We were shocked to learn that it was possible to avoid the long queue for the Darshan and Puja provided we were ready to part with some money illegally. We declined and waited for our turn to enter the temple for Puja and darshan. Why this holy place is at such a difficult place? We overheard the most possible rational and convincing reply from a team leader which is very similar to our recent learning at the Pamarth ghat of Rishikesh.
LINKS TO PART 1 TO 8 ARE GIVEN AT THE END.
At Kedarnath
At Kedarnath
We stood in the
long queue, about half a Km away from the main entrance of the temple. The queue
with intermittent stoppages was advancing less than snails speed.
It was 7.30 PM, and
to be very optimistic, we would be near the main entrance not before 10.30 PM.
Two well-built
persons whispered something in the ears of a group of elderly persons in the queue
and whisked them away.
A thin person
came to us and whispered in fluent Bengali “Uncle, May I help you to have a
quick darshan?”
He signaled me
to come out of the queue. He did not look like a tout but proved soon.
As I came out,
he said, “I am known to the Pujari. Why should you stand in queue with Aunty
for hours together after this daylong walking when I am here? Uncle, just
pay only four thousands for both of you to that Shop owner. He shall give
you a ticket and show it to my friends at the gate and your darshan and Puja
shall be arranged.”
Hiding my anger,
I managed to say, “Is that a special darshan ticket?”
He replied, “Do
not bother about that.”
There are no special darshan tickets from the Temple
To lure me
further, the tout fellow said, “You spent so much, just spend a little more few
thousands only and see the Maha Arati, otherwise you may not be able to enter,
before midnight. After half an hour, the
temperature would go down to very cold. Choice is yours; I only wanted to help
you out as you are from Bengal ”
I pushed him
away and joined back the queue. By that time, another person was negotiating
possibly in south Indian language to a big group of south Indians in the queue.
I do not know whether these persons are
connected by any means to any Pujari of the temple but this is certainly a
racket running trouble free and successfully.
The touts could
convince many others and many temple visitors, standing behind us in the queue,
superseded us. This activity kept the
otherwise standstill queue moving and it was a tricky game similar to booth jam
technique during elections.
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We were unable
to see the Arati but went inside the temple and amazed to see the ancient work
of sculpture, temple architecture and a Puja much to our expectation.
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At early Morning, the snow capped mountains look different. The road was
calm. Possibly the horses, Palkis, dolis
and persons on foot for up and down journeys were yet to start.
But few
people like us could not keep themselves indoor but preferred to enjoy the festival of Holi.
This is the Holi
of the Nature and we saw the white snow tops of the Kedar Mountain
It took us only
two and half hours to walk down to Ramwara and with a comfortable margin time
we decided to have breakfast with hot fresh Pakoras, Roti and coffee.
A group of young
men and women sat ahead of us centering an elderly man (called by them as Bade
Papa) possibly the family head who was replying to the queries of the member.
An young lady of
the group said “What if could Bhimji could have seen Mahadeva at Rishikesh and
then this temple would have been there. We would not need to do so much walking
up and down the Hilly tract.
People in her
group giggled and before they start teasing her, Bade Papa rescued her in his
baritone voice “Can any of you answer her query?”
White trouser, Kurta, and shawl clad Bade Papa
with a tall figure, French-cut beard, and a baritone voice resembled like
Amitabh Bachhan.
The baritone
voice continued, “ Kedarnath ji Temple at the Foot of Kedar mountain enlightens the Yatris to know about both the Rudra and Meditating “Roopa” of
Mahadeva with illustrations from the surrounding nature.”
The group was
listening to him carefully and an young man said in a low voice” I am afraid,
if you may clarify further”
Bade Papa turned
to him “You must have noticed that some part of the trek was hot, some place
was pleasant with shades of tall tree and cool breeze. Some stretch was steep
with broken hill slope and some was very cold with cold waters from freshly
melted snow. These are the various “Roopa”s of Mahadev Shiva as found in nature.
Yesterday at the onset of the evening all of us saw him.” People in his
group were now surprised, but before they could speak out, his baritone voice
was heard again, “Did you not see him when the sun rays of the setting sun
were falling on the white Kedar dome? The entire white Kedar dome appeared to
me as Mahadeva and the pale yellow
color at the top of the dome was his tangled hair.”
We kept on
walking along with that group and after some times, Bade Papa invited us to
join his group with warm welcome from others of the group.
Discussions and
walking down to Gourikund continued simultaneously. If you love nature, you
may feel God. So, do an act against pollution. That is the actual “Puja” of
God.
We learned
similar things from the small but thoughtful talk at the Arati of
LINKS TO ALL OTHER PARTS 1 TO 8 ARE GIVEN BELOW.
For Part 1
For Part 2
For Part 3
For Part 4
For Part 5
For Part 6
For Part 7
For Part 8
http://pradipwritenow.blogspot.in/2013/09/a-trek-to-dev-bhoomi-for-devas-part-8.html
2 comments:
No end to harassment by touts. Nice description of the discussion among the pilgrims.
Thank you for your comments and patience to read upto this. Hope to see your critical view of the entire episode at the end. You may also communicate to me only.
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