My Journey to Religious Places: August 2016

स सागर मनाधृष्य मतिक्रम्य महाबलः।

त्रिकूट शिखरेलङ्कां स्थितां स्वस्यो ददर्श ह।

(Sa sagar manadhrishya matikramy mahabalah

Trikoot shikhare Lankam sthitan swasyo dadarsh ha)

The powerful (Hanuman) jumped over the great extensive sea with his strength and carefully saw the city of Lanka situated on the mountain of Trikoot.

Ganga-snan (Holy Dip in Ganga)

This "Shloka" from Ramayana composed by Maharshi Valmiki clearly tells that the city of Lanka ruled by the demon king Ravana was situated over the mountain of "Trikoot". But the place we visited near Deoghar is also named as Trikut Pahar means Trikut hills. Though this place is hundreds of kilometers away from sea and its top is too small to have even an ordinary city not to tell of a city like Lanka, still the guide will show you different places there related to Ravana and Sita. It seems that Trikut name is given due to three hills present side by side here because the first syllable of the word "Tri" means three in Hindi or Sanskrit. Once this name given people may have in due course of time related it to Ravana and Lanka due to similarities in name.

Rope-way towers at the point where it is sharp bend
Trikut Pahar near Deoghar

As I had earlier come here but could not go to top of the hill due to heavy rush at the rope-way. (See my blog Baba Baidyanathdham, Deoghar, Jharkhand ). That was the X-mas time. This month I got an opportunity to visit there and the crowd was small.

This Trikut Pahar (Triku Parvat) is about 10 km from Deoghar. About 2 km off the Deoghar-Dumka road. Though it has got places related to Hindu mythological stories, it is a well recognized tourist place where people belonging to all religions visit.

I had got a day's time spare when returning from Basukinathdham to Jasidih railway station. So it was a good opportunity to visit here and utilize our time. Whenever we get some time, may be once in a year or two, we take a holy dip in River Ganga at Sultangunj, Bihar; bring Gangajal from there and offer to 'Baidyanath Jyotirlinga' at Baba Baidyanathdham, Deoghar, Jharkhand and 'Nagesh Jyotirlinga' at Basukinathdham , Dumka, Jharkhand. Same was the plan this time but we were more in number (total seven) as this time we were traveling two families together. At the beginning we reached Jasidih Station by train in the morning 5:30 AM and hired a taxi that was an Innova car for the whole day.

Sri Sri 10008
Baba Ajgabinath Math
Sri Panchdash Nam Juna Akhada,Sultangunj
Swami Premanandji Maharaj
(Written on Red Board)

From Jasidih we came to a hotel in Deoghar where we put our luggage and got fresh and started for Sultangunj. The same beautiful route through hills and valleys were looking even more lovely due to the greenery everywhere in the rainy season. We crossed familiar places of Sangrampur and Tarapur and the road was mostly in good condition and widened. The roadside had may shrubs of Crown flowers-आक के फूल - specially at Tarapur where both types of flowers were blooming abundantly- White and Purple varieties. These flowers are very dear to God Shiva and these roads are the routes to Shiva.

Ganapati carved on rocks at
Ajgaibinath, Sultangunj, Bihar

We reached Sultangunj. at about 11 AM and enjoyed our bath in the holy river Ganga, took Gangajal in many pots and kept them in the car. The most peculiar thing that we saw there was coming of some goddess over a lady that was in her 30s. She was moving her body and hairs vigorously; sometimes she would lie down and sometimes move a little. Her relatives with Neem leaves were requesting the inside goddess to return back and trying to bring her to bath in Ganga. As these things were going on we saw that she was not alone with supernatural association but a man in his 50s and a boy about 10 were also having these things. All were rural folks. Though we had seen such things in our childhood in the villages but for our children these were totally new and peculiar things.

Shivalinga at Ajgaivinath.
Sultanganj, Bihar

Next we visited the nearby hillock on which temple of Baba Ajgaibinath is situated. We worshiped there as usual and the took some pictures. There are many ancient idols that have been kept in small enclosures safely and worshiped. But one may wonder to see the ancient rock carvings in which God Shiva has been shown in a sensual state along with the Goddess. It seems that at that time there was a school of thought in Hindus that did not hesitate to openly depict sex on the walls of temples as can be seen at Konark and Khajoraho temples.

Sultangunj-Deoghar road-Monsoon clouds
on the horizon

On the back journey the sky was full of dark black clouds that were looking awesome on the horizon and soon it rained heavily. We returned back to our hotel rooms in the evening and were so tired that an hours rest was necessary. Then we took a stroll to Baidyanathdham temple where devotees were offering Sandhya Deep and Aarti standing between the Shiva and Parvati temples. The environment was full of devotion. Next morning we went to the temple with a Pundaji who had come to our hotel room and went inside the 'Garbh grih' and offered Gangajal to Baidyanath Jyotirlinga. After that we worshiped at Parvati, kali and other temples in the campus.
After our worship at Baidyanathdham temple we checked out of the hotel and hired two taxis because our luggage were also to be kept in the vehicle and one taxi had not sufficient space for these.

