Dwadashajyotirlinga yatra : Day 13 - Kashi Viswanath in Varanasi to Delhi to Haridwar

At 3:30 in the morning, we were down in the hotel lobby, dressed to go to Kashi Vishwanath. We had slept for a couple of hours, but nothing can take away from the excitement of performing abhishek at Kashi Vishwanath.

In the half hour that it took the bus to reach close to the temple, Ashverya and I had gone into deep sleep. Someone woke us up to say we needed to get off the bus. We got up and followed the group through the maze of streets. Very close to the temple, we realized the two of us were the only ones wearing footwear. Apparently, Swami Vinayakji had announced that people needed to be barefoot, but we had been sleeping blissfully. It was not yet 4 a.m.  All the shops were closed. We could go back to the bus to leave our flipflops there. People warned us we could lose our position in the line. If we left the flipflops there, we may not find them when we got back. It was a quick decision on my part to leave the flipflops where we stood, one cannot be going to Shiva's temple in Shiva's city and be worrying about losing flipflops. There was a security guard sitting there who had heard our conversation, and said - sure, leave them with me, I am here till 9 in the morning. We did, and rushed into the temple. 

There was not much of a crowd, contrary to what I had expected. For the morning aarti - worship ritual, the temple workers helpfully put some wooden benches so that people could stand on the benches behind those who were standing. The aarti in the sanctum sanctorum can be viewed from all four directions from carved windows. There was a VIP couple who was allowed to sit at one of the doors of the sanctum sanctorum. The priest who was to get our group to do abhishek - annointment, asked us to come in groups of four with him. As the group sang some bhajans - devotional songs, Ashverya and I dozed off and on till it was our turn. Despite the small number of people, there was a lot of pushing and shoving in the sanctum sanctorum, and it was difficult to perform the ceremony well. But we did complete it, touched our head to the lingam. 

Next stop, the temple of Annapurna which represents the Shakti Peeth in Kashi. It is said that the hand from Sati's charred remains fell on the ground here. 

Walking around the temple complex, I was constantly aware that these hallowed grounds have been walked on by Adi Shankaracharya and Swami Vivekananda. 

The original Shiva temple of Kashi finds mention in the scriptures. The current temple is believed to have been built in the eleventh century, that was destroyed by Muhammad Ghori in the twelfth century. The temple was rebuilt by devotees but then demolished by the slave king Qutubuddin Aibak. After Aibak's death, the temple was rebuilt with the permission of his successor, the slave king Altutmish, better known as the father of the first woman ruler of Delhi, Razia Sultana. The temple of Kashi Vishwanath was again destroyed by Feroze Shah Tughlaq in the fourteenth century. The temple was rebuilt by Raja Todarmal, the revenue minister in the court of the Mughal king Akbar. Aurangzeb, Akbar's great grandson demolished the temple, built a mosque known as the Gyanvapi mosque in its place, and even renamed the city Mohammedabad from Kashi. In the eighteenth century, the queen Ahilyabai Holkar rebuilt the temple, and in the ninteenth century, Maharaja Ranjit Singh donated 1000 kilos of gold to goldplate the temple spire and the dome.

The last place we visited in the temple was the Gyanvapi well where the original lingam is supposed to be buried. It is believed that the priests of the temple saved the lingam when Aurangzeb attacked, by throwing it in a well. It is still believed to be there. Visible from here, was the Gyanvapi mosque that Aurangzeb had built, the living proof from history of the destructive nature and the uselessness of narrow-mindedness and hatred.


Once outside the temple, Ashverya's concern was that we may not find our footwear. Vinayakji told her to forget about footwear left on the streets, probably to alleviate her fears, but it only served to aggravate her concern. After losing her first pair of footwear in the restaurant between Ujjain and Indore, she had been very mindful of not losing anything. I reminded her that if everything was accepted as Shiva's will, there is no fear. Sure enough, we found our flipflops where we had left them, much to the relief and delight of my little god.

When we reached the hotel, we had a couple of hours to pack and have lunch before leaving for the airport to catch our flight to Delhi.

From the airport in Delhi, the group that had given their names to Bhavna to visit the architectural marvel built by the Swaminarayan sect, Akshar Dham, left in a bus. I had planned to go to the NOIDA ashram with Swamijis. I had to pack for Kedarnath, and some winter supplies were missing that I needed to get from Seema. Ashverya went to see Akshardham. Rameshji, with some misunderstanding on packing or unpacking of bags, also came to NOIDA.

Swami Chidrupananda-ji brought out jackets and caps and shawls, his ashram now feels like home to me. 

A family had brought food for us. It was refreshing to eat a delicious home-cooked meal, and hot chai made by Thakur, Swami Chidrupanandaji's helper.

I packed a few things into the two backpacks, and left the two duffel bags there, along with the large international suitcases that were already there for the past two weeks. One of the CM members who lives next to the ashram, had offered Swamiji their place for me to freshen up. When I returned to the ashram, Swamiji had many visitors. After two more rounds of tea, our cab arrived at 7, and it was time to leave again. On the way to the railway station, we picked up a fleece jacket for me from Seema's place. 

We were the first to arrive at the railway station. We found the right spot on the railway platform to wait for our train.

Soon the rest of the group who had gone to Akshar Dham showed up, and we were a large group of people now, relaxing on the platform. There are no photographs from Ashverya's visit to Akshar Dham because of the security measures. She was very impressed by the structure and the organization. For me, perhaps on another trip, another time, Shiva's will...

For this train ride, all of us only had a backpack each, and some people had a handbag as well - a far cry from our earlier train journey with the 42 large duffel bags.

And while I stood on the Delhi railway station platform, out of the blue, my niece Aditi came and touched my feet. She studies in Delhi and was going back home to Dehradun, when she saw Ashverya and me on the railway station.

