THE GREAT DIGITAL DIVIDE
Some priests in Gaya are now offering the facility to do pind daan, a ritual to ensure peace for one’s departed ancestors, online. Most, however, feel the system is against the scriptures
In Gaya, every lane, river, pond, tree and even stone has a story – often dating back to the mythological era. But the story that has been circulating in the streets of Gaya for the past year or two has been that of online pind daan. Perhaps it is because of the recent origin of this particular tale that there is as yet little consensus on the narrative. Legend has it that a demon named Gayasur – after whom the town of Gaya is named – received a boon from Vishnu that the souls of the ancestors of a person who performs pind daan (a ritualistic offering) here, will attain mukti. Rama is believed to have performed pind daan for his father king Dasharath in Gaya. The practice continues till today. And especially during pitrapaksha – an 18-day period before Navratri, an auspicious period to offer pind daan – Gaya draws lakhs of people eager to do their duty towards their ancestors. A few years back, with the growth in technology, some innovative priest must have thought of expanding his reach beyond those travelling to Gaya for pind daan. Thus on social media and on websites listing the importance of pind daan in Gaya, there appeared a small line in the list of services offered – that of online pind daan.
“According to the practice in Hindu culture, pind daan helps nurture the bond between generations. Online pind daan is a blow to this bond,” says Mahesh Lal Gupt, a member of the Gayawal Panda community, that claims e sole right over helping people offer pind daan in Gaya. Members of the community maintain detailed ledgers where each one is assigned clients from a certain region of the country. The system of online pind daan, may, they fear, take away their monopoly. “It might affect our income too in the long run,” concedes Gupt.
DOING IT RIGHT
The community is divided on the very nature of online pind daan. “From what I understand, in online pind daan, a priest makes the arrangement in Gaya and says the mantras, which his client repeats after him, sitting at home. There is no benefit from such a pind daan, because you are negating the importance of the place,” says Govind Lal Gupt, a Gayawal Panda.
But Hiranath Dariwale, another member of the community who admits to offering the facility, explains, “By online pind daan, we mean a system where the client sends us details such as the name of the person, his gotra and time of death via email or social media message and makes payments through online cash transfer to our account. We then find a Brahmin to represent him and perform the procedure in Gaya. Photos and videos of the ritual are mailed to the client.”
The system described by Hiranath is similar to a traditional system described by Mahesh Lal Gupt, in which a member of the family, a friend or a Brahmin, is authorised to perform the pind daan, if the interested party is unable to come to Gaya. Hiranath himself concedes that the system is old and the Net has only made it easier to establish contact and so made more people avail of the facility. Most priests who agree to have performed online pind daan, however, say that it is not done during the pitrapaksha period when they are busy attending to the lakhs who visit the city.
ON THE SLY
Protest by the Gayawal Pandas against online pind daan last year and again this year – the 2016 pitrapaksha period started from September 15 and will continue till September 30 – has given the system of online pind daan the character of a guilty secret. Pandas blame the buzz around the practice on media, and the state tourism authorities, who they insist have been propagating online pind daan. But KK Yadav,senior deputy collector-cum-officer in-charge, tourism, denies the charge. “The online service we offer is online booking of hotels etc. Some of the pandas themselves are doing it,” says Yadav.
At the Phalgu river on September 16, Dilip Pandey, a priest, surreptitiously hands out a card with his details for clients interested in online pind daan, after being assured that the information was being sought for personal use and not for publication. He is busy supervising the pind daan rituals being done by a client, a mother-son duo who have come from Bhutan. As early as six in the morning, thousands have gathered at the river to take a dip before sitting in a row on the bank or the bed of the Phalgu to offer pind daan. Others are gathered inside the Vishnupad temple. Inside the sanctum sanctorum of the temple is a foot imprint on a stone believed to be that of Lord Vishnu’s.
Most pandits who offer the service of online pind daan need some cajoling before agreeing to talk about it. “If I offer you lassi online, will it quench your thirst?” questions Hiranath Dariwale, before conceding that he does offer the service. “It is mostly availed of by Indians living abroad,” he says, adding that he gets around 50 such requests in a year.
