As they often say the world has several magical and mystical things all around and it is for us to keep our senses sharper and experience the most opportunities life throws at us. But as mere mortals we always tread with caution and fear of the unknown engulfs us and our mind refuses to believe that we could pull it off and several “what if” questions comes to our mind before we venture out. I had to be convinced three times by my ex colleague Priya to join the trip. All the visuals of the humongous crowd and most of them walking miles and miles instilled a sense of the usual apprehension and fears in me. In a split second I decided to be brave and thought any incident can even happen at our very own backyard and wanted to experience the grandeur and the enormity of the MahaKumbh and this year’s planetary positions was supposed to happen once in 144 years . So this time it was the five women army comprising Architects, Sumathi Bhat, Vinanti Desai, Auditor Priya, my great friend cum neighbour Gayathri and me who wanted to battle the odds and wished to take that holy dip which everyone seemed to be talking about. Since the airfare to Prayagraj had already sky rocketed we had booked our flight tickets to Ayodhya and then wanted to proceed to Prayagraj by road. As the flight was about to take off the religious fever seemed to have already gripped the passengers and everyone in unison was chanting “Jai Sriram.” This was first of a kind for me. In a lighter vein I was thinking why dint passengers try and chant the pilot or the co pilot’s name since all our lives were in their hands for the next few hours🙂
Thanks to our earlier Colleague Vishnu who hails from UP and who had willingly helped us in arranging for a local transport and driver. We have to go with the locals since we would be completely oblivious of the shortcut routes to Prayagraj and since the entire humanity seemed to be heading there you never know when and where you would be stuck in some nightmarish traffic jams. People had warned me that even Bangalore traffic fades into oblivion and could imagine what it would be like when on an average more than a crore enter Prayagraj everyday . Enroute we were all saying our prayers that we shouldn’t be stuck anywhere and hoped for easy access to the city . The driver took the Sultanpur route and was negotiating some dark narrow roads and alleys and sure all our hearts were beating faster than normal and wanted to reach safe and sound to a place about which we knew very little. Sure the driver appeared a tad rude and the usual extra warmth and care we find down south was definitely missing. It was like we had to follow his plans and rules and not vice versa. Anyway we had voiced our protests and made him follow our diktats at least in the beginning of our journey.🙂
But we had to be extremely thankful that he had brought us safely to the city where millions seem to be converging . As we entered the city I could not notice any huge crowds and the night seemed to be still with several high streetlights brightening up the roads and we were slightly tensed waiting for another local help to take us to the Sector 6 tent which was part of the 4000 Acre city created just for the Kumbh Mela. We understood that in the language of the locals if they say they would arrive in 10 minutes it would actually take 60 minutes. Any spot we were searching would be told that it is just 100 metres away while in reality it would be more than few kilometres.🙂
When he finally arrived in a two wheeler much to our relief we had to blindly follow him and after several turns the road leading to our tent finally emerged and we were off loaded and much to our consternation the tents had some good basic facilities but the common toilets had very little water or rather absence of water supplies.This anyway was our abode for a day and luckily there was a lady who cooked food for us late in the night with a broad smile and we thoroughly loved her hospitality . We just managed some two hours of sleep and had to rise up at 3.30 am to head to Sangam. We had to wake up our driver who was in deep slumber and head to the Sangam around 4 am to avoid the mad rush. As we headed out again uncertainties and fear about how much we need to walk gripped us. Lo and behold the locals were experts in navigating and circumventing different obstacles and barricades and managed to stop the vehicle literally few metres away from the Triveni Sangam. Was wondering how much I feared about nothing. Similarly we live different life situations in our head which afterall might never happen in the first place.The Kumbh experience surely taught me to think positive and not to be negative in the head.🙂
As we were nearing the confluence of the rivers Ganga, Yamuna and the mythical Saraswati I definitely had some trepidation. All the five of us rigidly held our hands and walked further and as the chill waters entered our hips the sensation was different and the feeling of” yes we did it” engulfed us. So many thoughts rushed my mind and thought of all the dear ones and dipped fully few times. In the dull light in the wee hours you feel a sense of illumination and feel worldly possessions are nothing before this spiritual enhancement 🙂
