The Temple of Khandoba Situated in the Small Town of Jejuri:
As already pointed out in the biographical note, “Jejuri” is a long poem consisting of thirty - one sections, each section being a poem in itself and having a title of its own. Actually Jejuri is a small town in western Maharashtra, situated at a distance of about thirty miles from Pune. This town is a place of pilgrimage because it has a temple dedicated to a god by the name of Khandoba and containing also statues of that god, some carved out of stone, and others cast in bronze. A couple of images of this god may even have been made of gold though they are not openly on view because of a fear of their being stolen. Maharashtrians have great faith in god Khandoba who is believed to have killed his wife in a fit of rage and killed five demons because of their wickedness. Outside the temple there are five rocks into which the demons killed by Khandoba were believed to have been transformed; and there is also a huge tortoise carved out of stone.
Kolatkar’s Disbelief in Idol-Worship and His Rationalistic Approach:
Arun Kolatkar wrote a poem about this place of pilgrimage, giving to his poem the title of “Jejuri”. But the most important aspect of his writing this poem is the faith which the people of Maharashtra have in the miraculous powers of god Khandoba. It is this god to worship whom people from different parts of Maharashtra, and some even from other parts of India, go. They go there to pay their obeisance to the god, to worship the images of the god, and to make their offerings in an effort to placate him and win his favour. But Kolatkar has not written the poem “Jejuri” to celebrate this god or to pay his personal tribute and homage to him. In fact he does not even fully or whole - heartedly believe in idol - worship or the worship of gods. He believes this worship to be a kind of superstition, though he does not openly say so anywhere in the poem. Although the attitude of unbelief, or at least of scepticism, predominates in the poem, yet some critics are of the view that his vision of Khandoba - worship has a positive aspect to it. Our own opinion in the matter is that “Jejuri”, the poem, depicts a direct and unflinching attitude of denial and disbelief. In our opinion, Kolatkar seems to be debunking and denigrating not only people's faith in this kind of worship but in all kinds of worship having its origin in a belief in the existence of gods and goddesses. Kolatkar's general attitude is that of a rationalist. But, then, without a spiritual element in human life, this world would seem to be a Waste Land. A reputed scholar has written an essay under the heading of “Jejuri: Arun Kolatkar's Waste Land”. (The Waste Land, as every student of English literature knows, is the title of T.S. Eliot's famous and epoch - making poem).
The Account of a Pilgrimage and also of a Quest:
The essay referred to by us contains an excellent analysis of the long poem entitled “Jejuri”; and, by reading this essay, we learn the meaning of several poems which would otherwise have remained riddles for us. The writer of this essay regards this long poem not only as an account of a pilgrimage but as a quest. Kolatkar imagines the protagonist of his poem as actually paying a visit to Jejuri to explore the beliefs under the influence of which people travel to Jejuri in order to offer worship to god Khandoba. For all we know, the protagonist may be the poet himself; but the poet gives to his protagonist the name of Manohar.
The Protagonist's Investigations and Inquiries:
The protagonist is a city - bred man visiting a small town which is more or less a village. He arrives at Jejuri early in the morning by a State Transport bus in the company of a number of other pilgrims and also, perhaps, a few tourists. The protagonist himself is a sort of tourist because he has no intention of offering worship at the feet of the revered god Khandoba. He goes round the place, scrutinizing every stone or bronze image of Khandoba and a number of other deities (subordinate to Khandoba, of course). He meets the priest of the temple and asks him all sorts of questions about the temple and about god Khandoba, though the priest is unable to answer these questions because he is not a learned kind of priest but a priest who merely looks after the temple and collects the offerings as his income for the work which he does. He is thus a mercenary kind of priest; and this priest is therefore regarded by the protagonist as one of the proofs of the hollowness of all the claims which have traditionally been made on behalf of Khandoba. The priest has even trained his young son to officiate whenever he himself is not available to escort the groups of pilgrims into the temple or to take them to other places of interest near the temple. Close to the temple are not only the five rocks which embody the five demons who had been killed but also a huge stone statue of a tortoise; and all these are worth seeing.
The Power of Legends and Myths:
Most of the poems are written in an ironical and sarcastic vein. Together these poems constitute a satire on the people's religious beliefs which actually are superstitions. Kolatkar exposes the legends about god Khandoba for what they really are. As pointed out, they are superstitions and myths. Every legend and every myth tends to acquire a stronger and still stronger hold upon the minds of the people with the passing of time. Years only strengthen the legends and the myths; and this is what seems to have happened not only in Jejuri but in all the many places of pilgrimage in the various, far - flung States of India, and also in other countries.
The Finest and the Most Amusing Poems:
Some of the finest poems, and some of the most amusing ones, in “Jejuri” are Heart of Ruin; The Pattern; The Horseshoe Shrine; Ajamil and the Tigers; A Song for a Vaghya; A Song for a Murli; Makarand; The Temple Rat; The Cupboard; The Blue Horse; Yeshwant Rao; and, above all, The Railway Station. Apart from these poems which have close links with the theme, there is a poem called An Old Woman which, though incidental or accessory, is not only interesting but gripping. Just as this old woman grips a pilgrim's sleeve in order to extort some money from him in charity, so this poem grips our attention and our minds because it is a really engrossing portrait or a vignette.
