Badhrinath yatra -Most memorable expereience
It has been my dream for long to visit Badhrinath temple. We
just booked the tickets for the chardham
yatra with the Uttaranchal government. We were 8 members- I, m y husband,
my mother in law, my brother in law, his wife, daughter, his friend and
friend’s wife. Along with us, 6 others booked the same yatra, including an
Italian gentleman. It was scheduled for May1st from Rishikesh. We booked our
train tickets from Bombay to Haridwar on 29th 12.05hrs by Dehradhun
express as we were in Mumbai at that time. Our plan was to join the group in
Rishikesh on 30th April 2014.
The miracles that happened proved that the darshan of the
Lord is not in our hands. After standing in the queue in Triambakeshwarar
temple, Nashik I suffered severe heel pain from 13th of April. It
persisted this time for full 15 days. I consulted two doctors (Naturopathy and
an Ayurveda doctor).Took the treatment for the 13 days without any
improvement. I was so upset that I could
not walk even a few steps and was about to cancel my tickets. But 27th
morning I made my mind and decided that I will definitely go for the trip. I
did my daily pooja , demanded Him to heal my pain and pleaded Lord Badhrinath
to give his darshan and recited Vishnu sahasra nama with a melting heart. I was
surprised to see my heel pain reduced a little that day evening. With so much pain we boarded the train with the help of my daughter-in-law and son. But to my surprise when I got down at Rishikesh station it was completely gone. I never
felt the pain again after that day. Not only that we had other major obstacles but with the grace of Lord Badri Narayana, we got the darshan. I would like to share my experience.
30th April.
We landed in Haridwar at 3.15 pm. Our train friends, a very
kind Gujarati couple Mr and Mrs. P.M.Pancholi, who were on their way to
Haridwar for the parayana on Lord Ram for 15 days, told us what to visit in
Haridwar. Though I had made my plans their tips were very useful. They gave us good
company even without a common language. It was funny and we enjoyed!
We took a rickshaw from the station to Hari-ki-pauri, paid
Rs.50. I could not believe that I was finally in the holy Haridwar, where Bagiratha did his tapas. Ujjain,
Nashik, Triveni sangham and Haridwar are the four places where Khumbamela takes
place because drops of Amrit accidentally spilled by Garuda. Though the sun was
scorching, the water was so cold, deep and fast moving. The holy dip there
rejuvenated and energized both of us. I
prayed Ganga matha to purify me from my sins and thanked God for this
opportunity. Haridwar is the gateway to
Hari (God). It is said after taking a holy dip in Haridwar one is expected to
visit Badhri. We could not stay for
Ganga Arthy there. We took a package cable car ticket (Uddankotla) operated by
government of Uttranchal to visit Manasa
devi and Chandi devi temple for Rs.120. They both are on shivalik hills. Manasa
devi fulfills our desire (to have the darshan of Lord Badhri). So visiting her
and getting her blessings before going to Badhri was apt.
We left our luggage at the foot of the hill in a shop after buying
some prashad for the Manasa devi. The exit of the temple led the way to the bus
stand from where we were taken by a van to the cable car service to the Chandi
devi temple. From the temple another
path leads to Anjani devi temple a little high above the mountain where Hanuman
lies as a baby on Anjani devi’s temple.
There are other temples like makaravhini temple, daksh prajapathy
temple, Bharat matha temple etc. Time
did not permit us to visit these temples. We took an auto to Rishikesh (paid
Rs.400). We met our other tour members in GMVN guest house, Rishikesh where
another miracle awaited us.
That night I was stunned to see fire in the window closer to
our bed. The screen was swaying to catch and spread the fire. I woke up my
husband and we shouted for help. It was
a narrow escape!
1st May
Ours was the first tour after the devastating flood that occurred
in 2013. So there were registration formalities followed by a pooja and media
coverage at 7am. We prepared to face the situation and prayed to God for his
darshan. We travelled around 250km by bus to Yamunothri. The way was through a
large coniferous forest! We enjoyed the
sight of tall trees which looked like small bush on the other mountains. The Himalayan range was undoubtedly
magnificent! We stopped near a small
hanuman temple on our way and prayed for the darshan of Badhrinath and
Kedarnath. We stayed in GMVN guest house
in Barkot. Our friend bought some jerkins just for Rs.700. The place and food were
all very nice.
