Pilgrimage to holy places is a practice common to all religions. Followers of every religion look upon certain places specially sacred and they cherish the desire to visit those places at least once in their life. Jerusalem is sacred to both, the Jews and Christian. A devout Christians finds his love for Christ greatly deepened , as all incidents in the life of Christ come alive to him when he visits Jerusalem. Similarly Macca and Madina, two places where prophet Mohammed spent major part of his life, are sacred to Muslims. It has been laid down in the holy Koran that every Muslim must perform Haj-pilgrimage to Mecca and Madina atleast once in his life.
Buddhists from all over the world visit Gaya, Sarnath, Kushinagar and Lumbini. When a Buddhist goes to Gaya and looks at the sacred, peepal tree under which Siddharth Gautam attained bodhi i.e.enlightenment, hence he is called the Buddha –the enlightened one, his imagination is stirred up and thoughts soar above all wordly things and his aspirations are fixed on attaining Nirvana, the highest goal of a human life. His resolve is further strengthened when he visits Sarnath, near Varanasi, where the Buddha delivered his first sermon. Kushinagar when he preached last and gave up his ghost and Lumbini where he was born.
Hindus are credited to have a large number of holy places from the Himalayas (North) to the Kanyakumari(Southend) and Dwarka in Saurashtra (West) to Kamakhya in Assam and Puri in Orissa (East).
Rabindranath Tagore, the great poet underlining the difference of attitude between the Europeans and Indians has pointed out that a European locating a beautiful and picturesque place would immediately think of building a hotel there for the travelers, but Indians since the past ages have deified nature and declared such places as Tirthas- holy places of pilgrimage and utilized them as a perennial source of inspiration., bestowing peace and consolation to the worried souls..
At the southern end of India’s where the land merges with the vast Indian ocean, the Bay of Bengal and Arabian Sea, is a most fascinating and beautiful spot. It has been proclaimed a seat of eternal divine maiden Kanyakumari. Indians would have viewed the great Niagara fall differently than what it is today-just one fashionable a picnic spot. If such a beautiful place would have been located in India, magnificent temples would have been built there befitting the surroundings and a larger number of pilgrims and travelers would have thronged there than they do now. It has been laid down in the Hindu Shastras that all sins of a man are washed away by taking bath in the holy water of a tirath. The Mahabharata and Puranas get eloquest in the praise of pilgrimage to Tirthas. A pilgrimage to tirthas has been considered more virtuous than the performance of sacrifices. Probably it is due to the reason that performance of sacrifices became so elaborate, complicated and also costly rituals that only kings and very rich persons could afford it. Hinduism, as usual, never became out of tune with new situations and hence it quickly adapted itself to them and declared that pilgrimage to holy places could be performed by all classes of people, the rich and the poor, all castes, from the Brahmanas to the Shudras. The performance of pilgrimage causes destruction of sins and increases piety in the minds of the virtuous. Fruits of pilgrimage are available to all men irrespective of their castes or ashrama, Grihastha or Sanyasa.
1. Badarinarayana : Hindu Tirthas are scattered all over the subcontinent and they are equally sacred and holy. However, the largest network of Tirthas is found in the Himalayas and on the banks of Ganga. Temples of Badarinarayan and Kedarnath are located in Uttarakhand and Amarnath cave is in Jammu & Kashmir. The Himalayas are considered ‘Devabhumi’- the divine land and ‘Devatma’- the divinity ensouled and the Ganga is ‘Suranadi’. the divine river, Lord Shiva had choosen Kailash, the highest peak of the Himalayas, to be his abode. The grandeur and serenity of the Himalayas from the time immemorial have attracted many people of religious frame of mind to devote their time to spiritual culture. It had the ashramas of great rishis who practiced penances and attained siddhis and used them for the benefit of the world. Those ashramas course of time became Tirthas and even famous saints are said to have visited these places for spiritual practices.
