Muktinath Yatra

Om Sri Sairam

Muktinath Yatra

(April 22^nd to 29^th, 2018)

Personal experience by Chitra Ilangovan

I am very happy to share my experience of Muktinath yatra, on 22^nd April 2018. We, the same group that went to Kailash and Amarnath yatra; my husband Ilangovan and I, along with Mr Sabanayagam and his wife Mrs Malathi; embarked on this holy yatra.

We arranged our programme through Samrat Travels with a package tour, as we had earlier enjoyed their services during our Kailash Manasarovar yatra. The package included accommodation with breakfast, lunch and dinner, tickets for sightseeing, to and fro flight tickets from Pokhara to Jomsom, Jomsom to Muktinath by sharing Jeep and a reserved private car for our entire tour.

22^nd April

Around 7 am we started our journey from our home and an hour later we reached Indira Gandhi International Airport, Delhi. Our Nepal Airways flight was scheduled at 10.30 am. After completing security and immigration, we boarded the flight, which took off on time. They served light breakfast on the plane. At 12.30 pm we landed at Tirubhuvan International airport in Kathmandu. Weather was very hot; there was a pick up by our travel agent and we reached hotel Marshyangdi, a comfortable three-star hotel in Thamel area, in half an hour. After lunch we rested for some time and at around 5.00 pm, our driver came to take us to the ancient Pashupathinath temple.

Because of the earthquake which shook the entire Nepal two years back the whole city of Kathmandu was undergoing re-development. Everywhere, road repairing and construction works were in progress. Because of these, we faced heavy traffic and dust pollution. Most of the pedestrians and cyclists had a cloth mask covering their mouth and nose.
We somehow felt that the vibrations we experienced on our previous visit were not there. There was less lighting around the temple, even the sanctum sanctorum was not well lit. We thought that after sunset they may switch on more lights, but even after 8 pm there was no sign of lighting. We were very much disappointed because out of four Dwars only one was opened for Darshan, through which all devotees had their Darshan. Even our driver could not understand why they closed other three Dwars, which were not opened even at Arthi time.
There was also some construction work going on ahead of the Indian Prime Minister’s visit to Nepal and his darshan of Pashupatinath and Muktinath was on the schedule.

23^rd April

At around 8 am, after breakfast, our driver took us for local sightseeing. Our first visit was Dakshin Kali temple. The temple is 22 km outside of city. One can virtually see the damaged roads caused by the earthquake all over the route and very much in need of immediate repair. It took more than two hours to reach the temple.

Dakshin Kali Temple

The temple is situated in deep woods surrounded by tall mountains. The atmosphere is very peaceful; spectacular views of mountains and greens make you feel rejuvenated. In Nepal, the custom of sacrificing animals is still in practice. We strongly felt that this ritual should be banned and this was the general view of most of the visiting devotees.

After offerings we went to Swambhunath Buddha temple and Jal Narayan temple. The day was very hot; we were all exhausted and decided to return to our hotel. The weather in the evening was much better. We went to nearby market to purchase mementos for our friends and relatives.

24^th April

Today’s programme was to go to Manokamana Temple and then proceed to Pokhara. After breakfast at around 7 am we started our third day’s journey. Road permit is necessary for the tourists; our tour manager arranged the permit beforehand.

Manokamana Temple – under construction and in the front is make shift shrine

The day was very hot, and we had to cover 140 km. It took us nearly 4 hours to reach the temple. There is a cable car that runs between Chitwan and Gorkha hills. There was heavy rush for the cable car, and it took another hour’s wait under the hot sun. The distance between the two points is 2.8 km and it takes nearly 10 minutes to cross the hills.

The famous temple is also severely damaged by the earthquake; one can see the damage clearly. The restoration work is going on in full swing. The central deity has been moved out of the temple and they have made a temporary shrine on the left side of the main temple for worshiping. Because of the construction work the whole area was very messy.

