sharia law the world over.
'The Monk's Tale' narrates a monk's dilemma when he had to pick up a rifle to protect his monastery in Tibet from the invading Chinese Red Army in the 1950s. He became one of the Tibetan refugees who became natives of Dharamsala. In a rather fateful turn of events, he was utilised by the Indian Army to fight Pakistan. Imagine a person who gave up his life for ahimsa having to kill a man.
The intricate art of murti making is described in 'The Maker of Idols'. In Swamimalai, Tamil Nadu, the forefathers of the Stpathys have been making murtis since the reign of the Chola dynasty. Bronze casting was perfected at the time of Rajaraja of the Chola Empire. Witnessing 'Valli Thirumanam' (Valli's wedding to Murugan), the author discusses the finer aspects of murti making, the worship of the Lord, Chola poetry and many more. The future of idol-making is in limbo as the descendants are keener to obtain tertiary education and keep their hands clean, away from this divine art form.
In 'The Lady Twilight,' the scene moves to a Calcutta temple notorious for Tantric practices and animal sacrifices. Followers there speak of getting the blessings of Ma Tara, the sometimes embracing matriarch and sometimes the ferocious protector, who empowers them to combat the toughness of daily life. Even though the learned and the communists scorn such beliefs, these very same people throng the temple to make animal sacrifices and gain blessings from the Goddess to succeed in their endeavours.
This book is a nice, readable one that looks at some of the sacred practices in India. The writer's job is just to tell things as he sees fit. He respects the local culture and does not insert his elitist twang to belittle the traditions that have gone on for generations. That is the trouble with most anglophile travelogues. They give their condescendingly haughty views on the happenings on the ground. Foreigners and sometimes the English-speaking Western-educated local punks are guilty of this. For the record, Darylmpol was born in Scotland and now resides in Delhi. I guess he is one of the many Caucasians, like François Gautier, Mother Theresa and perhaps Annie Besant who received a calling to reside in India. In the days of the East India Company, James Mills would call this Brahmanisation of the superior European minds. In his syllabus for young officers who were to be posted in the Empire, John Mills told the recruits to beware of being charmed by the mystic of the East. Warren Hastings, who started off hating India, ended up singing praises of the superiority of the Indian culture and the Sanskrit language.
 |
| Digambara Nun |
Another thing that came up is the concept of sallekhana, an act of embracing death by starvation. After performing his worldly duties when he thought it was time, Chandragupta Maurya withered away in this manner. Sallekhana is done voluntarily under the guidance of a guru and, the Jains emphasise, is not a form of suicide. Sravanabelagola is the very place where Chandragupta Maurya decided to end his life.
 |
| Theyyam dancer |
In 'The Daughters of Yellama', the author speaks to and learns about the plights of sex workers in Karnataka. He goes on to discover the concept of devadasis, when young girls are offered to serve in temples. What started as a noble intention to serve God, pre-pubescent girls were packed off to live in temples, akin to Nuns in a Catholic Church. Some took charge of the temple's upkeep, some helped out the Brahmin priests, and others danced to show their devotion to God. When the Portuguese came to India and saw the grand Chola temples with buxomly murals and statues lining the walls, their first impression was that these temple girls were courtesans, dancing girls or concubines. The erotic Sangam poems cemented their opinions. For information, the female statue that we frequently attribute to Mahinjo-daro is said to be that of a dancing girl.
 |
| Devadasi |
In the next stop, the author takes us to the deserts of Rajasthan to tell us 'The Singer of Epics'. Here, we meet a singer of ancient epic poems. It has been his family tradition to sing a 600-year-old oral tradition of Pabuji, a protector deity that protects them from the elements of the harsh Rajasthani elements. The 4,000-line poem is committed to memory, and no one can continue the tradition. It is not merely a song; it is divinity. There were other such poems like 'The Epic of Dev Narayan'. There is a real risk that these poems will lose out to Bollywood songs.
'The Red Fairy' is about the activities in a Sufi shrine in Sindh. The Indian brand of Islam has spread to Southeast Asia. The Muslims I knew when I was growing up were quite accommodating of others and others' way of life. They had no qualms about having non-Muslims consult their holy men in their compound to seek blessings and obtain holy water for ailments from their holy men. One of the reasons for this was the spread of Sufism in India. The Sufis in India accepted mysticism as part of divinity and a legitimate way to reach divinity. In a way, it bridged the demarcation between Hinduism and Islam. Some even tried incorporating Lord Siva's tandava (cosmic dance) into Sufi's journey to divine bliss with music and poems.
 |
| Nadaraja |
'The Monk's Tale' narrates a monk's dilemma when he had to pick up a rifle to protect his monastery in Tibet from the invading Chinese Red Army in the 1950s. He became one of the Tibetan refugees who became natives of Dharamsala. In a rather fateful turn of events, he was utilised by the Indian Army to fight Pakistan. Imagine a person who gave up his life for ahimsa having to kill a man.
The intricate art of murti making is described in 'The Maker of Idols'. In Swamimalai, Tamil Nadu, the forefathers of the Stpathys have been making murtis since the reign of the Chola dynasty. Bronze casting was perfected at the time of Rajaraja of the Chola Empire. Witnessing 'Valli Thirumanam' (Valli's wedding to Murugan), the author discusses the finer aspects of murti making, the worship of the Lord, Chola poetry and many more. The future of idol-making is in limbo as the descendants are keener to obtain tertiary education and keep their hands clean, away from this divine art form.
In 'The Lady Twilight,' the scene moves to a Calcutta temple notorious for Tantric practices and animal sacrifices. Followers there speak of getting the blessings of Ma Tara, the sometimes embracing matriarch and sometimes the ferocious protector, who empowers them to combat the toughness of daily life. Even though the learned and the communists scorn such beliefs, these very same people throng the temple to make animal sacrifices and gain blessings from the Goddess to succeed in their endeavours.
 |
| Lord Muruga @ Swamimalai |
'The Song of the Blind Minstrel' talks about the several thousand saffron-clad wandering minstrels or Bauls found wandering about in the middle of January and gathering around near Shantiniketan, Tagore's famous home (and school). The author speaks of three singing holy men armed with a miniature cymbal, drum and a single-stringed musical instrument (ektara) with perfect voice to match, going around pulling a crowd with their captivating songs praising the divine. Each has a tale of how they ended up doing what they were doing. One was blind by smallpox and inflicted with a spell of bad luck. Another, born to a Brahmin priest, was ex-communicated for being too friendly with other castes. Much like a singing band, the trio travel from place to place, singing and spreading the words of a secular divine being. They mostly travel free, given Indian's reverence for holy men. Old Munk rum and ganja provide much-needed inspiration for their song and relief from life's hardship.
A good read and highly recommended. A template for how travelogues should be written.
(P.S. Many years ago, I asked my housemate, who had spent many years studying in India, for his honest opinion about India. His reply stayed with me, "If you want to learn humanity, go to India!")
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