The Ganga is a great and the holiest river of the Hindus. It receives its waters from the glaciers of the Central Himalayas and flows through the vast fertile and densely populated tract of North India. The general direction of the river is north-west to south-east and it falls in the Bay of Bengal after traversing a distance of about 2300 Km. The greater of its main head streams, the Alakananda originates from the Tibetan border in Uttarkashi district. The lesser one is called Bhagirathi which originates from the cave of Gangotri and join the Alakananda at Devaprayaga and takes the name of The Ganga. There are five holy confluences- Deva-prayaga, Nanda-Prayaga,Karna-prayaga,Rudra-prayaga and Vishnu Prayaga. It is said that at all these holy places Brahma, the god of creation had performed special sacrifices-hence they are called Prayaga.9The place of sacrifice)
Meandering through the Himalayas and carrying with it a large amount of minerals in its water which makes it quite safe for drinking and described holy, the Ganga reaches the plains of north India at Haridwar. The religious significance of the Ganga is greater than of any other river in the world. It is the Mother banks of Ganga have a special significance, the main among them being Haradwar, Prayag (Allahabad) and Kashi (Varanasi).
2. Haradawar, Prayag and Kashi ; It is at Haridwar that the Ganga leaves the mountain and reaches the great plains of North India, and Prayaga is the point where the Ganga and Yamuna join. Kashi is further down the river of these Kashi is situated on the high elevated bank of the river, on its left side. Because of its geographical location when the Ganga leaves Prayaga and touching theVindhya mountain where the famous Vindhyavasisni Durga Temple is situated, it moves on and dashes against the rocks at Chunar and slightly further down at Ramnagar where the fort of Raja of Banaras stands, the river takes a northern course and reaches below the elevated table-land of Varanasi the other name of Kashi which constitutes the lowest bed of the river and hence the Ganga does not move away from the city. This is the secret of the Hindu mythology that Ganga the consort of Lord Shiva ,the presiding deity of Kashi does not leave the Lord Varanasi the other name of Kashi has been a city of temples since time immemorial where pilgrims throng throughout the year in large numbers. Elsewhere the holiness of the Tirthas acquires special prominence at some point of the year and there are special festivals, notably Magh mela at Prayaga. But Kashi is considered holy round the year.
It is common belief among the Hindus that persons dying in Prayaga or Kashi particularly in Kashi attain salvation- freedom from the cycle of life and birth. Hence large number of Hindus retire to Kashi to breath instant their last on the banks of the Ganga . Starting from one end of the city to the other in the form a curve of about 5 Km. are stone built ghats, a passage of stairways descending to the river, a unique feature of special attraction. They are crowded by the people who take their morning bath in the river and assemble to listen to holy discourses in the evening . The city breathes with piety day and night and all seasons of the year.
3. Gaya : Another Hindu Tirtha is Gaya in Bihar. There are some verses in Mahabharata (Vana Parva) which are quoted in connection with the performance of a special Shraddha at Gaya. It is said, “one should desire for many sons. If one of them goes to Gaya or performs a horse –sacrifice or sets free a black colored bull, his ‘pitras’ –ancestors will attain full and final satisfaction.”
There are many holy spots located within a radius of about 16Km. in Gaya, where ‘pinda’ –cakes of boiled rice are offered to the pitras and it takes seven days to complete the Gaya pilgrimage.
Tirthas have played an important role in building and maintaining the unity of India through the common bond of a common culture. At the time of performing sacred ceremonies and other occasions also seven holy rivers of north & south are invoked by name.”Oh Ye, Ganga, Yamuna, Godavari,Saraswati,Narmada,Sindhu and Kaveri come and abide in this water (offered by me).
Similarly we have seven Kula (sacred) mountains, viz Mahendra-hills between Godawari and Mahanandi”, Malaya- southern portion of western ghats from Nilgiri to Kanyakumari, Sahya –northern portion of western ghats from Tapti river to Nilgiris, Suktimana- Garo- Khasia and Tripura hills, Riksha, Satpura hills, Vindhya-region east of Bhopal and Parijata, Western portion of the Vindhya, west of Bhopal.
There are seven sacred cities – Puri, Ayodhya, Mathura, Avantika(Ujjain), Kashi (Varanasi), Maya (Haridwara), Kanchi (Tamilnadu) and Dvaravati (Dwarika) which are believed to have powers to grant salvation – moksha. Twelve Jyotirlingas and fifty one Shaktipithas are located in different parts of India. Pious Hindus are expected to visit these holy places on pilgrimage to them as a part of their sacred duty. Apparently they have been chosen to lead the masses out of their homes to undertake an all India tour as a pilgrim, so that they may acquaint themselves with different shades of people speaking different languages, wearing different kinds of dress, eating variety of food and feel the unity in this variety. Under the peculiar religious systems of India, people living in south India always long for Kashi while those in the north have an earnest desire to go to Setu Ram Rameshwaram at and KanyaKumari and both have a common yearning for Dwaraka and Jagannath Puri . People from the north,south, east and west meet and embrace each other in these tirthas and convey their feelings without the knowledge and grasp of their respective languages.
