The legendary Renuka fair

By Girdhari Lal Mahajan

THE annual legendary Renuka fair is a unique religious celebration. According to a legend, Lord Parshuram and his mother, Goddess Renuka, meet for one-and-a-half day between Dashmi and Ekadsi every year, and to commemorate this meeting a fair is organised. This fair also highlights a mother’s love for her child. People of the area bring idols of Lord Parshuram in palanquins from the nearby temple in Jammu village to the Renuka lake. It is believed that the Goddess appears beneath the surface of the water of the lake to bless her son.

According to the legend, king Renu had two beautiful daughters, Renuka and Nenuka. Once he asked his daughters who did they think fed them. While Nenuka replied that only Renu was all powerful, Renuka replied otherwise. She told her father that God alone was supreme and all others lived on His benevolence. The king felt insulted with the reply and decided to teach her a lesson. He married Nenuka to a powerful king, Shahatar Bhau, whereas he married Renuka to sage Jag Damini who had no material wealth. The sage used to remain busy in the jungle, undertaking physical hardships to please Lord Vishnu. Pleased with the devotion of Jag Damini and Renuka, Lord Vishnu promised to reincarnate himself as child of the couple. After sometime, the couple was blessed with a son, the tenth incarnation of Lord Vishnu, and was named Parshuram.

One day, while Renuka was busy collecting wood in the nearby jungle, King Shahatar Bhau who was passing through the area was fascinated by the beauty and grace of Renuka. He found a similarity in the physical appearance of Renuka and Nenuka. On reaching home, he asked his wife, Nenuka, if she had a real siste. Nenuka told her husband about her sister and the king asked his wife to invite Renuka and her husband over for a meal. Jag Damini and Renuka were invited to the palace and treated to a banquet by the royal couple. The sage also invited the royal couple as a gesture of goodwill. The royal couple along with top military men and other dignitaries reached the jungle as per the invitation. Renuka became nervous as she had made no special arrangements for them. Jag Damini, however, asked his wife not to get worried. The sage asked the Kamdhenu cow to provide a lavish feast befitting the dignified guests. To everybody’s surprise Kamdhenu fed all the invitees with delicious food items. The king felt insulted and humiliated with such a lavish display and asked the sage to hand over the Kamdhenu cow to him. The sage, however, refused to part with the divine animal. The king became furious and murdered the sage. He forcibly tried to take Renuka to his palace but Renuka jumped from a hill top. Cracks appeared in the earth, burying Renuka in its lap. A strong water stream erupted from the cracks and took the form of a lake. When her son Parshuram, who was meditating on Mahendru mountain, learnt of the tragedy, he took up arms and killed all the men of the enemy camp. When he came to the burial site of his mother, Renuka appeared from beneath the lake and blessed her son. She promised him that she would bless him every year and would remain with him for one-and-a-half day on auspicious occasions. A fair is organised annually to celebrate the meetings between the mother and the son.

This year, the fair was celebrated from October 30 to November 4.