ON THE WATERFRONT
December 19, 2106

The Richter scale, developed in the 1930s, is a base-10 logarithmic scale, which defines magnitude as the logarithm of the ratio of the amplitude of the seismic waves to an arbitrary, minor amplitude, as recorded on a standardised seismograph at a standard distance. In short, it helps measure the intensity of an earthquake. If you are wondering what this has got to do with the annual trip of the Pilgrim Fathers (Gajanan Radkar, Harsha Rao, Vipul Shah, S Vaidyanathan, Dilip Bhandari, Ganesh Shinde, Rajesh Bayas, Huned Contractor), wait a second, it’s coming. Not the earthquake, the connection!

As we sat for our evening ‘gappa-shappa’ in a room of the Ajantha Guest House at Pondicherry, Vipul measured the volatility of each of us in terms of the Richter scale. We are all prone to anger, some of us more so. And so Vipul assigned us individual rankings. Dilip topped the list and was termed the ‘coolest’ guy – he has never displayed a temper tantrum, never gets irritated about anything that goes wrong, and takes it all in his stride. Down the list were the others, some of us prone to get itchy and bitchy about things in a flash while some take a while to hot up. The conclusion: Most of us are pressure cookers waiting for the whistle to blow! So, what comes next? Vipul, once again! He suggested we have a goal to accomplish before the next pilgrimage. Well, someone wants to get into anger control management, someone wants to lose weight, someone wants to create a world record in walking, someone wants to do a course in bag packing, someone wants to become spiritual (just joking) and all of us want Dilip to show some anger!

If this reads like a travelogue that has got its timeline all mixed up, the fault is mine. I just cannot hold myself from talking about the good things first. But, to go back to the beginning, this year the trip was scheduled from December 15-18 and it was going to be Pondicherry again. No, we weren’t so enamoured of the place that we wanted to do a second trip. It’s just that last year the destination was crossed out because of extremely stormy weather and flooding, and this year it would have been the same had not the god of rain shown some mercy on us, especially on Harsha who has to go through a logistics nightmare to fly from Singapore and also include in his India itinerary several marriages, sightseeing trips with his family, and meeting the widespread clan. The unfortunate part was that Ganesh had to drop out at the last moment due to a personal issue and I wonder if he got his refund on the flight bookings.

The trip started with the usual pick-me-ups from home for the night flight to Chennai and since dinner was going to be a problem, Vaidya (and here, our annual award for best sportsmanship goes to his wife) had the foresight to pack dinner for all of us – great ‘masala’ idlis and curd-rice which we tucked into at the airport itself when it was announced that the flight had been delayed by an hour. Reaching Chennai late night meant going straight to bed in the hotel booked near the airport and the next morning Harsha arrived in a Marks & Spencer blazer looking like he was going to replace Daniel Craig in the next James Bond installment. I am sure Craig will find something else to do. So, back to some quick idlis and egg omelettes (with jam, if you please!) for breakfast and off we went in a hired Tempo Traveller on our way to Pondicherry.

En route, we stopped at Mahabalipuram. This is a small town in Kancheepuram district in Tamil Nadu, around 60 km south of Chennai. It is an ancient historic town and was a bustling seaport during the time of Periplus (1st century CE) and Ptolemy (140 CE), from where ancient Indian traders sailed to countries of South East Asia. By the 7th century it was a port city of the South Indian dynasty of the Pallavas. It has a group of sanctuaries carved out of rock in the 7th and 8th centuries: ‘rathas’ (temples in the form of chariots), ‘mandapas’ (cave sanctuaries), giant open-air rock reliefs such as the famous ‘Descent of the Ganges’, and the ‘Shore Temple’, with thousands of sculptures to the glory of Shiva. This group of monuments at Mahabalipuram has been classified as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The modern town of Mahabalipuram was established by the British Raj in 1827.

Reaching Pondicherry late afternoon, we checked into the Ajantha Guest House, a pretty neat and well-managed property right in front of the ocean and the long promenade that lines it. Pondicherry is the capital city of the Indian union territory of Puducherry. The French East India Company established this town as their headquarters in 1674. Five trading posts were established along the South Indian coast between 1668 and 1674 and the town was separated by a canal into the French Quarter and the Indian Quarter. And while we didn’t exactly bump into French residents like you would do in Paris, Pondicherry has retained some interesting architectural links to its French heritage, which gives this town a unique look and ambience.
Pondicherry experiences extreme coastal erosion as a result of a breakwater constructed in 1989, just to the south of the town. Where there was once a broad, sandy beach, now the city is protected against the sea by a 2-km-long seawall. While there was an early seawall made by the French in 1735, this was not hard structure coastal defense so much as an adjunct to the old shipping pier and a transition from the beach to the town, which sits at a height of 8.5 metres above sea level. Today, the seawall consists of rows of granite boulders which are reinforced every year in an attempt to stop erosion. As a consequence of the seawall, Pondicherry experiences severe seabed erosion and turbulence at the coastal margin, resulting in an extreme loss of biodiversity within the critical intertidal zone. Whenever gaps appear as the stones fall into the continually eroding seabed, the government of Puducherry adds more boulders.

Essentially, a quiet place that may not have much to offer to those seeking adrenaline-driven holidays (though we did notice a board about an agency offering scuba diving facility), Pondicherry offers a chance to relax and spend some time looking inwards. And to do so, our next day started with a trip to Auroville after tucking into a breakfast of idlis, dosas and filter coffee intermixed with a comedy of sorts about giving directions to certain members about how to reach the small South Indian cafe. Sometimes it makes me think what would happen if Rajesh was given the charge of air traffic control or managing the local train network in Mumbai. Most planes would fly into each other and so would the trains. But then, as one of us put it, the important thing was to reach the place, not how you reach it. Great philosophy there!

Auroville (City of Dawn) is an experimental township in Viluppuram district mostly in the state of Tamil Nadu with some parts in the Union Territory of Pondicherry. It was founded in 1968 by Mirra Alfassa (known as the ‘Mother’) and designed by architect Roger Anger. As stated in Alfassa’s first public message in 1965, Auroville is meant to be a universal town where men and women of all countries are able to live in peace and progressive harmony, above all creeds, all politics and all nationalities. The purpose of Auroville is to realise human unity. In the middle of this huge expanse or township is the Matri Mandir, which was conceived by Alfassa as “a symbol of the divine’s answer to man’s aspiration for perfection.” Silence is maintained inside the Matri Mandir to ensure the tranquility of the space and the entire area surrounding the Matri Mandir is called the ‘peace zone’.

While tourists are not allowed inside the Matri Mandir (not the noisy, camera-flashing, quintessential tourist types at least), it is said that a spiralling ramp leads upwards to an air-conditioned chamber of polished white marble referred to as a place to find one’s consciousness. Matri Mandir is equipped with a solar power plant and is surrounded by manicured gardens. When there is no sun or after the sunset, the sunray on the globe is replaced by a beam from a solar-powered light. Radiating from this centre are four zones of the city area: the ‘residential zone’, ‘industrial zone’, ‘cultural and educational zone’ and ‘international zone’. Around the city or the urban area lies a green belt, which is an environment research and resource area, and includes farms and forestry, a botanical garden, seed bank, medicinal and herbal plants, water catchment bunds, and some communities.

Back in Pondicherry, we also visited the Sri Aurobindo Ashram, a spiritual community that grew out of the efforts of a small group of disciples who had gathered around Sri Aurobindo after he retired from politics and settled in Pondicherry in 1910. On November 24, 1926, after a major spiritual realisation, Sri Aurobindo withdrew from public view in order to continue his spiritual work. At this time he handed over the full responsibility for the inner and outer lives of the spiritual aspirants and the ashram to his spiritual collaborator, the Mother. The best part of being in Pondicherry is that there is a coffee house on the promenade that offers a fascinating view of the ocean and the long path alongside. An hour spent on its terrace was enough to give our trip its spiritual solace even as we contemplated on the destination for our next trip. There’s a museum too for those who love to dig into history.

