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Studies in the Geography of Ancient and Medieval India c21: XVII. Kokāmukha

Studies in the Geography of Ancient and Medieval India c21

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XVII. Kokāmukha

c21.1

Some years ago, no less than five copper-plate charters of the time of three emperors of the Gupta dynasty were discovered at a place called Dāmodarpur near the Phulbari Police Station in the Balurghat Sub-Division of the Dinajpur District, North Bengal. One of these records refers to the Gupta emperor Budhagupta (477-95 A.D.), the *uparika Mahārāja* Jayadatta, viceroy of the Puṇḍravardhana *bhukti*, and the *āyuktaka* Gaṇḍaka (or Saṇḍaka) who was in charge of the Koṭivarṣa *viṣaya*. Gaṇḍaka is said to have been helped in the administration of the Koṭivarṣa district by the *nagaraśreṣṭhin* Ṛbhupāla, *sārthavāha* Vasumitra, *prathama-kulika* Varadatta and *prathama-kāyastha* Viprapāla. The *śreṣṭhin* Ṛbhupāla one day approached the *adhiṣṭhān-ādhikaraṇa*, i.e. the office of administration at the headquarters of the district, with the following petition: हिमवच्छिखरे कोकामुकस्वामिनः चत्वारः कुल्यवापाः श्वेतवराहस्वामिनोपि सप्त कुल्यवापाः अस्मत्फलाशंसिना पुण्याभिवृद्धये डोङ्ग्रामे पूर्वं मया अप्रदा अतिसृष्टकाः । तदहं तत्क्षेत्रसामीप्यभूमौ तयोराचकोकामुकस्वामिश्वेतवराहस्वामिनोर्नामलिङ्गेमेन देवकुलद्वयमेतत् कोष्ठिकाद्वयञ्च कारयितुमिच्छामि । अर्हथ वास्तुना सह कुल्यवापान् यथाक्रममर्यादया दातुमिति । After having examined Ṛbhupāla’s application, the *pustapālas* Viṣṇudatta, Vijayanandin and Sthāṇunandin reported that some *Kulyavāpas* of land at the rate of three *Dināras* per *Kulyavāpa* might be sold to the *śreṣṭhin*, because : अनेन हिमवच्छिखरे तयोः कोकामुकस्वामिश्वेतवराहस्वामिनोः अप्रदाः क्षेत्रकुल्यवापा एकादश दत्ताः । तदर्थञ्च इह देवकुलकोष्ठिकाकरणे युक्तमेतद् विज्ञापितं तत्क्षेत्रसामीप्यभूमौ वास्तु दातुमिति । It should be pointed out that we have quoted above the epigraphic texts with the elimination of minor grammatical errors.¹

c21.2

¹ For the actual text of the passages and their interpretation, see *Select Inscriptions*, pp. 328-30. For *Kulyavāpa*, see ibid., p. 501. For the other Dāmodarpur inscriptions cited below, see ibid., pp. 283 ff., 324 ff., 337 ff. The board of administrators headed by the *Nagaraśreṣṭhin*, referred to in these records was similar to the Pañcāyat board of the *Cauthīās* headed by the *Nagar-seṭh* as prevalent in Rājasthān. See Tod, *An. Ant. Raj.*, ed. Crooke, Vol. I, pp. 171, 231; Vol. II, p. 682. Cf. *Journ. Un. Gauhati*, Vol. VI, pp. 81 ff.