Tuesdays and Saturdays are auspicious days for sacrifice; as a result we waited for three hours in the queue to get our chance for darshan. (better to avoid visit on these days) After offering “mangalavastu” to the goddesses, which we had brought from Delhi, we returned to the base hill around 4 pm. After lunch in a restaurant, we proceeded to Pokhara and reached Hotel Land Mark at 8.30 pm.

A three star comfortable hotel and their room services were also good. After dinner, we packed few things for our next day’s Jomsom and Muktinath temple trip and deposited our luggage in the hotel’s cloak room.

25^th April

All of us were ready by 4.30 am and had our morning tea in the dining room. Thanks to receptionist who arranged for packed breakfast to carry with us. At 5 am our driver dropped us at the Pokhra airport, which is a 15 minutes’ drive from the hotel.

For this trip one should book the flight in advance; even then it is possible that your booking may get cancelled at the last moment. Sometimes because of bad weather, you may have to stay over until the weather gets cleared and the flights resume. Buses and private vehicles are also running in between Pokhara and Jomsom and will take 8 to 10 hours. We strongly recommend to avoid taking a bus especially for the elderly devotees, because of the bad roads and to travel such a long distance one will get altitude sickness.

Ours was Nepal airlines, but there is one more private airline Tara, which also operates shuttle services to Jomsom. When we reached the airport there was already a huge crowd waiting at the airport. Our boarding passes were issued for the 6 am flight which was the first one to fly. These are 20 seated small aircrafts with one air hostess. It took nearly 15 minutes to fly at the distance of 160 km. Photography is allowed while flying.

At sharp 6 am our flight took off from Pokhara airport. It was wonderful, breath-taking, awesome, mesmerizing…words are not enough to express our feelings. The morning sun was shining upon the snow-capped mountains, which looked like pure golden sheets wrapped all around her body. On the way we could also see the sacred mountain of Machapuchare, the fish tail like mountain which the Nepalese revere as sacred as mount Kailash.

At 6.30 am we reached Jomsom airport at the height of 2,736 meters near Kali Gandaki River. The flight services are available between 6 am to 11 am only. After that the strong southerly wind makes flying impossible. If the climate is favorable then they may fly at least 6 times to and fro in a day.

Jomsom is a beautiful small village, lies in between Annapurna and Dhaulagiri mountains. Gandaki River runs at a distance of only a kilometer. Our stay at Hotel Majesty was ok (but there is no heater or geyser available in the room). Hotels and guest houses are the main business in this village, so rooms will be available at any time. Other than the Muktinath pilgrims, many Europeans are also visit for trekking on the Annapurna hills. Muktinath is situated at a height of 3800 meters, nearly 1000 meters higher than Jomsom.

After breakfast we were ready to go to Muktinath temple. Our tour package included sharing based private jeep, charging 300 INR per head. Considering our age and the poor services of these sharing jeeps the hotel owner recommended us to take a private Sumo which costs INR 4500 to and fro. At first we thought that he was forcing us to take his vehicle. We realized later that he was right, when we saw the rough terrain ahead. He also offered that while returning from Muktinath, the driver will help us to collect Salagramams from the Gandaki River.

Jomsom to Muktinath - Terrain Road

The distance from Jomsom to Muktinath is 16 km. Up to Kagbeni the road was in very poorcondition. We had to travel on the narrow path laid along with Gandaki river bed. After Kagbeni they have made new tar road which made our journey comfortable. It took nearly 2 hours to reach Muktinath base hill. From there one has to climb up around 1 ½ km either by foot or horse ride. We opted for the horses, not because we were tired; but it is our principle that wherever we go for pilgrimage, we do try to help the local people in their livelihood. He demanded 300 INR for one way and it took hardly 10 minutes to reach.

Do not fix the horses for the ride up and down, because after dropping you at the temple, they would never wait to take you back instead they offer any other returning pilgrims and vanish. You will get many horses to return to base hill otherwise one can walk easily to climb down.

