God Lives in Patal Bhuvaneshwar
Posted: Sunday, September 25, 2011
by Drunken Mystic
http://drunkenmystic.wordpress.com
Kerala, the southern state of India facing the Arabian Sea has unanimously been named as ‘God's Own Country'. There is not an inch of doubt in that with the Western Ghats providing the lustrous beauty under the golden rays of sunshine with tall coconut trees offering sweet water to drink while the salt water sweeps the sand that mothers the plantations. Only God could have created the backwaters of Kerala, where one can take off in one of the jetties to observe eagles eagerly waiting to claw on the fishes which often swim to the surface. God's beauty reflects in these villages around Quilon, Allepey, Kumarakom and finally reaching the Cochin harbour.
Rightly, ‘God's Own Country' reflects His encompassing dream mesmerizing enough to take you into a faraway land snapping every chord of one's origin only to make them feel at home. Whether true or not, you have to pick your backpack and experience it for yourself. Do you just see the beauty of nature or the nature of the locals too? Where does God exist in His own country? Where does He live in his own creation? Keep your eyes open and you will find Him everywhere.
The mountains of Wayanad, and the wildlife of Tholpetty Sanctuary which shares common borders with Nagarhole Sanctuary in Karnataka, and Bathery border of Mudumalai Forest in Tamil Nadu, is truly an adventure for the tourists and wild travellers. All of these – backwaters, mountains with tea gardens, and more famously, the cardamom hills, exist in ‘God's Own Country'. But there is something else in my opinion far closer to God's existence in this small village in the Himalayas. What I recollect from my past experiences of travels, I would say, God lives in Patal Bhuvaneshwar. I somehow seemed to get attracted to this peaceful mountainous village where facilities are scarce for a hot tourist destination and surprisingly, Patal Bhuvaneshwar does attract a lot of visitors round the year.
This is a simple village where the locals live on cultivation. Rice and mustard is grown here most of the times. You can spot orange and mango orchids on the way and the green apples in this region are extremely delicious. Beware of the excess use of garlic in most foods. If you are not used to it, then you may land yourself in trouble. Please tell them in advance, not to prepare anything with garlic or onion in case you don't like them.
In spite of what may be recalled as ‘not so good experiences', God is more than visible in Patal Bhuvaneshwar and in the entire mountain range that is visible up to the Chinese border. There is never a time when the skies remain the same. The clouds change quick and fast keeping one busy just observing how infinite nature's expression is.
From early sunrise to sunset, you not only get to see the far mountains (locals say, one can even get a view of the Kailash Mountain in China if the skies remained clear with bright sunshine).
Patalam (Sanskrit) or Patal (Hindi) means ‘underworld'. This place is named so because there, exists, a cave which literally leads you to the underworld. This cave was known to have been discovered as per the Hindu scriptures by different people (kings and sages) who lived during different world cycles. According to the Vedic Puranas, each world cycle is divided into millions of years based upon astronomic calculations which in turn predict the rise and fall of the human intellect. And, currently this is the Dark Age which is supposed end by 2012 according to Mayan theology.
This cave is extremely intriguing with natural rock formations of the Hindu deities. The most intriguing part is how the obese are able to make it through the narrow opening. I'm not making fun of big size, but the cave has a narrow mouth which moves downwards as soon as you enter, which literally squeezes your body offering some kind of routine massage and it looks as if one might just slip right through if they don't get a good grip of the metal chain provided.
There is a sense of awe as soon as you reach the bottom as the beginning of the path resembles the mouth of a snake with the rocks protruding like its teeth. In Hindu mythology, the serpent on which Lord Vishnu rests in trance and dreams the entire creation is called as Adisesha. Adisesha is depicted as the thousand headed snake.
From there, the guide cum priest (he hardly knows any mantras which are necessary for proper spiritual and religious ceremonies and they are just making money) leads the visitors to other rock formations which resemble the long matted locks of Lord Shiva, and there is also the headless ‘Ganesha' on the earth, while right above on the ceiling is the ‘Brahmakamal' from which water keeps dripping onto the headless Ganesha.
