Shiva’s love for ‘bhang’ may be saving Mahakal Jyotirlingam
BHOPAL: The report of an expert committee of archaeologists, who studied Ujjain’s Mahakal Jyotirlingam last month, has revealed that the use of ‘bhang’ (cannabis) in the offerings at the temple could be protecting the jyotirlingam from erosion.
The committee of two experts from the Archeological Survey of India (ASI) explained in its report that most of the offerings — water, milk, flowers, bhasm — were eroding the sandstone jyotirlingam as they aided bacterial and fungal action precipitated by the high humidity inside the sanctum sanctorum. Hindustan Times has a copy of the report.
The report said large quantities of floral and dairy offerings on the jyotirlingam attracted bacterial action, which produces mild acidic by-products. These acidic products “react with the metal ions of the sandstone in the jyotirlingam and very easily cause disintegration of the substrate (of the lingum) through leaching of the cementing material”.
The buds and leaves of cannabis are ground into paste to prepare ‘bhang’, which is then offered to the jyotirlingam.
According to the report, the ‘bhang’ paste generally contains certain chemicals (alkaloids and phenolic compounds, Cannabidiol and deleta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol) that control biodegradation as they have anti-bacterial and anti-fungal properties.
Subash Pandey, former head of the environmental sciences department at the Government Post Graduate College, Bhopal, said this means that the chemicals in ‘bhang’ check the growth of bacteria and fungus that flourish on milk and floral products. “Bacterial action produces chemical by-products that could damage the surface of the jyotirlingam. But ‘bhang’ checks that and helps save the jyotirlingam from deterioration,” he added.
Pradeep Guru, priest at the Mahakaleshwar temple and member of the Mahakaleshwar Temple Management Committee said ‘bhang’ has been traditionally used on the jyotirlingam for centuries.
“The ‘bhang’ used here is of very high quality. During the ‘shringaar’ ritual, about oneand-a-half kilogram of bhang is used,” he added.
The expert committee was constituted on the directions of the Supreme Court after Indore-based Sarika Guru moved it in January, seeking a ban on the ‘panchamrit shringar’ and ‘bhasam aarti’, which were leading to jyotirlingam’s erosion.