Wonders never cease to occur. It reminded me of meeting a cousin and his family seven years ago on the slopes of Kedarnath - they were going up the mountain as I was coming down. Swami Sarveshananda-ji had joked on the way to the railway station that I would meet a family member in every town now as we went through Uttarakhand, and sure enough, it had started.

It had been a long hot tiring day, and I put my head on a backpack and went to sleep. Swami Vinayakji woke me up and spread a piece of yellow plastic that he was carrying with him, and told me to sleep on it. I have learned compassion from him on this trip - at each moment to be aware and empathize with others and to provide support.

Soon the train arrived, and this time, we boarded like professionals. Ashverya has learned so much on this trip, and she was comfortable traveling around India, enjoying every minute.

Tomorrow morning, we would be at the holy city of Haridwar.

Aum Namaha Shivaaya!!

Dwadashajyotirlinga yatra : Day 12 - Kashi Vishwanath

About 4 in the morning, I had my wake-up alarm. We would be getting off the train at Varanasi in an hour, this was the most pleasant wake-up call of my life.

It is my habit to set at least three alarms on my mobile, 10 minutes apart, because I do not trust myself to wake up the first time, nor do I trust myself to hit the Snooze button. If I hit the Cancel button by mistake instead, the phone would not ring again. So I set up three separate alarms. But this day, I was wide awake, and turned off the alarm settings, I was not likely to fall asleep again. And the mind was in a state of delirious joy, this is how I would like to wake up every morning.

Our duffel bags were already lined up at the exit of the coach. We now had to pull out our backpacks and handbags and be ready for a quick departure. The train reached Varanasi exactly as per schedule, and our entire group was out of the train in record time.

At the railway station at Varanasi, there were many coolies - porters, and after a bit of negotiating, we decided on a rate that each passenger would pay and our duffel bags was carried on able heads and shoulders to our bus waiting outside. The bus ride to the hotel was uneventful. Varanasi is believed to be the oldest city in the world, and it retains its ancient heritage and its small town flavor. It was too early in the morning for any shops to be open, or people to be bustling about. We drove through narrow streets and marketplaces till we turned into an alley behind a strip mall. A surprisingly new and beautiful building awaited our arrival - we had reached the hotel. The hotel lobby was gorgeous, one would expect the rooms to be good too, and we were here for 2 days, we would not need to unpack and re-pack the next morning.

We got rooms assigned soon enough, and we could freshen up and come down for breakfast which turned out to be a Roman feast. And the food was good. For the first time on this trip, instead of eating an idli or two to sustain myself till my lunch of rice and yogurt, I loaded my breakfast plate.

Deliriously happy as I was that morning, I had this rankling irritation about something from the previous day that I could not get rid of, and it came boiling out when Sarveshanandaji started a conversation. He was calm and collected at my outburst, and as always, I was aware of my mind rushing from irritation to anger in a split second and I had said what was on my mind before I could stop myself. Not that I hide an opinion or thought pattern from him - how else do I learn to improve - but it was breakfast time for him too, he was exhausted as well, and he looked a bit under the weather.

After breakfast, we left for a darshan - viewing, of Kashi Vishwanath.

To me, the temple of Kashi Vishwanath had an overpowering aura of Shiva. Unlike the benevolent Shiva of Somnath, or the salvation giver Shiva of Kedarnath, the Shiva of Kashi Vishwanath is undisputed king for whom you live and die. Every particle of matter, every point in space, everything vibrates to the name of Shiva - it is a feeling difficult to describe. There was not much of a crowd, but there was tight security that has been in place since the bomb attack at one of the temples in Varanasi in December 2010. No plastic goods are allowed, I even had to give my pen away. Every person was thoroughly physically felt up and down the body before allowing them to go in. There are so many security checks in so many places in India, that nothing surprised me any more. The patting down in American airports is nothing in comparison to the thorough feel-through the security lady gave me and every other woman in line.

Dheeraj had suggested a trip to Sarnath, about 8 miles away. Sarnath is a corrupted form of Saranganath - lord of the deer. The story goes of the Boddhisattva - an enlightened soul, in the form of a deer, offered his life to the king in place of a doe that the king was about to kill. The king was so moved by this, that he made this place a sanctuary for deer. Deer could not be hurt in this area, which is why it is also referred to as Mrigadaya. Sarnath is the location of the Buddha's first sermon, and as such, is highly revered. The mighty emperor, Ashoka had constructed a pillar here to commemorate the Buddha's first sermon, known as the Ashoka pillar, at the top of which was an emblem with four lions. When the Turk Muslim invaders attacked and destroyed the buildings here, the pillar was destroyed as well, and only the base is visible now. The top of the pillar - the emblem with the four lions, had fallen to the ground, and was miraculously preserved. It can be seen in the museum at Sarnath. This emblem with the four lions was honored as the Indian emblem. For Buddhists, Sarnath is one of the four most important pilgrimage sites - the other three being Lumbini where the Buddha was born, Bodhi Gaya where the Buddha attained enlightenment, and Kushinagar where the Buddha left his mortal body and attained parinirvana - salvation.

Ashverya made the trip with the rest of the group while I stayed in the hotel, and took some much-needed rest. We did go in the evening around the city, and to the ghats. The presence of Shiva is just everywhere in Varanasi. Shiva is a living presence, and at the same time eternal. Events like birth and death have no meaning in a place where everyone is surrendered to Shiva.

Ashverya and I skipped the dinner at the hotel to go to Aditi's place for dinner - getting to meet family and a home-cooked meal. I was deliriously happy when I started this day and I was blissful when it ended.

Tomorrow, we have to be down in the hotel lobby at 3:30 am to go to the temple for abhishek - annointment. 

Aum Namaha Shivaaya!!