Buddhists from all over the world visit Gaya, Sarnath, Kushinagar and Lumbini. When a Buddhist goes to Gaya and looks at the sacred, peepal tree under which Siddharth Gautam attained bodhi i.e.enlightenment, hence he is called the Buddha –the enlightened one, his imagination is stirred up and thoughts soar above all wordly things and his aspirations are fixed on attaining Nirvana, the highest goal of a human life. His resolve is further strengthened when he visits Sarnath, near Varanasi, where the Buddha delivered his first sermon. Kushinagar when he preached last and gave up his ghost and Lumbini where he was born.
Hindus are credited to have a large number of holy places from the Himalayas (North) to the Kanyakumari(Southend) and Dwarka in Saurashtra (West) to Kamakhya in Assam and Puri in Orissa (East).
Rabindranath Tagore, the great poet underlining the difference of attitude between the Europeans and Indians has pointed out that a European locating a beautiful and picturesque place would immediately think of building a hotel there for the travelers, but Indians since the past ages have deified nature and declared such places as Tirthas- holy places of pilgrimage and utilized them as a perennial source of inspiration., bestowing peace and consolation to the worried souls..
At the southern end of India’s where the land merges with the vast Indian ocean, the Bay of Bengal and Arabian Sea, is a most fascinating and beautiful spot. It has been proclaimed a seat of eternal divine maiden Kanyakumari. Indians would have viewed the great Niagara fall differently than what it is today-just one fashionable a picnic spot. If such a beautiful place would have been located in India, magnificent temples would have been built there befitting the surroundings and a larger number of pilgrims and travelers would have thronged there than they do now. It has been laid down in the Hindu Shastras that all sins of a man are washed away by taking bath in the holy water of a tirath. The Mahabharata and Puranas get eloquest in the praise of pilgrimage to Tirthas. A pilgrimage to tirthas has been considered more virtuous than the performance of sacrifices. Probably it is due to the reason that performance of sacrifices became so elaborate, complicated and also costly rituals that only kings and very rich persons could afford it. Hinduism, as usual, never became out of tune with new situations and hence it quickly adapted itself to them and declared that pilgrimage to holy places could be performed by all classes of people, the rich and the poor, all castes, from the Brahmanas to the Shudras. The performance of pilgrimage causes destruction of sins and increases piety in the minds of the virtuous. Fruits of pilgrimage are available to all men irrespective of their castes or ashrama, Grihastha or Sanyasa.
1. Badarinarayana : Hindu Tirthas are scattered all over the subcontinent and they are equally sacred and holy. However, the largest network of Tirthas is found in the Himalayas and on the banks of Ganga. Temples of Badarinarayan and Kedarnath are located in Uttarakhand and Amarnath cave is in Jammu & Kashmir. The Himalayas are considered ‘Devabhumi’- the divine land and ‘Devatma’- the divinity ensouled and the Ganga is ‘Suranadi’. the divine river, Lord Shiva had choosen Kailash, the highest peak of the Himalayas, to be his abode. The grandeur and serenity of the Himalayas from the time immemorial have attracted many people of religious frame of mind to devote their time to spiritual culture. It had the ashramas of great rishis who practiced penances and attained siddhis and used them for the benefit of the world. Those ashramas course of time became Tirthas and even famous saints are said to have visited these places for spiritual practices.
The Ganga is a great and the holiest river of the Hindus. It receives its waters from the glaciers of the Central Himalayas and flows through the vast fertile and densely populated tract of North India. The general direction of the river is north-west to south-east and it falls in the Bay of Bengal after traversing a distance of about 2300 Km. The greater of its main head streams, the Alakananda originates from the Tibetan border in Uttarkashi district. The lesser one is called Bhagirathi which originates from the cave of Gangotri and join the Alakananda at Devaprayaga and takes the name of The Ganga. There are five holy confluences- Deva-prayaga, Nanda-Prayaga,Karna-prayaga,Rudra-prayaga and Vishnu Prayaga. It is said that at all these holy places Brahma, the god of creation had performed special sacrifices-hence they are called Prayaga.9The place of sacrifice)
Meandering through the Himalayas and carrying with it a large amount of minerals in its water which makes it quite safe for drinking and described holy, the Ganga reaches the plains of north India at Haridwar. The religious significance of the Ganga is greater than of any other river in the world. It is the Mother banks of Ganga have a special significance, the main among them being Haradwar, Prayag (Allahabad) and Kashi (Varanasi).