c21.3

The expression *Himavac-chikhara* in the passages quoted above literally means ‘a peak of the Himalayas’. But the village called Doṅgā-grāma, where the donated lands were situated and where further lands were applied for, does not appear to have been far from Dāmodarpūr, the findspot of the charter in question. The village is also mentioned in another Dāmodarpur record that was issued in the Gupta year 124 during the reign of Kumāra-gupta I. A second Dāmodarpur grant of the time of Budhagupta, dated in the year 163, mentions Vāyi-grāmaka which is no other than the modern Bāigrām in the Bogra District, not far away from the findspot of the record. The Dāmodarpur inscription of the Gupta year 224 refers to the purchase of five *Kulyavāpas* of land by the *Kulaputra* Amṛtadeva hailing from Ayodhyā for the following purpose : अत्रारण्ये भगवतः श्वेतवराहस्वामिनो देवकुले खण्डस्फुटितप्रतिसंस्कारकरणाय बलिचरुसत्रप्रवर्त्तनगन्धधूपपुष्पप्रापणमधुपर्क-दीपाद्युपयोगाय च अप्रदाधम्म्र्ण ताम्रपट्टिकृत्य क्षेत्रस्तोकं दातुमिति । In connection with the grant of land to the god Śvetavarāhasvāmin in this case, mention has been made of Svacchanda-pāṭaka, Lava-ṅgasikā, Sāṭuvan-āśramaka, Paraspatikā, the Jambū-nadī and Pūraṇavṛndikahari. Of these, Pūraṇavṛndikahari has been identified by some scholars with modern Brindakoori, 14 miles to the north of Dāmodarpur. It is therefore almost certain that the lands granted by Ṛbhupāla to the gods Kokāmukhasvāmin and Śvetavarāhasvāmin lay in the Dāmodarpur region in the southern part of the Dinajpur District. But the temples of the two gods in question were situated in the Himalayan region far away from Dāmodarpur. It has therefore been suggested by some scholars that the mountainous region about the northern fringe of the modern territory of Bengal formed parts of the Koṭivarṣa *viṣaya* (Dinajpur area) or the Puṇḍravardhana *bhukti* (North Bengal).¹ This hypothesis is apparently due to the fact that nobody has so far been able to determine the exact location of the temples of Kokāmukha and Śvetavarāha in the Himalayas.

c21.4

¹ History of Bengal, Dacca University, Vol. I, pp. 24, 400 and note 3.

c21.5

A *tīrtha* called Kokāmukha or Varāha-kṣetra is known from he *Mahābhārata*² and the *Purāṇas*. Chapters 219 and 229 of the *Brahma Purāṇa* locate the holy place of pilgrimage in the Himalayas. The *Brahma Purāṇa* not only refers to the Kokāmukha *tīrtha* in the Himalayas but also to the Varāha form of Viṣṇu installed there and to the river called Kokā which runs through the place. Cf.

c21.6

² See III, 48, 158 ; XIII, 25, 52.

c21.7

कोकेति प्रथिता लोके शिशराद्रिसमाश्रिता ॥ (११९।१७)
कोकानदीति विख्याता गिरिरालसमाश्रिता ।
तीर्थकोटिमहापुण्या मद्रूपपरिपालिता ॥ (११९।१०६)
वराहदंष्ट्रासंलग्नाः पितरः कनकोज्वलाः ।
कोकामुखे गतभयाः कृता देवेन विष्णुना ॥ (११९।१३९)
एवं मयोक्तं वरदस्य विष्णोः कोकामुखे दिव्यवराहरूपम् (११९।११६), etc.

c21.8

But the *Brahma Purāṇa* does not help us at all in determining the exact location of the temple of Varāha at Kokāmukha in the Himalayas. For this, we have to examine other Puranic texts. In this connection, attention of scholars may be drawn to the *Varāha Purāṇa*.