The return journey to Chennai included a stop at the century-old man-made Ousteri Lake, also referred to as Osudu Lake, about 10 kms from Pondicherry town. It has been recognised as one of the important wetlands of Asia by the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN) and it is the most important freshwater lake in the region. The structure of the lake is complex - consisting of water, wetland, marsh and mudflats; it acts as the single largest catchment of fresh water in Pondicherry. A boat ride rounded off this peaceful visit and it was back to the hustle and bustle of Chennai. To conclude, just a word of advice who may want to visit Pondicherry. Always make sure you make your arrangement for dinner well in advance. The last order at any restaurant is at 10.30 pm and it is difficult to source a meal thereafter. Also, include a very early morning walk along the ocean in your plan. Your lungs will thank you for it! And keep your cool! The place demands it.

LADGHAR: ROOM WITH A VIEW

December 11-13, 2015

If ever you happen to search on the internet and come across the information that a road trip from Pune to Ladghar in Konkan will take approximately four hours, take that with a pinch of salt. Better still, since you will hitting the beach at Ladghar, we would advise you to take it with a bucket of sand. Incidentally, before we get into the finer details of the trip, here’s the fine print: Ladghar was never on our horizon this year. It was Pondicherry but due to the unfortunate natural calamity that struck Chennai and its neighbouring regions, we had to per force choose another destination….and fast! And so Ladghar it was!

Let it also be put on record that it required some fancy re-juggling by our ever resourceful S Vaidyanathan (who we must now honour with the title President-Logistics) to not only cancel the flight bookings to Chennai and back (and get a full refund from Indigo) but also manage the bookings of Harsha Rao who had no option but to keep his fingers crossed and arrive at Chennai from Singapore as scheduled and then take an onward flight from Chennai to Pune, which was now our new starting point. Complicated, but done well!

So, why Ladghar? It just so happened that there was a suggestion on our Whatsapp Pilgrim Fathers’ group that Plan B would mean going to a place nearby so as to make the best of the available trimmed weekend and Konkan would be feasible. “Let’s go to Dapoli” was the chorus with the assumption that it was just a four-hour journey. That it took double the time is best verified by the frustration that was writ large on our faces when we finally reached the destination and found, to our disappointment, that hotels had been booked right through the weekend. There was nothing available in the vicinity of the beach, which is what we wanted so as to run straight from the ocean to the room in just our shorts without the world having a glimpse of our well-toned bodies, modest as we are! 

Enter Mr Resourceful Number 2: Dilip Bhandari. For two days prior to the trip he had been mentioning a comfortable resort right on the beach that we could have booked in advance. However, ever in search of perfection (and being swollen-headed too), we dug around till we could dig no more and then finally kissed the mud at Dilip’s feet to let him lead us to Ladghar. Dilip has a sixth sense of sorts. He had already called up the owner of the Sea View Resort to find out if eight bumblebees could be put up with for two nights and had a confirmation that this could be done. So, we let him be a Roman emperor that night and he led us to victory. When we took off our shoes, socks and other paraphernalia in those rooms, the smiles were brighter than the stars in the skies.

Prior to that, and on the suggestion of Omkar, the owner of the resort, we stopped en route and tucked into a good dinner at a roadside restaurant. So that took care of our hunger pangs too. All’s well that ends well, as is often said. In fact, we even stayed up late to catch up and discuss matters close to our heart while of course pulling each other’s leg as is the custom. By the way, we had wanted to welcome Harsha in Pune with a string of garlands at the airport and create such a huge fuss that it would have attracted the attention of the local media. But that was not to be since he had managed to get an early flight from Chennai, had landed in Pune about two hours earlier than scheduled, and gone home to spend some time with his mom. However, having invested our hard-earned savings in garlands, we couldn’t let the opportunity slip by and so he was bedecked with garlands just the way a politician would be after winning the local polls but at his home.

The next day at Ladghar dawned bright and early, and the Arabian Ocean beckoned us from near. We rushed to the sea like excited children (that’s stretching a point too far) and spent the next hour or so letting the waves give us a thrashing by crashing on us. Body massage, anyone? Why go to a spa? The sea is as good! The higher the waves got, the more we jumped. And if some children in the vicinity wondered why a bunch of grandfatherly types were going yippie-yippie in the water, well, we wouldn’t have been ashamed of doing a little more yippie-yippie. After all, the fun you experience riding the waves is certainly not the same as standing below a shower in the bathroom and trying to sing a song from a 1950s film.

All that energetic pounding made way for a great breakfast of poha and dosa (the local Konkani type), following which it was time to take a walk. The difference between all our earlier trips and this one was that there was no rush to go to another place and no tight itinerary to stick to. We were there for keeps till Sunday morning and could laze about all we wanted. Which is precisely what we did, having a drawn-out lunch after another round of camaraderie and humour at its best. An afternoon nap and some cups of tea followed, and then we set off for a small Dutta Mandir atop a tiny hill, approachable through steps cut into the stone. That offered us a beautiful sight of the setting sun with the orange glow enveloping the sea, the sand and the rocks. Strange is nature indeed: it can be so overpoweringly beautiful and so mercilessly violent at the same time.

Yet another excellent dinner awaited us with more of the back-slapping trade-offs covering our career, family, Indian economy, politics and a round sparked off by Harsha who wanted us to play out a reality show of highlighting the good points of the person sitting next to you. Thankfully, it wasn’t about pointing out the negative traits or else it would have held out for the whole night! Surprisingly, each one of us realised that we had our good qualities as well and we literally hit the bunks with smiles so broad that they glowed in the dark like semi-circular flashlights.

Another early morning walk the next day and then it was time to pack, have our breakfast, and leave. Back on the road, we knew now that it would be another eight hours of a tiring road journey. But what the heck, discomforts like these are quickly forgotten by Pilgrim Fathers who were already planning for next year’s trip. Pondicherry? Well, well, well….watch this space!

And now for a quick round of applause:

1.      Gajanan Radkar: For regaling us with yet another year of Santa Banta jokes.

2.      Vipul Shah: For offering well-meaning and very sincere advice to one of us in the group.

3.      Ganesh Shinde: For providing the right kind of information about many things.

4.      Rajesh Bayas: For making us roll with laughter about an account that began with A2Z and ended with the post office.

5.      Dilip Bhandari: For providing a roof above our heads.

6.      S Vaidyanathan: For making this trip possible at such short notice.

7.      Harsha Rao: For asking the right questions about everything.

8.      Huned Contractor: For writing this blog despite a nagging cold.

Travel Tip

Ladghar is a small stretch of beach to the south of a rocky hillock which seperates it from Karde. Ladghar extends onto Burundi, a small fishing hamlet to its south. There is a Dutta Mandir, the village deity, atop the hillock on the northern end of Ladghar beach. Parasailing and water sports like water scooters are available at Ladghar and quite popular with tourists. Ladghar is located about 8 km from the Dapoli bus depot.

To get to Ladghar, take the Dapoli - Anjarle road and just as you leave Dapoli town you will find the Burundi police chowkey and the Kokan Krishi Vidyapeeth ground on your left. Take a left from the chowkey and continue along the road until you reach Ladghar. You will be greeted by signboards of hotels on the Ladghar beach at a V junction where the right turn will lead you to the beach. It will approximately take 30 minutes to reach Ladghar beach from Dapoli. The Sea View is a comfortable and cosy place to stay and offers good meals. You can contact Omkar on 8411097477 or 8552020468.

OF TEMPLES, DOLPHINS, PRAWN CURRIES AND EROTICA

Odisha: December 10-14, 2014

How many Santas or Bantas would it take to change a light bulb? None! That’s because they would rather call an electrician named Shriharan Dobhade to change it for them. Who is Shriharan Dobhade? Not anyone we know of! That’s just a name that went on looping in my mind for hours as we sat knee-to-knee in the Travera that was taking us through Odisha. Was it the result of having had a vegetarian meal for two days in a row? And that too when there so much of local fish available? Probably. It happens, especially when you hit the road, as we did during our annual pilgrimage, this time to Odisha, formerly known as Orissa.

