By H.H. Mohrmen
For a long time, the temple at Nartiang has been seen as just another temple. It has been there, yet nobody has tried to explore its history or significance. It never even occurred to us to ask questions about it. Now, the time has come to take an in-depth look at the Nartiang temple and understand its importance. The Durga Temple in Nartiang is not an ordinary temple; it is not only one of the oldest in the region but also believed to be one of the Shakti Peethas. Another important point is that the Durga Temple at Nartiang has a close connection with the Jayantia, which is also believed to be an ancient kingdom.
The Jaintia Kingdom and the Temple
The Jayantia Kingdom, from which the term Jaintia is derived, is the name of an ancient kingdom that included the hill region now known as Jaintia Hills. The kingdom extended to the plains in the south, reaching as far as the Surma River, an area now part of Bangladesh. “Jayantia” was the name of the kingdom in the plains, which was defeated or annexed by the tribal chief, who then moved his capital to Jayantiapur, the capital of the ancient kingdom.
In the Jaintia Buranji, it is mentioned that the Jaintia kings ruled a Brahmanical kingdom, which is referenced in Puranic literature and was famous for the shrine of Jayanti Devi. The kingdom was referred to as a “female kingdom” in the Mahabharata, and it is believed that Arjuna fought against the ruler of this kingdom (Dutta S.K., Introduction to the Jayantia Buranji, July 10, 1937). It is called female kingdom not because it was ruled by queens or princesses, but because of the peculiar tradition that it was the son of the sister of the king, or his nephew and not the son of the king who inherited the throne.
The Jaintia Buranji mentioned that since the time of Yudhisthir, Jayantiapur had been ruled by a succession of Brahmin kings, including Kedareswar Rai, Dhaneswar Rai, Kandurka Rai, Manik Rai, and the last, Jayanta Rai. These kings also performed the Rajasuya Yagna, a royal sacrifice (Buyan S.K., History of the Jayantias: The Genesis of Jayantias, Chapter 1, 1st edition 1937, English translation 2022).
Jayanta Rai, the last king of the Brahmin kingdom, did not have a son, but the deities he worshipped blessed him with a baby girl, whom he named Jayanti Devi. Jayanti Devi later married Landhabor, who, due to his actions, was relegated to the status of a “Maha Mleccha,” meaning a highly degenerated barbarian—a non-Aryan tribe of ancient India, non-Hindu, and given to unscriptural practices and sins (ibid). The Buranji provides various narratives about how Jayanti Devi was blessed by her deities, who sent a fish in her image upstream to the hills where her husband lived. Landhabor caught the fish, repeatedly forgetting to cook it, and later realized it was actually a human sent to marry him (ibid). The two give birth to their first son whose name is Borkohain Rai.
Jayanti Devi, who changed her name to Rani Singha, handed over the reins of the Jayantia Kingdom to Borkohain Rai, the son of Landhabor and the mysterious fish that became human and married him. Landhabor, Rani Singha’s estranged husband, was condemned to the status of a Maha Mleccha. The Buranji narrates that Rani Singha then retired to one of the seven regions of the earth, and the place where she disappeared was named Muktipur. It may be mentioned that the abandoned temple is located in a no-man’s land near present-day Muktapur.
At the height of its glory, the Jaintia Kingdom comprised both the hills and the plains, and it was ruled by kings who were descendants of the tribal chief. It is unclear whether the tribal ruler defeated the original rulers of Jayantiapur or whether it was divinely ordained, as mentioned in the kingdom’s origin stories. However, two facts remain: the kingdom consisted of two regions, and the last rulers before it was annexed by the British were of Pnar descent.
The Jaintia Kingdom was annexed to the British Empire in 1835 because the Jaintia king refused to hand over the culprits involved in sacrificing British subjects at the shrine of the goddess Kali in Jayantia. It is well-established that human sacrifices were offered at the Kali temple in the Jayantia Kingdom (Dutta S.K., Introduction to the Jayantia Buranji, July 10, 1937). Even Gait mentioned the practice of human sacrifice by the Jayantias in detail (Journal of Asiatic Society of Bengal, Volume I, 1898). The British had earlier lodged a protest to the Jayantia king against a similar incident where British subjects were kidnapped to offer sacrifice in some temple under his jurisdiction.
