Travelogue: Gorakhpur, Ayodhya, Lucknow, Delhi

Recently I and family were in Gorakhpur to attend a family wedding. It was my second visit to Gorakhpur; the last one happened when I was too young. Still I had some nice memories of it, especially of our visit to Gorakhnath Mandir and its pond (in which we did not have boat ride), and hence I was excited about it. As soon as I found a dull moment in the daytime, I ran to grab the opportunity and excused myself. I had to go alone and I had chosen to go by public transportation.

Roads in Gorakhpur were in good shape. The city itself is a mix of old buildings and new developments. Very good multistory apartments were seen with quality construction, something which is missing in the new construction wave in tier-II cities. And nearby those we could find some very old buildings too. We could see good localities and in general I liked the city. For public transportations we have shared auto-rickshaws as well, apart from some city buses which were few and small ones. The shared auto-rickshaws are very convenient and too economical for our pockets. People are friendly and they are willing to help us find directions. I reached Gorakhnath Temple by changing shared auto at Dharamshala.

Homecoming to Gorakhnath Temple

I don’t have very clear memories of my last visit to Gorakhnath temple, but I remember we had avoided putting our backs towards the holy temple when someone clicked our photos; and we had chosen not to ride the boats in the beautiful pond, something which we siblings wanted to do. Visiting it this time refreshed my memories.

The approach lane towards the temple, inside the main gate, is full of shops and it is like a permanent fair (melaa) for visitors. The pond was still so beautiful.

Now something about Gorakhpur and Gorakhnath temple's history:

Gorakhpur is an important center of Hinduism. Gorakhpur was part of the famous kingdom of Koshal, one of the 16 maha janapadas in the 6th century BC. Gorakhnath Temple and Math at Gorakhpur is built at the place where Baba Gorakhnath (Go-raksh-Nath), a 11th century Yogi of Nath tradition did austerities for long. He traveled a lot - from Afghanistan to Assam, from Maharashtra to Sri Lanka, and wrote many important books. He is believed to be a yogic manifestation of Shiva. The main deity at the temple is Lord Shiva - and Shiv ji's idol is very peaceful and blessing to look at. Gorakhpur city's name is derived from Baba Gorakhnath. Gorakhnath Matt runs one Gorakhnath Temple in Nepal in Gorkha district (word also derived from Baba Gorakhnath's name). (I read there is a historic Gorakhnath temple in Pakistan which has been vandalized many times). Followers of Nath traditions don't follow caste system and hence non-Brahmins are allowed as priests in temples. 

The present Mahant or Chief Priest is Yogi Adityanath (the famous BJP MP from Gorakhpur and founder of the Hindu Yuva Vahini). When we were in the temple, we saw him visiting the temple with many policemen making sure of the security arrangements around him. 

It was wonderful to visit Baba Gorakhnath temple. The huge temple complex has many temples, shrines, and also a beautiful pond where ducks swim and you can also do boating. 

At one place statues of so many Yogis and sages doing tapas is kept under one roof - I have not seen something like it anywhere else:

I am sure if you visit here once, your wonderful memories would never leave you.

Passing By Ayodhya

We were on road trip from Gorakhpur​ to Lucknow. I did not know that Ayodhya​was on the way. I did not believe my eyes when I started seeing the milestones telling that we were approaching the holy city. As we almost reached it, a lot of mosques with minarets were visible from the highway. I asked the driver about which were the old temples in Ayodhya and if we could visit some temples there. He said there was a big Hanuman Garhi which was most famous and then there was Ram Mandir but it was closed at that time of the day and would open at 5pm for aarti and we couldn't wait till then. I thought - may be next time.

Ayodhya is described in the Vedas as "a city built by God and being prosperous as paradise itself." For centuries it was capital of the Surya Dynasty (Suryavansh) in which Lord Ram was also born. The perfection of a democratic state is seen in "Ram Rajya" and Ayodhya must be so prosperous in the past. In its current shape, I am not sure about it. But then I remembered how so many ancient civilizations from across the world simply disappeared without trace; how even godforsaken places like Iraq trace their origin to civilizations like Mesopotamia with perhaps nothing being preserved. In that sense, Ayodhya is still lucky because it still has so many Ram Bhakt Hindus living there. One day we may get a big Ram Mandir reconstructed at the place and along with it may old prosperity return to the place. But before that and foremost may its people become deserving of it... Because no matter how much prosperity and blessing is showered on us, we shall keep it only if we deserve it...

Delhi, its Auto-Wale and Dilli Di Politics

Auto-rickshaw drivers in Delhi are a bit more corrupt than others in Mumbai, because they refuse to go by meter more often. The antique meter-boxes in their green autos look like stolen from some ravaged Iraqi building; due to privilege of not being used. 

A day before recent assembly elections, I was in Delhi. I felt too proud of my luck when one auto driver agreed to go by the meter. As soon as we started, he asked "Should I go by route X, or route Y?" I gave him a big smile - since it occurred to me that his 'game' had started! I asked him to take one of the routes. Next turn came and he asked if he should go left or right. Becoming The Frustrated Indian​ I told him that I did not know the route and he should take whichever was the shorter one. He said, "Don't worry, I won't cheat you." And then he said, "I am a follower of AK49". I said, "Yes, I know, all auto drivers are his followers". It was meant to hurt his ego which comes from 'exclusivity'. Obviously he took the longer route, since I was not getting anywhere nearer to my destination. I chose to continue rather than getting down - as I decided I did not mind getting cheated by a supporter of AK49, since that would prove my theory right :) After a while I gave up my patience and started probing him, to make sure he was going in the right direction. From my probe and tone, he knew that I knew that he was cheating me. Now he made a u-turn by saying, "Sometimes our 'imaan' (conscience) goes sleeping. But sometimes something said by passengers hurts and our conscience wakes up. But it does not remain awake for long and hence we take longer route." After saying this he took a short-cut and reached the destination in approx. the same fare as it ideally should be... I call him a man of "blinking conscience". Imagine what would Kiran Bedi do with them and their games if she came to power? People like you and me can flirt with ideas; but poor people know their 'right' and 'wrong' just too well. They don't care if you like it or not…

Since it was election eve, I looked around to see its ‘signs’. At one place I could see a number of auto-rickshaw wallahs standing with garlands in hands and erecting a big cut-out poster of their cult leader. Nearby a dozen kids from the slums ran and played around wearing the same party’s caps and carrying its flags. The party must have harvested so many souls in the slums; and I was sure it would give dividends during elections. I saw only one man riding a scooter which had BJP’s flag tied to it. And I saw no sign of any other political party. (PS: Election results were to prove this observation so visionary).

- Rahul​ 

[Disclaimer: Views expressed are personal and do not reflect views of any organization author is associated with. Pictures used on this post are taken from multiple web sources and copyrights are with the owners. Detailed disclaimer.]