The world of Hanuman ji.

[Text and photo by Mayank Austen Soofi]

One monkey is swinging from a tree branch. One is scooping out the fleshy remains of a discarded melon. One is clinging tightly to her little baby.

Peaceful and amiable, these monkeys loiter all day long in the plaza outside the Hanuman Mandir of Connaught Place, on Baba Kharak Singh Marg. Dotted with peepal trees, the plaza teems with men, women, children (and monkeys!) throughout the day, late into the night. The tiled ground is also dotted with stalls offering henna services, palm reading, or selling pakori and kachori. The temple to Hanuman ji stands in a corner. The plaza is so strongly identified with this temple that even the underground subway is named after Hanuman Mandir.

But the plaza has two more temples. They too add to the serene sacredness that permeates the place.

Decorated with sculptures, the colourful spire of the Ganesh Mandir is patterned after the gopuram of an archetypal South Indian temple. This afternoon, as the clock strikes four, the temple grills are pulled apart to let in the devotees. The priest quietly offers a banana to each of the first visitors. The principal shrine within is dedicated to “Sri Abheeshta Varasiddhi Vinaykar.” A plaque informs that the temple was “constructed by Shri V. Sankar Aiyar, s/o Shri Venkatarama Aiyar of Kadugodi on 31st oct, 52 in the premises donated by Shri J.K. Birlaji.” (Google reveals Kadugodi to be in Bengaluru.) The idol of Ganeshji is in black. An adjacent shrine has the black idols of Nava Griha, the nine planets.

Black is also the majestic idol of Shani Devta guarding the entrance of the next-door Pracheen Shiv Mandir. The temple courtyard is rich in trees, including two luscious neem, each harbouring a small temple of its own (see photo). The yard is intensely tranquil, detached from the commercial concerns of Connaught Place. The porch to the main shrine has a low hanging bell, the deep resonance of its frequent ringing echoes through the air as solemnly as ripples across a village pond. The doorway to the prayer chamber has marble plaques on either side, inscribed with Shiv Chalisa and Aarti Shankar Ji Ki respectively. Inside, a citizen in shirt-pants is standing by the sacred Shivlingam; eyes closed, palms clasped, lips murmuring.

The way to the third temple overlooks a long counter selling scores of sweet prasad: laddu, pera, rasgulla, milkcake, lauki ki mithai, moti pak, imarti, etc. (The air, though, is redolent exclusively with the unmistakable scent of besan laddu.) The portal to this temple is fronted by a very, very long queue of devotees. No surprise here. This is the famous Hanuman Mandir, and this is Tuesday, the weekday traditionally devoted to “Sankat Mochan” Hanuman ji, the dispeller of troubles.