c21.9

Chapter 140 of the *Varāha Purāṇa* is styled *Kokāmukha-māhātmya-varṇana*. Here Varāha (Viṣṇu in the Boar form) declares to the goddess Earth :

c21.10

तव कोकामुखं नाम यन्मया पूर्वभाषितम् ।
बदरीति च विख्यातं गिरिरालशिलातलम् ॥
स्थानं लोहर्गलं नाम म्लेच्छराजसमाश्रितम् ।
क्षणञ्चापि न मुञ्चामि एवमेतन्न संशयः ॥ (१४०।४-५)

c21.11

According to this passage, only three places on the earth are the abodes of Viṣṇu and they are : (1) Kokāmukha, (2) Badarī or Badarikāśrama, and (3) Lohārgala, all in the Himalayas. Chapter 141 of the *Purāṇa*, styled *Badarikāśrama-māhātmya-varṇana*, refers to a number of holy spots in the region of the *tīrtha* now known as Badarīnārāyaṇa. They are Brahma-kuṇḍa, Agnisatya-pada, Indraloka, Pañcaśikha, Catuḥ-srotaḥ, Vedadhāra, Dvādaśāditya-kuṇḍa, Lokapāla, Sthala-kuṇḍa amongst hills, Meruvara, Mānasodbheda, Pañca-saraḥ, Somābhiṣeka, Soma-giri, Urvaśī-kuṇḍa, etc. Chapter 151 of the *Varāha Purāṇa*, styled the *Lohārgala-māhātmya-varṇana*, refers to the holy spots belonging to the Lohārgala *tīrtha* in the land of the Mlecchas in the Himalayas.¹

c21.12

¹ Cf.

c21.13

The holy spots in Lohārgala are Pañca-saraḥ, Nārada-kuṇḍa, Vasiṣṭha-kuṇḍa (where five streams are falling from the Himakūṭa), Saptarṣi-kuṇḍa (where seven streams fall from the Himavat-parvata), Śarabhaṅga-kuṇḍa (तत्र धारा पतत्येका शरभङ्गाश्रिता नदी), Agnisaraḥ-kuṇḍa, Bṛhaspati-kuṇḍa (where falls a stream which is *Himakūṭa-samāśritā*), Vaiśvānara-kuṇḍa (धारा चैका पतत्यत्र दृश्यते हिमसङ्क्षयात्), Kārttikeya-kuṇḍa (where fifteen streams fall from the Hima-parvata), Umā-kuṇḍa, Maheśvara-kuṇḍa (where three streams fall from the Himavat-parvata), Brahma-kuṇḍa (where four streams fall from the Himālaya), etc.

c21.14

The holy spots belonging to the Kokāmukha *tīrtha* mentioned in the *Varāha Purāṇa*, Chapter 140, are the following: 1. Jala-bindu; 2. Viṣṇu-dhārā; 3. Viṣṇu-pada which is *Kokāmukhāśrita*; 4. Viṣṇu-saraḥ; 5. Soma-tīrtha—यत्र पञ्चशिला भूमिर्विष्णुनाम्ना तथाङ्किता; 6. Tuṅgakūṭa; 7. Agni-saraḥ—पञ्च धाराः पतन्त्यत्र गिरिकुञ्जसमाश्रिताः; 8. Brahma-saraḥ; 9. Dhenuvaṭa; 10. Dharmodbhava—गिरिकुञ्जात् पतत्येका धारा भूमितले शुभा; 11. Koṭivaṭa; 12. Pāpapramocana; 13. Yamavyasanaka; 14. Mātaṅga—स्रोतो वहति तत्रैवमाश्रितं कौशिकीं नदीम्; 15. Vajrabhava—स्रोतो वहति तत्रैकमाश्रितं कौशिकीं नदीम्; 16. Śakrarudra which is *Kokā-śilātala-sthita*; 17. Damṣṭrāṅkura—यत्र कोका विनिःसृता; 18. Viṣṇu-tīrtha—ततः पर्वत मध्यात्तु कोकायां पतति जलम्; 19. Sarvakāmikā—अस्ति तत्र वरं स्थानं संगमं कौशि (की *) कोकयोः। सर्वकामिकेति विख्याता शिला तिष्ठति चोत्तरे॥ 20. Matsya-śilā—अस्ति मत्स्यशिला नाम गुह्यं कोकामुखे वरम्। धाराः पतन्ति तिस्रो वै कौशिकीमाश्रिता नदीम्। Besides the above particulars, we have some general observations on the Kokāmukha *tīrtha*, such

