Monday, November 30, 2015

Khasas


Sham S. Misri

The Brahmanas and the Rajputs call themselves Khasas, a name which they share with many communities in Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh. Among several castes are the Bajgis, or professional musicians, and the Koltas. They are descendants of the aborigines, the survivors of the race belonging to the pre-historic Koll culture.
Their different cultural activities have been recorded in ancient literary works, and particularly the Mahabharata. They throw considerable light on the early stages of the social evolution of man, particularly in India.
The most interesting features of the life of these communities are their polyandrous customs and their history. Culturally, the Khasas appear to be Aryans and they call themselves Rajputs. Inter-marriage between the Brahmans and these Rajputs is very frequent; thus both of them constitute one group. Most of the gods worshiped by these communities are of Hindu origin. Their principal deity, however, is Mahasu.
Lord Mahasu is the chief deity of this area. It has the 9th century stone temple dedicated to Lord Shiva, known here as Mahashu Devata Temple by the people of Hanol and nearby villages. The ancient temple of Mahasu Devata is included in the Archaeological Survey of India list of ancient temple in Dehradun circle, Uttarakhand.

  Hanol is a small village about 15kms ahead of Tuni, located on the bank of Tons river.
  Mahasu devata temple
Mahasu, with his three brothers, lived in Kashmir. At the start of Kalyuga, demons wandered over Uttrakhand devouring people and devastating villages. Tribal’s saw the demons, were spreading terror throughout Jaunsar-Bawar.  The greatest demon was Kirmir or (Kirbir Dana,)
As in the epic story of the Pandavas, the demon was eating up the members of the family of a Brahman whose name was Una Bhat (also spelled Huna Bhat). The demon had devoured some of the seven sons of this pious-hearted Brahmin Huna Bhatt. Now the Demon had cast an evil eye on his beautiful wife. He desired to have ‘Kirtaka’ the .wife of the Brahmin. She prayed to Lord Shiva to protect her chastity. It is said that Lord Shiva blinded the demon so that she could run away to her husband.
By now, they were left with three sons and one daughter. They fled to the forests on the banks of the Yamuna, planning to take revenge on the demon. One night the Mahasu brothers appeared to Una Bhat in a dream and advised him to proceed to Kashmir and invoke their aid. Una Bhat immediately set out for Kashmir.

Reaching Kashmir, Una Bhat started doing Devi worship. On doing so the shakti emerged from the ground with flames around and told Huna Bhatt to plough every Sunday a part of his field. He was told that on the seventh Sunday the Mahasu brothers with their ministers and the army would come out and rid the people from the clutches of demon.
Mahasu Devta appears in quadruple form as the four brothers. The legend tells when Krishna disappeared at the end of DwaparYuga the pandavas followed him. They cross the River Tons. Yudhishtra was fascinated by the beauty of place and asked Vishwakarma to build a temple here and stay with Draupadi for nine days. The place subsequently came to known as Hanol, after the name of Huna Bhatt 270
After some time, Huna Bhatt was told by Mahasu to go back to his home (Jaunsar-Bawar) and perform certain rituals and worship Devi. One of the four Mahasus even gave Una Bhat a handful of rice, an earthen vessel and his own staff. He told him that when he was hungry, he had only to strike the staff on the earth to find the rice ready cooked in the vessel.
Keeping the instructions in mind, on the way, Una Bhat threw some rice into the Tons River, rendering the demon Kirbir harmless.
On the first Sunday after his arrival in Jaunsar-Bawar, Una Bhat yoked a heifer to a plough. He had it driven by an unmarried boy, who had never driven the plough before. As he had been told, the plough turned golden and the share silver. Five furrows were ploughed, in each of which a stone image appeared. These represented the four Mahasus and their mother Deolari. The first to appear was Basak, with his thigh transfixed by a plough share. Then came Pibasaka with a wound in his ear; then Baitha with an injured eye. Chalda alone appeared hale and hearty. The first three remained in temples dedicated to them, while Chalda had to be taken in procession from one Khut to another. Deolari, the mother, appeared in the fifth furrow and a temple for her image was erected in a field.
Countless army sprang out like mushrooms from the field. Huna Bhatt did as directed and the whole army of the demon was killed by Mahasu brothers. The demon Kirmir was taken by Chalda Devata in a narrow valley of Mount Khanda. The marks of his sword on the rock can be seen today.
Una Bhat worshipped the Mahasus and ordered his youngest son, to serve them. The second son was directed to strike a gong and became a Rajput, while the third son became a musician. The two Mahasus’, Basak and Pibaska, left for Garhwal, while Baitha and Chalda remained behind. The temple at Henol is dedicated to Baitha, while Chalda is always on the move.
One temple of Mahasu in one of the villages had a wooden structure, as temples all over India must have been before stone came to be used twenty five hundred years ago. A number of symbols, images and musical instruments were placed all round the wall. In the centre of the room was Mahasu, surrounded by a crowd of images.
In most of the areas, apart from Mahasu, the favourite deities are the Pandava brothers, the heroes of the Mahabharata. Time seems to have stood still in these parts of the Himalayas after the Pandavas climbed to Heaven by Satopanth, a snow peak near Mana, the last village on the Indo-Tibetan border.
Many important spots in these areas have associations with one or the other of the five sons of Pandu. Some of the Khasa villages have temples dedicated to the Pandavas. Bhima is the most popular of the Pandava deities of this region, all of whom are very touchy and ready to take offence at the slightest lapse or misdeed.
The main feature of the social and religious festivals of these areas is the Pandava Dance, in which most of the people in these villages join. The persons who act as the five Pandavas are held in high esteem, and the Bajgis, the musician, play a very important part on such occasions. Bhima, as the hero of the festivals, has to perform prodigies of dance heroics on such occasions.
The communities of Jaunsar-Bawar and the adjoining areas worship the Pandavas. Father Pandu lived in the Himalayas with his wives, Kunti and Madri. When Kunti urged that all the five brothers should take Draupadi as their common wife an openly unusual affair in Aryavarta she may have been following the custom of the Himalaya regions where she had lived with her husband.
The Khasas of Jaunsar-Bawar appear to be an ancient community connected with Indian tradition and history. The Mahabharata groups them with other apparently non- Aryan tribes living in mountains.
Long ago there was a lake called Shailoda  in the Himalayas, west of Kailasa from which flowed the river Sailodaka. The river ultimately joined the Western Ocean. The river was also known as Chakshushi. The Purana also states that the tributaries of the Ganga flowed through the countries of Kukuras, Raundhras, Barbaras, Yavanas, Khasas,  and Angalokyas, all of them being practically Melechchhas. The Markandeya-I Purana also refers to the Khasas as mountain dwellers. Manu also states that several communities, including the Khasas, became degraded from the status of the Kshatriyas to that of the Shudras, because of their omission to perform the sacred rites and not consulting the Brahmans.
An interesting verse which throws considerable light on the Khasas says:

"Your glory is being sung by crowds of women of the city of Kartikya situated on the Himalayas; the town is resonant with the singing of the Kinnars, living inside the big caves and from where King Sharma : Gupta returned frustrated and humiliated after having been surrendered by Queen Dhruvaswamini to the king of the Khasas." 

The Khasas also played an important role in the annals of Kashmir, as mentioned in the Rajatarangini. Mr. R. S. Pandit, in his translation of that work, wrote that the Khasas of Kashmir are a hill-tribe inhabiting the region to the south and the west of the Pir Panjal range.