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{{Short description|Sanyasi and fakir from Kannauj, India}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Puran Puri
| image = Puran_Puri.jpg
| caption = Original illustration by [[Jonathan_Duncan_(Governor_of_Bombay)|Jonathan Duncan]] dated to May 1792 showing Puran Puri with his arms aloft undergoing the ''urdhwa bahu'' penance.
| native_name = पूरन पुरी
| native_name_lang = hin
| birth_date = {{circa}}1742
| birth_place = [[Kannauj]], [[India]]
| death_date = 26 July 1800, [[Benares]]
| occupation = [[Ascetic]], [[Explorer|Traveller]]
}}

'''Puran Puri''' ([[Hindi]]: पूरन पुरी, alternative spellings '''Purana Poori''' or '''Praun Poory''')<ref name="Asiatic Researches"> Asiatic researches, or, Transactions of the Society instituted in Bengal for inquiring into the history and antiquities, the arts, sciences and literature of Asia v5 1799 https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/92907#page/59/mode/1up</ref> was an 18th-century [[Sannyasa|sanyasi]] monk and traveller from [[India]], who travelled from Central India to [[Sri Lanka]], Malaysia, the Middle East, [[Moscow]] and [[Tibet]]. He was a [[Khatri]] or [[Rajput]], born {{circa}}1742 in the city of [[Kannauj]] in what is now the modern-day state of [[Uttar Pradesh]] in India.

== Initiation and Life as a Yogi ==

Puran Puri left his father's house at the age of nine, and travelled to [[Bithoor]] where he became a [[Fakir]]. From Bithoor he proceeded to [[Allahabad]], where he started his ''urdhwa bahu'' [[tapasya]].<ref name="Asiatic Researches"></ref> ''Urdhwa bahu'' is a penance that consists of keeping the arms raised aloft, for decades. <ref>https://www.google.co.in/books/edition/The_Truth_of_Yoga/ibziDwAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=Urdhva+Bahu+puran+puri&pg=PT12&printsec=frontcover</ref> Puran Puri belonged to the Puri sub-order of [[Dashanami Sampradaya]] swamis.

== Travels ==

Even though he was a humble ascetic and travelled mainly to Hindu places of worship as a form of pilgrimage, Puran Puri's travels were extensive and comparable in distances to those of more famous travellers like [[Ibn Batuta]]. His travelogue was recorded by East India Company official<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://asia.si.edu/exhibition/a-tense-relationship/|title=A Tense Relationship|website=Freer Gallery of Art & Arthur M. Sackler Gallery}}</ref> [[Jonathan_Duncan_(Governor_of_Bombay)|Jonathan Duncan]] in May 1792, when he was the British Resident at Benares.<ref name="Asiatic Researches"></ref>

=== Travel to Rameswaram and Sri Lanka ===

He first set out to travel to [[Rameswaram]], a holy pilgrimage site at the tip of the Indian peninsula which is one of the [[Chardham|Chardhams]] (four sacred Hindu pilgrimage sites).

His route took him through the cities of [[Kalpi]], [[Ujjain]], [[Burhanpur]], [[Aurangabad]], [[Ellora_Caves|Ellora]], crossing the Godavari near Toka, passing by [[Pune]], [[Satara (city)|Satara]], [[Nagara,_Karnataka|Bidanur]] and [[Srirangapatna]]. Using the [[Thamarassery Churam]] mountain pass he crossed into [[Malabar_District|Malabar]], then onwards to [[Cochin]] and [[Rameswaram]].

From [[Rameswaram]], Puran Puri took a northwards detour to the [[Jagannath_Temple,_Puri|Jagannath Temple]], another of the [[Chardham|Chardhams]], in [[Puri]], Orissa.

Returning to [[Rameswaram]], he then crossed over into [[Sri_Lanka|Ceylon]] (Sri Lanka), visiting the capital [[Kandy]], the pilgrimage town [[Kataragama_temple|Kataragama]] by the [[Menik Ganga]] river, and the Sri Pada or "sacred footprint" on [[Adam's Peak]].<ref name="Asiatic Researches"></ref>

=== Travel to Afghanistan ===

Leaving Sri Lanka, Puran Puri returned by sea to Cochin on the west coast of India, travelling via [[Bombay]] to [[Dwarka]], which is another the [[Chardham|Chardhams]], and [[Hinglaj]], an important Hindu pilgrimage place in current day [[Balochistan]], [[Pakistan]]. Passing through [[Multan]] and beyond [[Attock]], he took a westward detour to visit [[Haridwar]] in India.

