My dad is lucky even a year after his passing - Ganga Dushera

The previous post in this series is here..

Day 3 started early as we got a helicopter to go to Gangothri from Yamunothri.

It was a short ride. Once we got there, there were separate cars for each family. The driver told us that we will go to the hotel and then go to Gangothri as there will be traffic and it was Ganga Dusshera, an auspicious festival. We told him that we would rather go straight to see Ganga Dusshera and finish, even at the risk of missing lunch. He was nice and agreed.

We went straight from the helipad to Gangothri temple. It was a long ride and we saw fantastic views, crossed Asia’s third highest bridge and eventually he went as far as he could before asking us to get down and walk. The guide met us at the entrance. He was also a kid. He took us straight to the river, got me a bucket, had me take a bath there (we bought a towel on the way!) and we got to participate in the Ganga aarathi. This day was considered river Ganga’s birthday and it is celebrated in select states where the Ganges flows. I was told that this tharpanam on Ganga Dusshera at the Bhageerathi river was something special!

The best part was the head priest suddenly calling Sangeetha and handing her the aarathi and asking her to do arrathi for Ganga! She was standing in the edge of the river and somehow the light made its way to her!

We did a tharpanam for my dad. My FIL also got to do a tharpanam for his dad. That was nice! Once we were done, we had to walk another mile back to the car. We stopped at one of the stalls and got some food as there was no guarantee of a lunch when we finally made it to the hotel (we didn’t know when).

We were happy that we finished what we came to do that day. We made it back to the hotel. Most of the lunch was done and we scraped what was in the bottom of the buffet bowls and ate something. We were happy with Chai! My MIL wanted to rest but we wanted to see the Harshil village, which also had a military outpost. FIL decided to join us and the three of us spent an hour going around the village. Right after we came into the hotel, it poured like no tomorrow for an hour straight. Good thing we were back in the hotel and not caught in traffic on the hillsides with this downpour!

Here are the photos from this leg..

My tummy is still big after eating those once a day meals during the Varushabdheegam ceremonies… it took another two weeks and back to hot yoga to reduce it .. “a bit” (added that in case Sangeetha contests the statement!)

and a longer video of the days events..

We did have a nice dinner at the hotel and got some much needed rest. We had to wait for when our pickup would be the following morning for our next stop..

The mighty Ganges

My fondest memories in Banaras are from two places..

The IT-BHU Campus and areas surrounding it and the Hanuman Ghat area, which is like a little Madras within Banaras.

It was fantastic to go back to the Ghat and take a dip in the Ganges on a quiet morning! It is frozen in time.

When the streets are 4 feet wide and you can only access interior areas by bicycle, the place does remain unchanged over time! Even cows and bulls passing each other within the four feet feel the traffic jam!

Some photos..

This place had all the old folks gather at 8PM every night for a prayer. I used to tag along with the gang for the prayer and the prashad that followed..

Wide streets with lot of Tamil folks !

It was so much fun to watch the kids navigate a Banaras galli, avoiding the dogs, cows, cow dung on the floor and the odd moped or bicycle at "speeds" through the narrow lane with a loud honk!

The Hanuman temple brought back so many memories as well. The mighty river Ganga was in full flow.

My parents wanted me to get them some Ganga jal(water) in a bottle. People in India from Brahmin households usually have a bottle of water from the Ganges in their Pooja shelf. When some auspicious event happens, they sprinkle the Ganga water as it is considered holy. Also when someone dies, they pour a little bit of Ganga water into the dead persons mouth.

When dipping the small water bottle (courtesy of the spice jet flight) into the ganges along the edge of the Ghat steps, what I got was more like "Ganga Gel" than "Ganga jal" and chances were if someone was not yet dead, pouring this into their mouth would definitely seal their fate!

Had to wade a few steps in to get the flowing water to do any cleaning, but clean it did, the mind and the body!

There is something to be said when it comes to saying a prayer to the Sun and having a dip in the Ganges.

Words cannot explain that experience.

You have to do it to realize it!

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