Puri & Ujjain Yatra

Holy city of Puri is famous for Lord Jagan Nath Temple, as this is one the four Dhams of Lord Vishnu as enunciated by Adi Guru Sri Shankaracharya-the great philosopher saint of Hinduism. We travelled to Puri from Delhi in Oct’11 through Puri Exp. Enroute the train got late by more than six hrs, because the railway track from Bhubaneswar to Puri is reportedly single track. It is better to take road journey from Bhubaneswar to Puri since the distance is about 60 km.  We stayed at Hotel Holiday Resort, C.T. Road 2km from railway station. The hotel was neat and clean, food was very nice without spices. Next day we visited temple at about 8am. Due to security reasons, mobile and cameras are not allowed. Even the leather articles like purses, belts etc are prohibited. There were a number of pandits outside the temple offering services @ Rs.21/=.  So we took the assistance of one Pandit. At one of the entrances of temple through Singhadwara, there is Puja Bhog office and the parshad can be purchased against proper receipt. Inspite of rush we got good darshan of Lord Jagan Nath Ji, brother Balram Ji & sister Subhadra Ji.  Pandit  Ji explained every minute detail of the temple & its idols .He also told us that these idols are made of wood. People in the temple told that Lord Jagan Nath comes in dream of Head Priest to tell him to make next idols from the divine tree so mentioned by the Lord every 12 yrs. Panditji did not ask us for any type of offerings at any idol.  Within the temple complex we visited Vimla Temple-one of the 52 Shakti peeths of Goddess Durga, Maha Lakshmi Temple, Mausi ka Temple & Lord Ganesh Temple.

 At the exit there is Food Bank managed by Anna Dan Bhog Committee for general public which is run on donations from public. During the day we visited Chilika Lake about 55km. from Puri. We took round of the lake in a motor boat & watched Dolphins, sea mouth (a place where Chilika comes in contact of sea i.e. Bay of Bengal), crabs, birds & pearls. It is advised that pearls may not be purchased from that place unless one has a knowledge of genuine pearls.

In the evening, on our return, we again visited temple at about 10 pm and got very good   glimpses of deities without any Pandit, as there were fewer devotees at that time & we stayed for about 15mts inside the temple.

Next day we visited Bhubaneswar and got darshans of Ling Raj temple, Kedar Gauri temple, Khandagiri Hills. Best part of Bhubaneswar trip was visit to Nandan Kanan zoo. There we took white lion & other lion safari. On way back, we visited Sakshi Gopal Temple.

On the last day of our stay at Puri we visited Konark temple i.e. Sun temple near sea shore. We took the assistance of a guide. He informed that images were engraved out of rock. According to him there used to be a magnet of 53 tonne at top of a tower which kept the balance of everything in temple complex. According to him the same was removed by the Britishers during their rule as this was creating navigational problems to the passing ships. He also told that the son of king committed suicide from the temple, so no prayers offered thereafter. The remains of temple have been preserved in a good way.

 We left for Ujjain via Puri Jodhpur Exp. on the same day & checked into hotel Shipra Residency run & managed by M.P.State Tourism Dev. Corp. The hotel was very good & room  nicely priced. On the next morning we visited Shri Mahakaleshwar Mandir, one of 12 Jyotirlings (as per Jyotirlinga Stotram) & got darshan of the Jyotirling in the queue. It is believed that this is a SWAYAMBHU & the most powerful Jyotirling. Parshad is sold by the management of the temple. Here too mobiles, cameras and leather articles were not allowed. Thereafter, we visited Bade Ganeshji. We were astonished to see idols of Panchmukhi Hanumanji. Char Dham temple-replicating four Hindu Dhams, Sandipani Ashram. In this ashram Lord Krishna studied during childhood. Panditji informed us that Lord Krishna came for studies on Kartik Shukl Navmi. According to him i.e. four days from that day Lord Shiva came to meet Lord Krishna. At sight of this Nandiji (vahan of Lord Shiva) stood up. In this temple the idol of Nandiji is in standing position, stated to be the only idol of Nandiji in standing position. We visited Shani & Nav Greh Temple. At Kal Bhairav Temple we saw that the idol was accepting whisky offered through plate & nobody knows where the whisky goes. Till this date it is still a mystery. We also visited Mangalnath Temple- a number of devotees were offering shanti prayers for calming Mangal Greha.

Same evening we checked into hotel Shreemaya, R.N.T.Marg, Indore. The hotel was excellent. Next morning we visited Omkareshwar & Amamleshwar temple. These are also one of the 12 Jyotirlings. We got beautiful darshan of jyotirlingas at both places. Both these temples are at two shores of Narmada  river. There is popular belief that once upon the request of Devas-the Shivlinga split into two. One can use the boat or overhead foot bridge to cross the river for reaching the other temple. On way back to Indore we took lunch at Punjabi Dhaba. The food was nice & at affordable rates. We returned to hotel in the afternoon. On enquiry we came to know about Chappan Duccan-a place where one can taste the food of Indore. But the taste of Delhi’s food was missing. Local people informed that food bazaar is also held at Saraffa Bazaar from 8.30 pm & continue till midnight.