Cow in the Basukinath Temple,Dumka

I had told my Pundaji at Basukinathdham to reserve two rooms at the hotel there and he replied that a new "Dharmashala" has been built called "Tata Dharmashala" and it is better than the hotels. He was right, this new place to rest for devotees is beside the "Shivaganga" and built by a group of people from Jamshedpur (TATA) who are devotees of Baba Basukinath . It is near to the Temple, neat and clean and cheaper than the hotels. They gave us a 4-bedded and a 3-bedded non-A/C spacious rooms for Rs. 600 and Rs. 400 respectively. They have even A/C rooms. This "Dharmashala" has its own rules like - 1. Put your own lock on the door and 2. Deposit security money equal to one day's rent. There is a Marwadi-basa at ground floor just beside the main entrance where a good "Thali" for Rs 70/- was available. We enjoyed our puja for two days and and stayed two nights at "Tata Dharmashala". Check out time was 9 AM, so we completed our morning puja till then and started for Jasidih, Deoghar. But out train was late in the evening and we had to spend the whole day's time, so we decided to go to Trikut Pahar .

We took our breakfast at a "Dhaba" near "Ghormara" on the way. "Ghormara" is famous for an Indian sweet called "Peda-पेड़ा" which is also bought as "Prasad" at Basukinath and Baidyanathdham and also abundantly available at these places. We too had purchased many kilos of "Peda-पेड़ा" and put the packets along with luggage in the vehicle. We reached "Trikut" around noon. The drivers parked the vehicles in the parking. As soon as we got down, the monkeys came near us in expectation of food. A man came with a thick stick to drive away the monkeys and offered his services as a guide. He would go with us to the hill tops and show the places to visit. He also told us that if we hire him the monkeys would not harass us. He asked for about Rs 250/-. Seeing the situation I agreed and and went with him to fetch the tickets for Rope-way. For us the tickets were Rs 115/- each. Guides get concessional tickets with their own money. It was written that passengers will have to return back within an hour otherwise they will have to purchase fresh tickets. The booking and the rope way was closed at the moment we reached there because there were not enough passengers. So we had to wait for 15 minutes. Finally we boarded the rope-way cabins which was for 4 persons. It was covered from all sides with tinted glass for safety and had a 6" high ventilator each at the top on two opposite sides. It was a bit suffocating otherwise one can see all around the expanse of land from a height and huge standing rocks so close. The guide told us that this rope-way has the longest unsupported stretch in India. The Rope-way takes passengers to highest of the three hills that is named Vishnu. It is in the middle and about 2500 ft above MSL. Time to reach the top by rope-way is about eight minutes. The other two hills are named Brahma and Mahesh.
After getting down at the top we followed the guide. Monkeys were everywhere but did not come close seeing the thick stick in his hand. First he took us at a place where two big rocks were side by side and there was some space between them at the bottom only 1½ to 2 ft high and 8 ft long.

Tourists at the cliff (In Red circle)
Trikut Pahar, near Deoghar, Jharkhand

Tourists were crawling through this space to go to other side of the rock. We too crossed it like that to find ourselves at a cliff. The straight standing rock that was many hundreds feet high was sufficient to give a shiver down the spine. Things beyond the hill were looking tiny like toys.the place where we stood was hardly 10 ft x 8 ft. But the guide did not come crawling there but he took a round of the big rock to reach there. It was a daring act because beside the rock the way was only 1½ ft wide and it was edge of the cliff. When someone asked the name of the place the guide told that it was the Suicide point at which we laughed.
As usual they had made a Hanuman ji on the rock with "Sindoor" (Vermilion) and a person was sitting near it to put 'Tilak' on the forehead of the devotees and collect the money of "Chadhava". After staying some minutes we returned back crawling between the rocks. After few minutes of trekking we reached at a plane rock where two ft long ditch filled with water was there. It was edged with "Kaner" flower.

Sita's "Deepak"-(lamp) on Trikut Pahar,
near Deoghar

The guide said that it is Sita Mata's "Deepak"-(lamp) and advised the ladies to put "Sindoor" (Vermilion) there for 'Akhand Suhag". There were some coins and notes placed adjacent to it to motivate tourists for donation.
(If this place was related to Sita then it means that the Lanka was situated at this Trikut Pahar but where is the sea which Hanuman jumped over ? )
At this place there was a tea-shop where tourists rested and got refreshments. A few hundreds ft ahead there was a fairly plane rock. The guide said that it was the 'Helipad of Ravana' where 'Pushpak Vimana' of Ravana used to land. He also told us that if you took jumping pics here it would look as if you are flying. We tried that and took some pics. The guide too took some pics with his digital camera. Next I found that he was giving ideas to pose for the pics and shot with his camera, not only he but other guides were doing this. In the last he would show the pics and give the print out of the selected pics for Rs. 20/- each but he would never give the digital pics. In fact it was a side business for them.
Next we went to the place which perhaps is the highest place of the hill, called "Narayan Shila" (means Vishnu's rock). It is an interesting place and difficult to climb for common persons. This rock is naturally placed over a larger rock. With some effort one can step up near the larger rock but last two big steps are difficult to clear specially the the last one. It is about six ft high without anything that can be held by hand and without a place on it to rest one's foot. Here the guide helped us. First he was drawn up by another person, then he drew us by pulling our hands and we put one leg on the nearly vertical rock to climb on the larger rock by clearing this six ft height. It was just like you see a person helped by other to climb a railway platform from tracks at a railway station and it is very common in India because some people do not take pains to go through over-bridge. Even with guide's help available the ladies with us refused to climb this dangerous part and they chose to sit under a flat rock that was naturally placed over the side rocks like a roof. The clearance under this rock was only about 4 ft but space underneath was sufficient to sit for about 6-7 persons. But young children with us were enthusiastic and they climbed before me.
We got over the larger rock to see the "Narayan Shila", It was about 10 ft wide rock but there was a clearance of about 10" to 12" between it and the larger rock. The guides were encouraging the tourists to crawl under this "Narayan Shila" and told that whosoever clears this crawling distance he gets all his "Papum" destroyed. We too went behind the rock and one by one crawled under it to come out from the front. In fact the surface was not horizontal but slanting a bit upwards. I could not even bend my knees and crawled only with the help of my hands.

