Miracle at Kanchipuram !!

During the middle of June, 2019 a friend sent me a message about Atti Varadar. He informed me that the Varadaraja Perumal temple in Kanchipuram (which is one of my favourite temples) is about to witness a event which occurs only once in 40 years. He informed me that the main deity of the temple is actually immersed in the temples tank and the one we pray to in the temple is actually a replacement idol. It seems that due to constant invasions from Islamic rulers (who were known to loot & destroy temples as well as the idols with a view to change the peoples faith) the temple priests had immersed the main deity in the tank. This is brought out once every 40 years only and after 48 days of giving darshan, He is immersed in the temple tank once again.

My friend also sent a video describing this event and the wonderful opportunity to see the main deity. As I had missed the previous event 40 years ago (due to lack of knowledge as well as funds) and am unlikely to be alive for the next time, I felt I must visit Kanchipuram and see the Lord. My wife agreed to this yatra which was planned at short notice. The date of the commencement of this event was 1st July and we were told that after 24 days in a sleeping posture, the Lord would be kept in a standing posture for the next 24 days. Accordingly, we planned to visit Kanchipuram on 23rd July and return on 27th July and booked our tickets and made hotel arrangements.

In the first few days of July, we were watching the news about this event. The crowds there were unprecedented. A few lakh people visited the temple in the first few days. Weekends and holidays were especially crowded. The wait time was anything from 4 hours to 10 hours depending on the day and the time of the visit. People wrote horror stories of their experiences waiting in the sweltering heat in the make shift arrangements. Several people fainted due to the heat and exhaustion. A few days before our visit six people from the crowd of devotees had to be hospitalised due to exhaustion and out of this four people died at the hospital.

The enormous crowds only seemed to increase rather than decrease as the days passed. We were informed that the infrastructure of Kanchipuram was not prepared enough to handle this. Transport was an issue. Outside taxis were not allowed inside the town and the access for vehicles were restricted within a 4 kilometer radius around the temple. There was an online arrangement made for booking special darshan but the number of tickets were limited and the site was deluged with people trying to book.

In view of such a situation, I started calling many of my contacts to see if they could help me and facilitate a quicker entry to avoid the heat and the wait. Most of my friends expressed their inability. A few days before our departure to Kanchipuram, we were told that Prime Minister Modi was due for a visit on 23rd & 24th July and that the temple would be closed for security reasons. It made us even more apprehensive. In the back of our minds we were hopeful and felt that the Lord would do something to make it easy for us. A day before leaving, I was at a local temple in Navi Mumbai witnessing and participating in a havan for Lord Ganesh as it was Sankashti. After the havan, we told the priest that we need his blessings for a good darshan of Atti Varadar. The priest told us that Lord Ganesh will facilitate it and He is the remover of obstacles. We prayed to Lord Ganesh for a smooth and easy darshan of the Lord.

We flew to Chennai on 23rd July and immediately proceeded to Kanchipuram by car. We had booked a local taxi from Kanchipuram so that he could drop us to our hotel rather than leave us at the outskirts as was being done by all outside taxis (who were not allowed inside Kanchipuram town limits). As we proceeded towards Kanchipuram, the taxi driver told us that outside vehicles are now permitted to come into the town as the local traders were complaining about drop in business due to the restriction. He further told us that the Chief Minister (CM) of Tamil Nadu was expected to visit the temple the same evening and there will be restrictions for devotees like us. So, we decided to visit the other temples of Kanchipuram on 23rd and try our luck with Atti Varadar on 24th.

We arrived at our hotel at 3 p.m. As soon as we entered the hotel, the manager at the reception told us that due to proposed CM visit there are virtually no crowds at Atti Varadar temple and we should immediately proceed for darshan. We immediately freshened up and left the hotel within 15 minutes. As informed by the manager, we went without footwear as there were no arrangements for custody and safekeeping. Outside the hotel, we got an autorickshaw who quoted Rs. 200/- for the 2 kilometer odd ride. We requested him to take us as close as possible to the entry gate. He quickly drove us to the temple using some inner roads and dropped us at a place which was barricaded and manned by a few policemen. We tried to enter the road leading to the temple gate and the policemen said that only people with VIP pass were allowed from there. He then directed us to a nearby area from where people like us would get entry.

After walking nearly 20 minutes, we came to the correct place for entry. Luckily for us the sky was overcast and, although not raining, the tar roads were easy to walk in. On a normal day, it would have been very hot and scalding to the feet. When we entered the temple gates through the "Normal" darshan queue, we found that there were only about hundred odd people in the queue. We quickly stood in the queue and as it was moving rapidly, we had our darshan of Atti Varadar within about 10 minutes. What a miracle !! It seems that the entire Universe conspired to make this happen and give us a fabulous darshan within a very short time. We were overwhelmed with gratitude and were beaming from ear to ear. We felt blessed that the Lord whose darshan is so difficult to get was easily seen by us.

As we stepped out of the temple and started finding our way back to our hotel, we were immersed in the miracle that we just witnessed that day. A truly unforgettable experience reinforcing our faith in the Lord.

Pandharpur Yatra on Ashaad Ekadashi 2019

Five of us decided, on short notice, to visit Pandharpur on Ashaad Ekadashi day (12th July, 2019) and have a darshan of Lord Vithoba, Devi Rukmai and the thousands of Warkaris who visit this holy place from all over Maharashtra and other parts of the country, For many years this has been a cherished desire to participate in the festivities and enjoy the experience. It was indeed a wonderful experience which I would like to share with you, dear reader, and hope it inspires you to also do the yatra in the near future.

