“You have
the God’s invitation”-that’s what people say when one visits any holy place. I
would call me lucky to have received such invitations –be it Hinduism, Buddhism
or Christianity. I am not so lucky to have visited any of the Muslim holy
places till date but have been lucky enough to see the holy relics of Prophet
Muhammad in Turkey.
Spiritualism
has always been of interest to me since my childhood although I don’t call
myself a very spiritual person. I have strong belief in the existence of a
supernatural power but somehow the rituals associated with the present day
religion have never convinced me .Anyway it’s the matter of one’s faith and I
have never challenged one’s faith.
I am a born
Hindu but it’s a strange coincidence that I have got an opportunity to visit
almost all major places associated with the life of Jesus. I never visited
these places as a matter of choice but it so happened that I call myself lucky
enough to claim ‘yes! I have the invitation of Jesus’.
It all began
with my visit to The Basilica of Bom
Jesus in Goa –a tourist paradise
in Konkan coast in India. The Basilica
of Bom Jesus is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and holds the mortal
remains of St Francis Xavier. Francis Xavier born in 1506 was born
in Xavier (now part of Spain), was a Roman Catholic missionary and co-founder
of the Society of Jesus. He was a study companion of St. Ignatius of Loyola and
one of the first seven Jesuits who took vows of poverty and chastity at Montmartre,
(Paris) in 1534. Francis Xavier died on Sancian Island while en route to
continental China on (December 2, 1552). The body of Francis Xavier was first
taken to Portuguese Malacca and two years later shipped back to Goa. It is said
that the saint's body was as fresh as the day it was buried. remains of the
saint still attract a huge number of devotees (Christian and non-Christian
alike) from all over the world, especially during the public viewing of his
body every ten years . The saint is said to have miraculous powers of healing.
I was on my honeymoon trip to Goa and could have a glimpse of the relics of
Father Xavier . I have visited many churches before but this was my first visit
to a holy historical site associated with Christianity.
This is one
of the oldest churches in Goa, as well as in India. The floor is of marble
inlaid with precious stones. Apart from the elaborate gilded altars, the
interior of the church is simple. The church also holds paintings of scenes
taken from the life of St. Francis Xavier. The mausoleum, on the top of which
is placed the silver casket with the body of St. Francis Xavier (1696), was the
gift of the last of the Medicis, Cosimo III, the Grand Duke of Tuscany.
While visit to the Basilica of
Bom Jesus was my first sojourn with an important Christian venerated churches
in India , my rendezvous with the life events of Jesus and his associates began
with my visit at the National Shrine of St.Thomas Basilica, which is built over
the tomb of Apostle St.Thomas. St.Thomas was one of the twelve Apostles of
Jesus Christ , who came to India in A.D.52, martyred in A.D.72 and was buried
here in Mylapore, Chennai.
In the whole world, there are only three churches built over the
tomb of an Apostle of Jesus Christ - the Basilica of Saint Peter built over the
tomb of St.Peter in Rome, Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela built over the
tomb of St.James in Spain and Basilica of the National Shrine of St.Thomas
built over the tomb of St.Thomas. Basilica of the National Shrine of St.Thomas
is in Chennai, India. Most Indian including Catholics , seem to be unaware of
the importance of this extraordinary shrine. It came to me as a pleasant
surprise when i visited the shrine during my visit to Chennai on an official work
and came to know about its importance. It was a pleasant surprise as I visited
this shrine after my visit to the holy
land of Jerusalem and Bethlehem a year
ago. It was like Jesus telling me “hey ! You missed this one “. Interestingly
enough or one may call it a strange coincidence, I first got an opportunity to
visit the holy land of Jesus and later got the opportunity to visit the sites
of his great Aposles –first Saint Peters at Vatican and subsequently to St
Thomas Basilica at Chennai.
St.Thomas,
referred to as Didymus, in the Gospel of St.John is one of the twelve disciples
of Jesus Christ. He is one of the prime witnesses to the resurrection of Jesus.
He arrived in India in the year 52 AD at the then famous port of Cranganore in
the Malabar Coast. He travelled extensively all over the world for seventeen
years. He spent four years in Sind, six years in Malabar and seven years in
Mailepuram, or the present Mylapore in Madras.
Legends
say that a huge log of wood was washed ashore near what is now called Santhome,
which could not be moved even by elephants. St.Thomas used his girdle and
pulled it out. The king of Mylapore was so taken up that he donated the huge
log of wood to St.Thomas, who built a small chapel with it.There are many
literary works that proudly attest to the fact that Santhome offers shelter to
St.Thomas the Apostle. He was a favourite of the local king Mahadevan. However,
his ministers disliked him. He took refuge in the jungle of Little Mount, which
is about four miles away from Santhome.
