Dwadash Jyotirlinga Part Two

So lets say if I were to visit all the Jyotirlingas in one go… wouldn’t it be a journey of lifetime… crisscrossing the entire length and breadth of India. From Dwarka to Guwahati and from Kangra to Rameshwaram.

In the past, I have visited quite a few of them… the first one was in Almora… when I hardly knew about the concept of 12 sacred places. I was mesmerized by the enchanting beauty of the place… driving from Almora to a place called Aratola… and then walking along the river Banganga and reaching this place… and then after seeing this place walking uphill to a village of Jhakarsem, where I saw a sacrifice ceremony in a Devi Temple. It was one of those experience… one wouldn’t ever forget, come whatever. The visit to this sacred place was, however, accidental.

I had briefly visited the temple at Kashipur too… again without any intent of making it to a Jyotirlinga. I did not find the place particularly spiritual. I doubt if it is the actual Bhimashankar. Any Jyotirlinga, I believe, will give me a spiritual experience that will be surreal and ethereal. Kashipur didn’t give me those vibes.

And then Somnath happened… tucked away in a remote corner of Gujarat has been one of the most powerful experiences I have ever had. So much so… that it turned me from uncaring atheist to a caring theist. No wonder that, Somnath is often referred as the most important Jyotirlinga of all.

And soon after the Somnath experience, I made it a point to visit another Jyotirlinga nearby… one that of Dwarka Nagnath. I would not rate the experience of Dwarka anywhere close to that of Somnath… yet Dwarka, being one of the most holy places in Hinduism, holds a charm of its own. It is a package kind of experience… where you not only see a Jyotirlinga but also a one of the four important Muths of Hinduism and a lot of other temples, too.

It was only after these experiences that I started trying to see the Jyotirlinga and started making efforts. I went to Nashik to see the shrine of Trimbakeshwar. Nashik is one of the most magical places in India. I visited it is midst of monsoon that multiplies the beauty of the place manifolds… the entire place is scattered with temples… beautiful sights… reminding of the God that created us. Walking along the misty roads… seeing faith and humanity in a wonderful interplay. It was a beautiful experience… An year ago, I saw a movie called Strings… starring Kabir Bedi’s son and Sandhya Mridul… the movie is passable, but the camera work is good… it has captured the beauty of the place, wonderfully well. Go see it, albeit for the good camera work and boisterous and confident Sandhya, who does a good acting in this film.

The next was Bhimashankar… it was another monsoon-y day in Pune, where I was staying with a friend of mine, his wife had visited Bhimashankar as a part of trek group from Karjat… and suddenly I decided to make it to Bhimashankar… I took a bus to the place… and reached there in the evening… I stayed in one of the shittiest hotel in my life and early morning at 4 am took a bath with coldest possible water and went to the temple. The temple is good, yet no spiritual experience… I wondered if this is the place… after a while I decided to do the trek to Karjat… while going down, I saw some strange looking caves just below a hill top… after a difficult trek, I reached there and then reached the summit called Nagphani Point… it was raining badly… the trek was slippery and some stretches wasn’t even there… and yet I braved it all. From Nagphani Point one can see one of the most beautiful panoramas of the surrounding… I hadn’t seen a better view that that, view from Harishchandragad also in Western Ghats comes close. While coming down, I forgot the way down and where ever I went I met dead ends… “So here comes the last breaths of my life”- I thought… and lo from behind the bushes came out a hermit saying Om Namah Shivay… and then he guided me to a trail that went downwards… and then when I wanted to thank him… he was gone, just vanished… was it divine!!!

The next was Grishneshwar in Aurangabad… beside the beautiful temples of Ellora. Aurangabad is one of the most beautiful and serene places I have seen till date. The experience was, however, not very over-powering.

And then came the last… Rameshwaram… my father tells me that I have been to Rameshwaram once before… I, though, have very fleeting memories of the place… one thing I remember was the calm sea that Rameshwaram had. I walked for more than 200 metres, just wading… and yet the sea was only chest deep for a 12 year old kid. As if sea is playing the role of a doting father for me. When I came to Rameshwaram this time… I just loved the place. The temple is one of the most beautiful places I have ever seen… and tucked somewhere inside the temple is a small temple of Jyotirlinga. I just stood there watching the Linga. It was a dream come true.

6 Shrine covered… Almora and Dwarka represent one Shrine, similarly, Kashipur and Bhimashankar represent one. This makes 6 more to be covered.

First let’s make some simplifications so as to make my life easier… let’s assume that even if I visit one shrine among the debated ones… I actually visit the shrine. Thus if I visit one of the Nagnath, say in Dwarka… then I visit all the Nagnath… after all what is faith but a metaphysical communion between me and my Lord. So let us choose only 12 places to be visited…

Among the debated shrines I choose… Baidyanath Dham in Jharkhand, Aundha Nagnath (Parli Baidyanath is very close by… so will visit it, nevertheless) and Bhimashankar as my expression of faith.

And now I can start working on the travel plans of visiting these places in one go…

However more than visiting the places… I am excited about the plethora of experiences I will have while I try to travel all these places in one go. The people I will meet… the difference socio-cultural settings I will see… in a matter of say only 20 odd days. Isn’t it amazing.