For people who are unaware of  Pandharpur or the Warkaris, I suggest you do a Google search for detailed information. In brief, this temple is in existence for thousands of years and the idol of the Lord is not man made but is considered as the virtual image of the Lord who came to visit Pundalik who was renowned for his service to his parents. Pundalik, who was busy attending to the chores of his parents, asked the Lord to stand on a brick (Vit as it is called in Marathi) till he finished attending to his parents. The Lord stood there waiting with His hands on His hips and, later on the request of Pundalik, became an idol in the same form to bless all His devotees. Warkaris are devotees, from all walks of life, who undertake a 21 day pilgrimage by foot to Pandharpur so as to reach before Ashaad Ekadashi (the Shukla Ekadashi that falls between the middle of June & July). They are simple people who are brimming with devotion and spend their time singing the glories of the Lord in the form of Abhangs written by the famous Sants of Maharashtra - Gynaenshwar , Namdeo, Tukaram etc.

We had planned to stay a night at Pandharpur and, thanks to a dear friend, got a couple of rooms booked at Pandharpur. This was in Hotel Dhanashree which is on the main road leading to the temple and about 15 minutes walk away from the temple. I had inquired with the hotel and was told that they have adequate parking facility and hence we decided to go to Pandharpur by car.

We left early morning on 12th July at 4 a.m. to reach well on time for watching the various festivities at Pandharpur which is about 360 kilometers form Mumbai. When we started, it was raining heavily. Luckily, we had hired a driver to drive us in a friend's Ertiga car and hence were able to sit back during the journey. Normally, it takes about 6.5 hours to reach Pandharpur from Mumbai. So, we were expecting to reach by noon taking into account the crowds expected as we neared the destination. It was raining all the way till we neared Pune, after which it was comparatively dry and warmer. On the expressway after the second toll booth, we stopped for a break and had excellent fresh tea at a nearby shop. The shop has an open kitchen and we could see the cook pouring fresh oil in the cauldron for frying vadas and bhajias. We then proceeded smoothly till we had covered about 300 kilometers.

Along the way, around 50 kilometers before reaching Pandharpur, we decided to fill petrol in the tank as we were not sure of the situation at Pandharpur. We stopped at a petrol pump on the highway and the driver asked the attendant to fill the tank with petrol. Unfortunately, it was a new attendant (the regular attendants were on leave due to visit the temple) who presumed that this was a diesel vehicle and filled the tank with diesel. When he presented the bill of less than Rs. 2000, the owner of the car (who was also a co-yatri) questioned as to how the bill is so less. We then discovered the blunder. Fortunately, the driver had not started the vehicle after this and hence the engine was not corrupted with the wrong fuel. The supervisor at the pump was very cool and immediately worked out a solution to tow the car to a nearby garage and empty the tank and then to refill it with petrol.

The towing van was present at the Petrol Pump but the keys were at his residence and hence he sent a motorbike to fetch the keys. Unfortunately, the bike had limited fuel and stalled midway to his residence. He then called the garage mechanic to the pump station itself to release the mixed up fuel from the car. This whole process took about 2 hours as they were doing it slowly so as to save the mixed fuel to be re-used in their generator later. In the meantime, the supervisor made us sit comfortably in his small office and generously offered us tea as refreshment. After the fuel was removed and replaced, we set out once again to our destination.

A big lesson for all car owners to put a sticker on the lid of the fuel tank indicating what kind of fuel needs to be used in the car.

As we neared Pandharpur, we found that the traffic was denser and about 15 kilometers away the traffic was diverted from the main road. We tried to use Google Maps to find our way in but it was unable to help us. After circling the town for about half an hour, we finally reached a location which was about 5 kilometers from our hotel. Here the traffic was regulated, and only one vehicle was allowed in for every ten minutes or so. After an agonising wait, we finally were allowed in, only to find a huge traffic jam on the way. The jam was caused by the huge influx of people who were walking towards and away from the temple town. The roads were lined up by hundreds of makeshift shops on either side selling a variety of stuff like toys, clothes, bags, pillows, bed sheets, food articles etc. The cross roads from where vehicles were coming into the main road were unregulated, leading to more jams. After about half an hour in the car, we decided to walk to the hotel. About 150 meters away from the hotel, we found another barricade put up by police to prevent vehicles from moving in. Although we informed the policeman that we are booked in a nearby hotel, he refused to allow the vehicle in. So, we walked with our bags (luckily they were light) to the hotel.

One learning from this is that it might be better to take a train to Pandharpur during Ashaad Ekadashi if one wants to avoid the inconveniences of road travel & traffic.

The person at the reception told us that we can get the car in by showing the visiting card of the hotel. One of us went back with the card and managed to bring the car back to the hotel parking lot which was inside from the main road and protected by security. There are very few hotels in Pandharpur. When lakhs of people descend upon such a town, one can imagine the chaos for accommodation. Most of the pilgrims do camp wherever they can - at schools, temples, halls, etc. All the hotels follow a unique scheme during Ashaad Ekadashi. They let out rooms for a minimum stay of 3 days. Even if you want for only one day, you have to pay for 3 days. If one has a good connect at the hotel, one can negotiate for reducing the minimum period to two days. The hotel was decent - good clean rooms, bathroom & beds, good air conditioning and no mosquitoes. We freshened up at the hotel and got ready to visit the temple. It was around 4 p.m. at that time. In the meantime, I was coordinating with a contact who had promised to speak with some influential people and enable us to get a pass for a quick darshan of the Lord. He told me to wait at the hotel and said he will let me know the exact program after some time. At around 6 p.m., we decided not to wait anymore as it would soon become dark & to proceed towards the temple and coordinate with my connect over the phone.

