“Sach kardenge Sapne”
Had a thought of going to Badrinath but never thought that it will be of so soon. It was like a dream, in a span of 24 hours decided and applied for a week days leave, got granted with a good spirit by the Grace of Sriman Narayana, informed our friend Mr. Narayandass at Mathura, who is not only a friend but also a guide and good caretaker too and booked our tickets by Air to Delhi and back to destination in advance and left for Delhi on August 27, 2016 20.55hrs., reached Delhi at 23.10hrs.
Mr.Naryandass and Mr. Amit Kumar (Car Operator) received us at Delhi Airport and left for the Holy place the battle field of Mahabharata- The Kurukshetra 160kms.from Delhi reached in the early hours around 03.00hrs of August 28, 2016. Had rest for a while in Jhat Dharmashala, completing our morning duties, left for sightseeing, visited a few temples, other places like Brhama kund, the place where Sri Krsna shown His Viswarupa to Sri Arjuna, the place of Geetha Upadesa, the place where Beeshma Pita recited Vishnu Sahasranama. Kurukshetra is in the State of Haryana. Haryana is a beautiful and a fertile state doing penance in the name of Lord Hari…….Hari Aana…..Hari Aana……Hari Aana and became Haryana.
We left for Haridwar via Roorke, reached Haridwar around 18.40hrs. were eager to see the Ganga Arti, by the time we reached the Arti was completed. We took a holy dip in the river Ganga and performed Arti, had no mind to leave the place. Thousands of devotees were taking bath in the river, enjoying the water flow, one can find un-measurable happiness here.
Then left for Rishikesh 24 Km. from Haridwar, stayed at a Shakti peet Ashram on the banks of the river Ganga. A pleasant atmosphere in Ashram made our tiredness aloof. The next day got up in the early hours and left for bathe in the Holy River Ganga, performed arti, enjoyed the sightseeing around the river, the greenery, clouds touching the top of the hill, totally covered with fog. Kya chalraha hain……fog chalraha hain……….fog ….haan fog. and left for Badrinath….Jai bolo Badri Vishal ki jai……. the total distance from Rishikesh to Badrinath is 300kms. The Ghat section started we started holding Gat. the seat. Between Rishikesh and Badrinath there are Five Prayags, nothing but junction of rivers, called Pancha Prayags….1, Deva Prayag 74kms. 2, Rudra Prayag 67kms., 3, Karan Prayag 34kms., 4. Nanda Prayag 24kms. 5, Vishnu Prayag 72kms. And the ultimate unanimous prayag called Kesav Prayag 36kms. (Total 308Kms.)
Dev Prayag: Joining of Alaknanda and Bagirathi rivers: The two rivers with a greater speed joining , a pleasant atmosphere, a picturesque location, one can bathe here, we also had a dip very spin chill, crystal clear water, a lot of pebbles on the shore.
Here is an ancient temple called Sri Raghunath ji Mandir is located , which is also a Divya Desa out of 108 Vaishnava Divya Desa, where Thirumangai Alwar done Mangalasasana.
(The place for taking bath and performing Rituals this place is called as Thitili kund)
We took bath and performed pooja, we can find many Pandits ( poojaris) here to perform the pooja. After bath and pooja here we left for Raghunath Mandir, had darsan and left for the next Prayag.
Rudra Prayag: Joining of Alaknanda river and Mandakini river, 67 kms from Dev Prayag, here Sri Rudranath Temple is located
(Sri Rudranath Ji Mandir, Rudra Prayag)
Had darshan of Sri Rurdranath ji, as we had bath in Dev Prayag we did not take bath here, sprinkled water on our siras (head) and were here for more than half an hour, enjoying the echo of the flow, the water was moving ferocious, hope it is not advisable to take bath here. The beauty is that where ever we go the river comes along with us. Rudra Prayag is 2000ft above sea level. One can remember the poem written by the great poet Alfred Lord Tennyson…. The Brook….the river saying men may come men may go, we go on for ever.
Karan Prayag: 34 kms from Rudra Prayag, We reached Karan Prayag.
(Karan Prayag. 2600ft. above sea level)
The joining of river Alaknanda and Pinder, as we reached in the evening around 17.00 hrs. we were here for a few minutes only as the drizzling started, we thought of staying in Karan Prayag and could get accommodation in Park Deep Hotel on the shore of the river itself.
(Karan Prayag)
Park Deep Hotel is a small and cute, honored with a good respect, served a good food, we enjoyed the river view from the room itself. Stayed here for a night and left for the next prayag, the most adventurous route starts now, very narrow and dangerous curves one can enjoy the Discovery Channel here , the narrow road with to & fro traffic but escorts available to clear the debris at the time of landslides . One can enjoy the water fall at every curve , the road is muddy and a care full drive is required while crossing the curves, a slight deviation will be a deviation to one’s life.
