Page 23 - Seniors Today - March Issue
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many of which are collected in the 1968 White Skanda Purana one of the oldest Puranas
Album. mentions Rishikesh as a part of the legendary
The search for truth, enlightenment, or “Kedarkhand”. This was the site of fabled
an authentic experience with the divine, the Indrakund. Legends state that Lord
leads people to travel to sacred sites that Rama did penance here for killing Ravana;
have been ritually separated from the Lakshmana, crossed the Ganga, using two
profane space of everyday life. Here, they jute ropes at the point where the present
experience something out of the ordinary Lakshmana Jhula remade in 1927, stands. At
– a transformation, transcendence, or a the place Bharat performed penance, Jagat
life-changing event, that marks a transition Guru Adi Shankaracharya constructed the
from the mundane world of our everyday Bharat Mandir temple. It is here that Lord
existence to a special and sacred state. Here Shiva, the compassionate one, consumed the
the ordinary becomes sacred - temples, world destroying poison, Halahala, holding
mountains, groves of trees, rivers, rocks it in his throat, and thus becoming known for
become palimpsests of stories of wondrous all eternity as Neelkanth. Emotional devotees
acts of the gods, miracles and heartfelt pray at the Neelkanth Mahadeva Temple,
prayers of devotees. Transformation of carrying the holy Ganga water to pour over
places like Rishikesh into sacred space, the Shivalinga, helping to cool the burning in
usually occur due to a continuous layering the Lord’s throat.
of myths and performance of mystic rituals Hrishikesh – Lord of the senses, is one of
and because they are threshold places. the names of the lord Vishnu, and thus the
Rishikesh is the gateway to the most sacred of city is so called. It is believed that Raibhya
places - Badrinath, Kedarnath and Gangotri- Rishi performed austerities on the banks of
Yamnotri. the Ganga. After killing the demons Madhu
and Kaitabha Lord Vishnu saw the sage
meditating and blessed him. The Skanda
Purana mentions that Vishnu gave him
this divine message: “As long as you have
performed Supreme Tapasya by controlling
your senses, let the place be recognised by
Hrishikesh.” Another legend says that a
fierce fight broke out between Lord Shiva
and Agni who being cursed, prayed here for
redemption, the area today is aptly known as
Agni Tirth.
From antiquity and until present the
conviction has persisted that prayer or the
performance of religious duties are more
effective in places where saints were born,
died, or wrought miracles.
It is believed that meditation in Rishikesh
brings one closer to attainment of moksha, as
Panchavati, the sacred grove where five different species
of trees grow together does a dip in the holy river that flows through
SENIORS TODAY | ISSUE #21 | MARCH 2021 23