Surrounded by West Bengal to the northeast, Jharkhand to the north, Chhattisgarh to the west and northwest, and Andhra Pradesh to the south, Odisha has about 480 kilometers of coastline stretched across the Bay of Bengal on its east. It is the modern name of the ancient kingdom of Kalinga, which was invaded by the Mauryan Emperor Ashoka in 261 BCE resulting in the bloody Kalinga War. The modern state of Orissa was established on April 1, 1936 as a province in British India.

The actual journey came much later though. On December 11, 2014, it was an ordeal to get up at 3.30 am and set off for Mumbai from Pune by road so that we could board a flight to Bhubaneshwar at 10.25 am. We were four of us – Gajanan Radkar, Ganesh Shinde, S Vaidyanathan and yours truly – while Rajesh Bayas had already left for Hyderabad from Mumbai a day earlier and was camped in an army guesthouse to wait for Harsha Rao who was to fly in from Singapore. They too were going to take a morning flight to Bhubaneshwar. For those who have been following this blog with a straight face, it will be apparent that two fathers were missing this time. That was Vipul Shah and Dilip Bhandari, both for personal reasons. Unfortunately that broke the quorum but it couldn’t be helped.

After a 40-minute delay on the part of Indigo Airlines that was to take us from Mumbai to Hyderabad, we did finally step out into a warm and welcoming city where our first job was to track down Harsha and Rajesh. And thanks to the ubiquitous cell phone, we found them in the local shopping market where they had both already purchased sarees for spouses, thus saving the rest of us from cracking our brains on which designs went best with which colours and borders. A big thank you to both! So now the trip could finally be flagged off. After much leg-pulling about Rajesh having been promoted to Deputy General Manager at the bank where he works in Mumbai, the Tavera, under the really wonderful steering of Sharad, an ex-army sepoy, made its way to Chilka where we had been booked by Col. Radkar at the INS Chilka, a naval training base. However, there were two brief stops en route.

One of these halts was at the Ugratara Mandir, a temple located between Rameshwar Chowk and Chandpur. The goddess Ugratara was the tutelary deity of the Gajapati kings and her popularity stems from her fierce aspect. It is said that the temple was where witchcraft was once practiced by her followers. There’s no ‘tantra-mantra’ here now but the temple does need to be kept clean, greasy and littered as it is. The other stop was for lunch at the 3Q Restaurant, quite popular with the locals, especially youngsters. With the sun setting as early as about 5.30 pm, there was nothing else to do but head straight for INS Chilka where once the rooms were sorted out, it was time to relax and then head to the Station Officers Mess for dinner. There’s something to be said about defense establishments: everything happens with such clockwork precision.

Fresh and early the next day, we reached the Chilka Lake where it was decided that we would take a boat ride to Satpada instead of going by road, which Sharad did with our luggage. The Chilka Lake is Asia’s largest brackish water lagoon with water spread ranging from 1,165 square kilometers in the rainy season to 906 square kilometers in the dry season. It is recognised as one of the most important wetlands in the world because it is home to a phenomenal variety of birds and it is said that there can be as many as 160 species in the peak season between November and February. This includes the white bellied sea eagles, ospreys, golden plovers, sand pipers, flamingos, pelicans, shovellers, gulls and birds flying down from as far as Iran, Central Asia and Siberia. Trust our luck though that the only birds we saw were in the distance and of a single breed, which we could not recognise. The boatman too wasn’t of much help.

Another major attraction on the lake is the presence of the Irrawady dolphins which are often spotted off Satpada Island. The lake also supports the local fishermen in earning their living from Chilika’s prawns, mackerels and crabs. We did manage to see the dolphins – just a flash of a couple of them arching their backs in the water. Smooth though the boat ride was and quite an unusual experience, four hours can be a bit monotonous – and can even put your kidneys under pressure. Reaching Satpada was like sighting land after having been thrown off the Titanic into the sea. And considering that some of us could then tuck into a huge lunch of prawn curry, fried fish and fish curry along with rice and dal was like a perfect round-off to a nice and breezy morning.

This time around, it wasn’t just the cameras, both mobile and digital, going click-click. Harsha was on a video shooting spree, having promised his daughter in the UK that he would send short videos for her to actually see how the trip coasted along. The videos were then posted on our Whatsapp group too so that Vipul wouldn’t miss out on what we were up to. Dilip of course hasn’t yet joined the group despite repeated requests, threats, blackmailing attempts, extortion, and even the use of the mafia. Just joking!

With a night well spent at the Army Holiday Home in Puri after a stroll on the beach, morning brought us closer to our actual objective of doing the rounds of the famous temples. The first was the Jagannath Mandir, the name implying ‘Lord of the Universe’. Here the forms of Jagannatha, Balabhadra and Subhadra are worshipped by the devout, in particular those who have tremendous faith in Krishna and Vishnu. The temple is also part of the ‘Char Dham’ pilgrimages that a Hindu is expected to make in one’s lifetime. Interestingly, even though most Hindu deities are made out of stone or metal, the image of Jagannath is wooden.

According to the priest who, for a nominal fee, provided us a jump-the-queue ‘darshan’, every 12 years these wooden figures are ceremoniously replaced by using sacred trees that have to be carved as an exact replica. Built in the 12^th century atop its ruins by the progenitor of the Eastern Ganga dynasty, King Anantavarman Chodaganga Deva, the temple is famous for its annual Rath Yatra, or chariot festival, in which the three main temple deities are hauled on huge and elaborately decorated temple floats. Unfortunately, worship has taken on a totally commercial avtaar and it is indeed sad to see all the priests making an all out effort to extract money on the pretext of channelising the gods’ blessings towards you. A little ‘tika’ on your forehead could easily mean parting with a 50 or 100 rupee note.

It was now time for our quintessential quiz round even as the Tavera sped towards our next destination, the world-famous Konark Sun Temple. This time the quiz was in two parts: the first one was to name the brand made popular by its advertising slogan and the second was to name the actor and the film related to a particular dialogue. Here are some examples: ‘The mint with a hole’. Answer: Polo. ‘Start it, fill it, forget it’. Answer: Hero Honda. “Kaun kambakht bardaasht karne ko peeta hai? Main toh peeta hoon ke bas saans le saku.” Answer: Dilip Kumar in Devdas. “I can talk English, I can walk English, I can run English... because English is a very phunny language.” Answer: Amitabh Bachchan in Namak Halal. Guess who got most of the answers right? Vaidyanathan. The prize: salt and pepper shakers in the shape of two dolphins.

With its entrance lined by a row of shops selling curios, not to forget the many ASI-appointed guides and photographers waiting to pounce on the tourists, the Konark Temple can be dated to the 13^th century. It was known as the Black Pagoda by the Europeans. It is believed that the temple was built by King Narasimhadeva I of the Eastern Ganga Dynasty around AD 1250. The temple is in the shape of a gigantic chariot with elaborately carved stone wheels, pillars and walls. A UNESCO World Heritage Site, its name is derived from the combination of the Sanskrit words ‘Kona’ (corner) and ‘Arka’ (sun) in reference to the main temple which was dedicated to the Sun god Surya.

A fascinating architectural facet of the temple is that it has 12 pairs of elaborately carved stone wheels which are 3 meters wide and pulled by a set of seven horses (four on the right and three on the left). The temple follows the traditional style of Kalinga architecture and is carefully oriented towards the east so that the first rays of sunrise strike the principal entrance. The original temple, according to our guide, had a main sanctum sanctorum which was supposedly 229 feet tall. Due to the weight of the super structure and weak soil of the area (some attribute it to a cyclone), the main dome fell in 1837. Among the structures which have survived to the current day are the dance hall and the dining hall.

