Neelkanth Mahadev Temple, Rishikesh

Originally posted on : http://nayna.in/

May 29, 2008

A temple with patient devotees…a temple with no touts, no one to force you to pay up for a special VIP doorway. A temple where you can take your time and pray without hearing the words “Move Ahead, Keep Moving.” 

Does this sound unbelievable? Trust me, I was surprised too.
Nestled on a high mountain top with pristine waters of the holy Ganges below, devotees are invited to seek blessings from Neelkanth Mahadev in Rishikesh.

Neelkanth Mahadev is none other than Lord Shiva. This name befell on him because of a precarious feat he undertook because he could not see his devotees suffer. The Puranas state that during the churning of the ocean-Samudra Manthan, there came out a poison called-Halahal. The venom was exceptionally powerful that it could annihilate mankind. The gods were distressed and didn’t know how to destroy it. Lord Shiva stepped in and decided to drink it.

Mahima (Magnanimous Aura) of Lord Shiva is divine. He surely drank it but did not swallow the poison. He allowed it to remain in his throat. This venom turned his throat blue. Neel defines the color blue, Kanth is throat and Mahadev means Lord of the gods. Lord Shiva came to rest in Rishikesh. The gods tried hard to comfort him and ultimately decided to pour water on his head to cool him off. This is one of the reasons why even today, devotees offer water to Lord Shiva.

After several years of rest and meditation, Lord Shiva removed the poison from his throat and left it on a mountain. He returned to his abode, Mount Kailash in the Himalayas. Later a temple was build around this and now stands as symbol of Lord’s grace at a height of 1675 m.

A drive of 32 km. from Rishikesh via Barrage or an alternate route of 22 km. via Ram Jhoola can get you there with ease. The scenic beauty was breathtaking as on one side was the mountain terrain and the other side was a steep drop into the fast flowing Ganges.

The holy water of Ganga was much cleaner as compared to the water that flows through Haridwar and Varanasi. The current was tremendous and so river rafting was an extremely popular sport here. Tourists worldwide visit this city for this adventurous thrill.

The temple’s car park was lined with stalls selling offerings for the deity. It consisted of coconut, a sealed-plastic glass containing water from the Ganges, Bel leaves, assorted-fresh flowers, fruits like dhatura and jujube, box of incense sticks, small Chunnari (piece of red veil) and a laminated photograph of the Lord Shiva with the backdrop of the temple.

As I walked ahead, I was taken aback by the temple’s architecture. The entire Samudra Manthan was depicted with colorful idols of all the gods and goddess. One look at it and the entire Puranic story flashes in front of your eyes. The architecture is extremely well-maintained and the photographs don’t do enough justice to them. Photography is not allowed inside the temple so I was forced to take as much as I could from the outside.

I stood in line to enter the inner sanctum. A life-sized idol of goddess Parvati was seated near the entrance. Her striking grandeur forced everyone to bow and offer their obeisance. The arena around the lingam was made of marble. There were detailed etchings of guards or Dwarpals on the columns with intricate detailing that showed their weapons. Opposite the lingam was Lord Shiva’s mount Nandi, the bull.

Devotees kept chanting “Om Namah Shivay” and finally it was my turn. I sat in from of the lingam which was encased in silver. It had an opening at the top to see the original form. I poured the water from the Ganges while a priest seated, chanted the Vedic mantras and helped me complete my worship.

At the exit of the sanctum, there was a gigantic Pipal tree. Devotees had tied chunnaris to it. I guessed that it was for their wishes that needed to be fulfilled. But I really didn’t have anything to wish for. Getting a darshan like this was more than what I had dreamt of.

I feel that if you really want solitude with Lord Shiva, you will get it here in Rishikesh. Even the 12 Jyotirlings won’t give you the solace because of the packed crowds and touts.

Jyotirling at Mallikarjun in Sri Sailam, Andhra Pradesh, Mahakaleshwar in Ujjain, Madhya Pradesh, Rameshwaram in Tamil Nadu, Trymbakeshwar in Nasik, Nageshwar near Dwarka and Somnath in Gujarat do not allow always devotees to touch the Lingam. Security concerns, crowd management and arrival of VIP dignitaries can dampen your spirits. I hope my travel experiences give you a clear idea how to get personal one on one time with Lord Shiva.

©Nayna, 2007-2008. All Rights Reserved.(http://nayna.in/)

View Larger Map

Read More

Danda Nagraj Temple Pauri Garhwal --By Ramu Kanchi

FROM http://dandanagrajtemple.blogspot.com/

Ramu

I heard a lot about this temple through one of my friend from Pauri Garhwal area, so I decided to visit the temple at any cost. After my visit I felt that the visit was a worth more than that I expected.

