Summary of the Poem:
The title of this poem refers to a temple which is in ruins at Jejuri. The roof of this ancient temple collapsed exactly over the head of the stone statue of god Maruti. But nobody seemed to mind the accident. The god of the name of Maruti himself also did not react adversely to this accident because, most probably, he likes the temple in its state of collapse. A stray bitch has given birth to its young ones in this ruined temple; and she has done so perhaps because she likes the temple in its ruined condition. If you were to step into this ruined temple, the bitch would look at you warily lest you should do any harm to her puppies. As for the puppies, they move about, sometimes stumbling against the broken tiles which lie in the doorway; and a tile gives out a clicking sound (or a sharp sound) because a puppy has stepped upon it and has thus upset its equilibrium.
The sound produced by the tile is sharp enough to terrify a dung beetle which thereupon goes running to seek shelter in the broken charity - box into which the pilgrims used to drop coins. Nobody had been able to take out this charity - box from beneath the crushing weight of the beam which had fallen down from the roof of the temple.
This ruined temple is no longer a place of worship; but it is still a sacred place and a place where a god still dwells. The ruined temple continues to be a house of some god even though no pilgrim can now enter it to offer worship.
Critical Analysis of the Poem:
This is more or less a humorous poem describing the state of a temple, one of the beams of which had given way, with the result that the roof had collapsed. This temple is now in a state of ruin; and the poet has described the temple as the “heart of ruin” in the title of the poem. The purpose of the poet in writing this poem is not quite clear. This poem appears early in the sequence, being Poem No. 3. Maruti is the name of a god worshipped at Jejuri. The humour in the poem arises from the repetition of the idea that the temple is acceptable to almost everyone even in its present ruined condition. The god Maruti likes a temple better in its ruined state even though the roof had fallen upon his head. A stray bitch of a low breed had been able to make use of the ruined premises of this temple to give birth to her offspring. This bitch too perhaps likes a temple in its ruined condition. Even the puppies to whom she had given birth seem to like the temple better this way. Anyhow, this temple, though no longer a place of worship, continues to be the house of a god.
Whatever be the significance of this poem, and whatever be its connection with the other poems in the sequence, it is undoubtedly an interesting poem. Each of the facts stated in the poem is incidental, and yet very interesting and amusing. A purely incidental detail pertains to the beetle which lives in dung and which, terrified by the clicking sound produced by a puppy's stumbling against a tile , runs for cover to the safety of the broken collection – box. This collection - box, we are told, never got a chance to get out from beneath the crushing weight of the roof - beam; and this is another very amusing statement.