Now guess what you would be studying closely on the walls of the temples? If you are a group of only males, the guide is going to take extra pleasure in pointing out the erotic sculptures of the ‘maithunas’ who are shown in various sexual positions, known as ‘asanas’. Suffice it to say that some of them appear to be quite difficult and it would take a man and woman of great physical dexterity and flexibility to try and derive sexual pleasure from such complicated couplings. One of such tough asanas is known as the Vakrasana, mispronounced by one of us as Bakrasena. Here one must recount what Harsha said: Imagine a father coming here with his children, one of whom happens to ask what the sculptures are about. The father, after having himself been happily taken aback with such eroticism, would probably shout and tell the children to move ahead, saying, “Chalo, chalo, there is nothing to see here.” Quite likely! But if your mind doesn’t get totally wrapped in the juxtaposition of such bodily pleasures, it’s equally important to study the wheels which are actually sun dials that can be used to calculate time accurately to a minute, including day and night.

With a brief foray into the handicraft shops at Pipli, we finally drove into Bhubaneshwar where Col. Radkar with his usual efficiency in such matters had booked us at the Kalinga Terriers Territorial Army Unit. But the evening did not end with just a quick shower and dinner. Harsha and Vaidyanathan took off to see the hockey match between India and Pakistan which, as the media recorded the next day, was not only a disappointment for India but also showcased unruly behaviour on the part of some of the Pakistani players. That both of them managed to watch the match free speaks for the ‘jugaad’ that must have taken place. But that’s another story! Back home, India’s loss made Vipul so angry that for once he posted a vitriolic remark in the group’s Whatsapp window.

The final day was rather tame. With a late breakfast and in the secure knowledge that we had to be at the airport by 5 pm to head back home, the itinerary comprised taking in the Dhauligiri Shanti Stupa, the Chausathi Yogini Temple, the Kedar Gauri Temple, the Lingaraj Temple and the Udayagiri and Khandagiri caves. The Dhauli hill is located on the banks of the river Daya and has major edicts of Ashoka engraved on a mass of rock by the side of the road leading to its summit. It is presumed to be the area where the Kalinga War was fought and the river is said to have turned red with the blood of the many deceased. This led Ashoka to realise the magnitude of horror associated with war. He saw to it that Dhauli became an important centre of Buddhist activities and built several chaityas, stupas and pillars there. On the top of the hill is a dazzling white peace pagoda built by the Japan Buddha Sangha and the Kalinga Nippon Buddha Sangha in the 1970s.

The Chausathi Yogini Temple is located in Hirapur, around 15 kilometers east of Bhubaneshwar and what makes this temple special is that it’s one of only four ‘yogini’ temples in India dedicated to the esoteric cult of ‘tantra’. It's shrouded in mystery and many locals are fearful of it. The temple has 64 stone yogini goddess figures carved on its inside walls, representing the 64 forms of the divine mother created to drink the blood of demons. The yogini cult believed that worshipping the 64 goddesses and the goddess Bhairavi would give them supernatural powers. The temple doesn’t have a roof and legend has it that it’s because the yogini goddesses would fly out and roam around at night.

The Kedareswar or Kedar Gauri Mandir has as its presiding deity Lord Shiva. The story about this temple is that there lived a couple named Kedar and Gouri who loved each other and decided to marry. The society was against the union, so it led them to flee from the village. During the journey Gouri felt hungry, so Kedar went for food and was killed by a tiger. When Gouri heard this, she jumped into a pond nearby. The king of Utkal, Lalatendu Keshari, thus raised a temple at this place, often visited by the newly married who pray for a happy wedlock without any obstacles.

The Lingaraj Temple, with the area around it congested and dirty, is dedicated to Harihara, a form of Shiva and is one of the oldest temples in Bhubaneswar. The temple has images of Vishnu, possibly because of the rising prominence of the Jagannath cult emanating from the Ganga rulers who built the Jagannath Temple in Puri. According to a priest, the temple has an average of 6,000 visitors per day with the number going into lakhs during festivals, the most important being Shivratri. The Udayagiri and Khandagiri caves are partly natural and partly artificial caves of archaeological, historical and religious importance. As per the local lore, these caves were carved out as residential blocks for Jain monks during the reign of King Kharavela. More than the caves, it is the presence of a huge number of monkeys here that draws the tourists who feed them peanuts and bananas.

That kind of brought us to the end of our trip but not without a shopping break at Lalchand Jewellers were some of us brought silver jewellery made in Odisha’s ‘tarakashi’ pattern with intricate designs. There was also the superb lunch with prawn curry and fish fried which finally put Dhobade to rest. Who’s Dhobade? Oh no, not again! But how can there be any travel without a hitch? While the Bhubaneshwar to Hyderabad flight was smooth, the one that was to take us to Mumbai was delayed by more than an hour and a half. Worse, the Singapore flight that was to take Harsha home in time to attend an important meeting at the office the next day returned to Hyderabad after an hour in air because a technical glitch. Not only that, Harsha had to stay overnight at Hyderabad and it was only after considerable delay the next day that he was finally put on an aircraft to Bangalore and then to Singapore.

However, all the tourist spots and temples apart, the four-day trip was once again an opportunity for us to enjoy each other’s company, indulge in ribald humour, push Rajesh into finally changing into a T-shirt and shorts instead of formal wear, pull Harsha’s leg over his packing and re-packing of bags, recall incidents from school days and have a discussion on whether our spouses (they now have a group called Pilgrim Wives) should go for a pilgrimage on their own. Vipul and Dilip should have been there too! And just before I sign off, here’s another word we have now added to our pilgrimage dictionary (last year it was ‘sophaastication’) – Master Bhushan. Like Dhobade, he could be another fictional character or mean something else altogether. There’s time to figure it out till we take off again.

Huned Contractor

16 December 2014

 

DOTTED BY DIVINE DEITIES

DOTTED BY DIVINE DEITIES

Karnataka: December 19 to 22, 2013

Do miracles really happen? Ask any member of Pilgrim Fathers – Vipul Shah, Harsha Rao, Gajanan Radkar, Rajesh Bayas, Dilip Bhandari, Ganesh Shinde, S Vaidyanathan or Huned Contractor – and the answer will be in the affirmative. Not because any of us has been witness to a grand spectacle that only the gods can manage but for the simple fact that even a seemingly impossible mission can be accomplished with not much human intervention. That is what happened during our recent trip across Karnataka, especially when we had to visit the Dharmasthala Temple in the Dakshina Kannada district.

The temple, which houses the shrines of Shiva, Manjunatha, Ammanavaru, Chandranath and the Dharma Daivas or guardian spirits of Dharma namely Kalarahu, Kalarkayi, Kumaraswamy and Kanyakumari, enforces strict darshan timings and our visit would have been partially futile considering that we were well past the afternoon closing hour of 2 pm. And yet, when we reached there at 2.45 pm, the driver of our passenger van pointed out that the last of the devotees was still being ushered in. Needless to add, we made a frantic bid for it and (here’s where the miracle part comes in) were the last six to be given admittance. No queue, no nothing! Just like that!

The fact that such instances have almost always happened during our earlier journeys to pilgrimage places seems to ascertain the fact that there’s always a destined way provided the will is willing enough. Anyway, to begin from the beginning, with Dilip absent this time due to a marriage in the family, seven of us started on this year’s yatra from various places such as Pune, Mumbai and Singapore to arrive at Mangalore, a city that reminds us of how tranquil Pune once was. With a stay at the comfortable Hotel Karthik and a grand dinner at The Village followed by a veritable feast of steaming idlis and wadas in the morning, we were all set to take off on a literally whirlwind tour of the temples of this part of Karnataka.