 Next day we left for Delhi after visiting Kanch Mandir-Jain Temple, Rajwada-a Museum was also adjacent to it, Lal Bagh Palace-which used to be the residence of erstwhile king Holkars now converted into a museum & named after Nehru. One can skip visit to museum as it is in shamble.                                   

Amarnath Ji Yatra

A visit to the Holy Cave of Lord Amarnath just fascinated me for the last few decades. At the age of 62 I came to know that Make My Trip organised tours to Amarnath Ji.

I along with my wife, though suffering from usual diseases associated with the age, took one such tour for Holy Cave of Lord Amarnath (about 13000’ from sea level) from Delhi in the month of Aug’11. Before leaving Delhi one bag for each of us were prepared with three sets of clothes, two sets of woollens, one rain coat suit, torch, chocolates water bottle. Medicines for treatment of pain, vomiting, loose motion, along with routine medicines. We left Delhi via Indigo flight for Srinagar. At airport, we were received by their representative and checked into a two star hotel. Spent  night  at Srinagar. Before leaving Srinagar two separate small bags were packed with one set of clothes for each of us along with water bottles, rain coats, warmers, woollens, some chocolates and medicines so that we can carry  bags easily.

In the wee hrs of the next morning we left Srinagar for Baltal by taxi along with return tickets of Pawan Hans Helicopters. On way to Baltal we were stopped at a number of places by J & K Police owing to heavy rush. At one place we were informed by the Police to abandon the journey to the Holy Shrine because devotees at the cave were much more than the capacity & the rush likely to recede in a few days. With great difficulty we were able to convince the officer on duty that we had to catch the helicopter as we were in possession of confirmed tickets of helicopter from Baltal  to Panchtarni & back. Ultimately we reached Baltal helipad & caught the flight. Reached Panchtarni in just 15mts. Onward journey of 6km. to the Holy Cave had to be covered by foot or palki or pony. Two sticks were purchased at Panchtarni by so that we could walk easily on the mountains & through snow. Shortly we were informed by CRPF that the onward journey had to be abandoned due to heavy rains & snow in the upper regions of the mountains causing slippery conditions enroute  to Holy Shrine. It was also confirmed by the people coming from Shrine. Authorities also informed that further decision will be taken in next morning depending on the weather. So we had stay at Panchtarni because there was no other way to proceed further. We, therefore, stayed at one bhandara in which about 70 persons were already staying. Thus the night had to be spent on chairs.

Next morning, it was announced that conditions in the upper regions were still bad because part of the mountain leading to the shrine is of mud & the journey could not be allowed. We were in shocked condition as we had to reach Srinagar by the next day afternoon, because  we were in possession of confirmed tickets of Indigo airlines for Delhi. Around 11am, by the blessings of Lord Amarnath, devotees were allowed to proceed further. We preferred journey to the Shrine on foot. On the way one had climb mountains. We had hardly moved half a km., when the passage became very narrow i.e. only one way movement was possible at a moment. On the way we sipped water from our water bottles, chewed chocolates frequently because of thirst & to keep warmth. We also felt a bit of breathlessness. We passed through mountains watching nature’s beauty and glaciers by chanting slogans ‘Om Namaha Shivai’  ‘Bam Bam Bhole’ all the way. At some places we saw arch of glaciers with stream of water flowing through the glaciers.

Approx. at half distance to the shrine we stopped at a place called Sangam as all the way we climbed mountains from Panchtarni. It was very encouraging to know that further journey we had to walk downwards. On reaching the bottom of hill we found there was snow all along & mere thinking that we had to walk through it made us sick as we were tired and left with no strength to move any more. Moreover walking on snow was next to impossible as our feet go inside snow extracting energy out of already exhausted bodies. From this distance we were able to see the Holy Cave yet we were unable to move further. Mere thinking of abandoning the journey made us nervous. Just at that moment one palki man came to us as if sent by the Almighty and asked us that they will take us to the cave if we hire them for journey to Panchtarni. We jumped at his offer and gladly accepted it.

They took us to the bottom of mountain of Holy Cave on two separate palkis. From this place the Cave was about 200 steps above & they just carried us to the Holy Cave on their hands as we had no strength. The cave is about 60’ long, 90’ wide, and 150’ in height. We got good darshan of natural Shiv Ling made of solid ice in the queue. CRPF personnel posted there informed that Shiv ling was of about 18’ ht. In the cave we also saw ice statutes of Ganesha & of other two deities. People told us that these statutes were of Parvati & Bhairon. We stayed in the cave for some time. While coming out of cave we saw a pair of pigeons flying into cave from somewhere.
 We returned to Panchtarni on the palkis & took the boarding passes at the helipad for Baltal. But the flights were cancelled due bad light and took the first flight to Baltal on next day.

Caught the flight from Srinagar just in nick of time in filmy style.

Thus we finished the adventurous  journey to the Holy Shrine happily with mixed memories.

Jai Burfani Baba.