Steven Knap's Travells!

[Guest guest]

TRAVELING THROUGH INDIA AND BACK TO AMERICANamaste, I've now arrived back in America after an adventurous trip through northern India. I've already described my journey through Kashmir and Ladakh, andover the Rohtang pass and into Manali. So from Manali, where I stayed a few days to see the local temple, I went south to Mandi, another town with lots of temples. Most are small but someare significant. Staying a day was enough to see most everything of importance, and then onward to Chandigarh and back up to Haridwar. It is always niceto visit Haridwar and see the evening Ganga puja. Lots of people are there this time of year. But coming back into the planes of India, it was really hotand humid now. So handling the heat was a new challenge. I then soon went up to Rishikesh, a favorite place of mine, and made arrangements to go up to Gangotri. Going up was not bad, and though it was cloudyand rainy, now that the rainy season had begun, it was pleasant. I had wanted to go to Gaumukh, to visit the source of the Ganga River, but the weatherwas not that great for it, though some people were still going up. The manager of the place where I was staying advised me not to go, but I was determinedto try it anyway. So after two days I decided to go for it. It's not a bad climb for the most part, but there were a few risks that I was not prepared for. While goingon one of the narrow parts of the path, with the mountain on one side, the path being only about three feet wide before the mountain continues down a steep200-300 feet drop into the river below, the strap on one of my shoulder bags broke. It was the bag in which I carried my sleeping gear, jacket, sweater,and other things. Somehow, one of the metal fittings snapped and it swung behind me and then out in front of me to the side where the cliff continues downward.I instinctively went down to my hands and knees for a good foundation so as to not fall into the river, and then reached out to grab my bag just as itwas falling over the edge of the cliff into the river far below. I just made it and brought it back to me. I fixed the strap and continued on, noting thatthis was a little more precarious than one might think. I kept going on until I approached one of the small bridges that cross the roaring Ganga. As I got there I met another Krishna devotee, Gopal Hari das,who told me I should not go. He had been told the day before by a family who went that it was very dangerous and they should not go, but like me, theydecided to go anyway to see for themselves. So he, his father and mother all went up into the mountains until they reached this bridge. But the bridge,which is usually made of three trees to walk on to cross the river, had only one tree for support. Each tree branch is cut in half so that they are flaton one side. Two had fallen away, so there was only one tree to cross on, which meant that it was a balancing act to get to the other side. He even sawwhere one of the ponies had balked at crossing the single tree trunk. So they decided to turn back, while his father went on. Some people were crossingwhile others were turning back. I was also told that there were three other such bridges that had to be crossed, with the riskiest one just before youget to Gaumukh. And of course, once you cross them going one way, you would have to cross them coming back. Some time ago a woman tried to cross it andfell midway, drowning in the Ganga. It was also then that I decided that this is a risk that is more than I was prepared for. I still have too many thingsto do in my life to take such a chance. So I turned around as well. The thing is, the park service charges you 150 rupees to enter the area. So why can't they use that money to help keep the way to Gaumukh safer forthe pilgrims? This makes no sense to me, to leave things to remain in such a risky condition for those who want to go to Gaumukh. And who knows when thatbridge may be repaired. Chances are if there had been the usual three tree branches crossing the Ganga, I would have gone on. Anyway it was an interestingwalk. So the next day I decided to move on to the next town. Thus, the next morning I went to the bus stand to get the early morning bus, but there was nobus serivce nor taxi service. The road was damaged due to the rain. I knew what that meant. Landslides often occur during the rainy season in these mountainroads, and how bad they are will determine when they get repaired, and sometimes not for weeks. So we waited. Later, some of the drivers of the "sharetaxis" started getting restless and wanted to try the road anyway. So I climbed into one and we headed out. For a while all was well, but then we startedhitting the landslides. Some weren't too bad, others needed a team of people to clear them, and then we were on our way again. But the last one was reallybad. A bull dozer had been working on it, but it still wasn't clear. Then it was decided that the taxis coming down the mountain would turn and go back, and all of us had to cross the landslide on foot and get a taxion the other side the rest of the way down. There were plenty of taxis coming up, so if they were also going to turn around, then I figured it wouldn'tbe a problem. So about 50 pilgrims started crossing the landslide on foot, sludging through ankle deep mud, climbing up rocks and all with our luggage.Then it also started raining making it worse. I wasn't prepared for this. And then when we finally got to the other side, the other taxis were not turningaround but merely waiting for the road to clear. So there I was, on the mountainside, halfway between Gangotri and Uttarkashi, walking in the rain on a muddy road with no traffic going anywhere. Finally,after a few kilometers, I came to a few tea stalls in one village and decided that was it. I'm not walking any further. So I waited a couple of hours,and finally a few of the share taxis started coming through. I got a ride on one down the mountain to Uttarkashi. It was raining all the way, but it stoppedby the time we got to Uttarkashi. So there I got a hotel and spent the night, spending a little time visiting the temples there. It was easy getting a bus the next morning to go the rest of the way back to Rishikesh, but even the roads from Uttarkashi had landslides and mudslidesthat slowed traffic, and some parts of the roads showed serious deterioration where some of the road had simply fallen away, forcing the bus to go dangerouslyclose to the edge of the road, inches from a 200 foot drop down into the river below. So I was glad to finally reach Rishikesh. After this experience inthe mountains, I decided not to go further, such as back up to Kedarnatha or Badrinath, which I had been thinking about. I had already been to these placesa few times anyway, but being this close is always tempting for me to visit them again. While in Rishikesh, it rained off and on everyday. I also got an email