| 10th Oct: Yamunotri |
Amalananda was the first to rise. With visible breath, he stirred the rest of our party from our slumbers. The bitter air and blue morning chill sat heavily before sunrise. We all looked forward to the day, it would mark the beginning of all of us setting out on the most holy of pilgrimages for Hindus, and also, it happened to be Swamiji's birthday as well. Raghudasa and Amalananda greeted Swamiji first thing in the morning with their well wishes and the group later sang happy birthday at breakfast. Swamiji gave his thanks and blessings and Amma said that this was going to be a very beautiful trip for all.  Our driver Raj drove us through a winding dusty road cut into a mountain forest. The drive up towards Yamunotri offered some breathtaking views of snowcapped peaks. The road had many switchbacks and as we rose in altitude the surrounding forest thinned and the road showed signs of many recent landslides. Our discomfort with the roadside boulders and broken (and nonexistent) guardrails dispersed as soon as the sun crept over the mountain range and illuminated the peak above Yamunotri. We pulled into a largely empty rocky parking area and the vehicle was quickly surrounded by locals offering their services. Porters, horsemen and their mules, and groups of men with small wooden chairs offered their assistance in the 6 km ascent. Carried by four men, these wooden chairs are called Palkis and they help bring pilgrims to the temple, who would not otherwise be able to make the journey. The air was thin and cold, and the Palki carriers offered their seva to Amma who accepted the ride up. Amalananda, being the only person in our group who speaks Hindi, arranged for a mule to carry the heavy puja and prayer supplies to the summit. Raghudasa, still ailing from blistered feet from fire walking in Singapore, gladly accepted a mule ride as well.  The first few hundred yards brings pilgrims through the small village at the base of the mountain. Many people still live quite traditionally here, which invoked a longing within us for a simpler lifestyle. While admiring the village and the way of life, we all noticed our shortness of breath and slowing pace. The altitude had proved to be much more of an obstacle than anyone had anticipated. We rearranged some bags to make them lighter and all gritted our teeth and pressed upward. At this time Amalananda met a young man, who happened to be a Pujari in the temple they spoke for a short while and he accompanied us a little way on the trail and eventually hurried ahead to attend to his temple duties, saying he would wait to meet us later on. The air was so thin that many of us had a hard time catching our breath and as the trail approached the mountainside the pitch of the trek steepened and humbled us all. About three hours and a couple thousand feet in elevation later the trail leveled out and offered views of Yamunotri temple which sat alongside the source of the holy Yamuna river. We took a few moments to rest and catch our breath and take in the beauty of the temple and its home.  Cold winds swept through the open temple as we looked on with childlike wonder. Soon our Pujari friend, who happened to be the same age as Raghudas, found the group. Swamiji and Amma spoke to the young man, through Amalananda who acted as an interpreter. We expressed our wish to perform a puja there on the banks of the Yamuna and read the prayers of the many people who could not be physically present at the temple. We followed him through the main sanctum and past the temple hot springs. The Yamuna River begins actually as two rivers, a natural hot spring, on top of where the Yamunotri temple is located, and also a glacial cold source, which is seven kilometers above where the temple is located. Because of the treacherous cliffs and dizzying altitude no one is allowed to make the ascent to this cold source. It is said that there are ancient and ageless Rishis that meditate here and guard the source, making it inaccessible to outsiders. The Pujari brought us to the side of the temple which sits directly next to the frigid Yamuna. Each of the party splashed some cleansing water on their heads and Swamiji and Amma began to set up for the puja.  Swamiji and Amma brought with them on this pilgrimage several deities in the forms of idols from their Singapore ashram. Swamiji bathed the murtis in the icy waters as the Pujari recited prayers in Sanskrit. All of us looked on in awe of the scene, with Swamiji and Amma attending to the deities, the Pujari reciting stirring mantras, and the Yamuna crashing down the cliffs a few hundred feet ahead and rushing by us all. Soon Swamiji was performing an aarti with a coconut that he had brought. We all felt the energies from the ceremony the moment we received the aarti. After the puja, some of the party wanted to take a dip in the Yamuna waters. The Pujari suggested that he go and bring some buckets from the hot springs. Amalananda, being the bravest of the group, took a short purifying dip in the cold Yamuna waters and immediately followed this with some splashes from the hot spring buckets. Swami and Amma cleansed with some hot water, as did the rest of our group.  The Pujari, seeing the uncommon devotion of Amma and Swamiji and this small band of Americans, pointed out that most temple visitors stay for only about a 30 minute time frame and quickly retreat back down the steep trail. We had already endured the sweeping and bitter winds for an hour and he invited us to the inner sanctum of the temple where he would perform the customary temple puja and read all of the prayers that had be brought by Amma and Swamiji on behalf of everyone. He sat our group directly in front of a gurgling opening to the hot spring, which was the altar dedicated to Mother Yamuna. The warmth of the area was a welcomed change and the energies immediately allowed for us to attune to the ceremony. After Swami, Amma and the Pujari read the prayers they were placed at the base of this natural altar to be blessed by the Mother. The Pujari lit some camphor on a silver plate and passed the plate to each of our group so that we could participate in the aarti. We noticed a silence befell Swamiji and several tears flowed down his cheeks. The muscles in his faced relaxed as Amma passed him the plate, and while still in this Samadhi state he performed the aarti and handed it back to the Pujari completing the circle. Moments after this ceremony and the reading of the prayers, Amma called the group over to Swamiji as he offered to share his experience during the puja. Immediately upon sitting for the ceremony Swami fell into a meditative state, as the aarti began and the Pujari sang some temple bhajans Swami received an incredible darshan of the Divine Mother. She showed herself to Swamiji in the pure form of Mother Kali. Revealing herself in the fierce aspect of Calcutta Kali, with her dark black face and elongated tongue and shivering and dancing hands. As he related his darshan to the group, tears again flowed down his face. Amma opened her arms to embrace him as he relived this blessing. The group was moved by the deep humble devotion of Swamiji and Amma. A member of our group lightened the mood saying how wonderful Swamiji's birthday present was. All laughed warmly and we sat for meditation.  Feeling the hunger pangs as a result from the challenging trek to Yamunotri, we sat at a small smokey food hall that was adjacent to the temple, just over a bridge that spanned the Yamuna. Amma and Swamiji kindly spoke with the Pujari, who was happy to share with people who wanted more than to just dip in the hot springs and return back down the trail after 30 minutes. After a few hours at Yamunotri, having received the best blessings imaginable, we headed back down the trail accompanied by our Pujari, a mule ride for Raghudasananda and the Palki for Amma. Just before nightfall we all met at the vehicle and headed back to our chilly Himalayan campsite. |
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