Twenty- five Seven

Personally speaking

Recent Posts

  • Ghats and Chaats

    Though we had just a day to spend in Varanasi, we wanted to enjoy its ghats and its chaat.

    Like millions of Hindus, the Ganga has been embedded in my psyche since the day I was born. My grandmother used to finish my bath as did her grandmother and her grandmother before her, by pouring a few drops of water around my head, while she chanted the names of the Holy Rivers of India.

    So I was looking forward to the river cruise A had booked online with Alaknanda Cruiseline . Our plan was to visit the street stalls after the boat ride and taste the chaats. After our ghats and chaats we planned to visit the Kashi Vishwanath Temple.

    The blessing

    During breakfast A spotted a teacher from the group of Art of Living disciples who were staying at the hotel. She asked him for a blessing and after they finished, they took us out into the lobby and chanted shlokas that reverberated through our bodies.

    I am convinced that this Blessing saw us through the next few days.

    Our boat ride was well organised. It was wonderful sitting on the upper deck, watching people taking their dips at the different ghats. The commentary took us through the history of Varanasi as we passed each ghat.

    Hiccup no 2

    Because of the Maha Kumh and Republic Day, Varanasi was choc-a-bloc with people. From 4 in the morning people marched down the streets with luggage on their heads. Our plan of sampling street food and window shopping went for a toss. The hotel manager assured us that his hotel’s lassi was equally good and while we waited for Lassi of Varanasi, we overheard a group of travellers from Chandigarh complaining that despite their pre-planned VIP darshan, they had to wait 3 hours since all VIP visits were cancelled! They had almost given up when someone suggested a ruse of entering through a side entrance under the pretext of buying a sari from a shop in the temple complex.

    Shaken by this news we went down to the travel desk to book a boat to watch the evening Aarti. If we couldn’t visit the temple we could at least get a proper view of the aarti at the Dashashwamedh Ghat.

    Sensing our disappointment, the lady at the Travel desk said that we could take a chance and visit the temple since the crowds had thinned a bit in the afternoon. She spoke with a friend who though doubtful because of the long queue that was four people deep and one km long and growing, offered to accompany us.

    Thus began a two and half hour wait in the hot afternoon sun. Hordes of people from all over India: young and old, men, women and children; people in saris, people in lungis people in blue jeans too; people with turbans from Gujerat , Rajasthan, baseball caps and head scarves jostled with each other trying to find a spot to stay still in the mass of swirling humanity. Right in front of us stood the imposing Gate No 4, shut steadfastly keeping out everybody.

    In all this mess, municipal sweepers were busy sweeping the streets and garbage collectors filled up humungous sacks with disposable plastic bottles. All the while barely comprehensible announcements blared over the PA system asking XYZ and OQT to go to the Lost & Found booth where their families were waiting for them!

    After the nth assurance that we would have to wait just another 10 minutes, we abandoned the wait as we had to catch the boat for our evening Aarti. We ytrooprf back to the friend’s shop, and he cheered us with a treat of some delicious Varanasi Tamatar chaat

    Sunset bliss

    We were too tired to walk back to the hotel, so we asked the boatman to fetch us from the shop.

    We enjoyed watching the sun go down as we munched on the biscuits provided by the hotel. A young girl approached us with some flowers and floating lamps to offer to Ma Ganga.

    Image taken from the net without permission .

    Just as the cries of ‘Jai Shree Ram ‘ and ‘Bharat Mata ki Jai’ rent the air, we got a call to hot foot it to the temple. There was a slim chance that we would be able to get a darshan.

    With our hearts racing, we followed the the boatman as he took us through a maze of narrow alleyways to avoid the crowds on the main streets. We passed brightly lit shops where bangles and beads shone temptingly, we passed many tiny shrines and peeped into homes along the way. It was quite a unique tour of Varanasi by night.

    The lost & found announcements were still blaring, the crowds still milling around but we managed to get in. Once inside the temple complex, a sense of calm descended upon us. Though we got just a glimpse of the main lingam, we were blessed to experience vibrations of the aarti in progress

    Lord Shiva had answered our prayer and we were more than hopeful that all would go well.

    Ciao,

  • On the way to the Kumbh

    On the way to the Kumbh

    Despite all the naysayers and bad press, my friends were convinced that faith could move mountains and that we should go ahead with our plans of visiting the Kumbh. S particularly said that we would find a way even though our well thought of itinerary seemed to be doomed.

    So we set off on our journey with just a little bit of nervousness but were quite confident that we would be back safely.

    FIRST STOP VARANASI

    The twinkling lights of Benares

    As the plane hovered over Varanasi ( the latest name of the ancient city of Kashi) I was quite excited to see a place that I had long wanted to visit. For some strange reason, I was drawn to its ancient heritage.

    The first hiccup

    We stepped out into the cold, night air of Varanasi and got into the hotel taxi . We were booked at the centrally located Pearl Courtyard which we imagined to be a Marriott hotel considering the amount we were paying per day. I was a bit flummoxed by how a Marriott property could be in such a prime spot but the mystery was soon sorted out.

    The long drive to the city centre ended abruptly with a shock. The taxi driver screeched to a halt along a barricade and gleefully informed us that all vehicular traffic was prohibited from entering the city centre and we had to walk or take a cycle rickshaw!