(The Road between Rishikesh and Badhrinath, a narrow and dangerous )
The entire route till Badhrinath is narrow and with curves climbing upward direction and we reached the next prayag the Nanda prayag.
4 . Nanda Prayag: The joining of rivers Alaknanda and Nandakni , here the water force is with a greater speed and with a good flow, both the rivers coming from different directions diagonally opposite , the joining place is in between the hills. Here one can feel that they are in Himalayas totally a hilly atmosphere with a green surroundings ……..can say Mera Bharat Mahan. Ye Hariyali aur Rastha. Jahan jahan deko wahan wahan Hariya.Har aa Hari aa calling the Sri Hari . The beautiful nature, the most enjoyable , a pleasant atmosphere . “ Sun Saibha sun Nandakini ki dhun” the sound of Nandakini’s flow
(The rivers joining Alaknanda and Nandakni – Nanda prayag.)
“Pani re Pani thera rang kysa Jisme mila dho us jaisa……. Though we consume water, we never get the qualities of water, when a drop of milk is added to a glass of water the entire water becomes milky, when a drop of lemon juice is added to a glass of water the entire water becomes lemon juice, similarly these river waters gives pleasure to all irrespective of caste, creed, sex, minor or major, rich or poor, it never counts the admirers, whether the admirers are in tens or hundreds or thousands or millions it distributes its pleasure equally to all. These waters though blocked by huge stones they never bother, they will take a side and flow, that’s why the stones also gives good support to these
waters like a bodyguard and a compound wall, even the hills will like these rivers. a good combination of friendship the hills, the pebbles, stones supporting the water to flow…singing the song”..Geeth gata chall oh sathi gungnatha chall” Oh bandhoo re….”
(Houses near Nanda Prayag)
The beautiful location , fertile land most of the places apples are grown , by enjoying the bliss slowly we reached Joshimat
A well maintained and a beautiful temple is this, Here in this temple we can see The Narsinga Baghwan with Lakshmi, Narad Muni , Nara Naryan, Hanuman and Bavani. The Utsav Murthi of Sri Badrivishal will be settled here for Six months during the closure of Badrinath temple from Divali to Akshya thiti. During this period one can have darsan of Sri Badrivishal here.
Here Thirumangai Alwar has done mangalasasan, Adi Sankara also visited this place and a Adi Sankara math is also there. The next day of Divali Sri Badrivishal form Badrinath will be brought here and till Akshya Thithi Sri Badrivishal will be settled here. During this period devotees cannot go beyond this place due to weather condition.
After completing darshan we started for Badrinath, the distance from Joshimath to Badrinath is only 45kms. Hoping that we can reach Badrinath in an hour but where as it took more than Three hours. The condition of the road can be seen in the picture below:
(The road to Badrinath from Joshimath 45kms.)
The main devotion starts here, Nama bajo Nama bajo Bajore nama Baghwan ka, “ Tu ne Hame bulaaya Badri Vishal ji , Hame yahan thak paunchaye Badri Vishal ji aur aage be le chalo Badri Vishal ji Tere darsan ke leye aayen hum Badri Vishal ji ……… taking the names of Guru, Achariya and the Lord like a Snail’s travel we could move slowly and carefully without increasing the speed and monitoring the way we reached The great Badrinath Dham.
After reaching Badrinath Dham we left for Mana the last village of India, Mana is the place where Sarawati river starts and joins Alaknanda river this place is also called as Keshav Prayag. Here The Great Saint Veda Vyas recited the Great Epic Mahabharatha and Lord Ganesha wrote in Grantha. The time when Sri Vyasa was reciting the epic the river Sarswathi was flowing ferociously with a huge sound and which was a disturbance to Sri Veda Vyasa and Ganesha. Sri Veda Vyasa restricted the river Saraswathi to flow a distance of 72 feet only. Here in Mana we can the Last Tea stall of India, The last shop of India, The Vyasa Guha, Mana Devi Temple, the Bridge erected by Sri Bheema as Dhraupathi was not able to cross the river Saraswathi, so Bheema placed a rock in between the banks of Saraswathi and the Bridge is called as Bheem pool
(The Bridge connecting two rocks- Bheem pool, the origin of Saraswathi river )
A few yards from here the Great Manasarovar’s water flows from the top of the hill, it is more than a mineral water what we buy. Here in this ghat section we can get the most valuable and holy water everywhere. We can say “Kitna Shyamal hain ye , kitna Komal hain ye, kitna Madhur hain ye, yehi hain mere Deski Dharti sona uglen, uglen heere moti….meri deski dharti…Mera Bharat Mahan”
It is most advisable aged people should take the help of Doli to go to the places in Mana region, as these places, Vyasaghua , Mana temple, Bheem pool are in the peak , very steep about 10,500 feet above sea level.
