At six in the morning, the narrow streets which looks like
alleys, of old Varanasi gleam with last night's rain. One path would be just
wide enough for two men to walk abreast leads past shops down to the holy river
Ganges. Sunrise barely falls, but the alleys are already in chaos. Men forces
their way by pushing women, women forces their way by pushing fat bullocks,
bullocks narrowly avoid stepping on children. Everything is for sale here,
small bottles of holy Ganges water, larger bottles of branded mineral water,
tiny figurines of the Lord Shiva, whose town this is. Tourists, almost
invariably wearing colorful harem pants, Some sadhus cover their bodies with
saffron colored panchas and the put on Vibhud on their body, forehead and
hands.
The storeowners watch the activity with least lack of interest,
Drink sweet chai out of thimble-sized mud made cups. When they are asked for directions then they come
to life, putting away the tea and describing the path with energetic and firm
gestures. This may be the city where Hindus come to find enlightenment, but it
is easy to lose your way.
Indian pilgrims walk barefoot through the alleys, drawn by
occasional glimpses of the holy river. At last, the alleys fall away, and the
sluggish green river appears, smooth as a sheet of glass. From here the view
extends to the distant eastern bank, hazed with brown dust. This year, the
monsoon rains have been below average, and the Ganges lies low and tame between
the banks. Tens of narrow steps shine wetly. The pilgrims sigh, picking their
way down the steps to the water's edge. It's sunrise, the most fortunate hour,
and they're here to take a dip in the Ganges. They do Surya namaskara’s while
taking holy bath in the holy river, offering water to Sun god, the belief is
that the Sun god would shower his grace over their families and bless them with
good health and wealth. The River Ganges cleanses all the sins committed in a
birth.
In recent years the Ganges River has drawn attention for its
ungodly level of pollution. But the bathers are immune to all this. Nearly 2.5
million of them come each year to Varanasi, this holiest of cities, on the
banks of the most sacred river of India. According to Hindu legend, Lord Shiva
let loose the Ganges from the knot of his hair. For centuries, its rich floods
lent fertility to the soil of the central Gangetic plains, which nourished some
of India's most prominent ancient civilizations.
Varanasi is a city of scholars, home to one of Asia's
largest universities. It is a city of temples, including the gold-plated
Vishwanath sacred to Shiva; the Bharat Mata, or Mother India, temple that
boasts a huge three-dimensional relief map of the Indian subcontinent carved
out of marble; and the hundreds of small temples that dot the waterways and
alleys. And the 64 Ghats located at the banks of river Ganga are most beautiful
things which resembles 64 arts.
It is also a city of legends. Varanasi strains under its own
myths, which are contradictory, obscure and impossible to prove. "The
history of Varanasi is a puzzle [that] has to be solved by a group of scholars
together," says Bhanu Shankar Mehta, who has lived in Varanasi for more
than 80 years and lectures on its history. "You must put all the
mythological and historical and proto-history together." "Banares
is an encyclopedia itself, it has got 100 dimensions, you can't cover it even
in a book," Mehta says.
There
is a myth that the famous sage and the author of Shrimad Maha Bhagavatha epic “Ved Vyas” along with his followers used to
live in Varanasi and used to offer prayers to lord Shiva. He along with his
followers used to go for Bhikshaatan and survive with that food. But once they
couldn’t get food for 7 days continuously. Sage Ved Vyas lost his temper and
cursed that the whole city of Varanasi would suffer with severe droughts for
seven years. Lord Shiva , the protector of the city immediately appeared and he in return asked him to leave the city and
never come back, He also mentioned that Ved Vyas had no right to stay in his city and
rejected his prayers forever. Ved Vyas begged for mercy, but Lord didn’t excuse
him.
And an Old Lady with glorious look of typical Indian Women came and
offered food to Sage Ved Vyas and his Followers. After they had enough food,
they looked at her. She explained him cursing the entire city is a sin and
asked him to take back his words, then Lord Shiva might excuse him. He came to
know that she is Goddess Annapurna who herself came and offered food. He then
realized and blessed the city that “though the whole world might collapse due
to any natural calamities, Kaashi would be the only safest place, where even a
small weed would not move” and he left the place by taking her blessings. Lord
Shiva then permitted him that he can visit the place and offer his prayers only
once in a year that to in the month of November and according to Hindu Calendar
It’s Kaarthika Pournami.
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