My Ganga Darshana.

Day 3…last part…

After Gangadarshana; we were silently contemplating upon the serene experience; we got. One thing I unserstood- ‘Yatra bhava tatra deva’ ( यत्र भाव: तत्र देव:।)- If you want to feel the divinity; the presence of God; you must have that bhaktibhav. You need to keep your intellect and it’s ‘Wh’ questions far away. Otherwise your divine trip will turn into geographical tour to the Ganges. (When there is no ‘bhava’ but only the intellect, then Lord Ganesha is called- ‘ elephant headed God’.)

We took rest for two hours in our homestay. Then the driver came to take us again to Assi ghat for Ganga Aarati. On the way, we visited ‘Tulasi Manas Mandir.’ In this temple, there are beautiful idols of Lord Rama, Sita Mata, Laxmanji and Lord Hanumana in the central part. On one right side;  there are idols of Mata Annapurna and Lord Shivaji and on the left side, temple of Lord Satyanarayana. ( It is like a combined family.)
Dohas and four liners ( दोहा ; चौपाई)from the famous ‘Ramacharitmanas’ are written on the every wall of the temple. Temple environment is very beautiful and clean and serene.
Then we reached ‘Assi ghat’. Just as our moods vary at different times in a day, Assi ghat; we saw in the morning; was looking in different mood; in the evening. At 6.30pm, it was almost dark….and Gangaji’s water was looking  little bit scary.
There was a big pandal built on the bank, in the center of which there was a huge beautiful idol of Gangamata; riding on a crocodile. Opposite the idol, there were five square platforms for the five priests to perform the shodashopachar puja of Gangaji. Priests  were wearing bright red kurtas and golden pitamber. We all got seated on the steps. Whole Assi ghat was occupied by the devotees.  Mantra chanting was going on; in the background. There was a mesmerizing display of colorful lights- electric lamps and tiny bright ghee diyas, melodious music, colorful and fragrant flowers, malas, and shining Ganga water because of  the reflection of the light in it. Everything was just looking heavenly. It was just breathtaking….!
Priest performed 16 steps puja/ Shodashopachar and then grand Aarati started. Thousands of people singing the Ganga Aarati, clapping, ringing bells, beating drums….celebrating the sacredness and purity of the Gangaji.
That was not just an event but more than that…!

When Aarati was over, we took small diyas placed in the disposable dishes; decorated with flowers and floated them in Gangaji’s water. The sight of those tiny glowing diyas; floating in the water was very ectastic. Then we stood in the long queue for getting prasada. We prayed to Gangaji and relished Her divine prasada.
After that, we called our driver who took us for the dinner- at the famous ‘Litti chokha.’
They served 2 Littis( big aata balls; stuffed with grinded chana daal-paneer and then roasted in traditional chulha); on which they poured shuddha ghee with a big table spoon; thrice…! ( being health conscious; I calculated that the calorie count of it was equivalent to the total requirement of calories for my next 7 janmas- Itana ghee mere liye saat janam ke liye paryapt hoga), chokha( aalu, baigan,tamatarm stuffed veg), curd, buttermilk, rice kheer, various chutneys- in a huge banana leaf. Just the look of that thali frightened my stomach… but then we started gobbling the items one by one at ease. I wrapped two littis in a tissue paper; to show them to our friends as the historical menues.

Our next goal was early morning ‘ Kashi Vishvanatha darshana’; on next day. So we returned our homestay for ‘early to bed ; early to rise’.
Varanasi people call Lord Shivji as “Baba”.

Before sleeping; I had to finish last task/ activity of the black lotus- daily evaluation. I endorsed the fact that ‘ I didn’t eat mindfully throughout the day.” Prayed to Shri Hari and then Goddess sleep/ Nidradevi hugged me.

Next day we all woke up at 4am. Driver was ready. We took quick bath. And started for Lord Vishvanath darshana. When we reached the temple, there was a very long queue of the devotees. We also joined them. One young boy came and started corrupting us for the short cut darshana. He was asking some amount of money per head to help us  to bypass the long queue.
Usually we donate money to the temples; we visit; through proper channel so that it must get utilized for temple activities. So we turned down his offer and stood in the queue chanting, ‘ Om Namah Shivay’. You know, these are the ways; Lord conducts the exams to test our attitude.
How many times we waited for hours together at airport? At railway station? At theatres? At passport office? Can’t we wait for few hours to see our most beloved Lord?
In fact, at such places; we don’t feel tired or bored. The divine environment makes us cheerful and energetic. My limbs never complain even if I walk, climb or stand for a long time in temples. If we do japa/chanting during such seemingly difficult situations, we can overcome them at ease. Prayer doesn’t change the situations but it changes our mindsets to view those situations. You don’t like ‘makhana’, but the same ‘makhana’ as Lord’s prasada becomes divine for you. This is the power of devotion.
We were slowly moving in a queue. ( I had a feeling of tortoise); chanthing “Om Namah Shivay “. Some people were chanting ” Har Har Mahadev”.
It took one hour for us to reach the main temple.Temple’s upper half portion is wrapped with gold sheets. There is a saffron flag waving in the sky at the tip of the temple along with the ‘Trishul’. We didn’t carry anything with us in our hands to offer to the Lord except our bhava/love for Him. Because we were sure that Guards would push everyone forward without letting us stand before the Lord for a long time. We didn’t want to spare the time for any formality. We wished to feast our eyes on The Lord. ( डोळे भरून पाहिन रूप तुझे साजरे।)
And…..then came our turn… and we saw Him…in the form of ‘Shivalinga’….half hidden in the bright yellow flowers. We bowed down before Him. We got only one minute to see Him but it was the most fulfilling. 

