Hrishikesh (Laxman Jhula),India
Hello and welcome to my ‘blog-o-india’ again. I wrote that I would be writing on this topic. No it’s not just out of travel obligation that I am writing this, but I was genuinely away to Hrishikesh.
Hrishikesh, to tell you a few things about, is famous centre of pilgrimage, situated in Dehradun District, under the state of Uttrakhand, right at the foothills of Himalaya in North India. This is known as gateway to Himalayas as the popular pilgrimage-sacred journey- called “Chardham Yatra” begins here, which includes visit to four (Char) Badrinath ,Kedarnath, Gangotri and Yamunotri (Dhams). As per Hindu scriptures and mythology, the place gets its name after Lord Vishnu, the God of Senses, who appeared to ‘Raibhya Rishi’, as a result of his tapasya (austerities) under a mango tree, as Lord Hrishikesh. Historically, Hrishikesh, is part of the legendary ‘Kedarkhand’ (Gharwal of today), the abode of Lord Shiva, whose long plaits(Kesh) perhaps draws the meaning. Legends state that Lord Rama, on the advice of SageVashishta Guru, did penance here for killing Ravana, king of Lanka, who kidnapped Maa Sita, his wife. While Lakshmana, his younger brother, crossed the river Ganges at a point, using a jute rope bridge, where the present day “Lakshman Jhula” (bridge made of iron-rope) stands today. The jute-rope bridge was replaced by an iron-rope( suspension bridge) in 1889, and when this got washed away in the 1924 floods, the stronger present bridge was built. There is another interesting story about this place. Lord Rama during his penance, did his meditation and other rituals on the river bank, was disturbed by the noise emanating from the flowing water of the river Ganges and Lakshmana out of rage shot an arrow in the river. It is believed that since then the river here mellowed down and is surprisingly very quiet. At nights, one can cross over the bridge without even knowing that a river flows underneath.
The sacred river Ganges flows through Hrishikesh. In fact, it is here that the river leaves the Shivalik mountains in the Himalayas and flows out into the plains of northern India. Several temples, ancient as well as new, can be found along the banks of the Ganges in Hrishikesh. The city attracts thousands of pilgrims and tourists each year, from within India and other contries. Hrishikesh, nicknamed “the world capital of Yoga”, has numerous yoga centres and some of them promoted by foreign nationals, that also attract tourists. It is believed that meditation in Hrishikesh brings one closer to attainment of liberation(moksha), as does a dip in the holy river. It is also popular amongst white water rafting enthusiasts, both from India and abroad, as it offers medium to rough rapids in the course of river Ganges.
To tell you about my sojourn, I left on the 31st October’2009 and completed the journey by road leaving at 4.40a.m. to be there around 11.a.m. with just half an hour break midway at Cheetal Grand, a lovely place to halt for refreshing and refreshment. This is after one crosses Merrut. One must leave early hours incase one wants to avoid the Delhi rush, lest one could waste two hours cool in the stretch between Delhi and Merrut, supposed to be a highway, which is very bad during day time and is almost like a local drive in the old Delhi area. So this is a warning. Also the entire route till Haridwar, happens to be thick in traffic especially on such long weekends and Monday 2nd Novemver 2009, being a big festival of Sikhs, it is almost like Diwali for them, and a very pious day popularly known as GuruPurab, celebrated as birth anniversary of their Guru Nanakdev ji, the rush was expected to be super duper. It is also a very auspicious day as per Hindu calendar (Kartik Purnima day), when it is considered having a holy dip in any of the sacred rivers washes your sins. And the sinning continues thereafter…. Sorry! for being brutal here. Being not very far from Delhi, just about 200 kms, adds to the ease of mind to decide in favour of the trip, though the journey takes a cool 7 hours which tells you everything about the state of affairs of the country and state of Uttar Pradesh and Uttra-khand, and the national highways, and the importance of still reaching out on such privileged weekends of three holidays to this holy place. The highway stretch after Merrut, well has road widening being undertaken for donkey number of years though, is some small relief that you are able to complete the journey in 7 hours despite all the planning to leave early etc. in place. To reach Rishikesh, one has to cross Haridwar. It takes a good 45 minutes to 1 hour to reach Rishikesh after that. Haridwar, is one of the holiest places in Indian history with rich vedic and holistic influence, is believed to be named so as Lord Rama is also called Hari (God) in Indian scriptures and Dwar(means door), which is reminiscent of his stepping down here to begin his exile to Himalayas. Har ki Pauri, in Haridwar, is the focal point of Ganges, is named after him for it was here where Lord Rama is believed to have put his feet in the Ganges. A dip here at any time of the year is considered very sanctified one, and indeed the visit to the place and the evening Aarti(Prayer) just about sunset time, is very soothing and soul inspiring experience.
