Existence of the Devi lives on at Pandam Garhi Mandir

On May 8, 2020, the Sikkim state cabinet meeting sanctioned different funds through different government departments. Among these sanctioned lists was the approval and sanction of Rs.6383.00 lakhs (Rupees sixty-three crores and eighty-three lakhs only) for the construction of the Pilgrimage Centre with a 54-foot-high statue of Nishani Kali Devi at Central Pandam, East Sikkim, under the Civil and Tourism Department.

This project will definitely help the region grow and provide better prospects for tourism. Visitors who look for new destinations will appreciate the natural beauty around the mandir. The panoramic beauty of the hills across will rightly capture the exquisiteness of nature. 

I have visited this place four times, and this mandir falls on the way to the historic Pandam Garhi ruins. We had always talked about Garhi ruins, but stories related to Kali Mandir or the Pandam Garhi Mandir were limited to oral rendition and followed from generation to generation. These stories are events and a collection of anecdotes that made this Mandir grow stronger from one corner of the state to another and even beyond that. These stories are amazing and shelter self-belief to those who follow Devi and her auspicious presence.

ALSO READ -.Pandam Garhi and its surmise

Old folks of Pandam say they had heard from their elders that Devi used to visit their hills most often, and those happenings were much earlier than the stories of Damodar Parrhey’s legend. Those folks remember those who had seen Devi or felt her presence. Those villagers had been worshipping Devi Kali for ages, and the presence of the temple above the village of Karmithang is as old as its first human settlement in that region. The locals and the worshipers in neighbouring states firmly believe in the charisma of the Kali.

I have heard different accounts about Devi and her surroundings from RP Bhandari, a man in his eight decades of life. Some of the stories had lived up for ages, and a few were recent. In one such incident – a group of men was moving in the forest near the mandir when they came across a small girl. One of them had mistakenly made fun of the girl. Thereafter he got ill and had blood vomiting. Knowing they had annoyed Devi, he and his family went to the mandir that same evening and asked for forgiveness. He recovered from his illness after that.

Kali Devi Mandir - 2005

Another story says there was once a forest fire. The fire was big, and when it was about to approach the mandir premises, there was a rainfall around on the bright sunny day, and the fire was put off. Surprisingly, the rain too stopped, added the old man. There are various incidents of people visiting this mandir from far places when their child had a speech disorder and getting it recovered. Incidents where people had informed of coming across a tiger at the mandir make the place more mysterious.

RP Bhandari said he had been visiting the mandir with his grandfather since childhood, and they used to worship the tree out there. Upon asking why he was worshipping the tree, his grandfather would say, "We had been doing this for ages, and worshipping this tree would bring fortune to our area, and no ill effect would occur," remembers Bhandari. Devi was worshipped in the form of a tree, and the idol of Kali was kept later, I believe.

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Religious rituals and festivals are regularly performed at the Kali Mandir. Just below the mandir is a small water source that comes out from the muddy walls. The most famous oral narrative among the villagers says a popular warrior from Nepal, Damodar Pahrey, with his more popular name, Damodar Pande, had reached this place of Pandam after having a war with Sikkim. He was a worshipper of Devi Kali. The land then was very dry, and he had mysteriously pushed his finger into the wall, and water flowed from it from nowhere. Even today, the water still flows and has not dried up.

It is said he had washed his sword in that water. The story seems hard to believe in this 21st century, but these are legends, and people still talk about it. Damodar Pahrey was a mysterious person. In one of the books, I read that he was carried on a conch (sankha) from Kuerseong to Nepal. This was just to relate to his mystery. We shall talk about that various flying conch some other day. The chronology of Sikkim history mentions the presence of the Nepal army and Damodar Parhey in 1788-89.

An interesting anecdote shared by Arun Bhandari, son of RP Bhandari, he told me they never had any problem with water whenever they organized Maha Puran at the Devi Mandir. They never had to carry water for seven to nine days. But when there were construction works inside the mandir, the source of water would be much less than they had to be carried from nearby sources. 

The historic Pandam Garhi ruin is a 10-15 minute walk from the Kali Devi mandir. Various accounts claim to have built the Garhi, but nothing has been found correctly. My small mind shifts to the discoveries that happened in 2009. During the repairing of the walls and the construction of walking stairs, the workers underneath the shifted rock boulders and muddy debris found cannonballs like round river stones, pottery pieces, a ‘jhatoa’ used for grinding grains, stone tablets written in Ranjana lipi, burned blackened charcoal pieces and others. This finding was simply amazing, but in the last eleven years, nothing has been done about it. The carbon dating of pottery pieces and those burned charcoal could re-write the story of this Garhi. What were the stone tablets doing there? Many questions arise.

There are tales about the war between the armies of Pandam Garhi and the Namthang Garhi. They used to throw cannonballs like stones across each other and it is believed that a few busted walls found today are said to be by the strength of those stones thrown from Namthang Garhi. Though hard to believe since the distance between the two Garhi is far and wide, even more thought-provoking is to imagine the subject of the weapon technology of a couple of hundred years back.

2009

I do not know how others feel about the origin of the name “Pandam,” but what I learned about naming this place is related to one of the most hostile episodes in Sikkim’s royal history. Pende Ongmu, the half-sister of Chogyal Chakdor Namgyal, the third Chogyal of Sikkim, had successfully deliberated the murder of the Chogyal at Rabdanste and had gone hiding. 

She is believed to have been found at the fort of Pandam along with the physician who was her partner in crime; as such, the place was called Pendem after Pende Ongmu, who was later taken to Namchi, where she was put to death. The more popular name Pandam of today could be the angelized name of Pendem. The villagers do agree: Raja-rani was found hiding at Garhi, and they were caught!

Published in Sikkim Express - 17.05.2020