Don't wanna be here? Send us removal request.
Statistics
We looked inside some of the posts by bhavnasblog-blog and here's what we found interesting.
Average Info
Notes Per Post
1
Likes Per Post
1
Reblog Per Post
0
Reply Per Post
0
Time Between Posts
4 days
Number of Posts By Type
Text
5
Last Seen Tumblr Blogs
Fun Fact
Tumblr was created by web developers David Karp and Marco Arment.
Text
Mahakaal Bhasm Aarti
One of its kind aarti
A must witness if you are in Ujjain
0 notes
Text
Save Kashi
Destruction is part of evolution. A phenomena that describes Shiv itself.
Man made destruction does not qualify as an act of God.
You may hear a few banarasis tell you that everything in kashi happens with the will of Mahadev, but that is just a cover for them not having the courage to stand up to fight for their dharm.
Everything in the world, to a believer happens with the will of God, but you wouldn't go around justifying rape and murders based on that logic.
Similarly, the destruction of hundreds of ancient temples in kashi is not the will of Mahadev.
If you believe that, then you should also believe that aurangzeb destroying temples was His will too.
What happened way back in the 17 th century, still troubles you. But what happened just last year, doesn't. Why this doglapan??
So the kashi corridor project is everything that the government is not telling you.
Kashi had the privilege of being the oldest city and it stood apart because of its unique culture of gullies which prohibited entry of huge vehicles.
Treading on foot, with a shivling every 20 steps, temples that had their own history, their own story.. if the temple walls could speak, they would narrate stories of eras.
But all that is in the past now.
Not only people have lost their ancestral homes, devotees have lost ancient temples.
Kashi Vishwanath is the most revered temple, but in Kashi every other temple is equally important. Something a non believer cannot fathom.
It is amusing how some foreigners completely get the concept of Kashi, but most locals don't.
There are exceptions but few and far. A young lad who is all of 24 years and is still fighting for his ancestral house, is under constant threat by the authorities.
The last he was spoken to, he said he would immolate himself but would not sell the house he was born in.
Houses can be rebuild and people can be relocated, but in the process we've lost a part of our culture that can never be recreated.
Every single soul living in Varanasi knows the truth. Those who try to cover it up, are either too ashamed of what has happened or not as religious as you would assume they would be having been born in the religious capital of the country.
The most respected family of pakkamahal who used to get students and visitors from across the world, with its oldest living member aged 82 years had been thrown out of his house and 42 idols have been taken away by the authorities.
It is one thing to demolish structures, but to destroy shivlings and other idiols which people have worshipped for centuries, it outright cold blooded.
To all the sanatanis reading this, dont let it be another 400 years before you wake up to the destruction of Kashi.
The temples existed there because Baba wanted all his gunas to be around him. Now that they aren't allowed there, that day ain't far when Baba too will cease to exist in Kashi.
0 notes
Text
Kedarnath Trek
My first proper introduction to Kedarnath was post the tragedy that struck it in 2013.
I was roped in by Wizcraft and Entertainment Production House to do a live charity show for Star Plus to collect funds to help for relief and rescue.
From learning about Kedarnath to having the privilege of inviting the first man who flew the helicopter to give an overview of the extent of damage caused to being in constant touch with NIMS until they built the new trek route – Kedarnath became a part of me!
It was finally in 2017 that I finally decided to embark on the journey myself.
Mumbai to Dehradun by flight and then a hired car to take us to Sonprayag – the base of the trek, was a simple plan.
The drive from the airport with the usual traffic jam at Rishikesh was pleasant until the sun set.
Before that the driver had taken the route into Badrinath and only after an hour of driving on the road did we realize that we were on the wrong route.
Treading back to the point where we had to take a right, we saw quite a few landslides and rescue operations at work simultaneously.
The night drive into Sonprayag was anything but pleasant.
The roads were bad because in the month of July, the monsoon had set in and the nightfall wasn’t helping much.
The saving grace was the hotel which happened to be one of the best in the small town.
Except of course for flies!
The deluxe room had a lovely balcony but one couldn’t open the door, because that would be an invitation to hundreds of flies, which would then not leave the room.
The next morning we took the hotel car and went to the market wherein there is the government office which makes your biometric pass, mandatory if you are traveling to Kedarnath.
The small little office had no electricity for a half hour. But once the power came on, it didn’t take even 30 seconds to get the biometric pass made.