c21.15

1. Cf. ततः सिद्धवटे गत्वा त्रिंशद्योजनदूरतः।
म्लेच्छमध्ये वरारोहे हिमवन्तं समाश्रितम्॥
तत्र लोहार्गले क्षेत्रे निवासो विहितः शुभः।
गुह्यं पञ्चदशायां समन्तात् पञ्चयोजनम्॥...
तत्र तिष्ठाम्यहं भद्रे उदीचीं दिशमाश्रितः।
हिरण्यप्रतिमां कृत्वा जातरूपां न संशयः॥१५१७-१०

c21.16

Lohārgala is generally identified with Lohāghāt in Kumāon (Kūrmācala). Cf. Dey, Geog. Dict., s.v.

c21.17

as—पञ्चयोजनविस्तारं क्षेत्रं कोकामुलं मम, तस्मिन् कोकामुखे रम्ये तिष्ठामि दक्षिणमुखः, वराहरूपमादाय तिष्ठामि पुरुषाकृतिः, वामोन्नतमुखं कृत्वा वामदंष्ट्रा-समुन्नतम्, etc. It is quite clear from the description of the Kokāmukha tīrtha in the Varāha Purāṇa that two rivers named Kokā and Kauśikī as well as their confluence were intimately associated with the holy region.

c21.18

There are several rivers of the name Kauśikī in different parts of India. But the only Kauśikī that can be associated with a Kṣetra of Varāha as well as with a river called Kokā is the Kauśikī, modern Kośī, running from Nepal by the western borders of the Purnea District of Bihar. The river is known in Nepal as the Sun-Kośī (probably Svarṇa-Kauśikī) and some of its tributaries have names like Arun-Kośī, Dudh-Kośī, etc. The ancient Kokāmukha tīrtha or Varāha-kṣetra is situated on the bank of the Sun-Kośī in Nepal and is now popularly known as Barāh-chatra. Chatra is the common corrupt form derived from Sanskrit kṣetra.

c21.19

It is unfortunate that in most maps of Nepal no locality called Varāha-kṣetra or Barāh-chatra is indicated. Of course Dhankuta a little to the north and Bijapur to the east of the holy region are found even in ordinary maps. E. Thornton's Gazetteer of India (London, 1886, s.v.) spells the name wrongly as Vardhachatra instead of Varahachatra (with d wrongly printed for a) and says, "Town in Nepal State; situated on the left bank of the San-Kusi river, 124 miles east-south-east of Khatmandu. Lat. 26° 57', long. 87° 4'." The Gupta Press Directory Pañjikā (in Bengali) observes, "Varāhachatra.—The image of Varāhadeva, the third incarnation of Lord Viṣṇu, is placed on the Dhavalāgiri near the kingdom of Bhuṭān forming part of the kingdom of Nepāl. A fair is held at the place every year during the full-moon day of the month of Kārttika. From Calcutta to Jogbani (Kāṭihār-Jogbani branch, B. & A. Ry.), the distance is 331 miles (via Rāṇāghāṭ and Lālgolāghāṭ). The foot of the Dhavalāgiri peak is 20 miles from that place by a road along the Kuśī river; the temple of Varāhadeva lies 20 miles above." Although Bhutan and the celebrated Dhavalāgiri in Nepal are far away from the Varāha-kṣetra or Barāh-chatra, the location of the holy place indicated above is fairly correct. The Barāh-chatra and the Kokā river have been placed in the same region in an old book entitled *An Account of the Kingdom of Nepal* (being the substance of observations made during a Mission to that country in the year 1793) by Colonel Kirkpatrick, London, 1811. They are also indicated in the map inserted in the book. While describing the route from Khatmandu to Bijapur, the author says (pp. 324-25): "From Ohdhang ghaut 'To the conflux of the Arun and Soan-Kousi—7 [ghurries]; To Ukhurria ghaut (the 2nd) —5 [ghurries]; To the Thumboor, *i. e.* the confluence of the Thumboor and Soan-Kousi at Tambraphede—26 [ghurries]; To Koka-Kola (which falls into the Soan-Kousi according to the map)—28 [ghurries]; To Barah-chatra—28 [ghurries]; To Chattraghaut (on the Kousi)—5 [ghurries]; To Bejapour—16 [ghurries].'" The distance between the localities has been indicated by time, a ghurry being equal to 22½ minutes. But the estimates are only approximate as the time required in travelling in a hilly region can hardly be uniform. The word *kolā* (probably from Sanskrit *kulyā*) means a stream and Kokākolā means the small river called Kokā. Thus we have here not only a Varāha-kṣetra but also the junction of the rivers Kauśikī (Sun-Kuśī) and the Kokā (Kokā-kolā). There is therefore no doubt that the Barāh-chatra in Nepal has to be identified with the Kokāmukha *tīrtha* mentioned in the *Mahābhārata* and the *Purāṇas* and that the temples of the gods Kokāmukha and Śvetavarāha, associated in the Dāmodarpur inscription with *Himavac-chikhara*, were situated at this place.

