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The nearest
railheads are at Hardwar, Rishikesh and Dehra Dun, from where
buses are available for Badrinath. Badrinath stands on the bank
of the Alakananda and the traveller passes through Hardwar and
Rishikesh into the hills. The road runs parallel to the Ganga
till the confluence of the Bhagirathi and the Alakananda at Dev
Prayag. The pilgrim trail follows the path of the Alakananda to
Rudraprayag, where the Mandakini joins the Alakananda. The
Mandakini leads to Kedarnath, while the Alakananda leads to
Vishnu’s Dhaam Badrinath.
Badrinath stands on the left bank
where there are a number of hot water springs and waterfalls.
Vishnu is worshipped as Badrinarayan at the 9th century
Badrinarayan temple. It is said that a flame left in the temple
when the temple closes in winter, still flickers when it is
opened in spring.
Lord Shiva is
worshipped at Kedarnath, where the original temple was built by
the Pandavas. Other sacred tirthas are Gangotri, the
source of Ganga at Gaumukh, and Yamunotri, the source of Yamuna.
Both these places can be reached after an arduous trek of 19 and
13 kilometres respectively.
Puri Lord
Jagannatha’s Dhaam
by Subhadra Sen Gupta.
Rupa, New Delhi. Pp 91. Rs 95
Puri is the
second Vishnu Dhaam, where he is worshipped as Jagannatha or
Krishna along with Balabhadra and Subhadra. Puri lies on the
east coast and is accessible by rail, and road. The rough hewn
wooden icons suggest that tribal deities were absorbed into the
Hindu pantheon and Krishna transformed into an avtar of Vishnu.
There also exists a legend of how the icon of blue Krishna was
stolen from a tribal chief named Vishwavasu.
Modelled on the
Lingaraja temple of Bhubaneshwar, the Jagannatha temple is huge,
employing 6000 priests from 36 clans. The temple has tired
spires and the exteriors are profusely decorated with carvings,
while the interiors are severely plain. The legendary Rath Yatra
that originates at Puri is said to date back to the 10th
century. The icons are led in chariots in a splendid procession
that is said to re-enact Krishna’s journey from Gokul to
Mathura.
Konarak is now
an isolated village. But at one time it was an important port.
Even though in ruins, the Sun temple of Konarak is a magnificent
monument.
The temple
spire has collapsed and the main icon has disappeared. By the
sides of the platform are carved 24 gigantic wheels and seven
horses straining at the reins.
It is these
intricately carved wheels that have become a visual symbol of
the Sun temple.
Konarak is 35
km from Puri, while Bhubaneshwar is 60 km inland. Shiva is
worshipped in Orissa and there are 500 temples dedicated to
Shiva around the Bindusarovar lake.
The city derives its name from
Tribhubaneshwar, a name for Shiva. Bhubaneshwar is famous for
its mammoth Lingaraja temple built in the 10th century by Yayati,
who also built the city.
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