We crossed Haridwar to reach Rishikesh, without halting here because I am always there on a different mission God has blessed me with, to meet my Guru and take his blessings. Anyway both the places are equally pious and Hrishikesh is less congested, in case it interests my readers to know. The decision to leave early was right and the journey was a very pleasant one as weather is suddenly better this year, was told this is colder October month in nearly 13 years in the Northern belt of India.
Once there, it is like a heaven. I am not surprised that peace lives here otherwise why will we have so many foreigners visiting the place and also why we have some staying permanently with learning and teaching Yoga. Yes we do hear of some indecent and unholy persons who throng the area for wrong reasons of seeking false solace from drugs, but barring these secret odd outs the place lives its aura of sacredness to the full and peace abound.
The two days stay, under the shadow of revered Guru, was as usual very peaceful and soulful and the return journey had to be planned well, as on 2nd November, the day of Karthik Purnima when a dip in the Ganges is considered very auspicious, the rush was expected to be mad literally. So we planned to leave early and left at 4.a.m sharp. And as expected we had as early as 4.30 a.m., traffic problems in Haridwar already. With no real management around, the traffic which was not too dense yet, could have been managed better. But despite that the authorities would have anticipated such problems on the day, the situation is grim and that is how it is in India. We were happy to have left early, comprehending how would it have been had we left a little later. But all our happiness was short lived, as we got caught in a terrible Traffic Jam at the octroi post, just before entering the Muzaffanagar town. Shockingly, as you will know, we were into a Govt. created Jam with hundreds of buses ( quite expected on this day, ferrying dip hungry devotees) and trucks on the road blocking the traffic. They were awaiting clearance from Govt. and parked vehicles on each side of the road chaotically with no one manning the traffic flow. Hoard of private vehicles were unnecessarily struck and made to suffer for nearly one and a half hour and the queue grew longer every passing minute. Phew! Till as late as 8 a.m. there was no sign of any Govt. support in place. Koda, the earstwhile chief minister, is in the Intelligence net for corruption, which should tell you the concerns for public any one from the govt. side can have for the Public. You must agree that if the top is corrupt the down under must be. And corruption means and breeds absolute disregard to sense of duty. You differ? Then, please take a dip in Ganges. All said and done, we lost precious time and fuel already, and had to meet the rush hour traffic Merrut onwards. We reached Delhi but not before negotiating another Jam in the Chief Minister’s territory, right in the city, which will host 2010 CW Games. Be surprised to know that there is an old bridge in Delhi, perhaps heritage property Britisher’s built. This is called Wazirabad bridge, which is a traffic nightmare all day long and for ages, and is not far from the VIP area. This is over another scared river Yamuna which passes by Delhi, which we do not relish using to wash away the same sins we generate here, because we have spoiled it or may be we realize that our sins are so strong that only Ganges could handle same. The traffic is bad here for ages is a gross understatement, it is awful. This one lane bridge( mind it, minimum three lanes each side converge at one point into one lane bridge though used as two lanes) was built by Britishers perhaps, and when there was no Delhi beyond the bridge at all. Today perhaps half of Australia lives beyond the bridge in east part of Delhi alone. It remains so since independence, with torture growing from 0 – millions growth in population, and this signifies further how the political system in India worked since independence and how ruthlessly unconcerned are the politicians. It is narrow to the tube or pipette, and traffic converging as if from a rubber hose and to top it there is free for all with hardly any traffic management seen even at peak hours. The bridge ought to have been replaced at least twenty years ago and I bet this is no overstatement either. This bridge today belongs to and represents the Chief Minister’s home territory of East Delhi, which is most thickly populated area of Delhi. One can imagine the traffic density and the plight of people living in the city and having to criss-cross same often, as also how the politician’s class is. This chief minister is consistently in chair for past ten years, and for the third term, and Congress takes all credit for improvement of Delhi. We must admit that we are immune to their ways like they are to ourways and state, and they the politicians make hay. We must also admit that we have a very poor alternate in BJP. Congress admittedly has been the major party which has ruled the nation alone since independence and the country’s state