Prem Mandir in Vrinthavan is a beautiful temple that’s all lit up at night. — Photos: S. RANJANI
Tales of India have always enthralled me. After I retired last year, I decided to start working on my “must-visit” travel list, and went on a journey to north India with some friends.
There were 29 of us in the whole tour group, ranging in age between nine and 70 years old; our guides were Shiva and Shivaji. Our first destination was Pyagoraj in Uttar Pradesh, which we had to endure a 12-hour bus ride from the airport to get to. Of course, we stopped at various places for refreshments and to stretch our legs.
The roads were bumpy but traffic was pretty light as we travelled during the evening until early morning. The incessant honking of cars was annoying, but we had lots of lively banter and an impromptu karaoke session, too.
At Pyagoraj, we had the chance to check out the Triveni Sangam at Gangga Yamuna Saraswathi at 5am, but I was too tired so I skipped it. After all, Pyagoraj was really just a “stopover” as we had to get on another 13-hour bus ride to Ayodhya after breakfast.
Once in Ayodhya, we visited Ram Mandir, a historical temple that is said to be the birth site of Lord Rama. As expected, the queue was incredibly long and there were lots of jostling and shoving at the entrance of the temple. Thankfully, women had a separate queue.
My tour group managed to enter and exit the place safely, although a few of us got lost at some point.
The sight of the magnificent temple up close, and its beautiful interior immediately took away all my tiredness. Unfortunately, no recording of any sort was allowed in this temple, but I was still very happy to be there and witness everything myself.
At Varanasi, the writer and her friends performed the ritual of spiritual cleansing by dipping into the Ganges river three times.
Varanasi was our next stop, and this was another 12-hour journey by bus. This whole tour was a “yaathirai” (faith tourism), so visiting temples and witnessing Hindu rituals were our priority. Varanasi is the place where devotees perform “darpanam” or giving offerings to our dearly departed.
Here is also where people dip into the sacred Ganges river (or Ganga to the locals) to cleanse ourselves of our sins. After submerging ourselves three times into the sacred river and performing our rites, we went on a river cruise to see the 22 Bodh Ghat in Varanassi.
The darpanam itself was conducted at Vishnupad temple. A priest led the prayers to offer appeasement to ancestors and departed souls.
Another place we visited was Agra, home of the Taj Mahal. Our English-speaking guide explained the significance of the building, its pillars and history, and even rebut the myths of the Taj Mahal. The weather was hot, but spending time in this wonderful place made everything bearable.
The writer’s tour group at the Taj Mahal in Agra.
The Prem Mandir temple in Vrinthavan also had outstanding architecture, and the intricate carvings and artworks all around were amazing.
We travelled back to New Delhi to check out the Akshardam Temple, which boasts of superior ancient architecture and artwork. Alas, no recordings were allowed to capture this masterpiece, but good management saw an orderly crowd.
The fine evening weather made this a most memorable visit. Even the gardens surrounding the Mandir were relaxing, even though there were many people around.
Although shopping was not high on everyone’s list, we were still grateful to get the chance to visit the Sarojini Market and Karol Bagh. The streets were lined with pedlars selling items like accessories, clothing and knick-knacks.
We didn’t really have much time to spend here but that’s okay because seeing the many beggars around was quite sad.
On our last day, we went to the Swami Malai Murugan temple which was a great experience for me as it was my birthday. We also made a stop at the Indira Gandhi Memorial, where we saw the place where she fell upon getting shot.
The views expressed are entirely the writer’s own.