It was a short walk to the temple. Instead of going directly to the temple, we took a detour towards the Chandrabhaga river. We walked through very crowded streets which were full of Warkaris. There was virtually no place to stop or rest. All along we heard devotional songs and bhajans being played in residences, halls, temples, streets etc. People lovingly addressed each other as "Mauli". Mauli means mother in Marathi and it is a term used in context of the Lord who is as caring as a mother. This term is also used for all devotees who are treated as incarnations of the Lord Himself. When we reached the banks of Chandrabhaga river, we were pleasantly surprised to see a good flow of water. The river, which is a tributary of the Bhima river, has the form of a crescent (moon shaped) here and hence is called Chandrabhaga. There were thousands of people on its banks doing various activities - some were bathing, some swimming, some praying, some listening to holy discourses, some watching street performers etc. After sprinkling some of the river water on ourselves (as a quasi bath), we proceeded towards the temple.

It was dusk time when we reached the temple through the vast crowds. We first visited a Krishna temple very close to the main Vitobha temple. We found many Warkaris had camped here and were making food for themselves. We then went to the terrace of this temple and had a great view of the entire Chandrabha river on one side and the Vittal temple on the other side. After this, we moved towards the main temple and had the darshan of Namdev chi Payari - this is at the footsteps of the main temple. This is where Namdev and his entire family took Samadhi as they preferred to have the footsteps of the devotees of the Lord on their head rather than going to Vaikunth (abode of the Lord).

After this, we did a pradikshna of the temple along the road which surrounds the temple. While doing the pradakshina of the temple we saw some Warkaris coming out of the temple after Charan Darshan. As is the custom, we touched their feet (as this is symbolic of touching the feet of the Lord) and inquired with them as to how long they were in the queue for the darshan. The said 12 hours. Further down, we saw some Warkaris coming out after Mukh Darshan (where only the face of the Lord is seen). They informed us that they were in queue for only 2 hours. By this time, I realised that my contact was unable to make arrangements for a quick darshan for us as he was unable to reach out to the right people. So, we decided to stand in queue for the Mukh darshan. It was about 7.40 p.m. at that time.

We went to a stall near Namdev chi Payari where we could leave our footwear for safe keeping. Then we started walking towards the end of the queue for Mukh darshan. It was a long walk indeed. After some distance, we managed to get into the queue out of turn at 7.55 p.m.. From then on, we moved very briskly and reached the temple doorsteps by 8.40 p.m. After having one more darshan of the Namdev chi Payari, we moved in and within 10 minutes or so, we were inside the temple. We could see a few VIP devotees walk in straight for the Charan Darshan (where one gets to go close to the Lord and also touch their forehead on the Lords feet). On hindsight, it is better to wait for the darshan as we get more time to meditate & pray to the Lord. The authorities had created a small ramp which enabled us to have a clear vision / darshan of the Lord. We could see Him clearly from top up to waist level. The distance from the viewing spot to the deity was about 30 feet. The darshan itself lasted 30-40 seconds and was very satisfying. More than us seeing Him, we were delighted that he saw us and registered our attendance along with the thousands of sincere devotees.

After this we had a Mukh darshan of Rukmai (His consort). Fortunately for us, there were no devotees inside Her temple at that time and we could see Her Holy feet as well as face. We could wait a little longer here and it was also possible to go back for the second or third time to have Her darshan in view of low crowd here and low supervision too. The distance from the deity to the viewing point was about 15 feet only.

After this we came out, went to the stall and collected our footwear, took some pictures and purchased some prasadam from a counter outside the temple. As we were very tired by this time, decided to return to our hotel. All five of us were fasting on this day. Luckily halfway to our hotel, we found a rickshaw who took us back to the hotel for a nominal fare. The crowds had visibly thinned by this time. We went to sleep by 10 p.m. the end of a long, eventful and blessed day.

The next morning (13th July), we woke up and finished our morning rituals and had breakfast at a nearby restaurant and departed for home. The return trip was uneventful. We encountered some heavy traffic for the first few kilometers but it was smooth after that. We had a nice lunch at Cream Center, Pune on our way back and reached Mumbai by 6.30 p.m. The rains, which were virtually absent during our time at Pandharpur, made a comeback at Lonavala and when we reached Mumbai it was raining heavily as usual.

Thus ended our once-in-a-lifetime short & sweet Pandharpur Yatra during Ashaad Ekadashi.

Chardham Yatra - Part 14 (Conclusion of Yatra)

Day 13 (31st May 2019) was the last day of our yatra. We woke up to the doorbell rung by Ranveer for the last time at 5.30 a.m. with his hot cup of coffee. By 6.30 a.m. we had finished our morning ablutions and were ready. The first activity in the morning was to go to Mansa Devi temple which is within Haridwar itself. This is second Shakti Peetham we visited during this yatra. After a short ride by electric rickshaw, we reached the starting point of the ropeway which was to take us up the hill where the temple is. While there is a regular path by foot also, we preferred the ropeway for its novelty factor as also the time saving factor. The ride costs Rs. 100 per person for both directions (up & down).