2. Haradawar, Prayag and Kashi ; It is at Haridwar that the Ganga leaves the mountain and reaches the great plains of North India, and Prayaga is the point where the Ganga and Yamuna join. Kashi is further down the river of these Kashi is situated on the high elevated bank of the river, on its left side. Because of its geographical location when the Ganga leaves Prayaga and touching theVindhya mountain where the famous Vindhyavasisni Durga Temple is situated, it moves on and dashes against the rocks at Chunar and slightly further down at Ramnagar where the fort of Raja of Banaras stands, the river takes a northern course and reaches below the elevated table-land of Varanasi the other name of Kashi which constitutes the lowest bed of the river and hence the Ganga does not move away from the city. This is the secret of the Hindu mythology that Ganga the consort of Lord Shiva ,the presiding deity of Kashi does not leave the Lord Varanasi the other name of Kashi has been a city of temples since time immemorial where pilgrims throng throughout the year in large numbers. Elsewhere the holiness of the Tirthas acquires special prominence at some point of the year and there are special festivals, notably Magh mela at Prayaga. But Kashi is considered holy round the year.
It is common belief among the Hindus that persons dying in Prayaga or Kashi particularly in Kashi attain salvation- freedom from the cycle of life and birth. Hence large number of Hindus retire to Kashi to breath instant their last on the banks of the Ganga . Starting from one end of the city to the other in the form a curve of about 5 Km. are stone built ghats, a passage of stairways descending to the river, a unique feature of special attraction. They are crowded by the people who take their morning bath in the river and assemble to listen to holy discourses in the evening . The city breathes with piety day and night and all seasons of the year.
3. Gaya : Another Hindu Tirtha is Gaya in Bihar. There are some verses in Mahabharata (Vana Parva) which are quoted in connection with the performance of a special Shraddha at Gaya. It is said, “one should desire for many sons. If one of them goes to Gaya or performs a horse –sacrifice or sets free a black colored bull, his ‘pitras’ –ancestors will attain full and final satisfaction.”
There are many holy spots located within a radius of about 16Km. in Gaya, where ‘pinda’ –cakes of boiled rice are offered to the pitras and it takes seven days to complete the Gaya pilgrimage.
Tirthas have played an important role in building and maintaining the unity of India through the common bond of a common culture. At the time of performing sacred ceremonies and other occasions also seven holy rivers of north & south are invoked by name.”Oh Ye, Ganga, Yamuna, Godavari,Saraswati,Narmada,Sindhu and Kaveri come and abide in this water (offered by me).
Similarly we have seven Kula (sacred) mountains, viz Mahendra-hills between Godawari and Mahanandi”, Malaya- southern portion of western ghats from Nilgiri to Kanyakumari, Sahya –northern portion of western ghats from Tapti river to Nilgiris, Suktimana- Garo- Khasia and Tripura hills, Riksha, Satpura hills, Vindhya-region east of Bhopal and Parijata, Western portion of the Vindhya, west of Bhopal.
There are seven sacred cities – Puri, Ayodhya, Mathura, Avantika(Ujjain), Kashi (Varanasi), Maya (Haridwara), Kanchi (Tamilnadu) and Dvaravati (Dwarika) which are believed to have powers to grant salvation – moksha. Twelve Jyotirlingas and fifty one Shaktipithas are located in different parts of India. Pious Hindus are expected to visit these holy places on pilgrimage to them as a part of their sacred duty. Apparently they have been chosen to lead the masses out of their homes to undertake an all India tour as a pilgrim, so that they may acquaint themselves with different shades of people speaking different languages, wearing different kinds of dress, eating variety of food and feel the unity in this variety. Under the peculiar religious systems of India, people living in south India always long for Kashi while those in the north have an earnest desire to go to Setu Ram Rameshwaram at and KanyaKumari and both have a common yearning for Dwaraka and Jagannath Puri . People from the north,south, east and west meet and embrace each other in these tirthas and convey their feelings without the knowledge and grasp of their respective languages.
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