Call of the Goddess.

Call of the Goddess
Jai Maata Dee

I am writing this because I have realised that it is the divine power which arranges to fulfill your desires when the right time comes. There is no doubt about it. The way I am being pulled to visit all the divine, beautiful Holy Places demonstrates it. This has started happening after I recovered from the fatal accident I met with in July 1993.

Since 1998 arrangements are being made by the Almighty for my visits to the Holy Shrines in temples, Gurudwaras, Churches & Mosques all over the country. From 1998 to 2003 I was made. Research Council member of CECRI Karai Kudi. During my several trips to KaraiKudi I could take Darshan in all the famous or not commonly known deities in various Temples, Churches & Dargas. Pilgrimages to Amarnath, Kailas-Mansarovar, Muktinath were planned for me. In spite of difficult & risky situations, pilgrimages to Hemkund Sahib, Patthar Sahib (Ladakh) Yamunotri, Gangotri, Kedarnath, Badrinath, Bhavishya Badari could be successfully completed only because of some divine arrangements from the head quarters. Several other very famous pilgrimages were planned for me by the almighty in a very easy & comfortable fashion. I went near the foothills of Vaishnodevi in the past but the time for Darshan had not come then. A comfortable Darshan was arranged in Oct. 06, when Yogesh invited us to Mendher. So far so good.

I always thanked the almighty for planning all my pilgrimages. It was never only planning, but a comfortable, crowdless Darshan was always included in the package. I will tell you the height of it now. I had heard about Jwaladevi a few years back & thought about a trip there. When we went to Vaishnodevi I gathered all the information about the place but the next vacation was no where in sight. We came back to Bombay on 18th Oct. & I got an invitation to present a paper in Chandigarh on corrosion in Chemical Industry. The invitation was no doubt prestigious but I knew it’s a call from Jwaladevi. The connections must have been made when we went to Vaishnodevi.

I reached Chandigarh on 13th Nov. By the time I checked in the hotel it was 5 pm & the evening was free. I booked a car & went to Mansadevi which is hardly 5 km. from Chandigarh in Manimajra town. A Rajput landlord owned this place during Akbars time. Akbar had imprisoned the landlords who were not paying taxes. By the grace of the Goddess the landlord won the case against Akbar & he prospered afterwards. He built a temple of Mansadevi on a nice hill. The site is very beautiful & the area is being developed further. Big fairs are organized during Navratri & the place is very crowed then. People have a strong faith that Mansadevi fulfills the desires of the devotees.

The presentation on 14th was excellent & was highly appreciated. The next day was free. I rented a car & started for Jwaladevi at 6.30 am. Jwaladevi or Jwalamukhi is about 215 km. from Chandigarh. As the mythology goes there are total 51 Shakti peeths of the Aadi Shakti. Out of these 9 are more famous & in them Vaishnodevi is taken as a major one. Amongst the reaming eight are Jwaladevi, Chintapurni, Vajreshwari, Mansadevi, Nainadevi, Chamunda devi, Shakumbhari devi & Kalikadevi. Chandigarh happens to be a access for many of them & I was invited right there.

After starting the journey we reached Sau Lakhiyan Gurudwara first. Gurudaras are always a pleasant site. We had a cup of tea & Prasad in the Langer which goes on for the 24hrs.of the day. We reached Jwalamukhi by 11.30 am because of the fairly good roads. It’s a small climb upto the temple. The temple was closed for Arti when we reached. So I scanned the entire area which I had become conversant because of a informative book with maps. There are two places to be visited on different hills. Both the hills are a good climb again. One is Lal Shivalaya which is a very ancient temple & the other is Bhairav temple. Both are beautiful. Actually wherever Adi Shakti appeared Lord Shiva made his abode in one form or the other. There is a very very ancient cave which pandavas used during their exile. Lord Shiva is supposed to have meditated here. I always feel divine while entering such places & worshiping the lord. I was fortunate to get a chance to sit in the cave all by myself & say my routine prayers.

