Indian imprint on Armenia
Frontline, India
Aug 1, 2006
TEXT AND PHOTOGRAPHS BY ROMESH BHATTACHARJI
The remote village of Odzun reveals an Indian connection.
THE road from Yerevan, Armenia, to Tiblisi, Georgia, goes through
impressive terrain. The twin summits of Armenia’s Bible Mountain,
Mt. Great Ararat and Mt. Little Ararat (5,165 metres and 3,925 m
respectively), loom mesmerisingly to the south. From the shoulder
of Mt. Aragats (4,090 m) after Pushkin Pass, the steep walls of the
hills gradually move closer to the road. The space at the base of
the narrow and deep Debed Gorge is shared between a railway line
and a road that are marvels of scientific daring. Throughout this
route are strewn many relics of the Soviet past. Huge factories
that once employed thousands in these remote mountains are smokeless
and silent. Now there are only some signs of optimism checking the
otherwise all-pervasive decrepitude evident in the rows of attendant
apartment blocks that surround the many industries along the way.
High above Debed Gorge, is a surprising plateau. The zig-zag road from
the lowest point in Armenia (380 m above sea level) suddenly becomes
straight, lined with fields, and bordered with huge trees. Shepherds
with their flock hold up traffic and smile at the impatience of car
drivers. This is the lovely village of Odzun, once known an Awjun.
A 7th century Armenian church is perched on a shoulder dramatically
overlooking the deep Debed Gorge. The Armenian Orthodox Church
celebrates mass differently from the way churches do in the West.
There is no written order of service. There are no chairs. There is a
spacious domed hall in which people stand. There is usually at least
one high-vaulted porch for entrance. The focus is the altar, which,
except in the more important churches, is very simply dressed. The
service continues for hours and worshippers enter and leave at will.
This kind of freedom is much like the informality of worship in
eastern temples. The Odzun church was from A.D. 717 to A.D. 728, the
seat of the Armenian Pope Hovhan Odzntsi, better known as Catholicos
Yovhan Awjnec. This church was built before his time. He, however,
shifted to Echmiadzin near Yerevan and since then that has been the
seat of all Armenian Popes.
Photo: THE CHURCH OF Odzun and, to the left, two roughly hewn
rectangular rock obelisks encased in huge blocks of stone. The
structure is believed to be a gift an Indian king gave an Armenian
general for his help.
The Odzun church is cavernous, gloomy especially in winter, and
spartan. It is surrounded by three aisles, which have now collapsed.
It has lasted the depredations of the Persians and the Arabs, albeit
not without repair. Like most buildings in the area, it is built in
pink felsite stone. It does not appear to have windows at waist-level,
which is typical of the period. Instead, they are close to the roof,
perhaps to intensify the no-hope melancholy air. There are graves
of prominent persons from several hundred years ago to the present
in the surrounding graveyard. There is also a memorial commemorating
people from Odzun who died fighting in the Second World War; it has a
fresco of Stalin decorating one small corner of it. Stalin was born
in Gori in nearby Georgia.
Opposite the north wall of the church is an unusual monument. The
priest taking us around the ancient three-aisled Basilica said that
that structure of two roughly hewn rectangular rock obelisks encased
in huge blocks of stone was a tribute given by an Indian king for
the help given him by an Armenian general from Odzun. Local legend
has it that it is a fertility symbol. No more of this legend could
I get out of this priest. Interestingly however, on either side of a
sunrise-facing window (symbolism to be marked) stand sculpted angels
holding snakes. The two snakes entwine to decorate a bust of Christ,
a design extremely uncommon in Christian art. Veeshap is the Armenian
name for a snake, which could well have its roots in the Sanskrit
word, vish that is poison, and the Hindi word for snake, saamp. It
is said that the descendents of two Hindu princes founded a village
named Veeshap in nearby Turkey. This influence, strange and foreign,
can be seen today only in Odzun in the entire region.