As we were early, there was not much wait time to catch our ride. Four people are allowed in each car. The ride itself took only about 5-6 minutes to reach the top. Before going up, we had purchased some offerings but after reaching up, we found there are several shops selling all kinds of offerings including flowers, bangles, a combo offering of coconut, flowers, prasad etc. The aarti was in progress when we entered, and we were greeted by the sound of ringing bells and the smell of burning camphor and oil lamps. A big crowd was standing in front of the deity witnessing the aarti. Security people were doing a good job of crowd management and within a few minutes we had got our darshan of the Devi. Just outside the main sanctum, we saw the idol of another Devi which is unique as it perspires. Then we went around and had a darshan of all the other deities around the temple before coming back to the ropeway for our decent.

After coming down, we went by rickshaw to Har-ki-Pauri which was nearby and had our last darshan of Ganga. We also visited the Ganga temple which stands at this place. If we had more time, we would have also had our last dip at this holy place. As we had to complete our brunch and move to the airport at Dehradun, we skipped the last dip. After this we came back to the hotel in another electric rickshaw.

Ranveer had made a special lunch that day. It is called Samaradhanai lunch which was to celebrate the completion of our Yatra. Lunch comprised of Sambhar, Rasam, Potato bhaji, Dal vada, Pal payasam (milk kheer), Papadam, Curds, Pickles etc. Our Dwadashi meal was superb indeed. We all ate heartily for one last time. He also made chutney sandwiches (at very short notice) for eating during our long flight back home. The Yatra was made thoroughly enjoyable due to the culinary skills of Ranveer, the driving skills of Pradeep and the guidance of Srinivasan. M/s Srinivasan Tours can be reached at 9871723005 / 98682 60599 if anyone else wishes to avail of their services. They do many other yatras besides the Chardham yatra.

On this picture to the left, you can see from left to right - Shri Srinivasan the tour operator in white shirt, Ranveer the master chef & Pradeep the reliable driver)

Post lunch, we said our goodbyes & thanks to Ranveer and waited while our bags were loaded on the TT. We then left the hotel by around 11 a.m. to the Jolly Grant airport at Dehradun. We were all web checked in for our return flight at 2.30 p.m. The return flight by Indigo Airways left on time and was via Delhi (for most of us). The wait time in the aircraft at Delhi was frustrating as it took 1 hour 40 minutes and the AC was not working during that time. The outside temperature at that time was a record 46 degrees Celsius. After a harrowing & agonising wait, we finally left Delhi and arrived back safe and sound by around 6.30 p.m. in Mumbai. Thus, ended our 2-week Chardham Yatra. It was a very good yatra for us as (a) we had the benefit of great co-yatris whose company made us forget any discomforts that may have come up (b) God grace was showered upon us in more ways than we could imagine - great weather, comfortable darshans, good luck etc. and (c) Superb tour operator and staff. . 

I hope you enjoyed reading this and found it useful to plan your next trip to Dev Bhumi (Gods Land) at Uttrakhand. I would strongly recommend at least one visit in one’s lifetime. It is a truly holy and divine place. Pilgrims who are 50+ and younger pilgrims having health issues must consult their doctors before undertaking such a trip to higher altitude shrines. Feel free to write to me in the comments for any clarification and I shall respond forthwith.

Bolo Yamuna Maiya ki Jai !!!

Bolo Ganga Maiya ki Jai !!!

Bolo Kedar Baba ki Jai !!!

Bolo Triyugi Narayan ki Jai !!!

Jai Badri Vishal !!!

Chardham Yatra - Part 13 (Rudraprayag to Haridwar)

Day 12 (30^th May 2019) was the penultimate day of our yatra. We were woken up by Ranveer as always by 5.30 a.m. with coffee and by 6.30 a.m. we had bathed, finished our rituals and were ready. Our bags were taken to the TT and were loaded along with our mobile kitchen and the breakfast & lunch of the day. As it was Ekadashi, 5 out of 10 of us were fasting. Hence, Ranveer prepared much less quantity of breakfast and dinner as compared to other days. Before leaving the hotel, we captured some pictures for remembering our stay here. The morning hour was blissful and we could see the Sun slowly emerge from behind some mountains and reveal Himself in full glory.

Our first halt was at Rudraprayag (the confluence of Alaknanda & Mandakini) which was a short drive away from our hotel. As we were early, there was virtually no one at the bathing spot at the Prayag. We had to climb down about a hundred steps to reach the Prayag. As the water flow was very high and there were no secured bathing ghat here, we could not take a dip. Instead we used a steel bucket from the mobile kitchen to bathe here. Three of us had a bath here while the rest were contended to just sprinkle some water on themselves. The water was very cold here. On the way back up, we visited a small Chamunda Devi temple which was managed by an old woman who stays there. Further up, we visited the Shiva temple where Sage Narada is believed to have meditated on Lord Shiva to learn music and got darshan of the Lord who also taught him music. Sage Narada then installed another Shiva Lingam here to commemorate the event. We had carried water from the Prayag which we used to pour on the Lingam.

We then proceeded from here. On the way, we stopped at a small eatery for breakfast. Pongal along with a side dish was the breakfast for those who ate. In addition, Kanji was made for everyone. Apart from two people who were fasting, all others had the Kanji and were unanimous in their opinion that it was very well made. In fact, the Pongal too got very good reviews and the contents in the container got completely consumed in no time. After this we proceeded further and stopped at the Dhari Devi temple which is in the middle of a river.

Dhari Devi is considered as the guardian deity of Uttrakhand and is revered as the protector of the Chardhams is a Shakti Peeth temple which has a unique story. A few years ago, a dam was proposed to be built which was going to submerge the temple. The construction company proposed to move the temple to a different location much against the wishes of the local people. The company then decided to raise the level of the temple by 611 meters in the same spot and build a bridge to access the temple. Within a few hours of the dismantling the temple on 16^th June 2013, there was a massive natural disaster in the region. There was a massive cloudburst, thousands of lives were lost, and the roads got blocked by the landslide that followed. All traffic & life came to a standstill and it severely disrupted the yatra for the next few years thereafter.

