Thank You Silence/ Maanila Devi, Almora, Kumaon

These days – I wish they could just pass away fast. I could not finish my thesis, or concentrate well on my office work. And, I was feeling ugly and waste. I would rather think than talk, looking at various permutations and combinations to find out time to finish the pending tasks. In this ordeal, I would mostly blame ‘the time’ for being responsible for my such state. Time – where to dig it from. But the real problem was not the time but being lazy. And I deemed it as “probably the mind needs rest” just like the locomotive engine when exhausted; and started to plan a brief and quiet trip, just alone.

Maanila Sunrise

Not much time have passed since Rupin Pass trek which I did with handful of friends some 3 months back. However I still can not say if I enjoyed it or not. Probably it had no feeling – only hard feelings like a stone – which could be one reason I never attempted to write Rupin’s account and just uploaded few pics at my flickr account.

But today, I must leave if I have to encash upon two consecutive holidays lined up as part of closing ceremony of 19th Common Wealth Games in Delhi.

With my backpack, I reached office, amidst the grazing eyes of office staff nibbling at me weirdly and commenting at my back. But isn’t that the same I think about them and pity – for they never know the real life; being so lost in this prison system. And my wait started for clock to hit 6 pm though I have been busy throughout the day to prepare and release an ad for the day after.

Marchula - Near Ramnagar

Sachin Tiwari – a fellow colleague in our marketing group proposed to drop me at Anand Vihar. An offer too tempting to resist. Going with him will save me time, and will be really easy and fun. Thanks to him, I reached on time at the bus terminus. If he wouldn’t have dropped me, I would have missed my bus to Ramnagar. He has been a driving force behind writing this trip’s account too, asking me...pushing me to write. Though it’s hard to say – if he loves to read my blog or is it his wife who likes to read things about hills as he quoted some times.

Between Dotiyal to Maanila Devi

Well whatever – this blog is for both of them – the hilli-billies.

Ramagar at 4 am was unusually cold or was it the journey discomfort that sucked all my energy. What a crowded bus it was! Travelled 250 kms sitting on the tool-box just next to the bus door. The conductor Sharma Ji – as Sardar Ji, the driver, quoted his name often times did not even gave me the ticket leaving me to wonder – who has been lucky really? – Me or him.

Me, because I got the bus otherwise my linking bus from Ramnagar to Maanila would have left. Him, because he had an extra income of Rs. 180 multiplied by 2 i.e. me and a kid who was traveling alone, and was made to share single seat with Shrama Ji.

Silver or Sand – Sharma made his silver quite well and for me it’s the sand.

Arun Bhadola, in Joyful Mood

I missed the first bus due to the bully crowd that possessed the bus to Naagchula-khal from everywhere.

I jumped into another bus – another KMOU (Kumoan Motor Operators & Users) – private bus affiliated to state transport authority. Small bus with unclean windows, dim lights, unorganized seating arrangement, with people glued to their seats especially the women while their men did the shopping like fruits, sweetmeats etc on their home-coming.

I was seated at the end of the bus and adjacent to the last bench of the bus that had young women seating in row chatting-up, crazy. Thick smoke came from the front – old men puffing bidis – a normal sight for anyone who frequently travels to hilly regions. So this finding was no amusement I decided to step down. Till this time nobody knew when the bus will take-off. 6:30 a.m came the voice just when I was negotiating the price of apples with the Muslim oldman vendor who had no time to look at me.

Rath Khal

I looked at my watch – 5:00 a.m – still one and half hour to go. I do not know when sleep overpowered me after we crossed Garjia temple barrack. I had choley-chai (snacks) at Marchula some 40kms from Ramnagar at 8:30 around, where the bus stopped. I murmured - not as good as they used be. 9:30 a.m and we are to reach Molley-khal that was another 18-20 kms and then another 12 kms to reach Dotiyal, the place where I have to get down.