Little
Mount is a hillock, which is eighty feet above sea level. A cave on the hillock
provided him an ideal shelter. The amazing feature of the cave is that one can
still see the fingers of St.Thomas clearly imprinted on the rocks of the cave.
Santhome
is the sacred place that possesses his tomb. St.Thomas Mount will ever be
remembered as the Calvary of St.Thomas. It was at St.Thomas Mount that he was
pierced with a spear while praying in front of the cross. Even today pilgrims
are moved by the Bleeding Cross, which is believed to be carved by him.After
his death, his body was buried in the Church built by him. A pot containing
earth, probably moistured by his blood and the lance with which he was pierced
were both buried in his tomb. In the 10th century AD Christians from Persia,
founded this Christian village of Santhome, and then they built a Church and
tomb over the burial site of St.Thomas
Before I
elaborate on my experiences of the ‘holy land’, it would be worthwhile to
mention about Roza Bal-the disputed shrine of Jesus of Kashmir. It is a commonly-held belief among Christians
and Muslims that Jesus rose to heaven, and that his body was never buried.
However, BBC Documentary and other media reports has brought the attention of
the world to the Rozabal Tomb in Kashmir, said to contain the body of one Yuz
Asaf, a name supposedly adopted by Jesus when he was in India. Local tradition
states that the entombed was a prophet of Ahl-al-Kitab, or People of the Book
(traditionally Christians and Jews), and his name was ‘Isa – the Qur’anic name
for Jesus. The said ed burial-place of Jesus in Srinagar, Kashmir, is known to
the locals as Rozabal, meaning the ‘Honoured Tomb’. It is known as the tomb of
this Yuz Asaf. The word ‘Yuz’ stands for
Yuzu (meaning Jesus), and ‘Asaf’ in Hebrew means gatherer, namely, one who was
to collect the lost sheep of Israel. It is said that the Prophet Yuz Asaf
arrived from Syria about two thousand years ago.
The shrine in
the backstreets of old Srinagar, first came into the limelight when a local
journalist, Aziz Kashmiri, argued in his 1973 book, Christ in Kashmir, that
Jesus survived crucifixion some 2,000 years ago, migrated to Kashmir and was
buried in Srinagar.
Today the locals in Srinagar, however, present a
very different view of the tomb. Any suggestion that the tomb contains the
mortal remains of Jesus Christ is met with fierce hostility and mockery.
When I visited Kashmir on vacations, I
had an innate desire to see this place. The driver of the vehicle who knew
about every lane and by lane of the city showed his ignorance about this site. During
my last day at Srinagar, I felt a bit disappointed and lost hopes of visiting
the site but when the driver asked me if I want to see any other place , I told
him that I do want to visit that site out of curiosity and I had no other
interest and if there is time we may see this place also as we had seen all
notable tourist sites in the city. He therefore agreed to atleast make an
effort to find out the site. It was a
crowded old city with traffic jams everywhere. Finally he stopped in front of a
old small structure .It was raining heavily. I had seen and read so much about
the structure that I could immediately identify that this was ‘Rozabal shrine’-the
disputed tomb of Jesus in Kashmir. It was raining and I just ran to the
site.The entrance was closed and there is a huge banner at the entrance stating
that the believe that this is the resting place of Jesus is unfounded. There is
small window through which one can see the tomb. I just peeped into it and
could see two tombs-one of a sufi saint named Syed Naseeruddin and the other is
believed to be the tomb of Jesus. Although it was raining I suddenly found
locals staring at us in suspicion. A few people came out and started talking to
the driver in Kashmiri. I could make out that they were enquiring about who I
was and why I was there. Suddenly I found a man coming straight towards me . He
asked me who I am and why I am here. I told him that I am a tourist and after
seeing all the places in the valley, just wanted to see the place because I had
seen a documentary and I was just curious. Before he could react, I told him
that I do not believe what the documentary has said but am here just out of curiosity.
My denial brought a smile on him and he said yes these westerners always create
controversies. He told me to go and see other places instead of wasting time
here. While leaving I asked the driver if he knew the place because he didn’t enquire
about the place and as if he knew the way before. He told me with a smile that
he knew about this place but was not aware of the fact that this site is amidst
controversy and is believed to be the resting place of Jesus. He stopped here
because this was the only tomb here and he thought he will ask someone here
about the site I was looking for. Anyways, I wondered if this was really the
resting place of Jesus. Is that the desire of Jesus that I visit even this disputed
site?
In the next post will talk about the my
tryst and rendezvous with Jesus in the holy land of Jerusalem.