Continuing his eastward journey, Puran Puri passed through the [[Punjab]] to [[Kabul]] and [[Bamyan_Province|Bamyan]] where he noted the [[Buddhas_of_Bamiyan|great statues]].<ref name="Asiatic Researches"></ref>

=== Meeting with Ahmed Shah Abdali ===

Near [[Ghazni]] in modern south-eastern Afghanistan, Puran Puri came into contact with the army of [[Ahmad_Shah_Durrani|Ahmed Shah Abdali]], the founder of the state of Afghanistan. Ahmed Shah had an ulcer on his nose, and since Puran Puri was an Indian ascetic, Shah consulted him regarding the ulcer. Having no knowledge of medicine or surgery however, Puran Puri used his wits to get out of the situation by suggesting that there might be a link between the Shah's kingship and the ulcer, because of which it might not be advisable to remove one lest it affect the other.<ref name="Asiatic Researches"></ref>

=== Travel to Azerbaijan ===

From Afghanistan, Puran Puri travelled through [[Greater_Khorasan|Khorasan]] via [[Herat]] and [[Mashhad]], to [[Gorgan|Astrabad (Gorgan)]] in Iran. From here he made his way to the [[Ateshgah_of_Baku|Maha Jwala Mukhi]] ("flaming mouth")<ref name="Asiatic Researches"></ref> in [[Suraxanı raion|Surakhani]], a suburb of [[Baku]] in present-day [[Azerbaijan]], where a castle-like [[Jwala_Ji#Atashgah_of_Baku|fire temple]] and monastery complex existed on a pocket of [[natural gas]] that produced a flame from natural gas seepage.

=== Travel to Russia ===

After spending almost a year at the Jwala Mukhi, Puran Puri went on to the city of [[Astrakhan]], on the banks of the river [[Volga]] in southern Russia, where he met up with resident Hindus. As Astrakhan was the Russian gate to the Orient, many merchants from Mughal India had settled there.

The Volga was frozen at this time, and travelling on the frozen river for eighteen days, he reached [[Moscow]].<ref name="Asiatic Researches"></ref> Since in Moscow Puran Puri was inconvenienced by the large crowds of curious Russians who flocked to see him, unwittingly disturbing him in his devotions, he decided not to proceed further, and to return.<ref>The European Magazine and London Review, by the Philological Society of London. Volume 57, 1810</ref> This was the western-most destination in his travels.

=== Travel through Persia ===

From Moscow, Puran Puri returned to Astrakhan, and via the Silk Road cities of [[Shamakhi]], [[Shirvan]], [[Tabriz]] and [[Hamadan]], reached [[Isfahan]]. [[Isfahan]] was one of the largest cities in the world, and after a stay of forty days there, he then proceeded to [[Shiraz]] in the Fars Province of current day [[Iran]]. In Shiraz, Puran Puri was part of an audience with [[Karim Khan Zand]].<ref name="Asiatic Researches"></ref>

=== Voyage to Bahrain ===

From the port of [[Bushehr]] on the southern coast of Iran, he travelled to [[Kharg Island|Kharg]], a small island 25 kms off the Iranian coast. From here, he continued on to the island of [[Bahrain]].<ref name="Asiatic Researches"></ref>

=== Voyage to Iraq ===

From Bahrain, Puran Puri re-embarked for [[Basra]], in [[Iraq]], where he found some Hindu traders. He tried to travel up the river [[Tigris]] to [[Baghdad]] but was unable to do so, and returned to Basra. <ref name="Asiatic Researches"></ref>

=== Voyages to Muscat and Yemen ===

From Basra, Puran Puri made his way to the port of [[Muscat]] in present-day [[Oman]]. From here he briefly voyaged to [[Surat]] on the west coast of the Indian subcontinent, but soon embarked on another voyage to the port city of [[Mocha, Yemen|Mocha]] in Yemen. From Yemen he returned to the Indian subcontinent at the port he called 'Sanyanpoor' on the [[Sindh]] or [[Kutch]] coast.<ref name="Asiatic Researches"></ref>

=== Travels to Uzbekistan ===

Puran Puri's next journey was to [[Balkh]] in present-day Afghanistan on the Uzbekistan border, where he observed Hindus settled, and to [[Bukhara]] in present-day Uzbekistan. From here he proceeded to the city of [[Samarkand]].<ref name="Asiatic Researches"></ref>

=== Return to India ===

From Samarkand, Puran Puri travelled to [[Badakhshan]], from where he made his way to [[Kashmir]] and [[Gangotri]], a Hindu piligrim town and the origin of the river [[Ganges]]. Travelling to the south-east from there, he reached [[Awadh]].<ref name="Asiatic Researches"></ref>

=== Journey to Tibet ===

From [[Awadh]], Puran Puri made his way into [[Nepal]], visiting [[Kathmandu]] and other places including crossing five km into [[Tibet]] to visit [[Shishapangma|Gosainthan]], "place of the saint" or "Abode of God".