Road, Rath-Khal Afterwards

I reached Dotiyal at 10:20 a.m. and instantly recognized Arun Bhadola – a known from our village area. The tall, young man in his early 30s, wearing half sweater waved at me, smiling, as if he has found some treasure inside a coal-mine. I was glad he kept his promise to be with me for this trip. And we two had chai-samosa, typically kumaouni style, topped with raita (curd) and chutney. Delicious, I said while Arun nodded in yes. We started walking towards Maanila Devi temple some 8 km neat stretch from Dotiyal with pine trees both sides.

Maanila Devi Temple (Talla)

We reached Rath-Khal after some 4 km of walk towards the Maanila Devi temple. Another stop and another round of tea and snacks. The air was invigorating, and refreshing with smell of pine. I stretched my lungs to fill the fragrance inside. I have always loved it. We continued to march further on the road with Himalayan view on our left but mostly hidden behind large tree trunks of pines and the silver-birches. It looked like a perfect country side – a nice road, no bus but sometimes few jeeps would pass us and no one’s walking along. Only the loud sound of Garhwali songs playing on the Max mobile handset of Arun in the bright afternoon sun shining high over our heads. A perfect sight, a sheer pleasure and no mental effort.

The Idol of Maanila Devi

We reached the temple at 2:30 pm walking at dead slow pace photographing, chatting and enjoying ourselves thoroughly. We paid our homage to the deity, sat inside the temple for few minutes and planned our comeback. Arun suggested taking jeep to Malla-Maanila – another Maanila Devi temple.

The cab was full and we decided to get down at Rath-Khal. We walked to the market down the road. Luckily the guy agreed to made us Chowmein that tasted really very salty and raw but we tucked it all in. Arun then purchased a quarter of Rum from here citing tiredness as reason. We started to walk towards again on the same road to pay our homage to Malla Maanila. The temple is situated on the ridge and the place was colder than I thought looking at the October sky.

While walking towards the temple, Arun narrated the story behind. Maanila, the Goddess, is the deity of the Salt region in district Almora of Kumaon, Uttarakhand from a long time.

Temple Premise of Talla Maanila

It is believed that Goddess used to talk to the priest of the temple. Then one day, the king of Garhwal, ordered his men to bring the deity to his court from where it is placed in Talla Manilla.

It is said that when King’s men came to take the Goddess; the Goddess raised an alarm to wake up the priest but priest and his family continued to sleep. The Goddess then played a trick with King’s men who came to fetch the idol that night. The weight of the idol of the Goddess became too heavy and King’s men could take the idol only till Malla Maanila.

Malla Maanila

By this time, the morning has broken and fearing that they will be caught; King’s men left the idol there and ran away. Since then the Goddess never spoke to the priest again despite retaining her original place. Another version of the story is extended. While King’s men had put the heavy idol of Maanila down to rest for a while at Malla Maanila, they could not lift it back despite doing their best efforts. Fearing that they would get caught as the sun begins to rise; they tried to cut the finger to take it with them as a proof to king of their loyalty. They did it with great difficulty but by that time they saw the priest and the villagers chasing them, so they ran away with the finger of the Goddess.

Maanilla Devi, the deity, got upset with the people of the region for not protecting her and never again she spoke to the priest or anybody.

Idol of the Goddess at Malla Maanila

Well that was the story, and whatever was the story; leave that to history books or to the talking heads. Just go and visit the place to experience a change. The perfect tranquility and bliss, and don’t forget to thank the silence!

Itinerary (by Roadways Bus): Friday Night: Delhi–Ramnagar (250 kms. approx 6-7 hours). Road is really poor between Kashipur and Ramnagar.

Saturday: Reach Doti-yal (80 kms approx 3:30-4 hrs.) by 10 a.m. Stay at Forest Rest House or book KMVN in advance. The KMVN caretaker was missing throughout the day when we went. According to sources he has tie-up with this private hotel manager who belongs to a localite of the area and helps push the tourists to this private hotel to earn his commissions.

KMVN, locked and uncared

Private hotel option is just one option available who normally charges Rs. 400-500 per night. The hotel offers Himalayan view though rooms are dingy and very basic. We got the room for Rs. 300 on negotiations but then they charged extra 100 bucks on meals. Forest Rest House is perfect option in terms of cost (Rs. 100 a room for night) and location (at the hill-top on a ridge).