of affairs are quite visible. So who do we relate this to? Yes, we hardly have an alternate and Congress have money (black in colour, ought to be) and muscle power to buy votes, more than the others. The state of affairs of the capital city, are shame ful and depicts easily how the rest of the country would be. The country has been largely in the hands of Congress since partition, and we know what kind of country we live in today after 60 years of independence. Nehru was greedy for prime minister ship of any India at all costs, be it minus Pakistan or any thing still less, and the legacy of Greed (changed color in the shape of corrupted Govt’s after Govt’s) persisted and has ruined India to this state of affairs. Public knows well that inflation is also result of grass-root corruption( hoarding in one form) and also knows well that whenever other Govt’s took charge the inflation is checked, but will still endorse the same congress to power which is synonymous with corruption and inflation all the time. Koda, the politician with congress patronage and links, stands exposed with 4000 crores of black money made in just three years time as per media reports, who is still being explored while writing this post, can not be an exception as Pranab Mukherjee rushed in to state and explain that he is and Congress only caught him. Were you napping when he did that? Thanks for this nervous meowing, for the country knows this is an exception who is caught and probed, and since Koda was no body but a small time fellow before joining politics, could not have had the courage to amass such wealth by wrong means had there been no legacy of similar corruption in the political system in the country, ruled by Congress largely, horizontally and vertically since partition.
Sadly, the public today is part of this corruption, because in every day walk of life we not only encourage corruption but even vote it to power time and again. And this we do because of scant respect for brother hood and total selfishness. Just because you allowed the system to prevail by bribing without defense (objection) and without rejection ( at hustings), the society at large suffers and gets entrapped in this network of corruption, because all cannot be expected to have liberal money to give to the menace and scoundrels of corruption.
The journey to Haridwar, a bare 200 kms from Delhi, is arduous not just because of corrupt politicians, my friends, we the public are more responsible for the same, because we let them. And the journey of life in India remains as arduous, because we did not do our bit and rather fell victims of corruption for all our self fish needs alone, without bothering about others and without bothering about society. All my countrymen who had there car licence, building licence, land allotment, electricity theft, policeman etc. got done by bribing the corrupt Babus ( how can they unless they need pay the higher up until the last in the chain, the politician) will agree and they must be in Haridwar too caring to wash their sins, and would be back doing the same and cursing the Govt. Babus & politicians they pampered and helped raise in the first place. Submitting and giving corruption is equal crime if not bigger. Why do not you take a pledge next time when you take a dip that you will not repeat same again? Helping the society is the Karma for the God, and there is no better Dip ‘virtue’ than this. Yamuna is only spoiled because we(sins in the capital city of political centre are dense) were around and closer, Ganges too is getting spoiled may not be as much due to pollution as may be because of our dipping the sins into it. Also it is less spoiled perhaps for it is farther than Yamuna, and lot of saints also dip into it each day besides we sinners. Corruption is the biggest sin of mankind and Delhi is the centre of INDIA as well as corruption. Corruption , mind it, travels from up to down and not vice-e-versa, and the country’s top bosses will know same.
Global warming is not because of our physical sins alone, but also because of our spiritual sins too, lest America will not be sending shipload of harmful asbestos waste to India and still preach as mentor of War against Global Warming. Until we stop these sins from our mindscape, the landscape will only deteriorate, and we all must take responsibility individually for every small sin we make. The journey of life until then my dear folks will remain arduous for each one of us.
You need help each other. You need clean the road from the stones of corruption, en-route your journey my dear friends, and the journey for you will become better too. Gandhi was born here and in this country only, and what he did was pure self less. Nehru was not, and you can see the difference. One made the journey better for all others and the other let it arduous. Be self less and not self fish and see the journey of life grow better and better. And corruption is pure selfish, taking and giving. No dip in Ganges will help clear this sin and the life Journey will never improve, until then.
See you soon…………. Wish you a happy journey of life.
