Keradu Temple: Dunes of Mystery

It was a Sunny Day. Travelling 35 KM from the outskirts of the town to enjoy the beauty of temples sculptured so beautiful. It was time of December, So winter was at its peak. Feel of the chilling wind blowing through the hairs in morning is something addictive. Reached the location in less than one hour. All of us were delighted to see the group of deserted temples in the middle of deserts. Out of the 5 Temples Constructed by King Dulshalraj of Parmar Dynasty, temples of only Someshwaram and Lord Vishnu are in good state, rest 3 have been abandoned. I had read earlier that the construction was quite similar to that of Khajuraho in Madhya Pradesh and the Sun temple in Orissa, therefore keradu was also referred as the Khajuraho of Rajasthan.

The Sculptures had a story to tell. The stone was engraved so beautifully that it was delightful to watch the structures in the chilly afternoon. Being a Civil Engineer I was usually interested in observing what were the structural abilities of the monuments I had visited so far. But Kiradu Temples were different, The architectural concepts were speaking something and  I was very keen to listen to them. Google gave info that it was built in between 11-12 century and had influenced from Gupta Dynasty and The Temples of Shiva had traces from the Gupta Dynasty. Still my mind was hungry and was not satisfied with the information provided. The Graving on stones had much more to speak. And that’s when it happened, And I saw a man…………..

A man in white dhoti and shirt, with a Safa on his head and a wooden stick to rear his cattle. I asked him about his whereabouts and his family. Because of my friends in Barmer, I still had a good command over Marwari. I further enquire if he lived in the same village. And the story started with his words “No one lives here Beta, The Deserted village is haunted……. It is cursed…………

“It was the time of King Dulshalaraj of Parmar dynasty, when the temple was constructed. The residents were happy and doing well with their livings. One day a sage came with his pupils in town and resided in the Kiradu temples. After the stay the sage left the place for Pilgrimage and left his pupils dependent upon the residents of town. No one except a potter women took care of the pupils and their condition was worst because of starvation. When the sage returned and saw condition of his pupils, he was furious upon the insensitivity of the people residing there. He cursed all of the residents that as they are so insensitive they must transform into rocks…… And soon whole town’s residents were converted into rocks. The sage gave relaxation to the potter women to run out of the town till sunset and shall not look back if she doesn’t want to become a rock. She ran away, but out of curiosity, when she turned back to look her own town, she was transformed into rock. After that day, Kiradu is cursed that whoever will reside here after sunset will get converted into rock.”

The man told us location of statue of the women. But we realized that it was evening time from afternoon. Sun was about to set, Temperature started falling down. The wind let a chill run down our spines. We decided to drive back to Barmer as we had calls from home. While driving back, I tried to engulf the situation. No one was wrong in the scenario, Neither the Sage & Nor the residents. The Pupils were not their responsibility. Sage also had a valid point on the basis of humanity. Out of all confusions, I reached home. Had my dinner and went to bed. In the middle of night, A question again arose in my mind,

“Why Did The Woman Looked back when she knew she will Get Transformed into rock, Did She miss something in town or was it the family of hers…………..”

The Conclusion was simple: Thar & Its Secrets are way beyond our imagination.