Haridwar - On the banks of Ganges
‘Madam, hurry up please’
‘Yes! I’m coming!’
I rushed out of the hotel room with Akhilesh and Neel in tow. As I clambered down the staircase, the punditji at the reception folded his hands in a Pranam and rose up to guide us to the location. He had been specially arranged by the Hotel to enable us a glimpse of Ganga Aarti. The veneration of the Ganges, more like a mother than just a river.
We hurried out of the hotel, which was situated at the banks of the great Ganga and paced across the embankment or the ghat . It was a five minute walk but the Aarti would start any moment. We had managed to reach Haridwar just in time to have a quick shower and rush for the Aarti. My heart was keeping tempo with punditji’s stride but the feet were falling short the pace. The kids easily marched with punditji. Not wanting to be delayed I started running across the walkway .On the way we started hearing the Aarti. ‘It’s only for 5-6 minutes’ Punditji was explaining. As we walked over the bridge the loudspeaker bellowed the Aarti .It was Anuradha Paudwal’s sweet voice. She was joined by thousands of devotees who sang in harmony to her chantings. As we sat on the foot steps of the bridge slowly the scene unfolded itself.
The Ganges was flowing rapidly between the two banks of the ghat. On one side was the clock tower opposite Har ki paudi or pairi, a familiar site , having seen so many of its pictorial representations before and on the other side were the temples of Ganga Mataji. The area is woven into promenades, river channels and bridges that create a pleasant riverfront ambience, with the major ghats and religious activity clustered around the Har-ki-Pairi temple. Metal chains are placed in the river to protect bathers from being swept away by swift currents.
It was dusk and the spectacular daily ceremony of Ganga Arati was being witnessed by thousands of people spawned onto both sides of the embankment. The priests were holding the huge brass oil lamps, which were tapering upwards in a spiral of seven storey. On every level, oil lamps were housed in a neat circular array. The lamps set alight and aglow, gave a feeling of a towering mountain of fire, petering out as it rose. The priests were waving the lamp in encirclement to the tune of the music, the conches and the gongs. What a site. There were 21 such aartis across the ghat and as the flames or deepshikhas swayed up and down, their reflection in the rapidly flowing waters of the Ganges created dancing flames on water. Coupled with the cool breeze , it was a melting point of heat and cold.
The atmosphere was laden rich in holiness and one felt so blessed to have been able to witness the sight. While the eyes were shut in reverence, the next moment they were opening to seep in the beautiful sight that lay in front. The mind and body struggle – whether to look inward or look outward. While you were amidst thousands of people, yet you were all alone merged with the divinity.
In minutes, the Aarti was concluded and the crowd dispersed. The punditji promised us that the next day we would be able to actually stand at the banks with oil lamps in hand and do the Gangarti ourselves. The very next day we were ushered into one of the temples lined up at the embankment. There was recital and chanting, the priest, performed the pooja and we followed though the rituals that finally culminated into the Aarti described above.
After the Aarti, the priest took a lamp that was placed on a bed of flowers in a small boat made out of leaves. All eco freindly material I noted. In fact there was no use of plastic bags either, anywhere in Haridwar, I had observed. He took us to the embankment once again and with the mighty Ganges as the witness recited some mantras. Now a new scene unfurled itself and the priest while reciting prayers took promises from us to feed the poor, the Brahmins and the cows. He also requested us to make a sankalpa of offering ghee for the lamps. It all sounded so very pious and divine. After all charity, service and holiness go hand in hand, we thought. At the end of it all we lay the leaf boats in the river and the lamps kept flowing with the river current far far away into anonymity.
With our hearts full, our spirits enlivened and our soul levitated we came back to the temple. The priest told us that the promises that we made on the banks translated to Rs. 12001/- .That was the shock of the day. All the positivity and elation just evaporates when you realize that all along, the priest was viewing us as a bakra for fleecing a good sum. As I reflect back I think the priests have been implanted there by the Almighty so that suddenly there is not an upsurge of thousands of souls seeking salvation. So the priests, by their devious ways of demanding a ransom, do the role of bringing us back to the material world with a bang or a thud. We settled for a sum that we had predefined in our mind but in the process we learnt a valuable lesson. When we live in a material world, like any other service, the pricing of this service should have been decided by us well in advance. After all it is said that administration cannot be run on emotions.
Yet on a positive note, the Ganga Aarti is one of the most structured charismatic presentations of the divinity by mankind, which gives an immense sense of fulfillment. Truly Haridwar – the gate of the Lord.
Anagha Hunnurkar
5th November 2011
‘Madam, hurry up please’
‘Yes! I’m coming!’
