Bilweshwar Devalaya: What Lies
Beneath the Legend?
Dr. Shivajit Dutta
ABSTRACT
Is the Bilweshwar Temple of Belsor, Nalbari, a
non-Aryan shrine later Aryanised? A popular myth recounts the story
of a priest who followed his cow and discovered Bilweshwar. But what
is the historical truth behind it? Dr Maheswar Neog says that King
Nagakhsa built it in 1529. Could a king of a tiny state generate a
surplus for raising such shrines? The Ahom kings rebuilt it
according to stone inscriptions. There is uncertainty about Nagaksha
or Nagshankar. The fact that Shiva is claimed as a non-Aryan God,
later Aryanized alone, can’t establish that Bilweswar was originally
a non-Aryan shrine. There are other indications. Many ethnic groups
in Assam worshipped Burha and Burhi as part of their magic ritual of
worshipping male and female organs. The main idols of Shiva and
Parvati of Bilweswar are nudes, and this is unusual in Aryan
shrines. Idols of Brahma and Bishnu are not so. In some cases,
nudity is covered by rudrakshas. This exemplifies a mixture of Aryan
and non-Aryan cultures. Here, a strange tradition is followed to
date: the vegetarian god Shiva is offered the cooked meat of a goat.
Buffaloes are sacrificed during Durga Puja, but the flesh is not
taken by the locals; Bodo people from nearby villages take it. What
is the significance of these customs? Does this indicate that some
non-Aryans were promoted to caste Hindu status but could not
completely abandon their habits? So they retain some non-Aryan
habits of their distant past? “Belsor” may be a word of Mongoloid
origin. A nearby village Bihampur, is Bodo in its origin. “Biham” in
Bodo means “daughter-in-law”. The Bodo word “dab” is in usage at
Bihampur among a community. The predominance of the “-ng” sound is
seen among the caste Hindus of Belsor. All these strongly indicate a
non-Aryan ambience around the Bilweshwar temple in the distant past.
Proper historical research of these may reveal many lost but
exciting truths of history.
Keywords: Bilweshwar, Belsor. Non-Aryan, Bodo, Nagaksha.
