The Prayer: On Visiting Sankaracharya Temple At Srinagar, Kashmir

(The Temple)

It was first week of in June 1999. I along with my whole family was in Srinagar. After unexpectedly stretched journey of twenty-four hours, from Jammu to Srinagar, we were tired. With a heavenly dream of seeing Kashmir next day we had fallen on our beds.

But the morning was not sweet. One dramatic news was dangerously dancing in the air: The War at Kargil front had started. Under the guise of terrorists attack, it was full-fledged war with Pakistan. We had lost ground in initial hours and our Jawans were splitting their sweat and blood on the Kargil Ice. Our lot of the tourists was the last, as looking to the situation no more tourists were to come.

The road from Jammu to Srinagar to Leh going through Kargil was packed with war supporting machineries. The military trucks with arms and food supplies, the motor-driven Bofors Guns, and unending line of trucks filled with Jawans jammed the roads. It was damn certain that the Indian Army would prevail over the attackers, but the air was so poisonous that it vibrated the news that there could be some air attack on the city of Srinagar, too.


We felt ourselves both fortunate and unfortunate. Unfortunate for seeing one more war with Pakistan; and we felt us fortunate for having a chance to see the war and its supporting machineries from such vicinity. It was the time we felt ourselves proud for our army and the Jawans, ready to undertake any action on the shortest notice.

Against all the information in opposite directions, we decided to live for four days there. The most beautiful was the one and only Dal Lake.



We lived for three days in a House Boat.



On next day the Srinagar was on the move. Four dead bodies of Pakistani soldiers had been taken into city. Pakistan had denied the ownership of the dead bodies. But the local people believed that there would be some military actions at Srinagar, too.

But nothing of that sort happened due to the secure wall of the Indian Army.

Forgetting everything that was in the air, on second day we, along with my seventy-five years old mother, went for Darshan of Lord Shiva on the Sankaracharya Hill. It is the highest place in Srinagar. The atmosphere around was charged with power, the war machinery was everywhere in the air. It was the war that neither of the countrymen wished.


While sitting in the temple courtyard, seeing the entire city of Srinagar below the eyes, these were the lines that roamed in my mental space. My feeling was that how the heaven of the earth, Kashmir is shattered by the terrorists and wars. These lines are in form of a prayer, a prayer to Lord Shiva.


(Photo: courtesy web)

A PRAYER TO LORD SHIVA

O Lord Shiva…
Clouds all over the hills
Howling of wolves in the distant caves
Blinding my senses to see the things clearer

O Lord Shiva what your third eyes sees
From the top of the hill
Streams tears in my driven out eyes

O Lord Shiva of Tandav Nritya
The court of yours whines
Ragas of death, sings music of melancholy

The trembling trees, shattered flower petals,
Moaning with a crying child
Wait for their feeble fall to come, chanting
O…m Namah Shivay, O…m Namah Shivay

O…m Namah Shivay

 

From Navaljee To Ms. Sriniketan

Kashmir is unique in several ways. It is part of the ancient civilization that had taken birth and pulsated on the banks of the seven rivers known as 'Saptsindhu', most of them originating from the Kashmir region of Himalayas.

Navaljee

 

From Navaljee To Ms. shanvy

No there is nothing to worry if you are to visit Srinagar.
The people of Kashmir know that the tourists are giving the maximum income to them.

While going from Jammu to Srinagar's, that too after visiting Mata Vaishno Devi by walking, was a challenging task. But the caravan of army jawans and their vehicles did not allow us to feel fatigue. They were pleasantly sitting on tanks, and trucks, and on the roofs of the vehicles, and that too in funny-looking manner to please the other travelers. It was an experience of life.

Navaljee

 

From Navaljee To ms. SupriyaDinesh

Do visit Kashmir once. The travel would be packed with excitement. The road journey from Jammu Tavi to Srinagar's takes seven to eight hours normally. We did it in more that twenty four hours. The army jawans frequently stopped all the normal traffic to enable their vehicles to pass by. And all other war machineries were such that I felt proud of our army. Above all, the jawans were greeting us, the pilgrims, with smiling faces and by waving their hands at us. That was an experience of life for my family.

Navaljee

 

From Navaljee to Ms. sundarusha

Pahelgam is the place from which one of the routes going to Amarnath Shrine starts. We have to go by foot from Chandanbadi, that is perhaps nine Km. from there. Our several films have used the beauties of Pahelgam for shooting. the scene given below is of Gulmerg, Pahelgam.



Navaljee

 

From Navaljee To Ms. good luck

You are heartily welcome to my blogspace.

Do visit Kashmir once. The travel would be packed with joy and excitement.

Navaljee