    Cycle rickshaw

    Initially appalled at having a man pull us, we were slightly reluctant to get into one. But we really had no option since we had now idea where to walk though helpful passersby did point vaguely in some direction and told us it wasn’t far away. we did look for one because we really had no option. However, we preferred to rely on the navigational skills of the rickshaw puller and hired a cycle rickshaw.

    Picture of hotel taken from Hotel Website without permission

    The hotel is really very well appointed and the Staff extremely polite and efficient. After settling down we had a delicious vegetarian dinner and decided to set off to see the Kalbhairav temple since it was open till 11 pm and we thought the crowds would be thinner.

    At the temple

    We took an eRikshaw to the temple and were amazed to find a 2 km-long queue of people waiting in single file down a narrow side lane to enter the temple.

    This temple is one of the oldest and most significant temples dedicated to Kaal Bhairav, a fierce avatar of Lord Shiva. “Kaal” means both death and time. According to legend, Brahma and Vishnu were arguing who among them was the more powerful. Brahma boasted that undoubtedly it was him. This so enraged Vishnu that they had a fight. Shiva intervened with a blazing light that made one of Brahma’s heads fall off. The head was caught by Bhairav who was condemned to wander in all the three worlds till finally he reached Kashi. There he was allowed to keep the head down symbolizing Shiva’s power to destroy and transform. Lord Shiva appointed Kaal Bhairav as the guardian of Kashi, with the authority to protect the city

    The temple is amidst a maze of narrow streets and we could hardly make out where we were going as we were entering through one of the side entrances. Finally, a priest approached us and offered to take us ahead of the queue.

    People were crawling at snail’s pace, shoulder to shoulder , bodies pressed to get a glimpse of the silver idol of Kaal Bhairav. As we made , our way out after a blink-and-miss it moment, I was pushed ahead and slipped on toa step. The momentum made At rip over me and she fell to the side where she twisted her foot. Luckily, there was no major damage and she bravely went ahead to ne of the many shrines in the complex: the shrine dedicated to the Nine Planets. Here we were allowed to circumambulate around the platform and offer a lit lamp along with our prayers.

    Tired and a bit shaken by the fall, we decided to head back home in the eRickshaw that was luckily waiting for us.

    Since we arrived into Varanasi at a very auspicious time of the Kumbh, no online visits were allowed. Because of this, the temple was open till 11 at night.

    At normal times, however, one can book an online visit and have a much calmer and more peaceful darshan.

    Apart from the transport restrictions, we were forbidden to take our mobile phones etc so these images I’ve used are from the net. Apologies for not taking prior permission

    Despite the long day, we were happy that our trip was off to a good start.

    Ciao,

  • Getting ready for Kumbh

    The Kumbh Mela ( or the Festival of the Sacred Pitcher as it is called on the official website) is a gathering of devotees at a special time when the planets are favourably aligned to bathe in the rivers at four sacred places : Nashik, on the banks of the Godavari, Ujjain, on the banks of the Shipra, Haridwar on the banks of the Ganges , and at Praygraj at the confluence of the Ganga, Yamuna and the underground Saraswati.

    These are the places where drops of nectar from the pot fell during the fight between the Gods and Demons. The festival is held every four years in rotation and this year it is being held in Prayagraj or Allahabad.

    This is a special Maha Kumbh which occurs once every 144 years when all the Planets are lined up in a celestial Parade of the Planets.

    A chance remark often sets forth an amazing journey.

    If I’ve been silent so far, it’s because I’ve been preoccupied with many things ( nothing new really). A chance remark made at a casual dinner earlier this month set off an amazing experience

    I have always been fascinated by the crowds that Hindu temples attract. Granted there are so many of us in this most populated nation on earth, but nowhere have I seen such frenzy and fervour as I’ve seen in our temples and religious events. So this year when the Maha Kumbha was announced, I’ve been curious about going there.

    So my friend S who is very adventurous and been on many pilgrimages said she was willing to take the plunge as long as I did.

    S set about in her meticulous way of contacting her travel agents and fellow satsanghis who were going to the Kumbh at various stages.

    Everything was set and yesterday we had a meeting to finalise details about our journey, our stay and the places of interest we would like to visit.

    Last Minute hiccups

    All was fine till a friend called up to say that all roads to the Kumbh would be closed 24 hours before we would be scheduled to leave.

    And in all likelihood the train we had booked for our onward journey would be summarily cancelled literally leaving us high and dry on the station platform( if we managed to get there in the first place).

    Thus began the scramble to co-ordinate with an ordinary citizen on the ground who was definitely more accessible than the official Kumbh site which is manned by a truly idiotic Chat bot and whose telephone numbers do not exist.

    While we are waiting for further information I get a message from a friend informing me that all roads will be closed for three days prior to

    • 27 th Jan because Amit Shah would be visiting
    • 5th Feb because our PM Mr. Modi is visiting
    • 10th Feb because our President Smt. Murmu is visiting
    • In addition 26-27 February is Maha Shivratri so it will be over crowded.

    So what does that leave the ordinary practising Hindu with?

    Quite frankly, I am disgusted with how VIPs get away with disrupting ordinary citizens’ lives. And to think we have voted them to power to represent us!

    I am now in a quandry whether I should go or not though S has assured me that I should leave all the worrying to God. If He wants us to visit, He will make sure that we get there and back safe and sound.

    What would you do in my place?

    Ciao

Design a site like this with WordPress.com
Get started