Muktinath is a very small temple surrounded by snow covered Annapurna and dry Dhaulagiri mountains. Devotees are asked to carry dry fruits, chocolates, energy drink etc. because there are no kiosks or tea shops around the temple complex. However, there are many small restaurants available downhill for refreshments.

The temperature was 15 degree Celsius; sunny, no clouds or wind. There were nearly 500 devotees already standing in the queue. Even though the weather was good, we decided not to bathe, instead sprinkle water on our head. Water was so cold that even sprinkling the ice cold water, our fingers began to freeze. While sprinkling water on our head, we remembered all our relatives and deceased elders mentioning their names and sprinkle water on their behalf. We waited for an hour in the queue to enter the sanctum sanctorum. We had no other work or rush to go anywhere; standing leisurely on the sacred hill we felt our wish has been fulfilled.

The temple is considered one of the 108 Divya Desams. The temple complex is very small but well maintained. In front of the temple there are two tanks in which devotees first bathe. Few steps away there are 108 cow faced Dharas or shower spouts through which the sacred Gandaki water flows. It is believed that these are the 108 sacred Pushkarani thirtham from the Vaishnavas Divya Desams. Devotees walk under these showers to have holy bath. These spouts are manmade in which through the Gandaki River water is running.

The temple has a very small three tier pagoda shape structure. Inside this small shrine the main deity Muktinath is in sitting posture with His consorts Sri Devi and Bhoo Devi standing on either side. The charming Muktinath is a large brass idol with a lovely enchanting smile and looks like He is listening to His devotee’s prayers. Adisesha and Garudeshwar along with Salagramams are also worshipped. Near the Devi idol there is a small Buddha statue also in meditating pose. Muktinath is a holy place for both Hindus and Buddhists, even the priestess is a Buddhist nun who is rendering her services to both the religions.

We had brought offerings like vastram, mangalavastu, dry fruits etc. from Delhi for offering to the Lord. The priestess accepted our offerings and gave us some prasadam from the shrine in return. The crowd was still there, so we sat for some time in front of the temple.

Behind the Muktinath temple there is a Buddha temple a few meters up hill. The same nuns perform poojas up there also.

There is a Shiva temple on the left side of the main entrance. This temple is also in a three tier pagoda shape structure and on its four corners encircled by four small shrines i.e. Lord Vishnu is in the left, behind is Lord Rama, on the right is Lord Krishna and in front is the shrine of Ganesha. Nandi is also sitting in front of the Shiva shrine. Vaishnavas considered only Muktinath as their most important place of worship hence there was less crowd in this shrine. There was no priest or any other offerings were seen.

Shakti Peetam

Shakti Peetam in Muktinath is one of the 51 Shakti Temples. Here Shakti’s forehead is believed to have fallen. The temple is situated inside the Tibetan Gompa. The poojas in this temple are also being done by the priestess. On our request, she described the importance of the temple; the shrine is built above an underground stream and a small natural jet of gas is feeding continuously burning flames on top of the water. The holy flame alongside a water body is said to be the combination of 5 elements. The flame is blue in color, which looks like our Jwalamukhi in Himachal Pradesh.

It was time to go back to Jomsom, but our souls were totally absorbed by the vibrations and longing for stay more. Finally at around 1 pm we engaged horses to return back to base hill where we had left our vehicle. On the way downhill we purchased salagramams from the road side vendors. Our driver also stopped somewhere near Kagbeni to take photos. Further downhill he stopped in the middle of the Gandaki River bed to collect Salagramams. The wind was very strong even our parked vehicle was shaking. We spent nearly an hour to collect Salagramas but out of a hand full of Salagramams none was original, so he threw out all the stones and he himself searched far and wide to select the original ones. Fortunately he got few precious Salagramams and we were very lucky to have one for us. Since the original salagramams from Gandaki River is considered as auspicious and represents Lord Vishnu Himself, we felt very happy that we were taking the Lord to our homes.