By the time we came back to Jwalaji there was a big queue. It took us 15 minutes to enter the temple. The temple is made afterwards, otherwise its solid rock all over. In about 9 places in the solid rock, there are blue flames coming out which are like cooking gas. ONGC & others have tried to trace the source of it to hunt for a big natural gas reserve but so far there is no clue. I am not going into the details but as per the mythology Sati ( Shiva’s wife) appeared in different forms in the shakti peeths. Akbar wanted to stop the pilgrimage of Dhyanu Bhakt to Jwaladevi. He challenged the powers of the Goddess & flooded the flames with water first & then covered them with steel. The flames pierced both water & steel & appeared again. On hearing this Akbar repended on his deeds. He went on foot to Jwaladevi & affered a 50 kg solid gold chatra to the Goddess. It was not accepted by the Goddess & it turned out into a metal like brass. It is still kept there & you can see it. Akbar then begged the Goddess & prayed her to forgive him. This is all written in his Bakhar.

Anyway I had a good Darshan with the Crowd. We then had some food in the Langar & came back to the temple. There was nobody in the queue. I went inside again. I was alone in the temple & observed the flames & the rock for good 15 minutes. That is when I think I am fortunate for good Darshan & am blessed for more time with the deity.

The next place to be visited was Chintapurni Devi which is about 1 hr. drive from Jwaladevi. After reaching there, it is a good climb upto the temple. There was no rush in the afternoon. The Goddess gave Darshan to Mayidass in his dreams in the form of a divine girl & asked him to built a temple near a tree underwhich she was resting as a pindi. The Goddess made all arrangements for his food, water & shelter to complete the temple. The present temple is right there & that is why the Goddess is called Chintapurni.

About 10 km. from here in the deep mountains there is a stream of water, the source of which is unknown. This is called as Dhauli Dhara. It is supposed to have originated from the feet of the Gooddess. Baba Vadbhag Singh in search of water, found this. He meditated here. Now there is a Gurudwara here known as Dera Sahib. People take a bath in the water & then go to the Gurudwara. We reached there in the evening & it was pretty cold. I did not take a complete bath due to cold but did a bath like thing. Only myself & the driver were there in that place which is designed to handle a big crowd. The Gurudwara is nicely built & lot of construction work is going on. In the near future Dera Sahib is going to be a very beautiful & famous place.

We started from Dera Sahib by evening for Naina devi which is a small diversion from highway to Chandigarh. The small diversion turned out to be a good distance & we reached the base after a long ride in the mountains. For the first time since I came to Chandigarh, my winterjacket had to come out at Naina devi. It was very windy & chilly. It became more & more windy as we gained height in the steep climb. There are about 700 very steep steps & the climb is quite tring. There was nobody in the temple & I could do Arti by sitting inside for good 15 minutes. A milkman named Naina used to bring his cattle here. One of his cows used to do milk abhishek at one place everyday. Naina was given Darshan by the Goddess in the form of a pindi where the cow was milking. Naina found the pindi there & built a temple which has now become popular as Nainadevi. The place is extraordinarily beautiful. In the evening the mountain with the lights on, looks like a gold ornament with glittering diamonds all around & in between. While descending I stopped at few places & stored everything into my eyes.

By the time we reached Anandpur Sahib, it was almost 10 in the night. It is about 70 km from Chandigarh. Anandpur Sahib is one of the biggest Gurudwaras I have ever seen. You can feel the richness everywhere. Initially it was a fort constructed by Guru Gobind Singh. He stayed there for about 16 years. His birth place is nearby & he was blessed by Kalimata. Now the fort is converted into a fabulous Gurudwara. Mattha Tek kar we had some food in the langar & we started our journey back. Doing revision of the whole days activities I reached the hotel by 12.30 & called it a day.

I knew I could not visit two shakti peeths namely Chamunda devi & Vajreshwari in the same region. These places are total eight hours diversion from Jwaladevi & I had no time. Which means I am still on call & Maata Ka Bulawa Anepar I will have to go back.





Jai Maata Dee