BONDING THE GODS TO EARTH...ASHTHABANDHAM

Submitted by bhawani on Fri, 2007-01-05 19:00. Kerala

Bonding the image to the pedestal in the temple itself is a traditional ritual, the knowledge of which remains in the hands of a few individuals.

The ‘ashtabandha kalasam’ is performed in every temple during the installation of the deity and when the bonding wears off, the ritual is repeated. One of the repositories of this traditional knowledge is G Narayanan Potti and his team of ten who prepare the ‘ashtabandham’ and travel the length and breadth of Kerala and the neighbouring Tamilnadu to fulfil the requirements of the ‘ashtabandha kalasam’.

Septuagenarian Potti, who has been performing this task for many decades, explains thus, “In temples in any part of the country which have tantris from Kerala performing the daily rituals, the ashtabandhakalasam is done periodically. One application of this fix usually lasts for twelve years.” Temples in Kanyakumari and Tiruchendur are among the places outside the State where he has been engaged to prepare for a ashtabandha kalasam.

Preparing the mixture which serves as an adhesive is a 41-day long procedure and the eight ingredients that go into it are finely powdered conch, gall-nut, sealing wax, gooseberry, resin of ‘pinus dammar’(chanchailiam in Malayalam) two varieties of gravel from the Bharatapuzha and the confluence of three rivers and cotton. It is only in the final stage of the preparation in the temple that cotton is added to the mixture.

All these ingredients have their own latent sticky consistency and the process of hammering them into the appropriate texture is done with the help of five wooden hammers, each hammer head weighing ten kilos. The mixture is sieved through a fine muslin. Five pairs of hands beat the initially dry ingredients into a lump resembling a smooth chunk of asofoetida.

As the process progresses, the mixture acquires a waxen consistency. The use of the tamarind wood for the hammer gives the necessary heat during the hammering process which aids the formation of this colloidal mixture. This is later made into smooth pebble-like balls which harden as they cool.

The second and the more important phase of ashtabandham takes place at the temple where these balls are put through some more hammering to restore the dough-like texture. Once this consistency is attained, the mixture is ready to perform its role of the mortar binding the idol to the pedestal. This is what is termed as the ashtabandha kalasam which is an elaborate three-day long ritual at the end of which the idol is firmly fixed.

With over three decades of experience in bonding the images in the sanctum sanctorum, Potti says, “Temples where the images are exposed to the elements do not have this practice, (usually a ‘vana Durga’, or a ‘vana Sastha’ temple). Nor does a temple where the ‘nagam’ is worshipped follow this because a nagadevata is to be left free. In any other temple, this ritual cannot be ignored because it is believed that an unsteady idol in the pedestal groove is a bad omen.”

The prime reason for using this adhesive according to Potti is to prevent corrosion that is likely to take place when the material used for anointing the Gods seeps into the cavity.

As the storehouse of the traditional knowledge and the cumulative experience of earlier generations, this seventy-three year old man continues his sacred duty and does not find it necessary to guard this knowledge as something that he controls and will not pass on to the next generation.

Reconciled as he is to the fast-changing mores, “Only time can tell if the human mind will find an alternative and a less cumbersome method to execute the task of bonding the idol in a place of worship.”
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