Yes that typo is deliberate. Went on a pilgrimage but the intention was to picnic. The place is Naimisharanya and lies about 90 kilometers away from Lucknow. Mythology says that long long ago sages requested Brahma to provide them a peaceful and quiet place where they could meditate and also write the scriptures. Brahma created a Chakra (a roundel) and threw it at the earth. It landed at Naimisharanya. There is a circular pond where this roundel is said to have landed. The pond is known as ChakraTirth and people take a holy dip in it. Though the name suggests that this place was a forest, there is no trace of a forest now. There is a small township and there are villages and fields all around it.
As you enter the ChakraTirth you are accosted by priests. Someone offers to tie a sacred thread around your wrist. Another would like to put a tilak mark on your forehead. Someone would ask you to do a sankalp - a ritual that ends up with paying some money to the priest.
There is a Hanuman temple (Hanumangarhi), a temple devoted to Lalita Devi, and one devoted to Sage Vyas. There is also a temple like place where you find statues of Pandavas who are said to have had a fort there. A priest sits there holding a microphone exhorting people to visit and donate for construction of a temple.
We parked our cars a little away from Hanumangarhi and walked towards it. We passed by a spacious and well furnished hut where we saw a Mahant (senior priest) holding court with several gentlemen who appeared to be influential officials. This was borne out by the vehicles outside with beacons indicating their official status. Someone tells us that the Mahant is also the local MLA.
My brother-in-law was accompanying us. He is a government official who has been provided with an Ambassador with a red beacon. But he had consciously chosen to visit in a private car. He wondered if it would have been better to use his official car. That would have saved the ladies with knee problems a lot of walking. And who knows, we would have also been accorded a proper and warm welcome.
On our way back we also visited a temple devoted to Chandrika devi. A narrow road from Bakshi Taalaab leads to the temple. On the way we find several colleges and institutes that seem to have sprung up from the fields all around them. Some examination was being held in one of the colleges and there were vehicles parked on both sides of the road. This lead to a jam. But our drivers had the grit to manoeuver their way through it.
Chandrika Devi Temple campus was clean and not too crowded. On one side there is a large pond and a pedestal in the center with a huge idol of Lord Shiva.
As you enter the ChakraTirth you are accosted by priests. Someone offers to tie a sacred thread around your wrist. Another would like to put a tilak mark on your forehead. Someone would ask you to do a sankalp - a ritual that ends up with paying some money to the priest.
There is a Hanuman temple (Hanumangarhi), a temple devoted to Lalita Devi, and one devoted to Sage Vyas. There is also a temple like place where you find statues of Pandavas who are said to have had a fort there. A priest sits there holding a microphone exhorting people to visit and donate for construction of a temple.
We parked our cars a little away from Hanumangarhi and walked towards it. We passed by a spacious and well furnished hut where we saw a Mahant (senior priest) holding court with several gentlemen who appeared to be influential officials. This was borne out by the vehicles outside with beacons indicating their official status. Someone tells us that the Mahant is also the local MLA.
My brother-in-law was accompanying us. He is a government official who has been provided with an Ambassador with a red beacon. But he had consciously chosen to visit in a private car. He wondered if it would have been better to use his official car. That would have saved the ladies with knee problems a lot of walking. And who knows, we would have also been accorded a proper and warm welcome.
On our way back we also visited a temple devoted to Chandrika devi. A narrow road from Bakshi Taalaab leads to the temple. On the way we find several colleges and institutes that seem to have sprung up from the fields all around them. Some examination was being held in one of the colleges and there were vehicles parked on both sides of the road. This lead to a jam. But our drivers had the grit to manoeuver their way through it.
Chandrika Devi Temple campus was clean and not too crowded. On one side there is a large pond and a pedestal in the center with a huge idol of Lord Shiva.
The temple has a entrance on one side for VVIPs. Most temples do. On our way back we debate the chances of equality before law in a country where people resist equaliy even before God!
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