invitation to visit Nirmal Kumar in Dehradun. I had never visited that town beforeand it sounded nice. Nirmal is another prolific writer on spiritual and Vedic topics, so it was a pleasure to go up to Dehradun and visit with him andhis family. His wife made delicious vegetarian meals, his son took me to see the town, and Nirmal and I had long philosophical talks. And Dehradun wasa little cooler than Rishikesh. So it was a very pleasant stay. In fact it was with Nirmal's help that I made arrangements to see another holy place I had never visited before. He had been to Sukratal or Shukteerthbefore, which is the place where Sukadeva Gosvami spoke the Srimad-Bhagavatam to Maharaja Pariksit. So after a few days I took the bus to Muzzafarnagarand stopped in to see one of Nirmal's friends, Vishnu Ratna Bandhar, a local brahmin, astrologer and writer on Vedic topics. He would direct me how bestto reach Sukratal. He greeted me most graciously, but after some time he decided that he would personally take me to Sukratal. He had not been there ina long time, but for me he would go. This was quite unexpected but most welcome for me. So later he and a few of his friends climbed into a car with meand off we went. There is a bus that can take you to Sukratal, but it is not a place that is even on the map, so it is not so easy to find. After traveling an hour ona bumpy road going east from Muzzafarnagar, we finally arrived at Sukratal. This is a small and peaceful town with many small temples, the most importantof which is Shukteerth, the Sukadeva ashrama. This has a huge tree that is 5000 years old, under which Sukadeva spoke the Bhagavatam, a most importantplace in the line of Vedic tradition. So we looked around this place for a while, and Vishnu Ratna Bandhar broke off a little leaf bud from the tree andgave it to me as a token from this holy place, which I brought all the way back to America to keep in my temple room. We also saw the Hanuman temple, whichhas the largest Hanuman image in the world at 75 feet tall standing outside the temple. We stopped at the Ganga there, as well as a few other temples,and also went out to see Mahadeva Swami, who also spoke good English. So I had a nice talk with him. Then as it was getting dark, we went back to Muzzafarnagarwhere I got a hotel for the night. It was a great visit, for which I was most thankful to Vishnu Ratna Bandhar and to Nirmal Kumar for arranging. Getting the bus in the morning, which can always be a little tricky when you don't know your way around, something I've gotten quite used to from allmy traveling in India, I took off for Panipat, where I got the Chandigarh bus that would drop me off at Kurukshetra. The trip took several hours, afterwhich I got an autoricksha to the Iskcon temple in the old part of town. There I met Sukadeva Maharaja, a pleasant devotee sannyasi. I got a room and hada pleasant stay in Kurukshetra for a few days. With Sukadeva Maharaja's arrangement, I also gave a talk at the Vidya Bharati Sanskriti Shikasha Sansthan,a cultural training center under the auspices of the RSS that teaches all aspects of the Vedic culture, from yoga, philosophy, bhajans and music, art,sports, etc. I was very happy to see all that they were doing. Anyway, Sukadeva and myself as the keynote speaker, gave a talk on the need to preserve and protect Vedic culture, and how it is still applicable inthis day and age. There were about 50 people there, along with press coverage. I made my points very carefully and everyone liked what I had to say, manyof whom were nodding their heads in approval as I spoke. So this was a progressive step forward. Sukadeva had also made some good contacts where the peoplewho were staunch Hindus asked him to guide them in the process of their spiritual tradition. They may be dedicated to the Vedic path, but many Hindus arestill not sure of how to properly apply it or how to proceed. This is something that needs to be adjusted so that Hindus in general can be educated intheir culture and the ways to practice it if they are going to be able to protect it and pass it along to the next generation. So this was another goodstep forward. Thereafter, I went to Delhi and stayed there for a few days, attending the Delhi Iskcon Rathayatra. This seemed to be a small event, with only a cartfor the Deities, and a few other trucks for prasada and book distribution, but it lasted for almost six hours in the evening and all the people of everyneighborhood they went through came out to participate enthusiastically. I was truly impressed at the participation and the cooperation amongst the devoteesto make this such a nice event. Then there was a big prasada feast at the end of the parade. It was quite a grand event, held on the same day as the Rathayatrain Puri. While in Delhi I was beginning to feel the need to return to America and begin working on finishing some of the books I had been working on. I had gottenthe travel information I needed from my experience in Kashmir and Ladakh, plus the new places I had visited, so that had been very successful and a trulyunique experience. I wanted to stay another two weeks in India, but because of the lack of flight availability, I had to accept a flight in a week's time.So I immediately went to Vrindavana to spend my last week in India on this trip there in the holy land of Krishna. Somehow, when I arrived in Vrindavana I felt a peace and tranquility I had not expected. I have been to Vrindavana many times, but this time I feltlike I had returned home, and there was no need to travel further. Just stay here and focus on the pastimes and devotion of the Supreme was enough. So,even though I was still dealing with the heat of India's summer season, I had a most pleasant stay there, seeing temples, especially Their Lordships ofSri Sri Radha-Syamasundara and Krishna-Balarama of the Iskcon temple, and also visiting a number of friends that I have there, including Mahanidhi Swamiat Radha-Kund, another prolific writer and publisher. So we always have lots to talk about. Plus, he has so many stories and deep realizations from thestudy and work that he does, he always provides nice association. So even though I wanted to stay in India a little longer, I felt all the needful had been accomplished. Besides, I always keep coming back. So withnew experiences, new realizations, more spiritual, with a deeper focus and determination, and with more projects to finish and others to start, I'm backin America with lots to do. So much to do, and not enough time. That's always been the pattern of my life. Nothing has changed in that way. But India alwayschanges me everytime I go. Sometimes you don't always notice it until you return and have time to reflect on your new realizations, new ideas, insights,etc. Then you begin to see how you are not the same. A trip to India never fails to have a positive affect on me. Hare Om and Hari bol, Stephen Knapp (Sri Nandanandana dasa)