As everyone else we quickly wanted all our water bottles filled to take it home. We greedily want everyone’s soul to be cleansed as well though they could not make it to the trip .🙂 After discarding our wet clothes in some basic facilities and jostling the crowd through some small hawkers selling different trinkets we could feel the festive atmosphere all around. After a satisfying holy dip we headed back to the tent with a sense of mission accomplished. For the rest of the day we wanted to explore the other temples in Prayagraj. Two wheelers are the only option since there are no entries for cars in most places. There was unbelievable crowd in every temple with long winding queues. We still dint give up and at least managed entry in Alopi Devi temple which is a Sakthi peedam. Picked up some temple memorabilia and headed back in the two wheeler with the driver almost sitting in the tank and two of us precariously placed behind him. By some miracle we got back to our tents incident free and it seemed like one hell of an adventurous ride. We profusely thanked everyone incharge of the tents and headed back to Ayodhya after our historic visit.🙂
Reached the hotel at Ayodhya sleep deprived and slightly haggard but had all the zest for the historic Ram Mandir visit the next day. As city dwellers I don’t think we had the patience to stand endlessly for hours to get the darshan. We were super impressed by hordes and hordes of people who seemed to be walking effortlessly without whining and heading nonchalantly to their desired destinations and that too with heavy baggage on their head. We were wondering if our affordability and contacts helped us to get a slightly faster darshan. When vehicles were promptly stopped at the entrance of the arch leading to the Ram Lalla Mandir, we dint have a clue as to how much is the distance we needed to walk and had to hop on a rickshaw to take us to a nearby point. As we travelled through the bumpy roads thoughts about the controversial history and how many lives were laid down for the construction of this temple was running in my mind. We were waiting for another local to take us to the Hanuman Mandir first and searching for him in the sea of humanity in itself seemed to be a humongous task. We were waiting for him in the wrong Jain temple without realising there were seven jain temples around the Mandir. After endlessly walking through some bylanes finally we located him much to our relief. I was truly aghast to see the surging crowds in the entrance of the Mandir. Was amazed by the faith and devotion of the people to wait hours and hours just to catch a fleeting glimpse of their favourite God. Our special contacts left us near the entrance where we had to submerge with the surging crowds in the several steps leading to the main deity. As we climbed the steps my heart was in my mouth hoping that no stampede should happen. The massive crowds just push you and you tend to quickly say your prayers and head out still wondering about the unbelievable patience thousands of devoted followers have to visit this temple.
We then reached the Ram Mandir in the next few minutes and just had to follow the purohit who was leading us. It was actually difficult to keep pace with him and the only place where even elders can get lost and getting back to the hotel could have been an extreme nightmare with the surging crowds not helping our cause. Thankfully there was some order and queue while reaching the steps leading to the main sanctum sanctorum and with the chants of Jai Sriram reverberating in the air, the experience was truly magnetic. The architecture of the partially completed temple complex looks truly astounding and would apparently become the third largest temple complex in the world when fully completed. As we were pushed towards the main deity, I felt they were whisking away the people faster than Tirupathi even but with unbelievable crowds surging felt they dint have a choice. Finding our way out in the massive crowd seemed a challenge in itself .Came to know that the chief architect of this temple was Chandrakant Sompura assisted by his son’s Nikhil Sompura and Ashish Sompura.The Sompura’s over generations have contributed to the design of over 100 temples worldwide . It is designed in the Maru Gurjara Architecture of Nagara style a type of Hindu temple found in North India.The construction has been accomplished with sandstone from Baansi in Rajasthan . No iron and steel has been used in the construction of the temple and the fusing of the stone bricks has required several thousand copper plates.Sure once it is completed it would be one of the most massive hindu temple complex ever.
As I was getting to exit this mammoth temple in the making I was literally stunned in epic proportions to say the least. The roads near the complex had several interesting and exquisitely crafted memorabilia which we had to swiftly pick up. We tried some local food and found some lip smacking snacks and sweets and enjoyed the hospitality of the hotel staff who were courteous to recommend the right local delicacies . We thus ended the tour satiating our sweet tooth .The pilgrimage in short was definitely a grand symphony of devotion where each of our souls played a unique melody. It is not only a confluence of rivers which we experience but the trip seemed like a confluence of faith and spirituality and our eternal connection to the cosmos. Was glad to feel and witness the sacred confluence of tradition, culture and devotion carefully inter woven with threads of deep divinity. Amidst all the cacophony the beauty of the trip lies in the fact that you definitely find the stillness within you and seem to do your own soul searching despite the overflowing disturbance all around. Sure I experienced this once in a life time journey but the transformation would remain for eternity.