According to the Hindu mythology, the story goes like this. Lord Shiva wasn't aware that his wife Goddess Parvati had given birth to a son. So, one day, Parvati was about to take a bath and she asked her son to stay guard outside. She gave her son strict instructions not to allow anybody inside. The boy had to simply follow the orders while Lord Shiva makes a surprising entry. The boy blocks his way refusing to let him go which comes across as terrible humiliation to the ascetic husband. Lord Shiva known for his fiery temper finds his son's taunt outrageous and immediately retorts "How dare you stop me?"
Within moments the wordy duel leads into a heavy battle between the father and son. In the midst of heavy blows exchanged from both sides, Shiva all of a sudden chops his son's head. In the meantime, when Parvati arrives to notice her son dead and drops herself beside him in tears, as she tells Shiva that the boy he slain was his son. Embarrassed at what he'd done, the father immediately summoned Lord Brahma- the creator. Brahma consoles Shiva by offering the idea that he should fix the head of the first animal he notices. Shiva's assistants find a baby elephant and immediately cut its head and take it with them.
Lord Brahma immediately creates the ‘Brahmakamal" (Saussurea obvallata) or the ‘Night Blooming Cereus'. This flower is native to the Himalayas and is considered very auspicious and lucky if one gets to keep it blossoming in their home which happens only once in 14 years. Soon after Brahma creates this flower, the nectar drips on to the neck and there after the elephant's head is fixed and Shiva's son is brought back to life and named as Ganesha (the one with an elephant head). Some say he was named so at birth. There are many versions and I present a simple one.
As I walked past each of these rock formations, I only had a feeling as if these stones had life too. They were so alive and talking, I was awestruck and full of surprise; how could rocks breathe life and take forms after mythological characters? By the time you are done with each of these talking rocks, and on your way out, there an entirely new feeling of transformation, a transition from one world to another. What happened inside over there has remained inside, but what I brought with me is something which has captured a permanent place in the heart.
I would have loved to take some pictures from the cave, but wasn't allowed. Apart from the cave, one can have a nice peaceful meditation in the places surrounding the cave. The energy is high, pure and peaceful. The rains are beautiful and so are the birds and skies and the mountains of Patal Bhuvaneshwar.
How To Get There:
There are easy routes but stretchy and long as it takes time to reach destinations in the mountains. In case, you are travelling from New Delhi, then you have take a train from Old Delhi station to Kathgodam. From there, there are many taxis and available on booking as well as share basis for Almora, Ranikhet and Nainital. You have to take the taxi for Almora. From Almora, if you mention to any of the taxi drivers about Patal Bhuvaneshwar, they will automatically connect you to another taxi for Raiagar, if you are travelling by share taxi. From Raiagar, you will get one more for Guptadi. At Guptadi, there will be a cab readily waiting for passengers for Patal Bhuvaneshwar.
Where To Stay:
There are some decent resorts like Parvati Resort which is about 6 km uphill. There is also a hotel which belongs to the Uttarakhand State Government near the cave. Apart from that, there are rooms available at the ashram, but the person in charge is not consistent with the tariff. November to July is a good time to visit, while August is monsoon time.
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Top-level comments on this article: (3 total)Ok,first an admission, I have not read completely your article, but I know you are an evolved guy, God lives within the temple of each of us, right? Only we may or may not be aware of it.Well, Terrence, my words are just a way of appreciating His creation. But true, that He lives within, but once you find Him within, you see him everywhere also.:-) Thank you, friend. Hope you have been good. Been a long time.
Sounds fantastic and I'm sure God is there. Thanks for the tour!
It looks and sounds fantastic. I'm sure God is there. Thanks for the tour.Thanks, Steve! Sorry for the late response as I wasn't keeping well. It's a beautiful place and a must visit. There is much more around these mountains to see, and the people are very warm and receiving. Have a great day!
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