I rushed out of the hotel room with Akhilesh and Neel in tow. As I clambered down the staircase, the punditji at the reception folded his hands in a Pranam and rose up to guide us to the location. He had been specially arranged by the Hotel to enable us a glimpse of Ganga Aarti. The veneration of the Ganges, more like a mother than just a river.
We hurried out of the hotel, which was situated at the banks of the great Ganga and paced across the embankment or the ghat . It was a five minute walk but the Aarti would start any moment. We had managed to reach Haridwar just in time to have a quick shower and rush for the Aarti. My heart was keeping tempo with punditji’s stride but the feet were falling short the pace. The kids easily marched with punditji. Not wanting to be delayed I started running across the walkway .On the way we started hearing the Aarti. ‘It’s only for 5-6 minutes’ Punditji was explaining. As we walked over the bridge the loudspeaker bellowed the Aarti .It was Anuradha Paudwal’s sweet voice. She was joined by thousands of devotees who sang in harmony to her chantings. As we sat on the foot steps of the bridge slowly the scene unfolded itself.
The Ganges was flowing rapidly between the two banks of the ghat. On one side was the clock tower opposite Har ki paudi or pairi, a familiar site , having seen so many of its pictorial representations before and on the other side were the temples of Ganga Mataji. The area is woven into promenades, river channels and bridges that create a pleasant riverfront ambience, with the major ghats and religious activity clustered around the Har-ki-Pairi temple. Metal chains are placed in the river to protect bathers from being swept away by swift currents.
It was dusk and the spectacular daily ceremony of Ganga Arati was being witnessed by thousands of people spawned onto both sides of the embankment. The priests were holding the huge brass oil lamps, which were tapering upwards in a spiral of seven storey. On every level, oil lamps were housed in a neat circular array. The lamps set alight and aglow, gave a feeling of a towering mountain of fire, petering out as it rose. The priests were waving the lamp in encirclement to the tune of the music, the conches and the gongs. What a site. There were 21 such aartis across the ghat and as the flames or deepshikhas swayed up and down, their reflection in the rapidly flowing waters of the Ganges created dancing flames on water. Coupled with the cool breeze , it was a melting point of heat and cold.
The atmosphere was laden rich in holiness and one felt so blessed to have been able to witness the sight. While the eyes were shut in reverence, the next moment they were opening to seep in the beautiful sight that lay in front. The mind and body struggle – whether to look inward or look outward. While you were amidst thousands of people, yet you were all alone merged with the divinity.
In minutes, the Aarti was concluded and the crowd dispersed. The punditji promised us that the next day we would be able to actually stand at the banks with oil lamps in hand and do the Gangarti ourselves. The very next day we were ushered into one of the temples lined up at the embankment. There was recital and chanting, the priest, performed the pooja and we followed though the rituals that finally culminated into the Aarti described above.
After the Aarti, the priest took a lamp that was placed on a bed of flowers in a small boat made out of leaves. All eco freindly material I noted. In fact there was no use of plastic bags either, anywhere in Haridwar, I had observed. He took us to the embankment once again and with the mighty Ganges as the witness recited some mantras. Now a new scene unfurled itself and the priest while reciting prayers took promises from us to feed the poor, the Brahmins and the cows. He also requested us to make a sankalpa of offering ghee for the lamps. It all sounded so very pious and divine. After all charity, service and holiness go hand in hand, we thought. At the end of it all we lay the leaf boats in the river and the lamps kept flowing with the river current far far away into anonymity.
With our hearts full, our spirits enlivened and our soul levitated we came back to the temple. The priest told us that the promises that we made on the banks translated to Rs. 12001/- .That was the shock of the day. All the positivity and elation just evaporates when you realize that all along, the priest was viewing us as a bakra for fleecing a good sum. As I reflect back I think the priests have been implanted there by the Almighty so that suddenly there is not an upsurge of thousands of souls seeking salvation. So the priests, by their devious ways of demanding a ransom, do the role of bringing us back to the material world with a bang or a thud. We settled for a sum that we had predefined in our mind but in the process we learnt a valuable lesson. When we live in a material world, like any other service, the pricing of this service should have been decided by us well in advance. After all it is said that administration cannot be run on emotions.
Yet on a positive note, the Ganga Aarti is one of the most structured charismatic presentations of the divinity by mankind, which gives an immense sense of fulfillment. Truly Haridwar – the gate of the Lord.
Anagha Hunnurkar
5th November 2011
Hi Anagha.... good one and thanks for sharing. In order to appreciate panditji's fleecing of you guys, you need to once visit Lord Jagannath temple at Puri (Orissa). They will simply "abuse" you in pure Hindi if you do not hire them and pay them what they want.... Path to nirvana is not without perils....!!!!!
ReplyDeleteRegards
Abhay