THE WRATH OF LORDS ?
On way back from Joshimath, we had the pleasure of visiting the Dhari Devi Temple, and it being Doorga Pooja and Dushehra on that day, there could not have been a better day. This is a temple, in the waters of Alakhnanada, near the town Kaliasur, and Dharidevi is supposed to be Goddess Parvati. What we visited is the new temple being built, above the old one, on stilts in the river, with the same original Statue. It was a delight having dharshan of the vibrant, charming and elegant, though small statue, in black stone of Dhari Devi.
Mythology has it , 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 later was joined by others. Prominent sangams being at Karanpryag and Rudraprayag, where Alakhnanda is joined by Pindari and Mandakini rivers respectively, and finally Alakhnanada and Bhagirathi join at Devprayag to form Ganga .
Folklore says that Parvati, as Dhari Devi in her temple in the waters of Alakhnanada, at Kaliasur, use to control the flow ( Dhara ) of the river, and ultimately of that of Ganga. It is also believed that statue of Parvati was so strategically placed in the temple, that it was in direct vision of Shiva at Kedarnath. Locales of the area believe that the recent water tragedy was caused by Wrath of Shiva and Parvati. A hydroelectric project and dam is being built near the Dhari Devi temple, leading to rise in water level there. The statue in the original temple, hence was in danger of being submerged, so the builders suggested to shift the statue to a new temple. The inhabitants of the area objected, as they believed that it was once attempted to do so, by Britishers, and there was a massive earthquake, but mush against the wishes of the devotees, the statue was shifted this time and the same day, the tragedy struck.
What followed is history. We 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 this 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 Wrath of Lords or the cost we pay for playing with the nature? It was one of the biggest tragedies, the country has seen, a mini pralay, as we can call………but deep within our hearts, if we ask ourselves the reason, wont the answer be that we all are majorly a party to it, and somewhere and somehow deserve it? Thousand of valuable innocent lives have been lost and there has been immense loss and damage, which may take years and thousands of crores to repair, and yet the original state may not be restored. Shiva seems to have partially and temporarily opened his third eye, and given us a trailer of his Tandav !
Be it the Lords or nature, this seems to be the loud and last warning to us, that enough is enough and it is high time, we start respecting Ganga and all that is in it and around it and stop playing, abusing and misusing the gifts of Mother Nature, and keep experimenting with Ecology, in the name of progress, growth and tourism!