343. Temple Darshan – 5

I was in Delhi last week and my cousin Sriram mentioned about the Khatu Shyam temple near Sonipat. I put it in the back of my mind for some future visits.  It seems Jayashree then went to the internet to explore what the temple was and its background.  We had some free time in Sonipat and she told me the story behind the temple, part of the Mahabharata puranas, and suggested that we go and visit the temple.

I checked out the temple on internet and found that it was only about 10kms from where we were staying in Sonipat.  Unfortunately, no cabs were available.  We walked to the main road and got hold of a share auto.  At first, he said he is not going in that direction.  Then he said he will take Rs 100 if has to take us. We agreed and went with him.  There were 2 more passengers in the auto and they got down on the way.  He dropped us at the temple. I asked him if he could wait for half and hour and then he can drop us back at the place where he picked us up. He was somewhat hesitant.  I told him that I will look for him after exiting the temple and if he was there, we will ride with him.  On entering the temple, I saw that he made a u-turn with his vehicle and sped off from there😊! 

We visited the temple.  It had the deities of Radha Krishna, Hanuman and Khatu Shyam.  We had a nice darshan here.  You can see the pictures of the temple in the attached file.  Now a background on the Khatu Shyam.

Hindu legend suggest that Khatu Shyam is a manifestation of Barbarik, the son of Ghatotkacha, grandson of the mighty Pandava, Bheem. If done with genuine devotion, it is stated that devotees who utter his name with all of their hearts are blessed and have their problem vanquished.

Khatu Shyam Baba is revered as the Lord of Kaliyuga.  You might have heard of the phrase "Haare Ka Sahara, Baba Shyam Hamara" which simply means Khatu Shyam ji is the one who supports all those who are defeated in life. 

The sacred text suggests that Barbarik was a courageous soldier.  His triple arrow, which was actually a bow with three arrows, was unusual.  Any war might be over in a minute with the three arrows.  The first arrow would mark all the things to destroy. The second arrow would mark the things that he wanted to save and the third arrow would go and do the actual killing. 

Barbarik wanted to fight when the Mahabharat war was declared since he was a warrior.  He encountered Lord Krishna on his way to Kurukshetra. Krishna asked him to demonstrate his prowess by tying all the leaves of the Peepal tree under which he was standing.  Barkarik closed his eyes. As he was meditating, Lord Krishna plucked a leaf from the tree and hid it under his foot. When Barbarik left his first arrow, the arrow marked all the leaves of the Peepal tree and started hovering over Krishna’s foot. He told him to lift his foot as there must be a leaf under his foot, and otherwise, the arrow would pierce his foot. His arrow was so infallible that it marked the leaf that he was not even aware of.

Lord Krishna then asked him that whom he would favor in the war. He replied that he had promised his mother that he would fight for the side, whichever is weak. As Pandavas had less army compared to the Kauravas, he would fight from Pandava’s side. But Lord Krishna pointed out the flaw in his promise to him. If he would fight for Pandavas, then Kauravas’ side would weaken eventually, and then he had to fight for the Kauravas. Eventually, he would destroy both armies, and none of the sides would become victorious.

Lord Krishna then told him that to sanctify the battlefield, he needed the head of the bravest Kshatriya, and Barbarik was the bravest of all the warriors. Therefore, he asked his head to him in charity. He agreed to do so but asked for a favor from Krishna. He wanted to see the battle and hence requested him to facilitate the same. Lord Krishna agreed to do so and put his head on top of a hill from where it could have a good view of the battle. This happened on the 12th day of the bright half of the Phalgun month.

Who won the battle, he was asked at its conclusion?  He said, "Krishna". Everyone else was simply performing in the way "he" desired.

Barbarik received a wish from Krishna that he would be recognised by his name in the Kalyug.  He acquired the name "Shyam" as a result.

After the end of the battle, Pandavas argued about who was responsible for the victor. As Barbarika was watching the war, he suggested they ask him. He replied, “All I could see were two things. One, a divine chakra spinning all around the battlefield, killing all those who were not on the side of Dharma. The other was the Draupadi, who has taken her original form of Goddess Mahakali, who spread out her tongue on the battlefield and consumed all the sinners as her sacrifice.”

According to legend, Lord Krishna himself offered the head of Barbarik to the river Rupawati.  Per a story, in 1026 AD, a group of workers found a metal box while digging for water in a village named Khatu in Rajasthan. The name Barbarik was written on it and it contained a skull. The workers took the box to the contemporary king of Khatu, Roopsingh Chauhan. Then the king had a dream that he should build a temple for Barbarik. The king built a temple and placed Barbarik’s head inside it. The place where the head was found is called Shyama Kund (“kund” means a pond in Sanskrit). The temple is still functional and is very popular in the area.

Chulkana Dham is the place where the Peepal tree is located where Krishna asked Barbarik to demonstrate his prowess.  Also, it is the same place where Barbarik gave his head to Krishna.

Ved Vyaas did not mention this story in Mahabharata, but this is found in Skanda Purana. 

Once we came out of the temple, we thought we will have a tea and then head for our place.  While interacting with the tea-vendor, he said that as there are many Sri Ram temples is the country, this is also another Khatu Shyam temple.  Just like the Ayodhya temple for Sri Ram, he said there are only 2 temples of Khatu Shyam in the country. One is in Rajasthan and another one in Haryana.  When checked on the google maps, it showed the Haryana one as some 35kms away from where we were.  The tea-vendor said it will take one hour to go there.  We tried for cabs, but no one was available. We stopped a toto vehicle and asked him if he can take us to the temple and drop us back to our place.  He said he has to change his battery and then can take us.  We fixed the price at Rs 800.  We went with him to get a recharged battery.  After getting the battery, he found that the battery was not fully charged.  He then took us to an auto stand and arranged an auto for us at the same price.

We went in the auto and reached the temple at around 8pm.  We had a nice darshan here too.  You can check out the photos in the attached file.  We started from the temple at around 845pm and reached our place of stay at around 1015pm.

Cheers till next time😊!!