We had two options to go to the temple – one was by jeep through a rough temporary road and other was by walking down the steps to the temple. Few of us went by Jeep costing Rs. 40 for the up & down journey. Few others walked down the few hundred steps to reach the temple. One unique feature of the temple is that people ask for favours and when that gets fulfilled, they tie bells in & around the temple. So, there are literally hundreds of bells on the bridge leading to the temple as well as the temple itself. We had a lovely darshan here as there were very few people here and returned to our vehicle to proceed further.

We then moved further and by noon reached Dev Prayag. This is the place where Alaknanda and Bhagirati river join to form the holy Ganga. To reach the bathing area, one must climb down a lot of steps and pass by another important Divya Desam temple dedicated to Lord Ram. This is the Raghunath temple where Lord Ram is believed to have done penance to rid Himself of the sin of killing Ravana who was a Brahmin by birth. When we reached here, the temple was already closed for the afternoon, but the priest kindly agreed to open the door for us to have darshan. We saw Lord Ram alone here without the company of His eternal spouse Sita Devi. Outside the temple, we also saw the rocky seat where He is believed to have sat during His penance.

After this, we went further down to the Prayag. Srinivasan had made arrangement with a local priest to come and help us do sankalpam before having bath here. While we all did the sankalpam, only two of us went ahead for the bath here. Here, the bathing ghat was nice and comfortable. The water flow was not too high and there were strong iron ropes to take support of while having bath. The water was not too cold, and, in my opinion, this is the best place to have a dip. After our bath, we all had lemon juice made with water from Ganga. We then went back to our vehicle through a shorter route. Our driver had come there by driving some distance and we got into the vehicle for our ride back to Haridwar.

On the way, we stopped at a small eatery for our lunch break. Lunch comprised of Rice sambhar, cabbage bhaji and curds. There was enough food left over to feed four other people from a different group who were on their way towards Chardham and had also halted at the same eatery. Post lunch we moved further. The weather became warmer and warmer as we descended. There were traffic jams in a couple of places along the way. We saw the lovely route of the famous river rafting which started much before Rishikesh. Movement was slow as we came down and hence, we skipped the planned halt at Rishikesh by passing the town. We could see that Rishikesh has exploded by having innumerable buildings – from a green jungle once upon a time, it has become a concrete jungle now. Sad.

By the time we reached Haridwar, it was almost 8 p.m. We were taken to a different hotel – this one was very nice. Nice AC. No mosquitoes. Good TV and clean bathroom. It had a small temple of Radha Krishna within the premises. I did not join for the dinner and hence do not know the menu. With his great track record, I am sure Ranveer would have turned out another lovely dinner. As we were to depart the next day back to our hometown, we did not do much unpacking for that night.

Thus, ended Day 12 of our Yatra.

Chardham Yatra - Part 12 (Badrinath to Rudraprayag)

Day 11 (29^th May 2019) – As planned the previous day, we had set our alarm clock at 3 a.m. that day to wake up, have our bath and go for the early morning 4 a.m. Nirmalaya darshan of the Lord. Waking up so early in the cold weather is difficult especially after a hectic previous day. So, we woke up a little later and dragged ourselves to the bathroom. Luckily, we had running hot water available. Still, by the time we were bathed and ready, it was 4.15 a.m. From our window we could hear the faint sound of Vishnu Sahasranamam being played at the temple since 3.30 a.m. and it was in the familiar voice of M S Subbalakshmi.

As we moved towards the temple fully protected by our woollen wear, we saw that about a couple of hundred pilgrims had already assembled and were queued up for darshan. We had no option but to join the queue. It was cold but bearable as we waited in the slow-moving queue. After nearly 45 minutes, we came near the main door of the shrine. Some people were singing bhajans which was nice to hear. After nearly an hour, we had a fleeting darshan of the Lord. Yes, it was the Nirmalayam darshan and we could see the Shaligram from about 20/25 feet. The short darshan only kindled in us a desire to come back one more time in future to see Him for a longer duration.

The idol of Lord Badrinarayana is a Shaligram where He is holding a Shanka (Conch) and a Chakra in two of His arms and the other two arms are resting on His lap in a Yogic pose. The sanctum also has images of Kuber (The Lord of wealth), Sage Narada, Uddhava, Nara & Narayana. There are many other deities around the temple like Mahalakshmi, Garuda, Nava Durga (manifestation of Durga in nine forms). There are also shrines for Lakshmi Narasimha and for Saints Adi Shankaracharya, Nara & Narayana, Ghantakarna, Vedanta Desika & Ramanujacharya. All the other idols in this temple are made of black stone.

Our tour operator Srinivasan also arrived there to offer Kesari (a sweet made with Rawa) prasadam to Ghantakarna which a ritual he has been practicing for a long time. After this, we stepped out and got our pictures taken in front of the temple. After this, we returned to our rooms. Although we were hungry, we just had a cup of coffee as three of us were going to offer Pinda danam to our departed ancestors.

