The Sri Ravidas Row...

Nestled between a row of 8 cobbler shops, under the Aliganj bridge is the oldest Sri Ravidas Mandir of Lucknow. Built in 1924, with money collected by cobblers, this temple is one of the three such temples in Lucknow. “There are two other temples built in memory of Sri Ravidas, one is in Aliganj and another on Kanpur road. We have lived here for over three generations,” explains Bajnath Pratap owner of the Gautam shoe house which is adjacent to the temple. His father was one of the first cobblers to set up a shop in the locality, the eight shops pay a rent of 250 rupees a month, which is used in the upkeep of the temple. “This isn’t enough, but we do pay a thousand rupees each during the Ravidas Jayanti in February”, says Guptaji the local halwai. Pointing to the room behind his shop he smiles saying, “This is where I was born and we have lived here since my great grand father’s time, the temple has been a part of our lives forever. My sweets have been the prasad for eighty years.”

Sitting outside the temple is Baba Tikaidas, an eighty-eight year old pujari who has spent his entire life managing the temple, his wife Parvati explains animatedly,“ my husband has been here since he was a fat and muscular young man!he has spent his entire life here. We know no other life, our world begins and ends in this row.” The withered pujari with sparkling eyes talks of his temple and Sri Ravidas as the rest listen, “Ravidasji was a mystic saint, like Kabirdas and Guru Nanak. He belonged to a family of cobblers and used to tan animal hide and make shoes but spent time in the company of sadhus and other spiritualists. Forty of his verses have been used in the Guru Granth Sahib as well.” Relating a story about how Bhagat Ravidas offered two paisa to a pundit who was visiting the Ganges. The Pundit offered the two paise to the Ganges who in return offered a bangle…. He wanders off singing a couplet before he completes the story. The crowd of cobblers returns to their shoemaking, one lingers offering to help do the darshan in the temple.

The inner sanctum has an idol of Sri Ravidas raising his hand in blessing, the age of the building is palpable as one can see the age of the arches and the Hanuman idols in the walls, and they are falling apart now. Parvati the pujari’s wife points to the rows of cycles standing inside the temple premises, “There is a boys hostel upstairs and the boys park their cycles here. We’ve requested them to park outside but who listens?” The cobwebs on the light bulb inside the temple have been there a long while too, “The young boys come and clean these sometimes, its tough to do it ourselves. This temple has seen better days though.” Guptaji mentions how MLAs and even a mayor once used to frequent the temple and promise measures to ensure upkeep, “The shopkeepers are keen on rebuilding part of the temple, by buying five bags of cement and some money, as a dakshinaa to Sri Ravidas’s memory.” The saint and his temple, have initiated in the people who live in the “Sri Ravidas row”, a determination to join hands and celebrate his teachings of equality and harmony.

In the express Newsline---

http://cities.expressindia.com/fullstory.php?newsid=189731