Our visit to the temples had actually begun a day earlier while we were waiting for the arrival of Ganesh and Vipul who had circumstantially been forced to take a bus from Pune. This was to the Gokarnanatheshwara Temple in Mangalore, otherwise known as Kudroli Sri Gokarnanatha Kshetra. Dedicated to Gokarnanatha, a Hindu deity also known as Shiva, the temple was recently in the news for taking a progressive step by inducting two widows as ‘archakas’ (temple priests) on October 6. The women priests were accorded a traditional ‘Chende’ welcome at the temple on and taken to the sanctum sanctorum where the idols of Shiva and Annapoorneshwari are placed. There they performed the puja and then consecrated the idol of Dattatreya.

So, December 20 saw us on the road to Moodabidri which houses the Temple of 1000 Pillars. This is one of the largest and the most ornate of the Jain temples of this region, built in 1430 A.D. The 2.5 meters tall bronze image of Lord Chandranatha Swami in the sanctum of this ‘basadi’ is considered to be very sacred. The temple is famous for the open pillared hall in front, consisting of a large variety of ornate pillars decorated with carvings typical of the Vijayanagara style. A 15-meter-tall single stone pillar called ‘manastambha’ stands in front of the basadi. Moodabidri was the seat of the Chowtas, a Jain ruling family, who were originally located at Puthige, about 5 km from here. They moved their capital to Moodabidri in the 17th century.

This was followed by a visit to Karkala which is primarily known for the statue of Lord Bahubali (Gomateshwara). The 45-feet tall statue is estimated to weigh 80 tonnes. Besides its colossal size, the Karkala statue is rendered more striking by its situation on the top of a huge granite rock, 300 feet high, on the verge of a picturesque little lake. This image was erected by a Jain king in 1432, in memory of Bahubali, the first Tirthankara who renounced the world at his most victorious moment. In front of this temple, there is a beautifully carved pillar called Manasthamhha which is nearly 50 feet high. It is the most beautiful and tallest of 11 Manasthambhas.  Like Moodabidri, there are 18 temples at Karkala.

Our next big stop was at the Dharmasthala Temple where along with being fortunate enough to have granted darshan, we were also able to have lunch of rice and rasam, astounded as we were with the efficiency of the institution that manages to serve thousands of devotees with such clockwork precision. Local legend says that the Shiva linga in Dharmasthala was brought here by a local person with great powers, named Annappa. He used to work for the Heggade family. Once when one of the family members he was serving wanted to worship Lord Shiva, Annappa had assured him to get one linga and vanished from sight. Next morning, he had already established the linga in Dharmasthala, a few metres away from Heggade’s house. Later it came to be known that the linga was from Kadri near Mangalore, from the Kadri Temple. By then, Annappa had vanished and he was never again sighted in the vicinity. Now people in Dharmasthala worship Annappa as Annappa Panjurli, a local deva and a hero.

The day’s long trip came to a end after a winding drive up a ghat to Chikmagalur, located in the foothills of the Mullayanagiri range. The place is famous for coffee but we had a bigger treat in store with our night halt at the Chikamagalur Club which is so very spacious and luxurious. 

Early morning the next day, after a wonderful breakfast of idlis, wadas and dosas (when in Rome, do as the Romans do!), we were back into the van, on our way to Belur. Our first stop was at the Chennakesava Temple, built on the banks of the river Yagachi by the Hoysala Empire King Vishnuvardhana. According to a guide, Chennakesava is a form of the Hindu god Vishnu and the temple is known for its intricate carvings in stone, each of the tableaus representing a story from the mythological texts of India. Further on is the Hoysaleswara Temple dedicated to Shiva. It was built in Halebidu during the rule of King Vishnuvardhana of the Hoysala Empire in the 12^th century. History has it that during the early 14^th century, Halebidu was sacked and looted by Muslim invaders from northern India and the temple fell into a state of ruin and neglect.

Our night halt for that day was at the Turtle Bay in Kundapur taluka. The resort is by the sea and since it was too late to walk on the fine sands of the coast, we had to content ourselves with dinner and early retirement to bed. But though the location of the resort is superb (which we realized the next morning when we went for a walk by the sea), there were a few factors that rankled. For one, the management overcharged for our stay, claiming that bookings done online attracted premium rates and secondly, the facilities weren’t up to the mark while the breakfast the next morning was not as promised. However, since we did not want any bad blood to spoil our day, we started early to now wind up the journey, first with a visit to the famous Udupi Krishna Temple.

This temple resembles a living ashram, a holy place for daily and living. Surrounding the Sri Krishna Matha are several temples, the most ancient being made of basic wood and stone of 1,500 years origin. The Krishna Matha was founded by the Vaishnavite saint Shri Madhwacharya in the 13^th century. He was the founder of the Dvaita school of Vedanta. It is believed that Madhwacharya found the idol of Sri Krishna in a large ball of gopichandana. Legend has it that once Kanakadasa, a pious worshiper and devotee of Lord Krishna, was staying in a makeshift hermitage in front of Krishna Matha. There was an earthquake in the night and the outer temple wall cracked such a way that there was a wide enough opening for Kanakadasa to have a darshan of the idol. Till today, devotees still worship Lord Krishna by praying through the same window. It is known as Kanakanakhindi.

And now it was time for the finale - a stopover at the home of Harsha’s father-in-law, Rajaram Rao, where we experienced a welcome and hospitality that will remain unmatched. So wonderful it was to once again have home food – vegetable pulao and curry with dahi salad and sweets – with so many helpings forced upon us that we actually wanted to have a nap rather than continue on our way to Mangalore where we had our flights to catch. It was time then to say our goodbyes but not before reminding each other of the various suggestions that had come forth for our next year’s choice of pilgrimage.

This trip was yet another memorable one for several reasons. Above all, it was once again a reflection of the logistical abilities of the members – this time around it being the responsibility of Harsha who, with guidance from his father-in-law, managed all the bookings and ensured that we would be able to visit the maximum number of places in the shortest time possible. And then there was all that fun and laughter, spurred in great measure with Gajanan’s treasure collection of the ‘Santa Banta’ jokes, some of which he seems to make up as we go. The quiz on Pune was a raucous one with many a claimer for the right answer and ultimately won by Vipul after a tie-breaker question between him and Gajanan (leading us to believe that there was some fishy communication here) but in terms of quiz sessions, the one on guessing a celebrity’s name took the cake with Rajesh putting everyone one on a wild chase with his choice of R. K. Laxman, the famous cartoonist.

As one now looks back on the trip, various moments and sequences come rushing back as in a film being fast forwarded – from a desperate attempt by Vipul to finish all the khakras that he had brought to missing Dilip for his timely comments to coming to terms with a shocking revelation to trying out the veshtis (South Indian lungis) to the excitement of discussing the next trip’s details to doubling up with laughter at the many wisecracks, and so on. The only thing we didn’t do is to sing “Lungi dance, lungi dance…..Thalaiva!”

  

IN THE FOOTSTEPS OF BUDDHA

Santa, a school student, was making a serious attempt at completing his examination paper within the given time when he suddenly stood up and started to dance. The examiner was taken aback. “What do you think are you doing?” she asked. “Well,” replied Santa, “there is a question here which says that there are marks for every step.” For us, now into our fourth year of making an annual trip to a place of historical and religious importance, the flagging off was with getting the steps of passage and arrival right. In fact, it was an exercise in coordination and logistics what with Harsha coming from Singapore, Ganesh from Vadodara, Gajanan from Katiar in Bihar, Rajesh from Mumbai and I, Vipul, Dilip and Vaidyanathan making our way to Gaya from Pune via Delhi and Patna.

Arrive we did at Gaya on the evening of Sunday, February 22, 2013 but not before crossing some hurdles. Vaidya, for instance, was carrying with him a weight measuring machine that was to be given to Gajanan and was asked by the security personnel at the Pune Airport to remove all the packaging and show them what it was, particularly so because just a day ago Hyderabad had suffered casualties due to a bomb blast and security across India had been beefed up in a typical knee-jerk reaction. And then I was in for a shocker when the scanner at the airport revealed a Swiss knife in my rucksack. What was the knife doing there? I had no clue at all! Fortunately, they didn’t march me to the nearest police station and we boarded the Go Air flight in time. In Kolkata, where Harsha, Ganesh and Rajesh had met up prior to taking the flight to Gaya, a search for sarees had almost led to missing the flight.

