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The most celebrated incarnation in the Vaishnava cult of the
province is Krishna. In fact the Krishna legend formed an essential
element of Vaishnavism in Kamarupa. Hayagriva (Vishnu with horse head) is
the name of one of the incarnations of Lord Vishnu. Under this name, he is
specially worshipped in Assam even to day in the Hayagriva Madhava temple
at Hajo. It is built on a hill
called "Manikuta".
The Legend
As regards the origin of this Avatara (incarnation) the 'Santiparva'
section of the Mahabharata relates that at one time, while Vishnu was
sleeping and Brahma was on the lotus, issued out of the navel of Vishnu,
two demons Madhu and Kaitabha, who took away the Vedas from Brahma and
went to Rasatala. Brahma, being much aggrieved at this, awoke Vishnu, and
prayed for the recovery of the Vedas. Vishnu assumed the Hayagriva form,
recovered the Vedas, and gave them to Brahma.
He then went to sleep in the northeast corner of the great sea in his
Hayagriva form. The demons came to him and invited him to fight, in which
they were killed. According to other accounts, it was the Asura Hayagriva
who stole away the Vedas, which were subsequently recovered by Vishnu.
According To The Puranas
According to Matsya Purana, the Hayagriva Avtara of Vishnu preceded
Matsya; when the worlds were burnt down, Vishnu in the form of a horse
recompiled the four Vedas, Vedangas, etc. The Devi Bhagavata and the
Skanda Purana in its Dharnmranya Khanda, however, allude to two different
accounts on the origin of the Hayagriva form of Vishnu.
The Kalika Purana records that Vishnu in the form of Hayagriva killed the
Fever-Demon, Jvarasura in the Manikuta hill and lived there for the
benefit of men, gods and Asuras. Afflicted with fever and killing the
Fever-Demon, Vishnu took an 'Agada' or recovery bath. It is called "Apunarbhava"
because whosoever bathes here suffers no second birth.
The Legend Of The City Of Apunarbhava
As a free rendering has it, the city of Apunarbhava was beautified with
blue, red and white palaces, defended by weapons and surrounded by moats.
Day and night there was the uproar of festivities. It was full of temples,
parks and lakes. Various kinds of lotuses were in the lakes where were
seen sporting swans. The women of the city were very beautiful with large
eyes; their necks adorned with diverse ornaments.
Their glow and the music of their anklets ever charmed the mind of the
populace and in here dwelt Janardana Hayagriva. It is a place where one
can get rid of re-births even if he enjoys all the denied things. There is
another reference to the killing of a demon named Hayagriva near
Visvanatha (also spelt as Vishvanatha); The Lord of the world
('Jagatpita') is said to have fought with Hayagriva and after having
killed him migrated to Manikuta.
However, it is not clear whether the Lord of the world refers to Vishnu
or Shiva. The context appears to point to Shiva as the 'killer of
Hayagriva. The Harivamsa (the Vishnu Parva,) records that Sri Krishna
after having killed 'Naraka', 'Nisunda' and Hayagriva went to
'Maniparvata' where Naraka kept confined the daughters of the 'Gandharvas'
and Asura chiefs.
The Yogini Tantra gives an account of the origin of the Vishnu image in
the Manikuta. King Indradyumna of Orissa dreamt at night that a big
nameless tree would come floating by the seashore. He was to take an axe
and cut it into seven pieces. In the morning, he did so and of the seven
pieces, two were brought over to Kamarupa. With one piece the Hayagriva
image was made and the other had the image of the Fish-god named
'Madhava'.
A Sacred Place Of Buddhists
The Manikuta is considered holy by the Buddhists of Tibet and even now
Buddhists of the neighbouring Bhutan hills come down during the cold
season and worship the god whom they regard as Mahamuni Buddha. Waddell
mentions in his work on Lamaism that there is a tradition in Tibet that
Buddha had his 'Parinirvana' in Kamarupa. But the Kalika Purana and Yogini
Tantra make several references to Manikuta.
Kalapahar, who also destroyed the temple of Kamakhya, destroyed the
original temple of Hayagriva-Madhava. The present temple, according to an
inscription in the temple itself, was rebuilt by King Raghudeva Narayana,
son of Sukladhwaj, in Saka 1505 (1583 AD). When it was completed, it was
consecrated by the sacrifice of numerous human victims. The king also
endowed the temple with grants of land.
General Layout Of The Temple
The principle of general layout of the temple and its adjuncts is quite
in keeping with other temples met (seen) elsewhere in Kamarupa. The temple
is built on a small hillock and a flight of stone steps composed of
slab(s) leads to the main grounds of the temple.
The temple is built in stone, octagonal in plan, about 30-feet in
diameter and crowned with a pyramidal roof. It appears from the
disarrangement of many of the mouldings and cornices, and awkward position
of several bas-reliefs, that the upper portion of the temple has been
reconstructed from the old (earlier) materials, without much precision of
arrangement.
In its vertical elevation, the temple consists of three parts, the high
basement, the middle portion of the temple and the Sikhara. As in many
other temples, a row of Elephants or 'Gajathara' appears as a basement
moulding. On a moulding of about 2-feet above the plinth, a row of
caparisoned elephants in high relief encircle the building and appears to
bear the full brunt of the edifice. The elephants, all tuskers, are facing
outwards, each standing 16" in height, and are finely designed and
executed showing only their tusks, trunks and front legs. The basement
moulding is identical with the decorative style of the 'Kailasa' cave
temple at Ellora.
The Garbhagriha is a crypt, 14 feet square, into which you descend by a
flight of stone steps. It contains the image and its pedestal. The door
case to this shrine, is formed of four blocks of granite, and is ten feet
high by five feet wide: a lotus over the door - in the entrance of the
lintel, is the only ornament. The door opens into an anteroom, also of
stone, ten feet by ten feet, having niches of four feet square, stone
screens, one on each side with apertures for the admission of light and
air, cut in form of lotus flowers.
The Sikhara of this imposing Hayagriva temple has a pyramidal plane face,
which continues right upto an apex point.
In the horizontal aspect of the temple, it has large vestibule measuring
40 feet by 20 feet built of brick and resting on massive brick pillars.
This is a new addition to the original structure, perhaps constructed by
Naranarayan, the Koc King in 1550 AD.
The Temple Figurines
The upper walls of the exterior of the temple contain life-size
sculptured figures representing the ten Avataras with Buddha as the ninth.
The rest of the figures are of a non-descript character, but they are
mostly male, and nearly all figures carry a trident ('Trishul'). According
to the Lamas, these figures were originally inside the temple, but were
ejected by Buddha.
The temple derives its revenue from the land endowed to it by the kings.
Artisans and others are supported out of the temple funds. The chief
priest of the temple is called "Dalai". He is elected from among
the local priests and holds office till his death. He resides in a large
house situated at the foot of the hill, just below the temple. The temples
of the Kamrup district could be conveniently seen by camping at
Gawahati, which has all tourist
facilities.