2nd May
We left the place by 7am, reached the foot of the mountain
by 10am. We were expected to be back by 4pm as it would be very cold after
that. I decided to take a pony due to my previous heel pain. My mother in law
though little hesitant, agreed to take the pony. But after walking to the GMVN
guest house from the base which was more than 1km on the way to the mountain,
she felt tired. So we arranged doli for Rs.1100 for both ways. Actually
climbing up by pony may be enjoyable but climbing down will be real tough. We
get hit to the seat often during the way through the steep steps. Three of us
in our group hired pony for Rs.770 for up and down. We were excited to see the snow covered
mountains so closely and the flow of Yamuna was pleasing to our eyes.
It was the opening day of the yamunothri temple the deity
was brought to the temple in palanquin along with us. We quickly had a holy dip
in Suryakund (hot water spring), and waited for others. We can give scientific
reasons but seeing ice cold water and hot water going side by side is a wonder!
They cook rice in this suryakund and offer it to God. It suddenly started to rain which resulted in
a very low temperature. We had the darshan of the deity. Those who came by walk
were exhausted and for the way down, some of them took doly others went by
pony. The Italian and another person walked both the way. Later I heard that they served some free
meals for the yatris there in the temple. We then went back to Barkot again for
the night stay.
3rd May
We started at 7am in the morning and reached uttar kashi. We
visited kashi vishwanath temple Situated in the middle of 4 mountains. Many
rishis did tapas here. We then visited a hanuman temple as well. By then we
heard that helicopter service to kedarnath was canceled due to weather
condition and will resume after a week. We then proceeded on our yatra to
Gangothri.
4th May
We reached Harsil by 5pm. The place was an Indian army
barrack for Indo-Tibetian border, so foreign tourists were not permitted to enter.
We left our Italian passenger in a hotel 2km away. The GMVN guest house there
was among the mountains and river. We enjoyed the beauty but shivered in the
cold temperature there. We saw the Indian army emblem over the mountain.
5th May
We left Harsil in the morning by7am and reached Gangothri at
10 am. We had already taken a bath in the hotel and decided to sprinkle Ganga
water as it was damn cold. The starting place of Ganga called Goumuk is a
further trek of 13km. It was an amazing site to see Ganga at Gangothri. Though
it was hot outside, the water was freezing cold. Some people still had a bath
in the freezing cold water. We collected Ganga water in water bottles. The
story of Baghirath bringing Ganga down and being held by Lord shiva was portrayed
there. We had the darshan of Baghirath and thanked him for bringing Ganga and
went to the main temple. I melted atthe
site of the devi. Our last hope to go to
kedarnath was destroyed, and I pleaded to our guide to take us to Badhrinath.
He said that would not be a problem. We met some yatris returned from
kedarnath. We heard that they struggled a lot to reach there. Army service
cracked the mountain with bombs and laid the stones over the snow. There was
knee deep snow. Two ladies were unable to go up or down and got struck in the
middle. 7 army people for each lifted and brought them to Lancholi to wait for
others. Even the main priest could not go to the temple and perform the pooja
themselves.
We reached Srinagar (Uttranchal) and had our lunch. Sun was
scorching. We would have travelled for 2hrs, the rain started and slowly turned
into a heavy downpour. We continued. But on the way we saw vehicles returning.
We heard that there was a landslide and road was blocked. Our guide said we may
have to go back to Harkot or Srinagar for the night stay. Since this is a
sudden program we may not get rooms so we would have to prepare ourselves to
spend the night in the bus. We did not get rooms in Harkot. We got fewer number
of rooms in Srinagar and agreed to share. That evening we were worried whether
we will get the darshan of Lord Badhrinath. We chanted Vishnu sahasranamam and
other slokas.
6th May
We waited for the news for the road block to be cleared. We
started by 9am. My husband brought a sadhu who was struggling to go to Badhri.
We accommodated him after agreeing to pay some extra amount. We visited the rudraprayag
and sprinkled water. On our way we saw Tehri dam which is one of the highest in
the world and reached a place called Ukimatt in Rudraprayag. Here, in the
Omkareshwara temple Lord shiva from kedarnath will be brought during the 6
winter months for pooja. It is one of the Panch Kedars. King Mandhata did his
penace here for Lord Shiva. We went to GMVN guest house by 12 noon and had
lunch. I understood that there is no wonder in people taking so much pain to
visit these places. I felt a sort of vibration seeing the grand snow clad and
green mountains. We visited the temple
in the evening. A priest from Karnataka performs the pooja here. This has all
been made possible by adhi shankaracharya who wanted to integrate north and
south parts of India. A priest from kerala performs pooja in Badhrinath.
