That night in Ganga Devasthan: Part Three – And then the night.
Vaishnavas, the follower of Lord Vishnu and one of the biggest sect in Hindus- observe Ekadashi by fasting on that day. Ekadashi is the eleventh day of the Hindu month, that falls after the full or new moon. I had seen my mother and grandmother observing Ekadashi, during my child hood but I had no inkling of the importance of the day.
The Ekadashi function in Ganga Devasthan was a local function and therefore any one new was easily distinguishable. So was I.
I paid my obeisance to Lord Vitthal and then to Lord Shiva, whose temple was a few meters away from that. It was ten by now, and I had already started feeling intense hunger pangs. I looked at the faces of devotees, wondering that many or all of them have fasted for the entire day and yet they look so contented. Faith moves the world, some one said.
Once I was at Panchmarhi, with a friend of mine- and we were trekking towards Mahadev temple located on a hill top and chatting along. I was talking to him about the state of affairs in India and wondering as to how India survives despite so many dysfunctionalities. And then my friend pointed out in a direction and said –'this is how'. I looked in the direction in which he pointed, and there was a man without legs crawling with the help of his hands and moving towards the temple, whose trek had made us gasp our breaths. Such is the power of faith.
After a while of pondering, I decided that I will just lie somewhere and try to spend my night over there… I found a bench bang in front of the Vitthal Temple, played my bag on it and lie over there. From a distance, I could see the proceedings of the night, the devotees who sang and danced, in Marathi- though incomprehensible yet sweet. I wished to be a part of them and yet for some reason, kept away- lest I may not disturb them.
And then all of a sudden, an old man patted my back and asked me something in Marathi. I was able to comprehend that he was asking me as to why I am not joining them in praying the Lord. Was it a divine gesture, I wondered.
In few minutes, I joined the devotees and started dancing and enjoying with them. It was a unique experience in social, in anthropological and spiritual sense- some years ago; while in Pune- I had food with some Warkaris, and interacted with them…. Today I was reminded of something similar.
Words about Warkaris- Warkaris belong to Vaishnavite groups and follow the Bhakti tradition. In the month of July and August, they walk towards Lord Vitthal temple in Pandharpur- and all along the way people help them, by organizing shelters, food and guiding them. On one such occasion in Pune, I saw a group of Warkaris from a village near Karjat having their food and entered into a conversation with them. They invited me to have food with them; sitting on the road side… the whole interaction was unique. I promised myself that one day I will do the entire Warkari trek to Pandharpur; I still await that day.
Today at Ganga Devasthan I was reminded of that interaction, though this time I was not a passive viewer, learning about them by observation but by participation. And it was ethereal to say the least.
After an hour or so, all the devotees sat down in a queue and started having food, I was their prime attractions- they started questioning me about a lot of things in life in broken Hindi and I tried answering them in simple Hindi punctuated with words of Marathi that I had learnt during my stay in Bombay.
The food was simply superb, straight from the houses of rural Maharashtra; No amount and I repeat, no amount of money could have bought such a tasty food; India is different- because of non-prevalence of eating out as an activity, the best food of Indian cuisine is served not in the best of restaurants but in Indian homes. This is a best kept secret. In other countries I am told that due to prevalence of eating out, the food found in restaurant is superlative to what is found in houses (of course I am talking about the traditional communal cuisines than the fast food)
The old man, it turned out was the head priest of the Lord Vitthal temple. After the festivities were over, he sat down with me and spoke for half an hour, asked me what my programme for the morning is- I told him that I would like to leave the place early morning and go to my hostel or Khadavali. Then he prepared a bed for me in the temple courtyard and said that he will wake me up at 4:30 in the morning.
I had one of the most refreshing sleeps of my life. In the morning, the priest woke me up with a warm cup of Chaha (Marathi tea) and some food. I was overwhelmed, after having my breakfast- paid my obeisance to Lord Vitthal and touched the priest's feet and left the place.
That day I went to Khadavali, to keep my promise of yesterday. And made another promise that I will come again to this place… I am yet to keep that promise.
The Ekadashi function in Ganga Devasthan was a local function and therefore any one new was easily distinguishable. So was I.
I paid my obeisance to Lord Vitthal and then to Lord Shiva, whose temple was a few meters away from that. It was ten by now, and I had already started feeling intense hunger pangs. I looked at the faces of devotees, wondering that many or all of them have fasted for the entire day and yet they look so contented. Faith moves the world, some one said.
Once I was at Panchmarhi, with a friend of mine- and we were trekking towards Mahadev temple located on a hill top and chatting along. I was talking to him about the state of affairs in India and wondering as to how India survives despite so many dysfunctionalities. And then my friend pointed out in a direction and said –'this is how'. I looked in the direction in which he pointed, and there was a man without legs crawling with the help of his hands and moving towards the temple, whose trek had made us gasp our breaths. Such is the power of faith.
After a while of pondering, I decided that I will just lie somewhere and try to spend my night over there… I found a bench bang in front of the Vitthal Temple, played my bag on it and lie over there. From a distance, I could see the proceedings of the night, the devotees who sang and danced, in Marathi- though incomprehensible yet sweet. I wished to be a part of them and yet for some reason, kept away- lest I may not disturb them.
And then all of a sudden, an old man patted my back and asked me something in Marathi. I was able to comprehend that he was asking me as to why I am not joining them in praying the Lord. Was it a divine gesture, I wondered.
In few minutes, I joined the devotees and started dancing and enjoying with them. It was a unique experience in social, in anthropological and spiritual sense- some years ago; while in Pune- I had food with some Warkaris, and interacted with them…. Today I was reminded of something similar.
Words about Warkaris- Warkaris belong to Vaishnavite groups and follow the Bhakti tradition. In the month of July and August, they walk towards Lord Vitthal temple in Pandharpur- and all along the way people help them, by organizing shelters, food and guiding them. On one such occasion in Pune, I saw a group of Warkaris from a village near Karjat having their food and entered into a conversation with them. They invited me to have food with them; sitting on the road side… the whole interaction was unique. I promised myself that one day I will do the entire Warkari trek to Pandharpur; I still await that day.
Today at Ganga Devasthan I was reminded of that interaction, though this time I was not a passive viewer, learning about them by observation but by participation. And it was ethereal to say the least.
After an hour or so, all the devotees sat down in a queue and started having food, I was their prime attractions- they started questioning me about a lot of things in life in broken Hindi and I tried answering them in simple Hindi punctuated with words of Marathi that I had learnt during my stay in Bombay.
The food was simply superb, straight from the houses of rural Maharashtra; No amount and I repeat, no amount of money could have bought such a tasty food; India is different- because of non-prevalence of eating out as an activity, the best food of Indian cuisine is served not in the best of restaurants but in Indian homes. This is a best kept secret. In other countries I am told that due to prevalence of eating out, the food found in restaurant is superlative to what is found in houses (of course I am talking about the traditional communal cuisines than the fast food)
The old man, it turned out was the head priest of the Lord Vitthal temple. After the festivities were over, he sat down with me and spoke for half an hour, asked me what my programme for the morning is- I told him that I would like to leave the place early morning and go to my hostel or Khadavali. Then he prepared a bed for me in the temple courtyard and said that he will wake me up at 4:30 in the morning.
I had one of the most refreshing sleeps of my life. In the morning, the priest woke me up with a warm cup of Chaha (Marathi tea) and some food. I was overwhelmed, after having my breakfast- paid my obeisance to Lord Vitthal and touched the priest's feet and left the place.
That day I went to Khadavali, to keep my promise of yesterday. And made another promise that I will come again to this place… I am yet to keep that promise.
No comments:
Post a Comment