Anyway, after an evening well-spent on catching up with the latest in our lives and pulling each other’s legs into late hours, Monday morning saw the ‘pilgrim fathers’, as Gajanan had nicknamed the group, to set forth and explore the place. Our first major stop was the Mahabodhi Temple Complex in Gaya, famous for being the place where Gautama Buddha is said to have obtained enlightenment. For Buddhists, Bodh Gaya is the most important of the main four pilgrimage sites related to the life of Gautama Buddha, the other three being Kushinagar, Lumbini and Sarnath. In 2002, Mahabodhi Temple became a UNESCO World Heritage Site and though the complex is well-maintained, the surrounding town, by contrast, is dusty and obviously ill-planned. It is believed that a new development plan has been proposed to ensure a sustainable and prosperous future for Bodh Gaya, but has become controversial because such a plan may require the relocation of whole neighborhoods.

Next to the temple, to its western side, is the holy Bodhi tree. In the Pali Canon, the site is called Bodhimanda and the monastery there the Bodhimanda Vihara. The tallest tower is 55 metres in height. In approximately 250 BCE, about 200 years after the Buddha attained enlightenment, Buddhist Emperor Asoka visited Bodh Gaya with the intention of establishing a monastery and shrine. As part of the temple, he built the diamond throne, called the Vajrasana, attempting to mark the exact spot of Buddha’s enlightenment. Asoka is therefore considered the founder of the Mahabodhi Temple. One of the interesting features of the sprawling complex is the Mucalinda Lake in the centre of which is a sculpture of Buddha seated under the hood of a cobra. It is said that when Buddha was spending his sixth week of enlightenment here, the cobra and other creatures protected him from severe thunderstorms.

Incidentally, there have been several controversies regarding the temple involving both the management and claims made by Hindus and Buddhists regarding ownership or rights of access to the temple. In August 2005, individuals associated with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) were stopped by police while attempting to enter the Mahabodhi Temple to make an offering of blessed water to a pedestal or broken pillar within the temple complex. BJP officials claimed that a pedestal within the temple may be part of a Shiva linga, and that Hindus should be permitted access to the temple to make offerings to the pedestal. In 2006, it was alleged that a branch of the Bodhi tree had been removed and sold to wealthy buyers in Thailand with the cooperation of senior members of the temple’s management committee. Former temple secretary, Kalicharan Yadav, has denied this claim, contending that the branch was removed much earlier as part of a needed pruning effort recommended by botanists working with the temple.

Making our way ahead in a Winger van with a variety of snacks such as bhakarwadis, anjir, khakhras, Shrewsberry biscuits etc pumping up our energy levels, our next halt was at Rajgir, which is said to be the first capital of the kingdom of Magadha, a state that would eventually evolve into the Mauryan Empire. Its date of origin is unknown, although ceramics dating to about 1,000 BC have been found in the city. This area was one of the favourite places for Gautama Buddha and the well known ‘Atanatiya’ conference was held atop the mountain called Vulture’s Peak. Known for the Vishwa Shanti Stupa, located at considerable height, one of the ‘adventurous’ aspects of the place is that you can take a ride in a cable car on a ropeway to ascend and descend. Rajgir is also famous for its hot water springs, locally known as Brahmakund, a sacred place for Hindus. The Vishwa Shanti Stupa, built in 1969, is one of the 80 peace pagodas in the world built to spread the message of peace and non-violence.

With a lunch of samosas, kachoris and noodles that smelt and tasted stale in one of the ‘dhaba’ type eating joints, we made our way to the ruins of the Nalanda University. This was an ancient center of higher learning in Bihar and flourished between the reign of Sakraditya (whose identity is uncertain and who might have been either Kumara Gupta I or Kumara Gupta II) and 1197 CE, supported by patronage from the Hindu Gupta rulers as well as Buddhist emperors. An official guide with good command over Hindi explained to us that the complex was built with red bricks and its ruins occupy an area of 14 hectares. At its peak, the university attracted scholars and students from as far away as Tibet, China, Greece and Persia and its architectural uniqueness lay in the way the spaces for learning, residence and meditation were clearly demarcated.

The university was ransacked and destroyed by an army under Bakhtiyar Khilji in 1193. The great library of Nalanda University was so vast that it is reported to have burned for six months after the invaders set fire to it. The destruction of the temples, monasteries, centers of learning at Nalanda were responsible for the demise of ancient Indian scientific thought in mathematics, astronomy, alchemy and anatomy. In its heyday, it accommodated over 10,000 students and 2,000 teachers. It was marked by a lofty wall and one gate with eight separate compounds and ten temples. On the grounds were lakes and parks. The library was located in a nine-storied building where meticulous copies of texts were produced. What really helped the excavators understand the functional layout of the place were the diaries of Chinese pilgrim Xuan Zang who left detailed accounts of the university in the 7th century.

Opposite the ruins is a museum that houses the various items of historical interest unearthed during the excavations and a little way ahead is the Xuan Zang Memorial Hall which has a beautiful tapestry covering two walls that provide an account of the traveller’s sojourn across India and other countries. Xuan Zang primarily became famous for his 17-year overland journey to India, which is recorded in detail in the classic Chinese text ‘Great Tang Records On The Western Regions’. The place is immaculately maintained though of course the same cannot be said for any of the towns in Bihar where, for one thing, there is no traffic discipline and you are likely to be either mowed down by a truck or be rendered deaf with the drivers’ habit of sounding their horns at a high pitch and for long periods of time.

With Gajanan, a colonel in the Indian Army, a stay at one of the army’s guesthouses seems to have become the highpoint of our trips, and so was the case here when he led us to the Ordnance Factory’s amazing quarters where we were all treated to a sumptuous dinner and a most comfortable overnight stay in the huge rooms. With easy banter flowing like a Ganga in full spate, the hours sped on quickly till it was now time to make a quick last visit before we returned to Patna for our return flights home. This was at Pawapuri, a holy site for Jains located about 101 kilometers from Patna. It is here that Mahavira attained nirvana or moksha in around 5^th century BCE. Mahavira, as the temple priest informed us, was the last of the 24 tirthankaras of the Jain faith and it was here that he was cremated. There was a great rush to collect his ashes, with the result that so much soil was removed from the place of his cremation that a pond was created. Now, an exquisite marble temple in the middle of a lotus pond, the Jal Mandir, stands magnificently on a rectangular island.

And so, finally, it was time to head back to Patna from where Harsha was to fly to Kolkata and proceed to Singapore while Ganesh was to make the Patna-Delhi-Ahmedabad trip to be able to drive onwards to Vadodara. Gajanan accompanied Harsha in Patna on another search for sarees while the rest of us satiated our hunger pants with vegetarian thalis just outside the airport and then flew to Pune but not before freezing the location for next year. It’s going to be Karnataka. And to end the tale on a lighter note, when Santa met Banta after a long time, he kept saying, “A-B, A-B, A-B….” When an exasperated Banta asked him the reason for this silly repetition, Santa replied: “No C for long time!” But that’s not going to happen to us. We are getting together again…..soon!

Text: Huned Contractor

Stepping It Up

Amitabh Bachchan apparently had to take a tour of the Gir Lion Sanctuary four times to finally spot a lion or two. This is what the guide sitting in the front seat of our Maruti Gypsy told us on the chilly winter morning of December 10, 2011 as the vehicle moved ahead on a bumpy track through the forest. We weren’t the brand ambassadors of Gujarat nor did we have the ‘Bachhanesque’ luxury of taking the safari again. And so all we could do was to keep peering into the rather dry landscape of the reserve for any sign of a lion and hope for the best. Guess it wasn’t exactly our lucky day since even after more than two hours we were not really any close to getting within a visually close range of the king of the jungle.

