THARU DR AJAY KUMAR OJHA

Saturday, September 15, 2018

Neemrana Fort Palace Alwar Rajasthan India - A High-spirited Heritage Hotel

Neemrana Fort Palace Alwar Rajasthan India -

A Heritage Hotel

(All the images are subject to IPR)

Image Courtesy Abhinav Utkarsh

From the Eyes of Dr Ajay Kumar Ojha : Ladakh Buddhist Vihara Delhi

From the Eyes of Dr Ajay Kumar Ojha :

Ladakh Buddhist Vihara Delhi

(All the images are subject to IPR)

Image (C) Dr Ajay Kumar Ojha

Thursday, September 13, 2018

Tharu Tribe of West Champaran Bihar in Delhi Metro

Tharu Tribe of West Champaran Bihar in Delhi Metro

(All the images are subject to IPR)

On 9/11 that is 11th September 2018 when I was commuting in Metro for going to office, on one of the stations before AIIMS I saw some people entering into Metro . They looked like Tharu Tribe of West Champaran but I was not sure. I was very excited . I overheard their talk but I was not sure they are the same tribal people I was thinking of. In the ambiance of Metro it was difficult to find out the language in which they were conversing.

But after a couple of stops two of them sat near to me when seats became available. Again I was trying to encode their language and now I was convinced that they are talking in language similar to Bhojpuri. Now I was convinced that they are the Tharus of West Champaran district of Bihar. I broke the ice but initially they were hesitant to open up. And this was very natural also. I told them that I had done my PhD on the Tharus of West Champaran and I have been in interaction with them for more than three decades, that I had lived in the Tharu village Bakhari Bazaar on Ramnagar -Gobardhana road for months together as a part of my research, that I use to visit the village even today almost every year I go to Bettiah. I showed some of the videos in mobile also for establishing my association with the Tharus of West Champaran. They are now comfortable and told me that they are Tharus of West Champaran and living in Beghampur village in Malviya Nagar, New Delhi. Meanwhile I reached Central Secretariat and got down from Yellow Line Metro.

Dr Ajay Kumar Ojha with Tharus of West Champaran in Delhi Metro

Selfie Image (C) Dr Ajay Kumar Ojha

This was not a simple incident for me. It was an exciting moment for me as if meeting my lost brethren on a different planet. I am very attached to the Tharu Tribe and specially of West Champaran. Meeting them in jeans and T-shirts in Delhi Metro with smart phone in hand was pleasantly surprising for me. It augurs well for them. It shows that they have now started coming out of the interiors of Tharuhat of West Champaran on the Indo-Nepal border, they have been migrating to other big cities either for job or studies, becoming exposed to outside world, becoming modern & advanced in their look & attire, interacting with different kinds of people drawn from different corners of the country, and while going back to their village contributing to their family, village , society not only with money & material but also with ideas, knowledge & culture.

Dr Ajay Kumar Ojha with Tharus of West Champaran in Delhi Metro
Selfie Image (C) Dr Ajay Kumar Ojha

Sunday, August 12, 2018

" Is 'Swachchhata Abhiyan' Only Modi's Abhiyan & Not Lalu's - Not Country's ?"

" Is 'Swachchhata Abhiyan' Only Modi's Abhiyan & Not Lalu's - Not Country's ?"

It is very unfortunate and disgusting to know that swachchhata also has been politicized. Swachchhata or cleanliness is as such apolitical. Cleanliness is near to godliness. God resides where there is cleanliness. Swachchhata is essential for a healthy family, healthy society and healthy country.

But politicians are doing politics in this also.

I came to know about an incident that happened in Simri Block of Buxar district of Bihar . There is a turn (Mod) in village Kazipur , on a road leading to Badaka Singhanpura. This mod is negatively famous for open defecation thus polluting the whole locality. There were a number of efforts /requests for making this mod open defecation free. But even after construction of metalled road this point does not become open defecation free, creating a dirty, polluting spot in the area.

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When the residents of the village were asked about this decades long dirty legacy, some of them reacted by saying that this is the policy of Modi, Lalu never bothered about our open defecation. After all fields or open space are meant for defecation only, from ages. " E ta Modia ke drama ha, hamani ke latrino mein bhi ghus gail baa" meaning there by " This is the drama created by Modi. He has entered into our latrine also."

So this is how a policy like " Swachchhata " gets politicized and a major drive which is related to the health of every person irrespective of caste, creed or colour, related to the heath of every family, related to every society - gets diluted , its seriousness gets fizzled out.