At about 7.45 a.m., three of us went to have bath in the Tapta Kund. There is a story here about the Tapta Kund that is interesting. Due to a curse received by Agni (Lord of fire), He had to reside in Badrinath. After praying to the Lord of Badri for a solution on how to mitigate the curse, He was advised to remain in the Tapta Kund and remove the ailments of people who bathe here. The water here is nearly 45 degrees centigrade and it is shockingly hot when one enters it. Within moments, however, one gets used to the heat and then it becomes very pleasant. We had a quick bath here as it was overcrowded with people, changed into fresh clothes and went for the Pinda danam ritual.

Arrangements had been made with a local priest who conducted / guided many people at the same time. He had a team of people to assist him and the pilgrims in the process. We had to only carry our panchapatram – rest of the items were provided by the priest viz. Til, Rice, Flowers, Turmeric, Water etc. The priest even had a microphone with him to be audible. He spoke in many languages but chose to communicate mainly in broken English. Our respective wives sat behind us to make the rice balls to be offered as Pindam. The whole ritual included offering Pindam to relatives (including parents, uncles, aunts, brothers, sisters etc.) and friends, Guru etc. The process took about 45 minutes after which we dissolved the Pindam in the Alaknanada river. The priest followed a slightly different process which he called the Badri Padati (process specifically followed in Badri). Offering of pindam at Badri is believed to grant Moksham (salvation) to the souls concerned and it was a very deeply satisfying to us for having done this. The priest charges were Rs. 750 per person including cost of materials. We also gave tips to the assistants and to many others who flocked around us once the rituals were completed.

After this we went back to our hotel room and had a hearty breakfast of Aloo Parathas made along with curds and pickles and the Kesari prasadam. After this, we packed and checked out of the hotel. The coolies had come to carry our luggage back to the parking area. We left our hotel with a tinge of regret that we could not stay longer. Within a short time, we left Badrinath and rapidly made our way down from the holy Dham. We came to Joshimath and had a darshan of the Bhavishya Kedar - a small temple which is prophesized to be the future Kedarnath when the existing one will become inaccessible. After this we went to the nearby Shankaracharya Mutt and were fortunate to meet His Holiness and also speak with him for a short while. We also visited the Kalpavruksha (boon giving tree) tree under which Adi Shankaracharya had once spent time meditating.

After this we left Joshimath and on the way down, we stopped at a roadside eatery to have our lunch. I must mention here that throughout our Yatra all the food cooked and served by Srinivasan Tours were without onion or garlic. Yet, it was very tasty, and we never missed the flavour adding vegetables. On this day when we had offered Pindam to our ancestors, it was even more nice to have such food. This time it was nice spicy rasam with potato & brinjal vegetable along with rice and curds. Afterwards, we had nice lassi from the eatery to finish the meal.

After a long drive with just one break we arrived at Rudraprayag by around 7.30 p.m. The rooms were very nice, and we had air coolers in each room. That night we had Upma & chutney for dinner.

That concluded Day 11 of our Yatra.

Chardham Yatra - Part 11 (Pipalkoti to Badrinath)

Day 10 (28^th May 2019) – It was the day to proceed towards the last Dham in our yatra – Badrinath. Badrinath is considered one of the holiest places on this earth. One of the 108 holiest Vishnu shrines, or Divya Desams as they are called, it is situated at a height of 3133 meters above sea level and is open for only 6 months in a year like the other four Dhams. It is situated along the banks of the river Alaknanda which flows down to later merge with various rivers including the Bhagirati to form the river Ganga. The two holy mountains Nara & Narayana flank this temple with mountain Nara situated across the river Alaknanda.

We woke up early as usual and got ready by 6 a.m. By 6.30 a.m. we were on our way to Joshimath which was about 35 kms away. Our first halt was at Narasing temple at Joshimath. This is the popular old temple of Lord Narasimha which has been recently renovated. This temple serves as the winter retreat for Lord Badrinarayan. It is believed that the right arm of the Lord Narasimha is constantly eroding and when it fully erodes, the holy temple of Badrinath will be blocked and inaccessible. After that Badrinarayan will appear in the Bhavishya (Future) Badri temple of Badrinarayan which is 17 kms away from Joshimath and will be worshipped there in future.

We reached Narasing temple by about 8.30 a.m. and participated in the morning worship ritual. Even though Abhishek was completed by the time we reached, we could still get darshan of the Lord before He was covered by Alankaram and flowers. The priests were chanting Sri Sooktham in a unique tune and it was nice to hear it. After the puja and the aarti, we moved out and had darshan of the nearby temples including a nice Vasudeva temple which has a lovely idol made in black stone. After our darshan, we left towards Badrinath which is approximately 45 kms away from here.

After driving some distance, we came toto Vishnuprayag which is the confluence of Alaknanda and DhouliGanga. We had breakfast here as the place is developed well with small temples and nice resting place for pilgrims. Breakfast was Upma made of Dhaliya / Lapsee rice with chutney. We also took the opportunity to take some pictures here as the place was very scenic.

We then drove further towards Badrinath. The roads here were generally well maintained and we did not encounter much traffic. On the way, we saw the detour on the road which takes one towards the famous Hemkund Sahib - the holy place for Sikhs. We also saw the route that takes one towards the "Valley of Flowers" which is to be visited in the months of September / October. We reached by 12.30 p.m. and had our first darshan of the world-famous temple from the road itself. We loudly chanted “Bolo Badri Vishal ki Jai”. In fact, Srinivasan (our tour operator) has a ritual of shouting Jai slogans to all the deities before starting and ending every journey. We loudly & enthusiastically participated is such rituals. Our vehicle then drove towards a parking place from where we hired local coolies to carry our luggage to the hotel where we were to stay. It was a short 10-minute walk. The place being in the mountain, the walk has its ups & downs and one needs good lung power to walk.