But this is like starting a tale with its tail end and doing it on a negative note. So, let’s go back to the beginning. It was time for our annual ‘Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara’ kind of pilgrimage and after almost three months of parrying and chain emails shot back and forth between the group members (Gajanan Radkar, Vipul Shah, Ganesh Shinde, S Vaidyanathan, Dileep Bhandari, Rajesh Bayas, Harsha Rao and me), we were finally ready to set off on the evening of December 7 from Pune in a 3 Tier AC compartment of the Ahimsa Express that would take us to Vadodara. Harsha was to fly in from Singapore and Rajesh was to pick him up from the airport and board the train at Vasai Road. Sounds so smooth, doesn’t it?

The train took off at its stipulated hour. But there was this uneasy feeling about whether Harsha’s flight would be on time and whether they would make it to the station. They did but not before Vipul’s blood pressure shot up due to the many calls between him and Rajesh about whether the duo were going to board the right train. At one point, Rajesh said that they were already on a train even though the Ahimsa Express was yet to reach Vasai Road. Anyway, this was after the six of us had a feast of chapati, potata bhaji, shrikhand, puri, lemon rice, curd rice and pickles. The ladies who took the extra effort of ensuring that we did not go hungry deserve a salute.

Early morning the next day we were in Vadodara and with the Winger having already been booked to take us on our trip through the following three days, we started off on a quest of finding a couple of hotel rooms to have a bath and a quick breakfast. No luck! Thanks to Vipul, we finally found rooms in a Jain dharamshala and after the preliminaries struck the highway to take us to Palitana. But not before meeting up with some of Heema’s cousins who treated us to a great lunch of bhendi masala, dhokli curry, rotis and butter milk at a plush resort. When we finally arrived at the guest house in Palitana, there wasn’t much time to take a break and shed off the fatigue caused by sitting in a mini bus for too long.

The legs needed to be stretched and in a different way. We started climbing our way to the Palitana temple at around 3.40 pm and returned to the base by 6.45, which wasn’t too bad considering that there are about 3,800 steps each way. The Palitana temples are considered the most sacred pilgrimage place (tirtha) by the Jain community, and it is the world’s largest temple complex. There are more than 3,000 temples located on the Shatrunjaya hills, exquisitely carved in marble. The main temple on top of the hill is dedicated to the first tirthankar lord Adinath (Rishabdeva). On the top is a cluster of Jain temples, built by generations of Jains over a period of 900 years, from the 11th century onwards. The temples are managed by the Anandji Kalyanji Trust of the Kasturbai Lalbhai group.

These shrines are exquisitely carved in marble, veritable prayers in stone. To an observer, these appear to be ivory miniatures when seen from a distance. Created by master craftsmen, the main temple has ornate architectural motifs, though in its overall plan it is simpler than the Choumukh. The other notable temples are those of Kumarpal, Vimalshah and Sampriti Raja. Kumarpal Solanki, a great Jain patron, probably built the earliest temple. The temple has a fabulous collection of jewels, and these can be seen with special permission. The temples date from 11th to the 20th century.

With our legs becoming stiffer than dead logs of wood, we went out for an early dinner at the Sankalp Restaurant after downing some sugarcane and lime juice helped along by Jain bhel available at the shops at the base of the Palitana temple complex. “So where do we head the next year?” was the question bandied around as we waited for our meal. Pondicherry, Pasupatinath Bhubaneshwar, Goa, Dharmashala…the options started popping out faster than loose caps from a fizzy drink bottle. Nothing was finalised. The good food saw to that! It was then back to the guest house for an early ‘tuck in’ with the satisfaction of having accomplished the first part of our mission so successfully. 

With some of us walking as if we were on stilts thanks to our leg muscles refusing to let go of their stiffness, it was time to hit the road the next morning to reach Somnath. This we did by noon. The holy place of the Aadi Jyotirling, Shree Somnath Mahadev, and the sacred soil from where Bhagvan Shri Krishna took his last journey to his neejdham, the temple stands at the shore of the Arabian Ocean. This pilgrimage is one of the oldest and finds its reference in ancient texts like Skandpuran, Shreemad Bhagavat, Shivpuran, etc. The Moon God is said to have been relieved from the curse of his father-in-law Daksha Prajapati by the blessings of Bhagvan Somnath. In the Shiva Purana and Nandi Upapurana, Shiva said, “I am always present everywhere but specially in 12 forms and places as the jyotirlingas”. Somnath is the first among the 12 holy Shiva jyotirlings.

The shore temple of Somnath is believed to have been built in four phases in gold by Lord Soma, in silver by Ravi, in wood by Krishna and in stone by King Bhimadeva. It has withstood six repeated desecrations by Muslim invaders, though some say that it was pulled to the ground 11 times. The seventh existing temple is built in the Kailas Mahameru Prasad style. The ‘iron man’ of India, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, is the pioneer of the existing temple. The kalash at the top of the shikhar weighs ten tonnes and the dhwajdand is 27 feet tall and 1 foot in circumference. The Abadhit Samudra Marg or the arrow indicates an unobstructed sea route to the South Pole. The nearest land towards the South Pole is about 9,936 kms away. The temple renovated by Maharani Ahalyabai is adjacent to the main temple complex.

With Vaidayanthan doing the puja and surprising the temple’s resident priests with his flawless rendition of the prayers, it was now time to close our spiritual quest and move on to the entertaining part of our trip. With the taste of the dal-tadka and the mixed vegetables still on our tongues, we got back into the Winger to reach Sasan Gir at the earliest. And it was good that we hurried since it helped us to catch the mini safari outside the actual reserve area where we could see two lions and a lioness in full regalia along with deer and a variety of birds. The government’s guest house at Gir is in the colonial style and there rooms are wonderfully spacious and comfortable. It was time to party and this we did with the conversation veering into the territory of how it’s so difficult a task for parents to keep track of their children’s activities, especially those of girls passing through a phase of adolescence.

We of course wanted to stretch the discussion but the dinner wasn’t going to wait for us and at the early hour of 9 pm we trooped into the dining hall to bring the day to a close. We were going to return to Vadodara the next day but not before taking the early morning safari into the protected lion reserve. The air had a cold bite to it and the Gypsy jeeps weren’t exactly in the line of luxury. And so began the two-hour drive during which we, as said earlier, spotted many deer but no lions. Ganesh had not joined us since he was down with a bad throat. Was that the reason for the lions to stay away? Ganesh thought so! But shedding off this disappointment, we gorged on a quick breakfast of poha and butter-jam sandwiches to begin our long drive of almost ten hours to reach Vadodara in time for the 9.53 pm Jaipur Pune Express back to Pune.

The train was delayed by half an hour, there was a bit of commotion because two of our berths had been occupied by ladies who did not want to give up their unofficial moorings and the exhaustion was beginning to tell on us. However, it was a comfortable journey back home. To add a bit, there can be no trip without Gajanan’s Santa Banta jokes and it’s amazing how he manages to come up with a fresh lot each year. Vipul and Vaidya had of course handled all the bookings with such perfection that there was no room for complaints. Rajesh learned an important lesson on this trip – that it is not good to re-bottle champagne. Dileep, as is his habit, remains quiet most of the time but can be counted on to pitch in with a devastating spin attack when he thinks the moment deserves it. Harsha, we all agreed, would have had a great career in the CBI with his fondness for questioning just about everything. As for Ganesh, well, he was looking at Vadodara with more than just passing curiosity since he had to be back in the city after a few days due to his new job with L&T.

So, as my wife asked me, what was the trip all about? That’s hard to define in totality but it certainly was about camaraderie, long-lasting friendship, a physical test of our stamina, the fulfilling of curiosity about new places, a chance to get away from the daily grind, learning a bit more about life and ensuring that the passage of the following 11 months would once again bring the next trip closer. It was also about remembering our days at school. Of a teacher who said ‘phinite’ for ‘finite’, of a classmate whom we all are anxious to track, of some lady teachers who kindled our early stirrings of lust, of competing for the first and second ranks, and so on. And at the end of it we remembered that Harsha had a pet name – ‘Peru’.

