Gajurmukhi: A Kind Goddess

Afno waripari

Bhir, pakha ra kanlabhari

Thumka-thumka chiya ra

Jhumka-jhumka Elaichi umarera

Santoshle ekkasi susmit utheko jhain

Hariyo Bhariyo Ilam lai dekhda malai

Nepal bhari ali-ali Ilam charna mana lagyo

            Bhupi Sherchan, a renowned poet, while writing these lines under the title "Ilam," must have been influenced by the religio-cultural heritage of Ilam together with the greenery formed by the bushes of tea and cardamom; otherwise he might not have wished for scattering Ilam throughout Nepal. In fact, Ilam seen by Bhupi is a beautiful place because of its natural beauty and this beauty has been multiplied by the dwelling places of Gods and Goddesses. Among many other such places Gajurmukhi Dham is one, from where Goddess Gajurmukhi has been kindly blessing her offspring from the ancient time.

            Situated in the western part of Ilam, nearby the confluence of rivers Deumai and Phewa, this temple lies in Gajurmukhi VDC ward no 5, Tovang which is approximately 20 miles away from district headquarter Ilam bazaar. At the foot of Tovang, there is a cave of about 5-6 meters having some stones inside and the same stones are being worshipped as the images of Goddess Gajurmukhi.

 Goddess Gajurmukhi equally receives all of her offspring, i. e. it is the inclusive temple for all the communities, be it Brahmin, Khsetri, Limbu, or Rai. The history of the priests of this temple also proves the aforementioned fact because early priests of this temple were Limbus beginning from Bajbir Yonghang who also gets the credit of establishing the temple (it has been renovated many times after the earthquake of 2045) in 23rd of Kartik 1836 and the priests are from Brahmin community in recent years.

            There are different myths associated with the naming of the Dham. Following a myth, atop of the hill where the temple is situated seems like steeple (gajur), she is named as Gajurmukhi. According to another myth, in ancient time, inside the cave, there lived three maidens who used to appear and disappear very recurrently. These maidens' braid of the hair was like steeple, so the name was given as Gajurmukhi.

            Some people express their tribute to her regarding the Goddess as the sister of Barahakhsetra, a popular religious place of eastern Nepal and some others take her as the sister of Kamakhsya Devi, a Goddess of Eastern India; while some others view her as the facsimile of Dhole Devi, a Goddess supposed to be living at a temple situated in the confluence of Mangalbare, Jeetpur and Sangrumba VDC and a few others take her as the sister of Pathivara.

            Some fairy tales and hearsay are associated with the origin of the Goddess. According to a tale, the Goddess currently living at Gajurmukhi once used to live at Dholedevi temple. She couldn’t get proper respect by the people there, so she shifted to Gajurmukhi. Another belief is that once there had been a big python at the foot of Tovang. The cattlemen started to worship it to protect their cattle. After some time when the cattlemen looked into the cave to check about the python's whereabouts, they saw a maiden who disappeared very soon. People in the locality named the maiden as Gajurmukhi and started to worship her.

              According to another tale, a dumb boy belonging to Limbu community while grazing his cattle was chased by a python. While running, the boy happened to enter into a cave together with the python. No sooner had they entered into the cave, the python metamorphosed as a maiden and introducing herself as Goddess suggested him to worship her and also assured him to bless him for speech.

            Whatever the myth is, Gajurmukhi has been considered as a kind Goddess. People' unchanged faith for her is as the Goddess who gives speech to speechless and child to childless. Pilgrims from different part of the country visit her including the pilgrims from West Bengal believing that they can get desired result if they worship her.

Every year in the full moon of Kartik, people visit Gajurmukhi to observe a fair. People gather in the bank of Deumai River, have bath, worship Goddess Gajurmukhi, sacrifice cocks and goats, expect for a blessing and observe palam, a performance by Limbu people. Dancing with Dhol, Chyabrung and madal, people are not only celebrating the occasion but also conserving our traditional cultural heritage. Though only cocks and goats are sacrificed for the Goddess, the meat of buffalo is not scarce in the small hotels around.

Relatively less developed western Ilam is not easily accessible though some development activities are taking place in recent years. Gajurmukhi too, remaining in the same part, can only be reached after 7-8 hours long trekking from headquarter or 3-4 hours drive from Ilam Bazaar through Mangalbare-Dhuseni-Gajurmukhi. But when reached at the destination, the overpowering beauty of the place surrounded by green forest, the chirping sound of birds, the sweet sound of the flowing river and the spiritual lap of Goddess Gajurmukhi really make anyone spellbound making the tired feeling forget if travelled on foot. In fact the nature around the temple is invested with an almost divine radiance.

This temple, though, being a center of cultural and religious significance, the level of development around this temple is below satisfaction. Lack of the satisfactory development of the infrastructures like communication and transportation, lack of the information about the temple, has shadowed the touristic potentiality of this temple. At the same time, inadequacy of hotels and lodges is another area that we have to think on time if we really wish to develop the place as a touristic center and to enhance the life-standard of the people living around. To lament on the lost past is not its solution, therefore, the concerned authority should think on time to cash the potentiality and to carve the place really making it worthy to scatter throughout the country.