The Temples in the Plains and the Hills
There were at least five ancient temples in the Jayantia Kingdom: the old ruined temple at Syndai, the abandoned temple at Borkhat, the temple at Jayantiapur, another old abandoned temple on the Indo-Bangladesh border near Muktapur, and the Jayanti Devi Temple in Nartiang village. Dutta believed that human sacrifices were offered yearly in the Faljur Pargana and at Jayanteswari in Jayantiapur (ibid). There are oral stories of human sacrifice at the temple in Borkhat as well, but the question remains: which shrine was mentioned in Puranic literature?
Of the temples mentioned above, only the Jayanti Devi Temple in Nartiang is still operational, where the ancient idol is located. Local narratives include stories of human sacrifices at the temple. Inside the sanctum sanctorum of the Nartiang temple, there is a pit that local narratives claim was where the heads of sacrificial victims fell. Although human sacrifices are no longer performed, goats are sacrificed today, dressed as humans. The sacrificial goat, called “u blang synïaw” or the midnight goat was made to wear a turban, a human face mask, and male earrings known as “ki kyndiam.” As the name suggests, the sacrifice is performed at midnight, with only the priest allowed in the temple (interview with the late Uttam Deshmukh, priest of the temple). So, if you are still wondering about the origin of the term “scapegoat” in English, maybe it owes its origin to Nartiang.
The Ancient Idol
After Rani Singha, previously known as Jayanti Devi, disappeared at Muktipur/Muktapur, Borgohain Rai ordered the spot where she vanished to be dug up to locate her. However, she appeared in his dream and advised him to stop. Instead, he would find a piece of bronze in the place where he dug and molded it into an image that he should call Jayanti Devi. Another version of the story says that Jayanti Devi told him that while digging, he would find a piece of metal, an alloy of the right principal metals, with which to make an idol (Ibid Dutta S.K., Representation, 1937). The question is, is the idol now on display at the Nartiang temple the ancient idol mentioned in the Jaintia Buranji?
About the Shakti Peethas
The story goes that Sati’s father organized a mighty yagna but did not invite his son in law Shiva to the sacrifice. The story ends tragically with Sati self-immolating. Worried that the vengeful Shiva would destroy the world, Mahavishnu cut Sati’s body into 51 pieces with his Sudarshan Chakra (some legends claim there were 108 pieces). Her body parts and ornaments fell to various places in the subcontinent. The Shiva Purana and the Kalika Purana recognize four major Shakti Peethas: Vimala (Puri, Odisha), Tara Tarini (Ganjam, Odisha), Kamakhya (Guwahati), and Dakshina Kalika (Kalighat, Kolkata). Other traditions hold that the 51 body parts fell at sacred spots called the Shakti Peethas or the centre of power.
Jayanti Devi Nartiang Shakti Peetha
The Jayanti Devi Temple in Nartiang village, West Jaintia Hills district, Meghalaya, is believed to be one of the Shakti Peethas. The Shakti Peetha at Nartiang is famous as Maa Jainteshwari, where her left thigh fell. It is where Sati embodies the ferocious and animistic aspects of Mahakali and Kramaadishwar. The goddess, representing both destruction and liberation, cannot be propitiated without sacrifice. The local chief, or Syiem, was its principal patron, but the Daloi has since replaced this role.
Legend has it that about 6,000 years ago, the goddess came to King Dhan Manik in a dream and ordered him to build a temple for her where her thigh fell. https://www.newindianexpress.com/magazine/2021/Sep/26/motherlodesof-power-2362905.html Nartiang is also unique for being the only place where the tribal animist religion synthesizes with the worship of Durga and Shiva.
In my previous article on the Durga Puja in Nartiang, I explored the case of Hinduism in the area, which represents a synthesis of tribal religion and Hinduism. While we celebrate Durga Puja this year, let us also remember that there is another narrative associated with the famous Durga Temple in Nartiang. The story that the Jayanti Devi temple at Nartiang is not just another temple but it is one of the Shakti Peeth.