Ganga Dhyan Part 4- A walk to remember

23/01/06

Once a week the Ashram invites all the local sadhus for bhiksha. Food is cooked in huge vats and brought out into the morning sun. The vast space between the Shiva temple and the main hall is where all the sadhus are seated. It is a very interesting to just sit by the side and watch the great wave of saffron stream in. That morning, there were about 80 sannyasis who came. Walking around Rishikesh you will see the odd ochre-robed man sitting, meditating, chanting, praying etc. But to see so many of them in the one place is a special sight.

After the sadhus have eaten, it is everyone else's turn. So off we went to the dining hall- it seats lots of people but probably not sufficient for the sadhus if there is a large turnout. At breakfast and dinner, i tended to eat really fast for two reasons- firstly the food gets cold and secondly i get cold. So its more difficult to enjoy the meal. Lunch is much more enjoyable because you can sit and eat slowly, the way food is meant to be eaten.

I had about an hour of spare time before the bus left for Haridwar, so i had a quick nap. Afterwards, as i walked out of my room, i noticed that it was really silent, with only the background roar of the Ganga. Whats more, there was a big open space just inside the gate where the bus was standing. Just in case, i went down to the watchman's post and inquired whether the bus had left... Unfortunately, i napped for a little too long and ended up missing the bus. Oh well!!

Believe it or not, it actually turned out to be a blessing in disguise. I had the whole afternoon and evening free, so i decided to head back to Lakshman Jhula to attempt to walk to the Neelakantha Mahadev Temple. I heard one of the brahmacharis at the Ashram say that it was a 2 hour walk one way from the Jhula. So i figured i had enough time to do a return trip. As it turned out, i didnt even make it a quarter of the way.

Forty-five minutes after setting off on foot, i noted that all the people travelling towards the temple were hiring jeeps and cars. The only people on foot were those returning. I figured people were just lazy, but just in case i thought i'd better enquire whether i was on the right path. So i asked the next person i encountered coming from the opposite direction. As it turned out, it was two local Uttaranchalis, in their dhotis and turbans. I asked whether this was the right road and how far this temple was. Here's how it went:
Local: its about 25 or 30 km
Me: [speechless in disbelief]
Local: are you walking [to the temple]
Me: .......yes
Local: oh, thats a very good thing- you get much more punyam that way. go on, walk
Me: errrrr...thanks.

So once again, my plans once again were quashed. But i continued on the road for another five or so minutes because the scenery was so beautiful. The Ganga in Rishikesh, is beautiful, but here, away from civilization, in the mountains, (foothills actually, but mountains sounds so much more impressive) it takes on another dimension. It is a spectacular sight as it winds down between the mountains, the slow bends followed by shallow straights at rapid speed.

The road to Neelakantha Mahadev is carved into the mountainside alsmost directly above the Ganga. Above the opposite bank is the road to Badrinath (there was minimal traffic as all the high mountain passes are closed in January). As the Ganga meanders down, the road follows at a height of about 100 metres. The spots where the riverbed suddenly becomes shallow are particularly interesting because the water appears to almost stop and swirl in the one place before suddenly picking up speed and rushing through. I also spotted a few wild peacocks (i think thats what they were!!) but they ran away before i could get my camera ready. The other interesting thing to note was all the landslides on the road- there were several places where the displaced soil, rocks etc were swept into a pile on the side of the road. There were also signposts warning people of landslides, all of them in hindi of course.