'Swachchhata' has been ignored by previous governments but at least the present government has taken this as a challenge and is trying to spread awareness about the importance of cleanliness. The movement or Abhiyan of Swachchhata is very essential for the health of our country and countrymen and hence for the development of India that is Bharat.

Sunday, July 8, 2018

Muslim Invader Sikandar Butshikan (The Idol-breaker): Decimator of Kashmir's Rich Ancient Cultural Heritage

Muslim Invader Sikandar Butshikan (The Idol-breaker):

Decimator of Kashmir's Rich Ancient Cultural Heritage

The Sanskrit word for Kashmir is kasmira. The Nilamata Purana describes the origin of valley from the waters - a lake called Satisaras. The local etymology of Kashmira is that it is land desiccated from water.

Another etymology gets the name from the name of sage Kashyap who is believed to have settled people in this region. Accordingly Kashmir would have been derived from Kashyap -mir (Kashyap's lake ) or Kashyap - meru (Kashyap's mountain).

During ancient period Kashmir has not only been an important centre for the development of Hindu-Buddhist syncretism but also epicentre of awesome art and architecture.The Mauryan Emperor Ashoka is credited with having founded the old capital of Kashmir Shrinagari - now in ruins on the outskirts of Srinagar.

Karkota empire, a powerful Hindu empire originated in the region of Kashmir. The dynasty marked the rise of Kashmir in South Asia. Lalitaditya Muktapida the Great, was the most powerful ruler of Karkota dynasty. He commissioned a number of shrines in Kashmir including the now-in -ruins famous Martand Sun Temple. He also established several towns including a new capital at Parihaspura now-in - ruins.

Queen Kota Rani was Hindu ruler of Kashmir until 1339. Shams-ud-Din Shah Mir was the first Muslim ruler of Kashmir, founder of Shah Mir dynasty. Shah Mir is believed to have come from Swat , and his ancestors were Kshatriya who converted to Islam.

Sikandar Shah Miri , better known as Sikandar Butshikan , was the sixth sultan of Shah Miri dynasty of Kashmir. Sikandar was a Muslim who ruled over a kingdom where the vast majority of people were Hindu or Buddhist.

Sikandar "The Iconoclast" was an extremely bigoted, dogmatic ruler who perpetrated untold tyranny and cruelty on hapless & helpless non-muslim subjects with the ulterior motive of converting them to Islam. It was under the influence of Sufi saint, Mir Mohammad Hamadani, that he committed immense atrocities against non-muslims in his lands. Large numbers of Hindus converted, fled or were killed for refusal to convert.

Sikandar got the sobriquet of but-shikan or idol-breaker. He desecrated and destroyed numerous temples, chaityas, viharas, shrines, hermitages, and other holy places of the Hindus and Buddhists. He banned dance , drama , music and other such aesthetic religious and cultural activities of the Hindus and Buddhists. He forbade the Hindus to apply Tilak Mark on their foreheads. He did not allow them to worship or pray , blow a conch shell or even to toll a bell. He went on burning temples and stopped Hindus and Buddhists from cremating their dead and compelled them to bury the bodies practicing Muslim rituals. He imposed Jizya, a poll-tax to be paid by non-Muslims. Hindus were forcibly converted to Islam and were massacred in case they refused to be converted. "Sikandarpora" was founded on the debris of the destroyed temples of the Hindus. Sikandar destroyed the temples of Maha-Shri built by Praversena, and material from these was used for constructing a 'Jami' mosque in the middle of the city. There was no town, no city, no village, no wood where the temples of gods were not broken.

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Famous ' Martand Sun Temple' Destroyed by Sikandar Butshikan
Image (C) Dr Ajay Kumar Ojha

Ruins of Grand Martand Sun Temple
Image (C) Dr Ajay Kumar Ojha

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Ruins of Parihaspora founded by "Lalitaditya the Great"
Image (C) Dr Ajay Kumar Ojha

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Ruins of "Naranag Temple Complex"
Image (C) Dr Ajay Kumar Ojha

" Sikandar equaled the most blood-thirsty and iconoclastic Muslim conquerors anywhere in his zeal to obliterate all traces of the Hindu religion and convert its followers to Islam on pain of death." Ajit Bhattacharya

"Many of the Brahmins rather than abandon their religion or their country poisoned themselves, some emigrated from their homes while a few escaped the evil of banishment by becoming Mohamadans." Firishta.