Not really knowing how the 18 kilometers would be, the next morning, we tried our best of calling all the helicopter carriers asking them if they had seats available. We were out of luck.
Trekking was the only option and a little reluctant at first, we decided to go for it.
The hotel car dropped us at the same spot like the day before where we were pounced upon by guides.
The first one sounded reasonable and decent enough and we agreed to go with him. Little did we know that he was only an agent and would hand us over to others.
From Sonprayag the walk of about a kilometer and a half with a running stream on the right are the first steps towards heaven.
With excess shooting luggage on our backs, it would be a difficult trek but we were by now raring to go.
A shared car from there takes you the next 5 kilometers to Gaurikund.
For a mere 20 rupees per passenger, we were at the Gaurikund parking lot in less than ten minutes.
Before we could alight from the car, rain was greeting us.
Thankfully having read a lot about the place, we were ready with our ponchos. No, not raincoats! Ponchos. Which are more ideal for mountain trekking and when you have luggage on your back.
The flight of stairs from Gaurikund were heavy and the rain stalled us for almost an hour.
Sitting at a local chai stall, I started chatting up the locals asking them their personal experiences of the 2013 tragedy.
They all had stories to tell of loss, of faith, and most importantly of things returning to normalcy.
Within no time, our guide who had earlier been racing up and down because he couldn’t manage to find boys, and had gotten into an ugly squabble, finally appeared with two teenagers who were supposed to accompany us the rest of the way.
The guide’s job was done and he put us on our mules and wished us luck.
I remember literally crying as it had been years that I had ridden a horse. A luxury which I had experienced growing up because back in the day, Juhu beach was allowed to have horses and camels.
This terrain was difficult and the mule wasn’t a huge, sturdy one. Unlike a horse!
There was no turning back now. The only way was the way forward.
Chanting Om Namah Shivay, I went from screaming everytime the mule climbed a step to enjoying the scenery around in no time.
The first stop was Bhimbali where we alighted the mule after almost an hour.
The mule had sips of water and we had some light snacks before setting on the journey once again.
I remember looking at the road signs and thinking to myself, we are never going to make it to the top.
You never really get used to the motion of the mule because the trek route is not a steady one. At times there is a climb, or a downhill or steps, it is like being on a roller coaster for hours on end.
The most important tip of the day was to pack light and carry only bare minimum essentials, but we were stuck with carrying all our shoot equipment and that loaded on our backs was making each step difficult.
It would even maybe easier to walk all the way if you are not carrying too much luggage.
I have to admit that looking at much older men and women who were walking it up slowly and steadily, it did put me to shame more than once during the entire journey.
NIM has done a wonderful job of building sheds to protect people from the random mountain rains and pit stops for mules to feed and drink and also places to sit.
On the way the guide pointed to Rambara which used to be an entire village enroute to Kedarnath which was washed away in the 2013 flashfloods and the site was scary.
No remnants of the place now were visible.
A little after Lancholi, the second pit stop, where some people halt the night before trekking the next day to Kedarnath, comes a point where the path is covered with snow and it is very likely for even the mule to slip and fall.
We decided to get off the mule just before that point and walk it from there on for a bit.
The wet ponchos and the cold breeze were making it difficult to walk on the upwards slope and we found ourselves stopping after every 15 to 20 steps.
After about an hour of walking, we found our mules and our guides lazing and decided to hop back on.
There are several places on the trek route, where there are no railings and one is constantly under the fear of the mule going astray and jumping into the valley.
I must’ve given my mule a scare a couple of times with all the screaming.
Having started at 10 am on the mule from Gaurikund about 3:30 in the afternoon was when we finally reached the point till where the mules are allowed.
It was a 2 kilometer walk even past this point.
We were lucky to have been approached by Ganesh whose job was to hunt for guests to rent out rooms to.
He offered to carry our luggage as we slowly made our way to the top.
This is the toughest part of the trek because after 5 to 6 hours on a muleback, every part of your body is literally aching and with not adequate oxygen at that high above the sea level, it is a task to walk for 2 kms.
But the first moment you lay your eyes on the Kedarnath temple with its magnificient backdrop, every pain, every ache, every difficulty is forgotten in an instant.
Trekking to Kedarnath once in your lifetime is highly recommended.
More about tips in the next blog.
To watch the trek video, click here
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IUwTsyAH6RA
1 note
·
View note