US AND THEM
The divide over online pind daan may reflect a deep-rooted reluctance to change. At the entrance to the Vishnupad temple is a notice denying admission to non-Hindus. “Non-Hindus have not been allowed to enter this temple from the time that it was rebuilt by queen Ahilya Bai Holkar in the 1700s,” says Gajadhar Lal Pathak, secretary of the Sri Vishnupad Temple Management Committee, adding, “this is mainly a seat to offer pind daan and non-Hindus do not have that practice. There is place outside the temple from where they may view the Vishnupad ,” he says. Behind him on a glass panel is a sticker that reads “Gai bachegi, duniya bachegi!”, or if the cow lives, so will the world. “Violence over cow slaughter happens only because people are not enlightened. The government needs to handle the situation properly,” he says. Though a supporter of the RSS and to an extent the BJP’s stance in favour of protecting Hindu culture and the issue of the Ram Mandir in Ayodhya, Pathak comes across as no fan of the BJP. “They raise these issues only to get Hindu votes. What have they done on the Ram Mandir issue yet? In Gaya for 30 years the elected representatives have been BJP members. But they have done little to develop this place,” he rues.
It was in this prevalent mood of mostly staunch Hinduism that Chandan Kumar Singh, a resident of Gaya, now living in Patna, dared to perform pind daan for Mohammad Ikhlaq during pitrapaksha last year. A Dadri resident, Ikhlaq had been lynched by people in his village over
p n of having cow meat in his house. “My father had started the practice of performing pind daan for unknown people in 2001, when many people had died in an earthquake in Gujarat. Since his death in 2014, I have been following his practice,” says Singh, a social activist and member of Janta Dal Union. His decision to offer pind daan for Ikhlaq was inspired by his desire to send a message of religious tolerance and unity, he says.
GENDER BENDER
If there is, however, one area in which the Gayawal Pandas have been unable to stem the force of change, it is in the area of women performing pind daan. While the Pandas are quick to point out that in Gaya women are allowed to perform pind daan, ever since Dasharath asked Sita to offer him pind daan here, one feels a subtle, underlying reluctance among the priests in letting a woman do so. “If a couple doesn’t have any male children, then an unmarried daughter may perform pind daan. If the woman is married, her husband or her son can perform pind daan also for her parents. If such a woman is performing pind daan herself, either for her parents or her in-laws, she needs permission from her husband to do so,” says Govind Lal Gupt. In recent years though, many women have been claiming the right to offer pind daan for their ancestors or husbands, even when there is a male relative to do it.
Santana Jana, 42, a resident of East Midnapore in West Bengal, was in Gaya on September 16 to perform pind daan for her parents-in-law and her mother. “The priest did try to convince me initially that it was my husband’s right to do it, but when I told him that my husband has given me permission, he agreed,” says the mother of two. Jana, who also has brothers, whose right it is according to the Pandas to perform pind daan for their mother, says, “She was my mother too. How do I know whether they will perform her pind daan in Gaya? As daughter, I wanted to do it so that her soul may rest in peace.”
By and large though, most of those who come to offer pind daan are still men, say the Pandas. On the bed of the Phalgu, on September 16, the view is very traditional, very male. Most of the women present are accompanying their husbands or sons. As in most Indian households, their role here continues to be secondary, making the little balls of flour that the men will then offer to seek peace for their ancestors’ souls.
Online pind daan is not correct since most online services have a fixed rate. Whereas we, in Gaya, allow people to make whatever offerings they can manage. One shouldn’t fail in one’s duty to one’s ancestors because of lack of money. GAJADHAR LAL PATHAK, Gayawal Panda
My father started the practice of doing pind daan for strangers in 2001, when many died in an earthquake in Gujarat. I have been following it since his death in 2014. Last year I did it for Mohammad Ikhlaq. CHANDAN KUMAR SINGH, Activist
Online pind daan is against our culture. People pay respect to their ancestors through the system of offering pind daan. It helps nurture the bond between generations. Online pind daan is a blow to this bond. MAHESH LAL GUPT, GAYAWAL PANDA