Huned Contractor

PS: Though this will not be taken as the truth, I certainly did not rig the quiz session in favour of Harsha. There’s no ‘commission’ to prove that!

THE DEVI'S CALL

It is still two hours to midnight. And it is pitch black. What you can see in the distance is the silhouette of a mountain, lit by a shadowed moon and the stars that have come out in full force. Ahead of you is a path, one that has to be judged since it cannot be seen. The best thing to do while moving forward is to put one foot ahead of another and keep your eyes on the person in front of you. This goes on for at least a kilometre. And even as you grapple with this rather ‘blind’ situation, the shouts of “side, side” unnerve you. These are the warnings yelled out by the palkhi-bearers who are carrying the pilgrims right up to the top. And then there are the horses too, their droppings making the road slippery. Not to forget that a thunderous shower has already done so. For a moment then you want to turn back and rush to the safety of your lodgings at the base of the hill. But you cannot. Faith, as they say, can move mountains.

This, and many more such experiences, is what gets weaved into the journey to Jammu and then to the temple of Vaishno Devi, located at a height of 5,577 feet. Climbing up in the darkness of the night (which is what most pilgrims do to avoid the heat of the day) is not for the faint-hearted, literally and metaphorically. It is a steep climb that often squeezes out every breath from your lung and very few can actually trek up for four hours at a stretch. Breaks after every few metres become essential. And incidentally, that’s true even when you are coming down. That’s because the gradient can be so steep at times that the pressure on your knees can be killing. All said and done, however, the fact that you are able to reach the temple and get those micro-seconds of ‘darshan’ is enough to make you forget about the breathlessness and the severe cramps in your feet.

I happened to go to Vaishno Devi in September purely by chance though it is believed that this opportunity comes only when the Mata calls you to her fold. A close friend right from early days in school, Gajanan Radkar, is now a colonel in the army and had been posted at Jammu. During every visit to Pune he would insist that we (which includes my other school chums Vipul Shah, Ganesh Shinde and Rajesh Bayas as also two other friends, S Vaidynathan and Dilip Bhandari) should visit him at Jammu and make the trek to Vaishno Devi. We would never find the time to do so, till everything suddenly slipped into place this time. Was that the Mata’s call? Perhaps. With just three days to spare, we decided to take an early morning flight to Jammu from Mumbai in September 2009 so that we would have almost the entire day before starting the trek at 5 pm.

With the advantage of having obtained an army pass (this allows you to bypass the long queue for entry to the temple complex), we set off for Katra which is the point from where you begin to climb upwards. A word about Jammu though. Known as the winter capital of J&K and the city of temples, Jammu is now more of an army base and it is a common sight to see long convoys of army trucks making their way to Kashmir. It also has the appearance of forlornness brought on no doubt due to the fact that not much development has taken place over the years. For those who wish to explore Jammu, there is the Nandini Wildlife Sanctuary best known for its wonderful species of pheasants, the Mansar Lake situated 62 kms away which is fringed by forest-covered hills, the Bahu Fort that is on a rock face on the left bank of the river Tawi, the Raghunath Mandir which was built in 1857 by Maharaja Gulab Singh, the founder of J&K and the Peer Kho Cave Temple with its legend of the Ramayan Bear God Jamvant having meditated here.

But, back to Vaishno Devi. Having reached Katra at around 6 pm, we immediately started on our way up, shuffling along with the devout pilgrims chanting “Jai Mata Di” and peering into the many shops that line both sides of the path. The vendors here sell a wide variety of goods – from T-Series’ audio CDs of religious songs (the company’s founder Gulshan Kumar was a firm bhakt of Vaishno Devi) to dry fruits and from flower garlands and rudraksh malas to plastic toys and make-shift restaurants offering rajma chawal and kadhi khichdi. But the ones that fascinated me the most were the photo studios. Each of these has a replica of the Devi’s cave with its three ‘pinds’ and you can click your photograph in a way that suggests that it was actually done in the temple at the top. This is convenient because you cannot do so in the actual temple where you are not even allowed enough time to say a prayer or two.

For those who are in the habit of trekking, Vaishno Devi should not pose a problem. For us, it turned out to be a mammoth task even as we heaved, puffed and panted our way to completing the four-hour journey. The mountains that lined the horizon stood like sentinels while the air vibrated with the chants of the pilgrims. After a kilometre or two the shops disappeared and what kept us going was the sight of the lights right at the top. To cut a long climb short, the temple complex, when you finally reach it, offers a dazzling array of bright lights and a serpentine queue to get the darshan. For us, because of our privilege status, the darshan was a quick affair and we were outside once again within the span of an hour. And then, of course, begins the weary way down.

The Vaishno Devi yatra is probably the most hallowed pilgrimage of northern India and attracts over 5 million devotees a year. The trek from Katra is of 13.5 kms, although it certainly appears to be longer than that if one were to measure it on a scale of effort. The best time to visit is between March and July. The abode of this goddess is in the mountains of Trikuta Hills and she resides in a beautiful cave in the form of three ‘pinds’ in the name of Maha Kali, Maha Laxmi and Maha Sarawati. According to mythological tales, Goddess Durga killed the demon Bhairon here. The cave is 30 metres in length and 1.5 metres in height.

It is believed that a Brahmin priest called Sridhar discovered the holy shrine of Vaishno Devi about 1,000 years ago. The other shrines at Vaishno Devi are the Bhumika Temple, Ban Ganga Temple, Charan Paduka Temple, Ardh Kuwari, the Sri Ram Temple and the Bhairav Temple. These are located at different heights and distances from Katra along the way to Bhawan, that being the main temple of Vaishno Devi. For those who may not want to climb as also not use the horse or palkhi service to reach the top, there is a helicopter service with regular flights from the airport at Sanjhi Chat in Jammu.

According to Hindu epics, Mata Vaishno Devi took birth in the South of India in the home of Ratnakar Sagar. Her worldly parents had remained childless for a long time. Ratnakar had promised, the night before the birth of the divine child, which he would not come in the way of whatever his child desired. Vaishno Devi was called Trikuta as a child. Later she was called Vaishnavi because of her taking birth from Lord Vishnu’s lineage. When Trikuta was nine years old, she sought her father’s permission for doing penance on the seashore. Trikuta prayed to Lord Vishnu in the form of Rama. During Shree Rama’s search for Sita, he reached the seashore along with his army.

His eyes fell on this divine girl in deep meditation. Trikuta told Shree Rama that she had accepted him as her husband. Shree Rama told her that during this incarnation he had vowed to be faithful to only Sita. However, the Lord assured her that in Kaliyuga he would manifest as Kalki and marry her. Shree Rama then asked Trikuta to meditate in the cave found in the Trikuta Range of Manik Mountains, situated in Northern India. Vaishno Devi decided to observe the ‘navratra’ for the victory of Shree Rama against Ravana. Hence one reads the Ramayana during the nine days of Navratra in remembrance of the above connection. Shree Rama promised that the whole world would sing her praise and Trikuta was to become famous as Vaishno Devi and thus become immortal forever.

Anyway, we began our descent at around midnight and reached the base at 4.30 am, our legs having turned to wooden pegs that would no longer bend or move. It was then that we spotted a maalishwallah who did a wonderful job of getting the blood back into circulation and relaxing the muscles. Sitting there on an embankment we looked up and wondered if we had really been up there and done the yatra. We had. There was the prasad and the chunri to serve as evidence. We could see the lights high up there, serving as beacons of hope to all those who come here to get their wishes fulfilled. “Wasn’t it worth it?” Col Radkar asked. We nodded, too taken aback by our own achievement to put anything into words.

Huned Contractor