We left Ukimat at 7am and went to Thunganth temple one of
the panch kedar. It is called as second kedar. Though we could not have the
darshan of Kedarnath Lord, we were happy to have the darshan of Thungnath. The
temple is around 1000 years old. It was surrounded by snow. One has to climb
4km. But the path is not too steep. Ponies are available here. I took a pony to
climb and came by walk and surprised that I did not even feel a pinch of pain
on my heels!
7th May
We reached Pipalkoti and stayed there. In the morning, we
set out for a day’s stay in badhri. We reached Joshimutt at 9am. We hired two 7
seater cars and started towards badhri which was 41km away from Joshimutt. When we travelled about 20km, a stone fell from
the mountain and broke the front glass. We were terrified. Thank God it was a
small stone. We started chanting the namas already. We were made to wait and
another taxi was called. The road is dusty rock bedded terrain impossible to
repair. It was a real nightmare to travel on the edges which were completely
damaged. We were taking a deep breadth each time we took a turn. Going to
Badhri/Kedar and coming alive is a real question! The snow melt water was
gushing fast and pushing the stones and everything on its way. By God’s grace
we reached badri at 2pm. I was so happy to be in DEVLOK. Our prayers had come
true. We went to the temple after the lunch.
We waited for the temple to open.
At 3pm,
I stood outside starring the temple…….. my heart
melted ………….remembering the obstacles and miracles we faced to have the darshan
of this lord!
When the door opened the slogans BADHRI NARAYAN KI…. JAY!
The sound of the ringing bells filled my heart and finally I was in the temple…..
Having the darshan of Garuda, we stood in the queue and
recaptured all the previous events and could not believe that I am there at His
feet!
The sight of the Lord led to a downpour of tears from my
eyes. I could not put my feeling in words!
...my
dream to be at this holy place and I am one of the lucky ones to be in His
abode…
We had the darshan of the Lord in
his meditative padmasana pose. With him were Kubera, Garuda, Lord Ganesh and
Nar, Narayan.
The temple is between the Nara and
Narayana parvath. God descended in the form of Nara and Narayan to teach the
world. On the banks of Alaknanda river the temple stands majestically. It is
said that the Lord is here from Thretha yuga. He was thrown into the Alaknanda River
to protect humans during the Manghol invasion. Later Adi shankara in his dream
received the message and dived into the river to retrieve the idol. He built
the temple and made one of his companions do the pooja. The temple was later
built by King of Gharwal. It is said the flowers remain fresh and the lamp will
continue to glow even when the temple is closed for winter months. It is
believed that the devas do the pooja during this period.
Since we went as soon as the temple opened for
the summer months, the flowers that decorated the entrance were still afresh.
We gave for the sahasranamapath pooja (Rs.770/ two persons). We recited the Vishnu sahasranamam. We got the
opportunity to stay with the God for 20 minutes. The next day we arranged for
the pinda tharpan.
8th May
Morning 6 am we took a holy dip in
Tapth kund (hot water spring). At brahma kapal, we did the shrardh and tharpan
for pithrus (you can pay as much as you wish). Only here the prashadh offered
to God is used for shrardh and one can do shrarhd for oneself. Ladies too can
perform shrardh here. The river alaknandha flows calmly and the weather was too
cold to do the rituals. It is better to visit this holy place when one is
young. We had the darshan of Lord badhri and thanked him for his kind darshan.
The Italian who accompanied us said that we were fortunate to live in this
country (India)!
9th May
We left the Devlok (some experiences and the way people are,
ensure the name for that place) and proceeded to joshimutt. We reached Kaleshwar
GMVN guest house on the banks of alaknanda. It was a place of great beauty. We
took a bath in the river again. The place was serene! We meditated there.
10th May
We left Kaleshwar at
9am and proceeded towards Joshimutt. We visited Joshimutt Narsimhaswamy temple where Badhrnath deity comes
for the winter months.
Then we visited Devprayag where alaknanda and Baghirathi
meet. It is an awesome sight. Baghirathi comes with bubbles and waves while
Alaknanda comes peacefully. Both of them are deep and big. Alaknanda is
slightly blackish while baghirathi is greenish. We sprinkled water and had the
darshan of Lord Rama at Ragunathji temple which is little high on the steep
rocks. King Dhasharatha, Lord Rama and Lakshmana did their penance here. Then
we reached Rishikesh by 3pm.
We took an auto and visited Tirveni ghat . We had the holy
dip and had the darshan of Ganga Arti. We then visited Lakshman jula, Lakshmi
Narayan mandir and Radha Krishna (iskon) temple thus completing our yatra. We
could not cover many places but the bakthi grew in us. I feel visiting each
temple should bring a good change in us. We have to pray to God for such
changes.
