THE HOLY SUJOURN
As you all know, we recently went on a trip to Badrinath. It was work and holiday, short and hectic, tiring and tedious, risky and scary but really adventurous and memorable. Badrinath is an ancient pilgrimage spot for hindus, about 300 Kms from Haridwaar, in the Garhwal hills, and one of the Chaar Dhams of Uttrakhand.(The other three being Kedarnath,Gangotri and Yamnotri )
First day was the almost ten hour drive, from Rishikhet to Josjimath, with two minor halts and a lunch halt at Gauchar. In spite of being such a long drive, it was enjoyable, along the serpentine Ganga and Alakhnanada rivers. Was a pleasure watching the rivers change shape ,width, depth, colour s from white, blue to black and flow from still to gushy and speedy, all so frequently. Crossed Devprayag, Rudrapryag and the city of Srinagar and by the time we reached Joshimath,it was already dark.
The next day we started for darshan. The 30 odd Kms, took two hours and it was unbelievably unbelievable. It has been the most courageous and exciting drive of my lifetime. The issues were two; First thing that shook the heart was the aftermath of the recent calamity that played havoc in the region. Had been following it in the news and daily photographs, but it was only after seeing it live, could we realize that the havoc was at least hundred times than we could imagine, and that was when we saw it almost three months after the tragedy with fair amount of repair and recovery work already done. It was unimaginable, to see the disaster, water can cause. Roads had vanished, five storied buildings just fell like a sand dune, mountains split in two, new caves formed, and rocks undermined and water flowing from new random sites from all over the mountains. The river had changed directions so many times that it was difficult to keep pace with the new tracks. At places, the flow of water is to a back of a mountain now, where it used to be in front and at places Alakhananda now flows to right of a structure, while it was originally to the left. Is this the cost we pay for playing with the nature?
And the second amazing thing was the beauty! I have seen a lot of mountains, J&K, Himanchal, Kumaon, but this was out of the world. In spite of all the destruction and merry hell, that nature had played, the place is still exquisitely beautiful! The holy water wandering and making its way through the shiny rocks, glazed mounts and the sky touching peaks. appeared so fresh, so lively and an eternal source of energy. We actually drove through water at places with water falling from the rocks, being sprinkled naturally. The water was so clear, sparkling and pristine that we felt guilty that we dare to dirty it. There was hardly any traffic, and all we saw were men and machines, clearing and refashioning the tracks and roads. One could still see buildings, structures, vehicles and trees pushed against the mountain in the water. We were few of the first travellers to cross the newly constructed permanent bridge, about midway of the journey, which was essential to recreate continuity of the road to Badrinath, since at this point the route has been changed from one side of the water to the other. It was all so still, and calm and quiet, the lull after the storm, the tranquillity being broken, only by the soothing musical sound of the meandering water.
Reaching the Dham was a great feeling, almost as if we were close to heaven. Mythology states that when Ganga was to descend to the earth, it was too forceful , and hence Shiva decided to send it several streams, and thus it landed on earth as twelve rivers. Alakhnanda, Bhagirathi, Mandakini, Saraswati and Pindari being the important ones. Alakhnanada was the largest and its bank was the most beautiful. Shiva used to frequent the place often to monitor the formation and flow of Ganga and use to reside at this spot. Once Vishnu visited him, and found the place so attractive that he asked Shiv for it, permanently. Magnanimous, as Shiva is, he agreed and handed over this locale to Vishnu and he,himself, went behind the Neelkanth Mountain close by to reside where the Kedarnath temple stands today, and Vishnu made this place his earthly resort. The place used to be full of red berries , locally called badri, hence Vishnu got his name here, of Badrinath.
The colourful temple, stands bright and elegant, against the backdrop of two dark blackish peaks, Nar and Narain ! And standing proudly between and just behind them is a taller snow clad peak called, Neelkanth, and just behind it is the abode of Lord Shiva in the Kedarnath Temple. Though there have been frequent upkeep renovations, the main edifice of the temple and its facsimile has stood for centuries, withstanding the onslaughts of nature and other natural calamities. The entrance of the main temple is guarded by a sharp featured statue of Garud in black stone. The temple houses Chatrabhuji Lord Vishnu,in reclining posture, all in pure silver, adorned with gold ornaments with intricate filigree work and a huge sparkling diamond Tilak. Also residing in the temple are Kuber, Narad and extremely beautiful statue of Nar Narayan, who had taken incarnations, on earth as Lord Krishna and Arjun, symbolizing the best friendly relation between human and God/Guru. I had never seen these three Gods before in any temple.
Outside the main temple, there are several small temples, the one of significance being a silver replica of the Lord Badrinath, which is worshiped at another temple, when the main temple is closed, due to inclement weather. Yellow being the favourite colour of Lord Vishnu, besides the routine prasad of dry fruits, batasha, elaichidana and coconut, to be offered in this temple, Chana dal is most important. Even the Charnaamrat, here is yellow and Instead of floral offering, Tulsi leaves and garlands made of it are Badrinath’s favourite. The fragrance of the chandan applied on the forehead lasted, for several days reminding us of the Lord’s blessings.
We then had a sumptuous warm delicious brunch at our guesthouse, from the window of which we could see the temple directly and proceeded for Manna, the last inhabited village of India along the Indo China border. It was a typical hilly town, with men sitting in groups, chatting, smoking and playing cards and women working. The village survives on kitchen gardens and with potato and woven woollens as the only local products. Women of all age group, including the octogenarians, walked around with some load on their back, a pet, dog or goat and a pouch in the hand……..with a cellphone!
Moving ahead of manna we visited the source of river Saraswati originating from between a group of rocks in a most turbulent manner, like water in a turbine, on one side of the village and then suddenly, almost disappearing on the opposite side of the same bridge, within a distance of just about 50 feet, to become a thin stream. It is believed that most of the river enters the ground here,and resurfaces at Allahabad to form the Sangum. Close to this Saraswati bridge is a small cute Saraswati temple in a small cave. In the same location there is the Vyas Gufa, from where Rishi Vyas dictated the Mahabharat, written by Ganesh in the Ganesh gufa, located at some distance.
On return to Joshimath, by lunch time, we did some local site seeing, including two beautiful temples of Shankracharya, one of Lord Vishnu and Parwati and the other a very ancient temple of Narsingh Bhagwaan. The most befitting finale of the day trip was a visit to the Auli Resort located close by, near the Tiger Mountains, a real picturesque locale, amidst snow clad mountains peaks and smoky clouds, shining in rainbow colours, at sunset. We ended the day, with the hospitality of our hosts, who organised a wonderful dinner party to give us an opportunity to meet all.
Very special thanks to the Weather God, for being at its best. Salubrious, breezy and with a slight nip in the air, it was just perfect for such a trip, with a short drizzle. It snowed on the mountains, early morning and we woke with fresh, flaky snow on the peaks around us, resembling vanilla ice-cream in a cone, with orange slush of the sunrays of dawn. The return journey had a halt at the Dhari Devi temple, and we were lucky to have wonderful darshan of Parwati, on Naumi. By evening we were at Rishikesh, where a lifetime experience and divine darshan of Swamiji were awaiting us