Forest Rest House

Sunday: Back to Delhi or further ahead some place with me.
© Himanshu

Jageshwar, The Deodar Heaven

As soon as the musk of flourishing deodars mixed in the cool air enters into your lungs through a deep breath, you know you have arrived in Jageshwar. The cluster of temples dated back to Chand dynasty who ruled during the 8-9th century, are dedicated to Lord Shiva. It is also said that Jageshwar or also known as Jagnath Mandir is one of Jyotirlinga, of the total 12. However for me, history concerns less and the feeling of being one with the nature matters the most.

Jageshwar Jyotirlinga Temple

It was a friend’s marriage at Moradabad. After much difficulty me and Saurabh managed to hook onto one Uttarakhand roadways bus that was going to Ramnagar from Anand Vihar. Initially the conductor refused to take Moradabad passengers and asked us to cough extra indirectly or take ticket till Thakurdwara, which we agreed too. But soon after as the bus prepared to leave at 4 p.m, the flock of desperate people got into the bus and we found it hard to breathe; but thank God we had the seat.

Scene at Anand Vihar Bus Terminus

After much ado, the driver facing the ire of standing mob, started to pick up with speed but to our fate, it was all jammed in Garh Mukteshwar. We got down in Moradabad around 9:30 p.m. Mohit, saw me and his good ole’ smile touched with warm sense of gratitude. But we both were too hungry for smiles and greetings. I called up my other friends, Anup (curie), Rajendra (ravs) and Deepak (pahari tota) to enquire about their status. Soon all arrived and before the baraat could start, we decided to have some quick snacks, eaten really quickly except for Ravs who preferred enjoying the pegs.

Jageshwar Bazaar

Deepak dropped me and Saurabh to Rampur and left for Barreily. Enroute we saw a corpse with its head chopped and no blood stains on the highway. It was enough to leave us desperate for some moment. Rest the traffic jam got us sulking.

We reached Rampur around 3:40 a.m. Roadways bus dropped us at Haldwani after 1.5 hrs around 5 a.m. We took shared jeep service to Almora, who drove really fast and in another 2.5 hrs we were at Almora, the heritage city of Kumaon.

Cluster of Jageshwar Temples

Next we took another shared jeep to Aartola from where Jageshwar is 3 kms on foot along the neat and fine road or one can opt for paid jeep service. We decided to walk and stretch. Afterall this is what we were there for – to take big long walks amidst the deodars or daruvan. We found ourselves a comfortable place within our budget - Jagadamba lodge, for Rs. 100 a room (N.K. Joshi Ji, 05962-263026). We bathed ourselves in the warm soothing sun and under the cold water from the tap, to prepare to visit the temples that were some 200 mtrs away. We saw fair amount of lodges, and restaurants to our surprise spread within some 500 mtrs towards the temple. This was quite disappointing but then we did not see much people around. And, Saurabh remarked “off season”!

Florishing Cedar (Deodar)

Temples, no doubt, were more than a beauty and much more than delight. A declared national heritage, the temples looked very pious with fine grain of stones chiseled into different pictures of Shiva, all on one single piece of stone, which are nowhere to be found now. We offered our prayers in all the 4 main temples – Mahamrituanjaya, Kedarnath, Hanuman and, most important, Jageshwar Jyotirlinga – alongwith clusters of other temples devoted to the god Sun. We came back to our lodge after taking a hearty meal at a nearby restaurant for Rs. 35 a plate, and slept like monsters. It was when Bisht Ji announced the dinner, at 9:15 p.m we got up and dozed off again. But since we slept early around we got up in the middle of night. First at 2:30 a.m, then at 4:15 a.m, it was still dark; and finally at 6.20 a.m we were out of bed.

Names of Jageshwar Temples

We clicked photographs and offered our last prayer before leaving Jageshwar to reach Vradh Jageshwar. The Vradh Jageshwar temple was some 3 kms straight up to the top of the hill. The route was clean, a bit steep and passes though the thick jungle. It was most beautiful – the feeling of nothingness. And Saurabh remarked “this is the place to be”! I nodded to show my agreement to the statement. We reached Vradh Jageshwar temple around 10:10 a.m in some 1.5 hrs without resting but we occasionally joked about things, with Saurabh caught up in dilemma – whether it was 3 kms, which seemed to him nothing less than 5 kms. But we reached there without any special effort. We met Chokidar, with whom we again confirmed the story of Jyotirlinga of Jageshwar temple. In his words, story goes like this.