Returning to [[Kathmandu]], he ventured further into [[Tibet]] by crossing into [[Zhangmu|Khasa]] and [[Tingri (town)|Tingri]] and reached [[Lhasa]]. From there he made his way to [[Drongtse Monastery|Drongtse]], near the seat of the [[Panchen Lama]] (also called the Teshu / Teshoo Lama) and finally to [[Mansarovar|Lake Mansarovar]], a sacred place in Hinduism.<ref name="Asiatic Researches"></ref>

At this time, the Governor General [[Warren Hastings]] was trying to access China as a market for Bengal textiles, using the Panchen Lama's influence.
On his way back, the Lama entrusted over a sealed package, a letter and a spinning wheel as a gift for Hastings to Puran Puri. Along with this, the Panchen Lama also gave Puran Puri five ingots of silver and 200 tolas (around 2 kg) of gold for himself.

=== Return to India ===

Puran Puri returned to India on a Tangun horse, given to him by the Lama. When Captain Samuel Turner came across Puran Puri in Calcutta on his way back in 1783, he was assisted by two gosains and clothed in a satin dress, also given to him by the Lama.<ref>Samuel Turner; An Account of an Embassy to the Court of the Teshoo Lama in Tibet, London, Bulmer and Co., 1800. pp 269-271 </ref>

After delivering the items to Hastings, he was presented with letters of introduction to Maharaja [[Chait Singh]] of Benares,<ref name="Asiatic Researches"></ref> through whom Hastings arranged for an ample maintenance as a reward.

== Post-travel Life ==

Later when Hastings stopped at Benares on his way to Lucknow,<ref name="Asiatic Researches"></ref> he arranged through Maharaja Chait Singh's nephew and successor [[Narayan_dynasty#Maharaja_Mahip_Narayan_Singh|Maharaja Mahipnarayan Singh]] of Benares<ref>Bhattacharya, Ananda. "DASANAMI SANNYASIS AS ASCETICS, BANIYAS AND SOLDIERS." Annals of the Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute 93 (2012): pp 243. Accessed July 25, 2021. https://www.jstor.org/stable/26491237.</ref> a grant of the [[jagir]] (land grant) of the village [[Ashapur, Pindra|Ashapur]] to Puran Puri.

== Popularity of Image in Europe ==

Puran Puri's image with his hands raised in penance, along with the image of a fellow sanyasi [[Prakashanand Bramhachari|Param Swatantra Prakashanand Bramhachari]] lying on a bed of nails, was drawn by [[Jonathan_Duncan_(Governor_of_Bombay)|Jonathan Duncan]] himself<ref>James Mallinson;
Purn Puri and Jonathan Duncan https://www.academia.edu/3492951/Purn_Puri_and_Jonathan_Duncan</ref> for his 1799 article in the 'Asiatic Researches' journal. These were among the earliest images of yogis received in Europe, and triggered the European fascination for documentation of the novel postures and painful practices of ascetics.<ref>Yoga: The Art of Transformation, Exhibition at the Arthur M. Sackler Gallery at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C. "Part 4: Yoga in the Transnational Imagination" https://www.yumpu.com/en/document/read/21990541/228-yoga-in-the-transnational-imagination/7</ref> As such, the image of Puran Puri was widely redrawn and reproduced as an archetype of a yogi or [[Gymnosophists|gymnosophist]].<ref>Colour engraving by J. Chapman, 1809. From the Encyclopaedia Londinensis or, Universal dictionary of arts, sciences, and literature; Volume X; Edited by Wilkes, John. Published in London in 1811</ref>

<gallery>
Puran Puri Color Engraving.jpg|A color engraving of Puran Puri, copied from the original around 1809
Puran_Puri_Engraving_in_Color.jpg|Another color engraving of Puran Puri, copied from the original
</gallery>

==References==
{{reflist}}
[[Category:18th-century explorers]]
{{Explorer-stub}}
{{Cleanup bare URLs|date=July 2021}}

Puran Puri - Revision history

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