It is said that salagramams should be obtained from staunch devotees who worship the stones, instead buying from market. Even broken salagramams also have the same power because of the marks which is formed by the nature.

We reached our hotel at 3.30 pm and had our lunch and took rest for some time. In the evening we went for a walk up to the Gandaki River but strong wind disrupted our leisurely walking and midway we returned to hotel. The night temperature was 2 degree Celsius but though the rooms did not have a heater, there were enough woolen blankets to warm ourselves. For dinner we were served south Indian meals like Rasam, Sambar etc. which we relished a lot.

26^th March

The local villagers get ready to begin their life even before the day’s first light brightens up the village. The Dhaulagiri’s view from our room was spectacular. Weather was good, no wind but a chill in the air. There was no geyser in the bathroom, so we skipped our bath and waited for the morning tea. There was some confusion on our return ticket, which was not confirmed by the agent well in advance. We were not sure whether our tickets would be confirmed on that day or not and if not then what should be done for our return journey. In the mean time we packed our things and decided to try to approach the airlines by ourselves. When we came down 7.30 am to the dining hall for breakfast, the owner of the hotel informed us that the travel agent had realized their mistake and were very sorry for our inconvenience. He also told us that the agent was also trying to get tickets from any one of the flights. An hour later the owner received a message our tickets were confirmed by the Nepal airlines which was scheduled at 9 am.

Other than this small inconvenience, the journey to Muktinath was our dream comes true, like our life’s achievement. In the year 2011 we completed Parikrama successfully around the Mount Kailash, visited Gaumukh in 2016 and last year we undertook the Amarnath Yatra. It was our last wish to complete this major pilgrimage. Thanks to God, without His grace we could not have achieved this on our own. To read more on our previous experiences please visit my site: journeytogodsabode.blogspot.com

Pokhara - Phewa Lake – cloudy day

At 9.30 am we landed at Pokhara airport where our driver was waiting to receive us. After freshening up, we went for local sightseeing. We visited the Gupt Mahadev Temple, Devil Falls, Bindhyabasini Temple and Bhadra Kali Temple. Then we did some shopping for souvenirs and at around 2 pm returned to our hotel for Lunch. In the evening we went to the famous Phewa Lake, which was just a few meters away from our hotel. But a sudden rain upset our leisurely time passing and forced us to return to our rooms. After dinner we packed our things for our next day’s journey to Lumbini.

27^th March

Today we had to cover a long distance of 170 km to Lumbini. We were all ready by 4.30 am. The receptionist arranged for our morning tea and packed some Parathas and curd for breakfast. At 5 am we left Pokhara. In the beginning, the journey was quite comfortable. At around 7 am, we halted at a road side restaurant for half an hour to have our breakfast. From here, the drive became tougher because of the rain and heavy traffic in the winding roads. Even our driver got tired of the traffic. Finally at 2 pm we reached hotel Ashoka in Lumbini. The day temperature was very hot like Kathmandu. Immediately after lunch at the hotel, we drove to the birth place of Buddha, which is 20 km from the hotel and it took 45 minutes to reach.

Here in this holy site, apart from Mayadevi Temple, there are many other monasteries well maintained by various Buddhist countries and Nepal government monuments are worth visiting. Private vehicles are not allowed to go inside the site but e-rickshaws ply at fixed rate. We hired a rickshaw and visited many monasteries built and maintained by countries like Thailand, Indonesia, Korea, Japan etc for 3 hours. Each monastery’s architecture is depicts the culture and feature of their country. After visiting 5 monasteries finally we went to Mayadevi temple which is the main temple.

Lumbini is a holy place for Buddhists as Vrindavan is for us Hindus. It is the place where Queen Mayadevi gave birth to Gauthama in the 6^thcentury. The tradition says that when Queen Mayadevi became pregnant she left her husband’s palace for her father’s kingdom to give birth. On her way to her father’s house she halted for sometime in a garden under a Sal tree near Lumbini. Here she went into labour pain and bathed in a small pond which was in front of this Sal tree and gave birth to her son. She died seven days after his birth and the baby was brought up by the younger sister Gauthami who was also the second wife of the king.