“After Parvati dedicated herself to Yagya-Kund, Shiva got depressed and started to roam in the daruvan (deodar) of Jageshwar as a nude sage. Saptkeshwar’s wife who was collecting the kandmool phal (beat roots) got horrified at the sight of nude sage and reported this to husband. The sage Saptkeshwar agitated on this and without knowing that it was Shiva, cursed the nude sage. This place is called Dandeshwar Mahadev – a km before Jageshwar temples. Though it didn’t affect the lord Shiva but then to honour the Saptkeshwar’s word, Shiva himself disintegrated his linga. The 12 jyotirling’s are where Shiva’s linga pieces fell. One of which is here in Jageshwar Mahadev”.

Jungle Trek to Vradh Jageshwar

Though I wasn’t taking much interest, Saurabh was recording this all in his diary, every word cautiously and as being told by this old man in his seventies.

I was rather enjoying the D 80 in my hand to click the great Himalayan ranges visible well from Vradh Jageshwar temple courtyard. We sipped upon tea with Bhatt Ji, the Pujari, after offering our prayers at the temple and bathed in the sun conversing with Pujari and the old man. It was deserted completely – no tourist, no village people. Pujari told us about ‘Bhog’ to the deity at 12 p.m. This is a regular feature at Jageshwar temple as well.

Vradh Jageshwar

But it seemed he didn’t want us to wait for the pua (wheat flour mixed with jaggery and fried in oil), neither had we time. Our future awaited something as per to our plan – to reach Chitai Golu – the famous deity of Kumaon Hills and offer prayers to the lord. We started to depart from Vardh Jageshwar, along the road. After walking some 3 kms, we had our meal at Himdarshan, a lodge, whose owner cooked us Jhuli-Bhaat (kadi-rice), on our request.

We clicked and bathed in the sunlight of the bright afternoon Sun in leisure, ate our meal in the open and in sight of the great Indian Himalayan peaks like Nanda Devi, Panchachuli and many more. We spent some 2 hrs there and by 2 p.m started again to come down to Almora via Panwanaula. We walked some 7-8 kms with our bag-packs and again stuffed ourselves into a jeep. The nothingness, feeling of void, which is scientifically using no brain power and no hence “no-mental load”, was still very much there with us.

Vradh Jageshwar to Panwanaula

Nanda Devi

Panchachuli Peaks

At Chitai Golu, we refreshed ourselves in the slowly setting sun, and chillness of the air. We offered prayer, clicked few photographs and sat quietly. After a while, we found ourselves on the road again walking and searching for a jeep ride to Almora which is some 6 kms from here. This is when a car stopped and the guy popped out of the window asking us to get in, offering a lift. We got in. They were returning from some marriage and and were headed for Rampur. This is how we reached Almora around 6:30 p.m. We thanked them and thanked Golu as well for this comfortable arrangement.

Golu Devta

The trip was a cakewalk this time (if you have read account of my other trips). It gave us ample opportunity to let loose ourselves. To simply become a man self-sufficient in thought, self-contained in mind, and self-sustained in action, in the fertile land of Nothingness and Deodars.

Itinerary we followed:

Friday (evening): Delhi (NH 24) - Moradabad - Rampur - Haldwani (260 kms).

Saturday (morning): Haldwani - Bhowali - Almora (100 kms), took shared jeep @ Rs. 100 each. Again, the shared jeep from Almora to Aartola (35kms) @ Rs. 70 for two. Aartola to Jageshwar 3kms on-foot. Night Halt at Jagadamba Lodge.

Sunday (early morning): Vradh Jageshwar (3kms on-foot), and to Panwanaula (some 8kms on-foot), along the road. Shared jeep to Almora.

© Himanshu

For pics please see www.flickr.com/myth_drinker