I subsequently found that Armenia’s Indian connection was a fact,
though little is known about this particular bit of history. In the
appendix to an informative book published in 1937 called Armenians
in India – from the earliest times to the present by Jacob Seth,
an Armenian in Kolkata, I found an interesting story.
Photo: THE VIEW FROM the Cascades, a gigantic artificial waterfall
built in the Soviet era. This is the highest point in the capital
Yerevan.The twin peaks of Mount Ararat, now in Turkey, can be seen
in the distance.
In 149 B.C., Gissaneh and Demeter, two princes of Kannauj, Uttar
Pradesh, tried to plot against their father, Dinaks Pall. These
names are from Armenian sources and thus only vaguely resemble Indian
names, and the imagination has to be exercised somewhat to detect the
linkage. According to Seth, Gissaneh could be Krishna and Demeter,
Juganath. Dinaks Pall could be Dinesh Pal.
The conspiracy was detected and the princes fled to the sub-Caucasus
kingdom of Armenia. At that time the country was not landlocked as it
is now; it had access to the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea, and had
merchant ships that used to go to India and China. The two princes
and their families, courtiers and a small army most probably travelled
by ship and did not cross the difficult overland route to Armenia.
Photo: THE OBELISKS OF Odzun a close view.
They were welcomed hospitably by King Valarsaces, the brother of
Arsaces the Great. Sixteen years earlier the latter had lost some
territory to the Persian king Selucus, and his brother may have thought
that this could be a useful alliance. Within 15 years these two princes
were put to death for plotting against the king. However, their three
sons, Kuars, Meghtes and Horean, were allowed to rule over Taron (now
in Turkey’s province of Van) and established cities known by their
names. They later founded the city of Kharkh, high in the mountains
of north-west Armenia, and set up two temples in the names of their
fathers. These cities prospered and expanded unhindered until A.D. 301.
By then Christianity, which entered Armenia in A.D. 66, had spread
all over the kingdom. But small pockets still stuck to their old
beliefs. These were mainly Hindus who had settled there for 450
years. Any person who was not with the majority was considered to be
against it and so in A.D. 301 a fierce battle broke out between the
Armenians led by the prince of Angegh and the Hindus led by Demeter
and a soldier priest called Artzan or Arjun. A detailed description
of what followed is given by Zenob, a Syrian follower of St. Gregory,
The Illuminator, who spread Christianity in Armenia. Zenob describes
how the Hindus were eventually defeated after a prolonged conflict
in which some of Armenian troops, who were converted Hindus, joined
their former brethren. Artzan, Demeter, and a popular Armenian prince
were killed in battle. Zenob records that 1,038 Hindus were buried.
Seeing so much blood shed, a truce was called. A structure to celebrate
the Armenian triumph was built – perhaps the strange two-arched
monument holding obelisks that we see in the Odzun church today. The
obelisks could be remnants of phallic symbols from the Hindu temples
that are thought to have existed once on the site. The inscription
on the monument mentions the last of the conversions to Christianity.
Photo: THE FIRST ARMENIAN JOURNAL, printed in Madras in the 17 century.
Armenia and India have had commercial links for centuries. There
have been colonies of Armenians in India’s coastal cities for four
centuries. In Yerevan’s ancient manuscripts library, Matenadaran, is
a 17th century copy of the first journal published in Armenian, which
was printed in Madras (now Chennai). Many armies of the feudal states
in India and also the British army had Armenian soldiers and officers.
Photo: A STATUE HONOURING Catholicos Yovan Awjunec (A.D. 717-728),
whose papal seat was in Odzun until he shifted to Echmiadzin.
Odzun’s cultural and religious link has thus far gone unrecorded.
Artzan means statue in Armenian. Odzun, also pronounced as Awjun,
sounds very much like Arjun. There is little doubt that this could
have been the scene of the struggle between the two communities and
that the strange monument remembers that trial of strength.
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