We found the hotel to be decent and right across the river Alaknanda on the Nara mountain. From our room, we had a lovely darshan of the temple, the river and the long queue that was waiting for the darshan. The rooms were clean and decent. The weather was great as the Sun was shining that day and it reduced the cold and the wind was also not blowing strongly. It seemed as if the Lord was welcoming us cheerfully. After settling down, we had lunch which comprised of rice, rasam, one vegetable and curds.

After lunch and a little rest, we went to the village Mana which is about 4 kms away from Badrinath. This is the last village on the Indian side and has many important pilgrim spots. The roads were crowded with vehicles going to this village and there was a traffic jam. So, we got down from our TT and walked about a kilometer to reach this village. As we walked inside, we could see the small houses and people going about their daily routines. The pathway was narrow and there was no space for vehicles to move inside the village. Many of the villagers had put up small shops selling locally made woolen items like sweaters, scarfs, gloves, caps etc. We could also see some people actually making these items by hand. 

We first went to the Ganesh Mandir where Lord Ganesh had seated Himself and written the Mahabaratha which was composed and dictated to Him by Ved Vyasa. We then went to Vyas Gufa (Cave) which is in a slightly higher location. This is where Ved Vyasa used to meditate and where He composed the Mahabaratha as well as the Srimad Bhagavatam. We were overawed by visiting this holy place and bowed our heads to Him who is the incarnation of Lord Narayana. My wife recited the 12th chapter of the 12th Canto of the Srimad Bhagavatam in the dark cave supported by the torch light provided by Sri Srinivasan. The 12th chapter is the summary of the Srimad Bhagavatam and chanting of it is considered equivalent to chanting the entire Srimad Bhagavatam.


After this we walked towards the place where we could see Saraswati river gushing down with tremendous farce. Legend is that the sound of the river Saraswati was so high that it disturbed Ved Vyas who instructed her to go underground and she obeyed Him. She is believed to surface at holy Prayagraj where the 3 rivers merge (Ganga, Yamuna & Saraswati) together. We also saw the path taken by the Pandavas while on their last journey and the huge boulder of rock placed by Bheem between two mountains to facilitate their crossing. This rock is called Bheem pul (Bridge) and is a marvel to see. After taking pictures at this spot, we saw the last resting place of Draupadi at a distance. Due to paucity of time, we did not go towards that place. On our way back, we did some small shopping of the local handicrafts (woolen wear) which is made of sheep's wool and gives very good warmth. It was available at a very low price here. 

In the evening, we waited for some time in the room as the darshan queue was very long. By 7.30 p.m. it had thinned, and we went for darshan. Before going to the temple, we had enquired about any Seva / Special darshan tickets but were told that none was available. We were resigned to a normal darshan from a distance, but fate was in our favour. Srinivasan used his local connects and got us all aarti darshan without any tickets and we got the opportunity to sit for a while in front of the Lord!!! We were thrilled beyond words at the special favours being continuously received by us. We felt very blessed and special indeed. Most of us, with the exception of four, returned to the hotel after this.

Four of us went for a short meeting with the main priest of Badrinath temple. This priest is called as Rawal and has been traditionally been coming from a Namboodri family in Kerala. The priest who is now in charge of conducting daily pooja at Badrinath is B Sankaran Namboodri and he is only 24 years old. He was kind enough to spend some time with us after his return from the temple to his quarters and gave special Badri prasadam for all five couples. He explained to us how the main diety of Badrinarayan is actually a Shaligram and is in the shape of a person sitting in a meditative posture.   

After that we returned to our room and had a nice light dinner comprising of dosas and chutney and went to bed with a plan to wake up early and go for the early morning 4 a.m. darshan wherein one can get the Nirmalaya (without any alankaram) darshan of the Lord. We were also told that the crowds will be less at that time. So, we set our alarm clock for 3 a.m. and went to sleep.

Thus ended 10 of our Yatra.

Chardham Yatra - Part 10 (Sitapur to Pipalkoti)

Day 9 (27^th May 2019) – We were woken up early as always at 5 a.m. by the morning coffee call of Ranveer. By 6 a.m. we were packed, loaded and ready to leave. Kedarnath will always be etched in our memory as one of the eventful visits. The miracle we witnessed which enabled our darshan of the Lord, the multiple darshan and the wonderful temple of Triyugi Narayan were simply wonderful and memorable.

Although we were ready early, there was already a traffic jam right outside our hotel on the way out of Sitapur. After a wait of 15 minutes or so, we joined the traffic. The movement was slow till we covered approximately 6 kilometre or so. Then the roads cleared, and we could move smoothly. Our first halt was at Gupt Kashi – the place where Lord Shiva is believed to have proposed to Devi Parvati after being pleased by Her penance. This is also the location where Lord Shiva is believed to have gone incognito when the Pandavas were searching for Him to seek His pardon for the sin of Brahamanahatya & Banduhatya (Killing of Brahmin & relatives).

The temple at Gupt Kashi can be reached by walking up a few hundred steps from the main road. There are also services of local jeeps who charge Rs. 20 per head for the short one-kilometre trip through narrow roads. Due to paucity of time, we opted for the jeep. All 10 of us could squeeze in one jeep. Within 5 minutes or so we were in the temple. In the temple, one can see two spouts of water flowing – one believed to be Ganga and the other Yamuna. We washed our feet, hands and faces at both spouts. Even though we had decided not to do any puja here (due to shortage of time), we still went ahead and did a small puja conducted by a local priest. Here we also made offerings to our departed ancestors. One unique custom here is that our offering to the priest is done secretively – He make a small cut a dried whole coconut and then we are asked to put our offerings inside it and then covered with the coconut piece. The puja was conducted in the temple courtyard.