Akhanda Jyoti

At the main entrance there is an Akhanda Jyoti welcoming all the devotees. From here we had to walk nearly 2 km on the well maintained path. After entrance fees and security we entered the complex. The central white building is the main place of worship called Mayadevi Temple. In front of this temple is the holy pond Pushkarini where Mayadevi bathed, and the Sal tree where she took rest, which are worshipped by the devotees. The holy place has many ruins of ancient monasteries, ancient monuments, and the Ashoka pillar surrounded by a well maintained garden. Inside the Mayadevi temple there is also a ruin. One has to walk on the covered foot path made of wooden planks to protect the underneath structure, which was believed to have been built by the Maurya Empire.

Many pilgrims were arriving from various Buddhist countries for the forth coming Buddha Poornima festival (30^th April). Around the garden everywhere the ardent devotees performed chanting and were conducting discourses in groups. We also sat under the Sal tree and meditated for some time. The atmosphere was very peaceful and serene but because of our time limit of 7 pm we returned to our hotel.

28^th April

Today we planned to visit Valmiki Ashram in Devghat where Sita had stayed during her Vanavasa and where gave birth to her twin sons. We started our journey at 5 am without waiting for our morning tea. The morning drive was good. When we crossed the city and entered the woods the rain disrupted our speed. 2 hours later, though we reached Devghat area, we could not locate the ashram or even spot a sign board. Because of the heavy rains the roads were flooded with water and it became difficult to search further.

Leaving the main highway we entered into a big gate which indicates the name of Valmiki ashram. We passed through the path leading to the deep woods and finally stopped in front of the Valmiki ashram. But to our dismay we realized that though this one bore the same name, it was not the original. After enquiring around, we learned that we had missed the road which actually goes through the Valmiki ashram near Trishuli River.

The ashram inmate asked us to have a darshan of the Narayani River which is flowing near the ashram. Near this ashram there is a Hanuman temple and a big shrine for Ramanujar. We went to the river side to sprinkle holy water on our heads. There, at the river side we saw many devotees performing some rituals and asked our driver for the reason. He told us that this holy place is the confluence of the rivers Narayani and Trishuli and they are doing shrartham to their deceased elders. On hearing this we also performed the rites for our departed parents. We discussed among ourselves that we were destined to visit this place for some reason, and we were happy that we performed shrartham on this same holy river where Gajendra got moksha. Here at this confluence of these two Rivers we can see the beauty of Narayani in muddy color and the Trishuli in pure. Merging at this point the Trishuli lost its origin and become muddy.

Return journey to Kathmandu was a tougher one. We got stuck in the heavy traffic and our return to the Kathmandu was delayed further by two hours. We reached our hotel at 3 pm. We ate nothing the whole day because of the rain and we were also unwilling to eat at the road side dhabas. After lunch at our hotel we took rest for some time and in the evening we did some more shopping for our family members. Today was the last day of our Muktinath tour.

29^th April

Our flight Nepal Airlines to Delhi was scheduled at 6.30 am. We reached airport well in advance because our driver got an assignment from another tourist group and before going to pick them up he dropped us at 5 am. It was 5.30 am and the airport was not yet opened for the public. Rain was still pouring which made all the passengers to crowd in the small corridor. The airport doors were finally opened at 6.00 am. Ours was the first flight to fly out. Finally, after security and immigration we boarded the flight which took off at 6.30 am sharply. On the way in mid air the pilot announced that we were flying at the height of 35,000 ft and can see the Mt Everest and Annapurna range on our right side. The sky was clear and we were able to see the heavenly Himalayas and its wonderful beauty. We reached Delhi airport at 8 am where my daughter came to receive us at the airport.

Thank you Swami

AVAN ARULAALE AVEN THAAL THOZHUTHU VANTHOM