Talk:Hinglaj Mata mandir/Schaflechner

History of Pilgrimage in pre-colonial and colonial S. Asia

Jürgen Schaflechner finds not much information about pilgrimage to the site in precolonial times. He cites local authors, who quote from records of the akharas in Thatta to attest that prominent Rajputs had visited Hingal since atleast early sixteenth century.

• However, did Schaflechner consult these akhara-records? It does not seem to be the case but hard to be definitive, given his writing style.

In the same paragraph, Schaflechner uncritically reproduces the account of Westphal-Hellbusch and Westphal who had claimed one "Hamir Gohil (Gehlote)" to have visited the site in 1301 borrowing from James Tod. Notwithstanding Tod's wholesale unreliability as a historian courtesy a near-exclusive reliance on bardic narratives, Tod does not (usually) mention years and his description of "Rana Hamir's" pilgrimage is no exception.

• The Westphal couple appear to have assigned the terminus ad quem of Hammiradeva to the event. However, Tod was talking about Hammir Singh, the famed ruler of Mewar! Schaflechner is oblivious of the error.
• Schaflechner is also oblivious of the fact that Tod's narrative has some member of the Rathore clan performing the pilgrimage as early as the sixth century!

Beginning c. 1850, Schaflechner is in more comfortable waters relying on colonial accounts.

• Yet, there is no reliance upon the extensive archives of Makran Princely State and Balochistan Agency. Specifics of the sea-route is conceded to be (practically) unknown.

TrangaBellam (talk) 13:37, 5 January 2023 (UTC)

Ramayana

Imp: The narrative is supposedly traced from Sat Koṭī Ānand Rāmā’ian (Urd.) a variant of the Ramayana in the region. Schaflechner failed to trace the text. TrangaBellam (talk) 14:52, 5 January 2023 (UTC)

Tantric texts - Sakti pitha

• Not in the oldest three — Hevajra Tantra, Sadhanamala, and the Kalika Purana.
• Found in Kularnava Tantra

• Claimed to be sourced from Rudrayamala but not present in extant manuscripts.

• Found in Kubjika Tantra.
• Found in Pithanirnaya

• Not derived from (non-extant) Tandrachudamani but infl. by Kubj. Tantra?
• Brahmarandhra fell in Hinglaj; a rendition of the Sati-Daksha myth cycle.

TrangaBellam (talk) 15:03, 6 January 2023 (UTC)

Schaflechner does not provide citations for the editions he consulted. Need to find out about crit. ed. TrangaBellam (talk) 16:52, 7 January 2023 (UTC)

Puranas

• Vamana Purana

• Shiva's daughter (Sati) settled at "Hingulata Mountain".
• Schaflechner is unconvinced about Hingulata being Hinglaj since Kunala Jataka locates the Hingula mountain in the Himalayas.

• Krishnajanmakhanda, believed to be a late interpolation (c. 1600) in the Brahma Vaivarta Purana, mentions the site as Hiṅgulā.

• The deity was Durga. Compare with the statue of Durga at Chausath Yogini (Khajuraho) inscribed as Hinghalaja.

• A medieval interpolation in Devi-Bhagavata Purana: Hiṅgulā is a sakta-tirtha.

TrangaBellam (talk) 17:53, 7 January 2023 (UTC)

Caste assocs.

Brahmakshatriyas/Khatri

• Hingula Puran (1905; Gujarati; purportedly from Skanda Purana) traces the rise of Brahmakshatriyas to a pilgrimage by Ratnasena's sons to Hinglaj.

• Reproduced in a couple of later Sindhi texts.
• Schaflechner does not consult other origin myths.

TrangaBellam (talk) 07:27, 8 January 2023 (UTC)

Lohana

• Close relations incl. inter-marriage with Khatris.
• Hinglaj sub-shrines are along Lohana trade-routes.
• Members of Hinglaj Sheva Mandali.

Local Zikri Muslims + Sinfh nationalist discourse

• Colonial times: Hinglaj = Biblical Eve / wife of Ali.

• Earliest caretakers of shrine before HSM takeover.
• "Here Hindoo and Muhammadan pilgrims alike resort, each claiming the divine protection of the presiding goddess or of the departed saint, according to the tenets of their faith and neither recognising that the object of their veneration is probably the same goddess who was known to the Chaldeans under the same old-world name (Nana) a thousand years before the time of Abraham" - Holdich.

• Holdich's comment sig. in Sindh Nat. Lit. as the primordial IVC deity of Sindh.

• Modern day: None.

TrangaBellam (talk) 13:05, 8 January 2023 (UTC)