This is lord srikrishna temple, when god came to Uttaranchal first time, came in the snake form by crawling and reached to the ridge of the hill hence this temple named as “Danda Nagraj Temple”. People in this area strongly believe that real god is staying here and so powerful, if you pray here sincerely, your wish will be fulfilled. Every year in April month the famous “Kauthig” is celebrated here. This temple is situated in top of hill in plane area with ample space around the temple, also you will observe some thousands of bells are tied in the temple premises by devotees who’s wish is fulfilled. Also you will find the devotees are offering jaggery (gur) sweet as prasad to the god.

This place is well connected from Pauri city by road approximately 34 km.

From Delhi to this place is around 300km, there are 3 ways to reach this place.

1. Delhi----Meerut--- Haridwar—Rishikesh---Byasi---Devprayag—Pauri—Danda Nagraj Temple.

2. Delhi----Meerut---Bijnor---Najibabad----Kotdwara—Lansdowne-- Pauri—Danda Nagraj Temple.

3. Delhi----Meerut--- Haridwar—Rishikesh---Byasi---Devprayag—Kharkhola village, form this village6 km walking to climb up the temple.

I choose to go by rishikesh route, I booked one taxi from Delhi and accompanied with one of my friend who’s brother is residing at Srinagar garhwal town which is after 30km from devprayag. From Srinagar to pauri is 28km, though it is a long route, i thought to go along with the known people to understand better about garhwal, since I am from South India. We started Friday at 7pm from Delhi and reached haridwar at 2am night time, we thought beyond this place it is not safe to travel to hills, so we took rest in a hotel in haridwar till morning 8am.

Haridwar

After taking breakfast we left haridwar at 9am and reached the spectacular yoga town rishikesh, from here actual garhwal hills starts and the ghat road is narrow and half of the way is filled with land sliding with lots of stones smaller to huge rocks, our taxi driver is an expert person in ghat road driving though many vehilcles coming opposite, he managed a smooth drive.We enjoyed the view of river “Ganga” running in the valley along the road.

Rishikesh

Road is not good till the place byasi, 20km from rishikesh, After the Byasi the road is fantastic, so we enjoyed the travel by viewing the spectacular lush green hills and beautiful valley with the forceful river Ganga.

Byasi

In between we stopped many places to have tea, snacks etc., I told driver to stop at selected places to view the beauty of the fantastic mountain ranges and mind blowing sceneries. We reached devpryag at 12pm. Devprayag is the point where the Bhagirathi and the Alaknanda River join to form the Ganges River. Devprayag is located at the confluence of the Bhagirathi and Alaknanda rivers. It has an average elevation of 830 metres and is one of the five sacred confluences in the hills and is an important place of pilgrimage for devout hindus.

Devprayag

We stopped our car here for sometime to view the sangam of the both rivers and formation of Ganga river. It was a very nice experience. Then we started from devpryag at 12:30pm and reached Srinagar at 1:15pm.

Srinagar is situated on the banks of Alaknanda river and it was the capital of Garhwal before the arrival of British rule. it remained capital of Garhwal for over 300 years, Srinagar offers simply a view of a moderate sized typical mountain town, bigger than other mountainous towns, with slopes and descending - ascending lanes and streets, sights of tall trees, green paddies and colourful horizons with criss-crossed hills and peaks all around. It offers a fresh air to view scattered townships, buildings, temples, monuments and above all the sneaking, rushing Alaknanda, another tributary of mighty holy Ganga, the legendary river, rather a mother Ganga for every Indian.

Srinagar (Garhwal)

Srinagar is a bit hot temperature since it is situated at low altitude comparing to other places around. We reached to my friend’s brother house at 1:30pm, he is also very much interested to go Danda Nagraja Temple with us. He is a pure Garhwali and knows each hook and corner of all areas in Garhwal. After taking lunch at his home we started our journey at 3pm to Danda Nagraja Temple via Pauri.

Srinagar to Pauri is 28 km distance, we enjoyed the views of beautiful mountains and ghat road travel. The Pauri City which is situated at an altitude of 1814 Mts. above the sea-level on the northern slopes of Kandoliya hills is the headquarters of the District Pauri Garhwal and the Garhwal Division. Headquarters of all Govt. departments are located in the city Pauri .

We reached pauri at 4pm and stopped our car to purchase coconut and Jaggery to offer as Prasad at temple. From here danda nagraj temple is 30km, we crossed 3 or 4 mountains and thick forest, but road is nice to travel, after some time of journey we felt that temperature became cool as we are going up to the hill and we had a pleasant climate with cool breeze. We reached the temple area at 5:30pm at the evening dawn and that time the place is covered with full of fog and the visibility is only 5metres but I enjoyed that atmosphere, I took the strong breathe in that fog, almost I felt I am covered by the clouds. It was a great experience in that climate ,one should have at least one time in the life. There is only one shop in this area, you can get tea, snacks etc., from the main road to temple there is a ramp way, a 100metres climb in the ramp.

View Larger Map

Read More