The Bhairav temple behind the Purana Qila is a strange place, where liquor is offered to the deity. Two beggars,…
Representational image (Photo: Getty Images)
The Bhairav temple behind the Purana Qila is a strange place, where liquor is offered to the deity. Two beggars, Tota Ram and Kalia, are among the many, who frequent the place on Sundays when the special offering is made. To get intoxicated and enjoy the divine "leela" is how they take the gift of the occasion. The Bhairavs are the messengers of Yama, and to appease them is considered a worthy service to escape suffering in after-life at their hands. In winter specially, the queue of those waiting for a free drink is longer. There are people who look down on this sort of devotion as they consider the concept of Bhairav to be associated with a kind of tantricism, one aspect of which is personified by Aghoris, who revel in an unclean environment and obnoxious diet. Daropa the Aghori would lie in a cave near the river bank, dirty, unwashed and unkempt, lost in a world of his own unless gamblers, who indulged in "satta" broke his reverie, asking for the winning lottery number. That he was somehow able to help them was evident from the fact that they came trooping in everincreasing numbers. Jagru, another Aghori, had a cageful of owlets notwithstanding the belief that they are considered birds of ill-omen. How the Aghoris relate to Bhairavs is not quite clear though a story says that a Bhairav, who tried to seduce a goddess, was cursed by her to live as an Aghori. Incidentally, Bhim of the Mahabharata is said to have offered worship at the Bhairav temple near the Purana Qila. Tota Ram and his companions swear by the mighty Bhim when they go high on free liquor.
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