Parasuram Kund Yatra - The last day

Bhasmachala Hill

Our last day of the yatra finally came. Waking up by 6 am (late by Northeast standards), we were pleasantly surprised to note that the large swarm of mosquitoes had apparently spared us. There were no visible marks of bites or any itching. We had a comfortable bath and finished our morning prayers. The organisers had arranged another important temple visit in the morning hours. After breakfast (prasadam from Balaji temple), we boarded the two buses to go for our final temple visit.

Archway welcoming visitors

After driving 23 kms, we reached the area near Brahmaputra River Heritage Centre at the banks of the river. The temple we were about to visit, was located in an island in the middle of the Brahmaputra River. This island, known as Bhasmachala Hill (renamed as Peacock Island by the British due to its shape) is the smallest inhabited river islands (0.67 square kilometers) of the world. It is believed that Shiva had opened His third eye and burnt Kamadeva (Lord of Love) at this very place. Kamadeva had come with an objective of disturbing Shiva (who was meditating here) so that Shiva weds Parvati and they beget a child who would kill a demon (who had taken a boon that he can only be killed by an offspring of Shiva – presuming that Shiva will never have one).

There is a temple here dedicated to Shiva & Parvati which is called the Umananda Temple. Uma is another name of Parvati and Umananda means the place where the divine couple lives here in eternal bliss. People believe that coming here and offering prayers leads to happy married life for couples.

We went in a motorised boat which had a viewing deck also – the only passengers in the boat were us yatris. The boat ride took only about 10 minutes with cool breeze blowing over us. After reaching the island, we had to walk about 75 steps to reach the top where the temple was located. A small courtyard was in front of the temple where we queued up after first having darshan of Ganesh ji.

After we entered the temple, we first had a darshan of Vishnu who is placed just in front of the doorway leading to the sanctum. After this, we joined the queue waiting to go into the sanctum. While we were waiting in the queue, one yatri started loudly chanting the Shiva Panchakshara Nakshtramala (composed by Adi Shankara) which is a series of 108 lines each ending with “Namah Shivaya”. The yatri would chant the line and rest of us in chorus would loudly say “Namah Shivaya” – the mood was electrifying.

Umananda Temple & Courtyard

The sanctum is at a lower level like in a cave. We had to climb down some steps to reach it. The priest there allowed us to touch the Lingam and offer our prayers without pushing us out. The sanctum seemed very pious and I could sense very positive vibrations in that holy place.

After coming out, we went to a nearby Kali temple. Then we took some photos. As we were coming down, also visited a small Hanuman temple. Then we came back to the ferry which left after all yatris had boarded. After returning to the riverfront where we had boarded the ferry in the morning, we had to walk some distance to get to the bus. Then, we quickly came back to Balaji temple complex. Here we did our midday prayers and then had lunch. Like in the previous day, we were served immediately after the Vaideekas were served. After lunch, we filled our tiffin box with Upma which was to serve as our dinner. The catering staff & organisers had made sure our food requirements were taken care till we reached home.

Although our return flight was in the evening (around 6 pm), we were advised to leave a little early as Prime Minister Narendra Modi was expected to visit Guwahati in the evening and, there was an expectation of delay in the journey. We departed around 2 pm to the airport. Luckily roads were relatively empty. We only faced some problem near the airport due to diversions and restrictions. However, we could get through due to a sticker placed on the bus windshield saying, “On Balaji Temple Duty”. It looked ‘official’ enough for the policemen to let us through.

At the airport, we were informed that Mumbai flight was delayed by nearly 3 hours. The airlines served us complimentary dinner. There was no prayer room in the airport. Hence, I found a corner, where I did my evening prayers. The return flight of 3.5 hours was uneventful – we slept through most of it. When we reached home, it was nearly 2 am the next day. It was so nice to be back in the comforts of our own homes. The yatra helped us realise this.

Prasadam of PK Yatra presented to HH

Stay tuned for the blogs on the next yatra !!

PS : The yatris, represented by the organisers and some of the Vaideekas, subsequently met HH Sri Vijayendra Saraswati, Shankaracharya of Kanchi, and presented Him with the prasadams of the yatra along with a detailed account of how it was conducted. He was also shown the pictures, videos etc. of the yatra.