Back side of the premises of the temple has many idols of prominent persons from vedas and puranas. I feel special connection with Bhagwan Adi Shankaracharya. He is the Guru of the Gurus…..incarnation of Lord Shiva. I kept on looking at Him ( Idol was looking alive), praying for his grace in my spiritual path.

End portion of the temple is at the bank of Gangaji just adjacent to Manikarnika ghat. Both has a common wall. This made me think about the Truth very deeply. I remembered the Mahamrutyunjay mantra. Just as the fruit/ cucumber get freed from its (bondage with) branch, we may also get freed from the bondage of death( & life)…that means to get liberated from the cycle of birth and death.
Ultimate truth of the life is death(click here to find the truth of life quotes). It is inevitable. But if you surrender to the Lord, you become fearless. You become immortal. That doesn’t mean that you will not die…you as a body will die for sure but you will be in your own immortal nature…Eternal…Sat Chit Anandam.

Then our driver took us to ” Kalbhairava temple”. Kaalbhairav is a fìerce form of Shiva and wears a garland of skulls and carries the peacock feathers. The meaning of kaalbhairav is one who removes the fear of both death and time.

After that we had a kulhad tea and breakfast of yammy Aalu kachoris outside the temple.
Then our next destination was ‘ Sarnath”;  where Lord Buddha gave his first sermon after attaining enlightenment at Buddh Gaya. There are two stupas and a big museum at sarnath. The museum preserves various sculptures, artifacts, statues and the iconic Ashoka Lion Capital/ national emblem of India. The place is calm, quiet and serene.

Last but not the least, we visited ” Ramnagar fort” at the other bank/ opposite the ghats of Gangaji. The fort is built in red sandstone. It has a wonderful museum displaying a royal collection of vintage cars, antique clock, palanquins, swords, old guns and ivory works.

At the lunch time; we understood the meaning of ‘Law of diminishing returns’; in a real sense. Because the very thought of ‘chat’ was inducing nausea in us. So we searched the restaurents where the food items other than ‘the chats’ are served. And by the Lord Shivji’s grace; we could relish dosas and chutney ( we came down to earth).Taste was offcourse heavenly.

We returned our homestay for rest. Our last plan was to attend Ganga Aarati at Dashashwamedh ghat; sitting in a boat on the river.
So, in the evening, we went to Assi ghat and called the same boatman; who took us for boat ride the previous day.
We entered the boat and  He started driving towards Dashashwamedh ghat. Water of Gangaji was looking dark and scary, shining here and there by the reflection of the lamps and lights. But I didn’t feel any fear. Again I started touching the water and sprinkling it on my face and head.
We reached Dashashwamedh ghat and boatman tied one end of the boat with the rope to the bank support.
And thus we witnessed the grand Ganga Aarti sitting in the boat on the water.  Procedure of puja was the same. But we were looking it from different angle. That was very thrilling experience.  We again floated diyas in the water. Prayed to Gangaji and returned to Assi ghat by boat. ‘Boat ride in the night’ was supposed to be impossible event in my life, but it was possible by the grace of Gangaji.

After reaching Assi ghat, our stomachs started asking us to offer something to them too…Because our five senses just had the feast at Ganga Aarati, So without wasting much time we fulfilled their demands with varieties of snacks at Assi ghat food stalls–Sweet corn, ragada pattice, pakodas and hot steaming tea.

After finishing the dinner, we sat on the steps for few minutes, looking at Gangaji. This was the last time of our tour to say goodbye to Her.  We prayed and thanked Her for making us fearless and wise and silently returned our homestay. We packed our bags again and slept peacefully.
On 29th Jan, At 6am, we started for our return journey. While going to varanasi, there was excitement, curiosity and  anxiety. While returning; we were silent, at peace and Bliss. At 8pm we reached our home.

Whenever we go for long tours and return home, we usually say” laut ke buddhu ghar vapas aaye”.  But this time; we were not that much buddhu…Gangaji graced us with wisdom….!
   Hari Om !