( the origin of Saraswathi river)
If anyone wants to do penance this is an ideal place and one can hear the sound of “AUM’ …………OHOOOOOOOOOOM, OHOOOOOOOM. The calm and the melody of the syllable AuM penetrates in to our heart and purifies our physiology and metabolism , beyond all pollution especially egotism, here no one will see their status, caste or creed, just enjoy the “Matha Saraswathi’s flow”
(Mana village)
The smallest village Mana is so beautiful with a limited population, no pollution living happily , working from dawn to dusk only. After completing Mana we reached the Badri Vishal Temple around 18.00hrs August 30. 2016.
The temperature was 9degrees C. and was manageable till 23.00 hrs. further the temperature has gone down to 7 degrees C. un tolerable it has become a freeze zone , this temperature continued till 03.00hrs early in the morning. and gradually increased . Whatever the precautionary measures we take, it is not possible to bear the cold. The walls of the room was totally damp, the bed, the blankets, the clothes , all were damp. It was a sleepless night to us.
All we got up around 4.00hrs. and left for bath in the Hot water tank known as Tapt kund near the shrine, two separate tanks are there one for gents and one for ladies separately. The tank is around 4feet depth a crystal clear hot water, it is said that this water will be hot in all the seasons due to the Sulphur content in the ground. One should not be in this water for more time.
(Tapt Kund- the Hot water spring)
We all took bath in this tank, excluding me all were alright, in a span of minutes my body has become weightless as the whole night was with low temperature and frozen body after taking bath has become weightless and could not even walk a small distance, this sickness was continued for an hour and gradually became active. It is advisable not to be in this hot water for a long time. It is best to take bath in the river itself though the water will be very cool
We were in the shrine for an hour only, we saw partly Thirumanjan (Abishek) of Sri Badri Vishal ji, one should have boon to see the Thirumanjan. Due to my bad health we started for Rishikesh around 10.00hrs. ( Aug.31, 2016). On the way to Rishikesh we reached Pandukeshwar the temple called Yoga Badri , here The King Pandu worshiped Lord Shiva, and Pandavas used to perform their father’s rituals here.
(Pandukeshwar Mandir)
This temple is 23kms from Badrinath, very ancient temple and is an ideal place for meditation. We were here for a few minutes and started for the next place the Vishnu Prayag.
Vishnu Prayag the joining of two rivers Alaknanda and Dhauliganga
(Sri Vishnu Prayag- joining of River Alaknanda and Dhauli ganga)
Vishnu Prayag is near Joshimath, one should take utmost care while getting down to have a dip in the water. This water is dam cool and we just sprinkled on head and completed the Prayags reached Rishikesh, stayed here for the night to have dip in the Ganga the next day.
(The river Ganga in Rishikesh)
The next day after bathe in the Holy river Ganga, left for local places in Rishikesh… The Lakshman Jula, The Ram Jula, Radha Madhanmohan temple, Tirupati Balaji Temple and shopping , a cute market area is here where one can get all religious items.
(The Lakshman Jhula in Rsihikesh)
Lakshman Jula is a long hanging bridge across the river Ganga in Rishikesh tied with iron rope at both the corners. Heavy vehicles are not allowed. A similar bridge parallel to this bridge is Ram Jhula . A temple for Ram and Lakshmana are here these two bridges are within the Rishikesh town. Completing these places reached Haridwar , the two main temples Mansa Devi and Chandi Devi on top of hills Mansa hill and Chandi Hill both the hills are having facility of winch . Devotees can go on foot or can go by ropeway.
As we were tired, we went by ropeway for both the temples, from the top of the hill we can see the surroundings the total greenery, here on the streets fruit salad stalls are plenty and a bowl of salad is sold for Rs.30/- only. The bowl is also made of leaf, a plastic fork will be given for picking the fruit. Completing this enjoyment we left for Hari ki pauri ( Hari ki paudi) in Haridwar, where the Arti will be given to the Ganga Matha. A lagre number of devotees gather here to perform Arti to the Holy river Ganga. The river water is diverted to a long tank were thousands of devotees can assemble and can perform the Arti. The Arti is performed in the evening hours between 18.30 hrs and 19.00hrs.
(Arti performed at Hari ki pauri)
We performed Arti to Ganga Matha and were there till 20.30 hrs. and left for Rishikesh and stayed here. The next day morning had bath in river Ganga and completing all formalities started for New Delhi. We visited Akshardham and Iskcon temple in Delhi
(Iskcon Temple, New Delhi)
Visiting this temple we have concluded our yatra on September 3, 2016 at 16.00hrs and reached Delhi Airport for Flight to Hyderabad.
“ One cannot go yatra without the sankalpa of the Lord”
“Without Acharya Kripa and Baghawat Sankalpa one cannot complete any kainkarya”
“Sarve Jana Sukhino Bavanthu”
“Lokha Samstha Sukhino Bavanthu”
“Sarvam Sri Krsnarpanamastu”
“Hari Om Tat Sath”
Adiyen Ramanuja Dasan
S VENKATESAN, Hyderabad