After this we went for darshan of Lord Vishwanath inside the temple. We also had darshan of the Ardanareeshwara idol in the adjacent temple. After this, we took the same jeep to return to our TT which was waiting for us at the main road.

We then resumed our journey towards Badrinath. After a short while we halted for our breakfast at a roadside eatery. Ranveer had made dosas with chutney. Although cold, it was delicious, and we wolfed down a good number of soft dosas. The journey was long and felt very warm after the cold climate we had experienced in the earlier day. The original plan was to reach Badrinath on the same day but due to traffic and the extra time taken at Gupt Kashi we were making slow progress.

Along the way, we stopped at another eatery for our lunch break. This was in a small village on the way. The menu for lunch was rice, sambhar and cabbage sabzi plus curds and pickles. We also bought some sweets from the shop and that became our desert. We also found a dog there to whom we gave buns bought at the same shop. After eating two, the dog refused to have any more. There were some medical shops in the village where we made some emergency purchases.

As we were running behind schedule, our tour operator decided to halt a town called Pipalkoti. This is about 35 kms before Joshimatt. We were apprehensive about the quality of the hotel & rooms here but were pleasantly surprised to get a very nice hotel. The location of our hotel was excellent – we were in between several large mountains and the view was terrific. Although it was warm here, there was also a strong breeze flowing – so strong that it was pushing the plastic chairs which were in the lobby. The rooms were large and had TV with few channels working. We also had large & clean bathrooms where we could wash our clothes. As the room was large, we could tie our clothesline in the room and as the weather was warm, the clothes got dried by morning. We had a dinner by about 8 p.m. – Dinner comprised of Tawa parathas and a mixed sabzi followed by rice, curds and pickles. After this, we went for a walk in the small town and had a nice glass of hot milk at a nearby restaurant.

The hot milk made us sleepy and we went to sleep by 10 p.m. eagerly anticipating our visit to Holy Badrinath the next day.

Thus, ended Day 9 of our Yatra.

Chardham Yatra - Part 9 (Kedarnath to Sitapur)

Day 8 – 26^th May, 2019 saw us waking up early & eagerly. We were served tea in the morning and we left immediately after that. On our way away from our room towards the helipad, we took some pictures to serve as memory. We said our goodbyes to the Lord at Kedarnath and also to our priest who had made all the arrangements. We reached the helipad by 6.30 a.m. and were allotted slots for the return journey.

 The wait for our flight was quite long. While waiting we saw a body of a pilgrim who passed away at Kedarnath being loaded on a helicopter. Many people, especially the older pilgrims, find the lack of oxygen and the cold unbearable. Complaints of nausea and breathlessness is common as are the complaints regarding the cold and the blast of wind from the helicopters while landing or taking off. After a very long time, we got our turns to fly down to Sersi. We came down by 11.30 a.m. It was very warm at Sersi but we were not complaining as it was comforting. Breathing was easy and nose blockage was steadily improving.

 Our TT took a long time to arrive after that as they were caught up in traffic. As mentioned earlier, traffic in this area is bad with people parking on the roads and not allowing eaough space for the movement. This combined with the heavy flow of vehicles on both directions often creates jams which take a long time to clear. We reached back our hotel by 3 p.m. and had lunch. Ranveer had made a special treat of Vettakozhumbu, Kootu, fried papadams and also Semiya milk payasam / kheer to celebrate the darshan of Kedarnath. We were given new rooms on the first floor of the hotel. These rooms were decent and much better than the ones on the ground floor.

In the evening, we drove about 18 kms to a lovely temple called Triyugi Narayan. One has to cross Sonprayag (confluence of Mandakini river with Basuki river) and go up one of the mountains to reach this temple. This temple is famous as the wedding of Shiva & Parvati was conducted here by Lord Narayan in the Satya yug. It is believed that Parvati did penance at Gauri Kund to obtain the love of Lord Shiva. He was won over by Her penance and proposed marriage to Her at GuptKashi and they eventuall got married at TriyugiNarayan village which was the capital of Her father Himavat.

 

Very few tourists were there when we reached the temple by around 6.15 p.m. The village was very quaint and peaceful. The temple looked lovely and we eagerly went to it. There are four kunds here viz. Brahma Kund, Vishnu Kund, Rudra Kund and Saraswati Kund. The village also has a Veda Patasala. This village is inhabited by about 130 Brahmin families which lives here even during the winter months when the village is virtually isolated. During winter, the villagers spend time praying inside the temple which has an eternal fire going.

With the help of a local priest we did a small pooja there at the very spot where the divine marriage was solemnised. We then entered the temple and had a darshan of the Akhand Jyoti (eternal fire) which is believed to be kept alive and burning for the last 3 yugs (Hence the name Triyugi). The temple is also known as Akhanda Dhuni temple due to the eternal fire which is kept ablaze by the wood offered by pilgrims & priests. It is believed that prayers offered at this temple results in getting marriages fixed for eligible bachelors / spinsters and also gives conjugal bliss to couples. We had darshan of the deities in the temple and were specially attracted to the idol of SatyaNarayan. We were also lucky to get darshan of aarti at this temple.

It was dark when we left the temple. We reached our hotel back by 9 p.m. in time for dinner of Puri & Bhaji followed by curd & rice. After that we retired for the night.

Thus ended Day 8 of our Yatra.