Just emerging out from beneath the
Narayan Shila and posing under direction
of the guide

Just before emerging out under the rock the guide asked us to pose and he took pictures. In the front of the "Narayan Shila" red vermilion was put and a person was sitting there as a pundit. Tourists were giving coins and Rs 10/- notes there. Getting down from there was even more fearsome but the guide helped.

Ravana's Cave at Trikut Pahar
near Deoghar, Jharkhand

Next we saw the "Ravan's cave" but did not enter it because the rocks were looking slippery due to rains. The guide said that tourist enter it and come back through other mouth which was about 100 ft away. We had visited nearly all the places and intended to return. We saw many young school boys coming there. On the previous day was Eid and most of them were Muslim boys who had got 'Eidi' and came here to enjoy the holiday. They had not come up by rope-way but trekked up.
Before getting back into the rope-way the guide brought us at a place which was fairly plane. From here the view down the hill was awesome. The guide suggested some poses for pictures.

Trick Photography-Narayan Shila on hand

In one of the pose of the trick photography it looked as if the "Narayan Shila" was on the palm. There was a tea shop selling biscuits and "Onion Pakoda" called 'pyaji'. But the monkey menace was maximum here. We enjoyed seeing monkeys and and posed for trick pics in which the distant "Narayan Shila" was looking on our hands. There was a hut opposite to tea shop. A person was sitting there with a small printer. Children with me selected the pictures in guide's camera to get the prints. While we were sitting in this hut looking the monkeys and the tourist boys, we saw a boy coming out of the tea shop with some hot "Onion Pakoda"in his hands. He was going towards his friends who were sitting about 20 ft away but he was a bit careless about monkeys. Just then a monkey ran towards him, jumped up to his hands and made all materials from his hand to fall on to ground. All this smooth action took within a fraction of a second. As soon as the 'Pakodas' fell to the ground, dozens of monkeys ran there to pick them and finished immediately. The boy was regretting at his carelessness.
We got down by the rope-way. At the base there is a Shiva temple called "Trikuteshwar Mahadev". On the right is the "Brahma Hill" which is smaller than the "Vishnu Hill" but no one goes there because the rocks here are quite straight. But this hill looks like God Ganesha from a distance, like from Deoghar-Dumka road.
Third hill on the left is "Mahesh" where numerous "Bilva-Vriksh" (Belpatta Tree) are there so it is called Shiva's garden. From time unknown most of the "Belpatra" for "Baba Baidyanathdham" at Deoghar is taken from here. Many decades ago this area and the hills had fairly dense forest and wild animals. My maternal grand father had told me a real incident about here when he was a young man. From Deoghar he had once gone to "Trikut Pahar" on bicycle to fetch a lot of "Belpatra" with his friend. Plucking "Bael leaves" he was walking into the Shiva's garden. After half an hour suddenly he was shocked to see something and stood still. About 20 ft away from him a tiger was lazily lying on the ground. Since both the friends has no conversation for the last few minutes, the tiger was not awoke. Fear stricken grand father made his friend aware of the situation in gestures and both of them retreated cautiously. When about 100 ft away from the tiger they rapidly came back to Deoghar on their bicycle.
We had spent more than an hour after parking the vehicles. When we came back there the driver said that by mistake the window glass at one side of a vehicle remained 4" opened and a small monkey kid entered in it and tore down the packets in which our 'Peda' sweet was packed. We found out that about a kilogram of our 'Pedas' were taken away by the monkeys.
From there we drove to Tapovan because we still had spare time. We went to the top and took pics and rested. This time I refused my daughter's request to come down through the rocky route because we were a bit tired and that route is not easy. After about an hour we took the route to Jasidih Railway station in our vehicles and en-route we visited the "Nawlakha Temple".
The last two sites were familiar to us but it was our first time visit to the top of "Trikut Pahar" and all of us enjoyed it well. It is not far away from "Baba Nagari Deoghar" and can be visited when staying at Deoghar. Near the "Tower Chowk", Deoghar all types of taxis and autos are easily available to come here.

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