c21.20

The distance of the ancient Kokāmukha *tīrtha* or Barāh-chatra in Nepal from the Dāmodarpur region in the southern part of the Dinajpur District is about 150 miles by air. The inclusion of the above part of Nepal within the Koṭivarṣa *viṣaya* or the Puṇḍravardhana *bhukti* in the Gupta period seems to be quite out of question at the present state of our knowledge.

c21.21

People of North Bihar have great regard for the Varāha-kṣetra even to-day. There is again no doubt that the culture of North Bengal was intimately associated with that of North Bihar before the former territory was flooded by Mongolian migrations. It was therefore quite natural for the people of the Dinajpur region to visit the Kokāmukha *tīrtha* even in the Gupta age. The *śreṣṭhin* Ṛbhupāla apparently went to the Varāhakṣetra-Kokāmukha on pilgrimage and after having returned home dedicated a large area of land in his native district in honour of the two gods enshrined at the holy place. But it was not quite easy for him to send the income accruing regularly to distant Nepal. The pious Ṛbhupāla therefore made two temples of the same gods, near the lands originally granted, together with two storehouses.¹ He appears to have installed in these temples two imitation-gods of the same names. That is why the gods in the *Himavac-chikhara* have been styled *ādya*, *i.e.* ‘original’. This is further suggested by the distinction of the places indicated by the two expressions *Himavac-chikhare* and *iha* occurring in the second passage quoted above from Ṛbhupāla’s record. About half a century after Ṛbhupāla, Amṛtadeva granted lands in favour of the temple of Śvetavarāha. This is no doubt one of the temples founded by Ṛbhupāla in the Dāmodarpur region and not that of the original god in the Himalayas. We have to take note of the fact that the expression *Himavac-chikhara* is conspicuous by its absence in the record of Amṛtadeva. Instead of any reference to the Himalayas, we find here the temple located in *atr=āraṇye*, *i.e.*, ‘here in this forest,’ which no doubt formed a part of the Koṭivarṣa *viṣaya*.

c21.22

¹ Cf. तत्क्षेत्रसामीप्यभूमौ तयोराद्यकोकामुलखस्वामिश्वेतवराहस्वामिनो- र्नामलिगमेनं देवकुलद्वयमेतत्कोष्ठकाद्वयं च, ‘these two temples marked by the names of the said original gods, Kokāmukhasvāmin and Śvetavarāha- svāmin, as well as these two store-houses in the vicinity of that [land granted originally at Doṅgā-grāma in Koṭivarṣa-viṣaya ].

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