Kataragama - many journeys before the first journey of the bharatayatra

Kataragama seemed like the ideal location to begin the yatra from. This is where Kartikeya Swami had come to stay at the conclusion of his journey across the Indian Subcontinent and later, entered Sri Lanka. It seemed very simple, when I thought about it. Except for one fact, that, Kataragama was in Sri Lanka, and one had to plan for international travel. There was one crucial factor, however. The Kataragama temple was to be the first location on the yatra.

I have been traveling, since 1979, by myself, with family, friends and colleagues. I seem to be traveling every month. I have stayed at some places for more than a month, and some, for nearly a year and more. But, this bharatayatra, beginning July 2011 was very different. The transition from my 49th to 50th year was to be marked by this bharatayatra.

Therefore, to start on the yatra in July, and to start from Kataragama in July 2011, seemed like placing the second most impossible aspect at the front, and making it to be the fulcrum of the entire bharatayatra. The first most impossible aspect, of course, would be the trips to Kailasa, Kongur, and Kashgar in China. Most of these travel corners were being determined in May and early June 2011.

There was one problem, though. I had earlier planned for travel to Ladakh and had purchased air tickets etc and was ready to journey in the first fortnight of July 2011. If I would go on the journey, it would make it very difficult for me to travel to Kataragama and Sri Lanka. Should I then postpone the journey to Sri Lanka? I did not want to do so.

I had faith in Shiva. I have faith in Shiva. Totally. I knew that he would make it happen. The journey to Kataragama would definitely happen.

But, what of the Ladakh trip? It dissolved by itself, suddenly. On one fine day, the Ladakh trip was not existant. I was free of the journey. There was one small bonus, though. One of the air tickets gave me an opportunity to visit and seek blessings of Adi Badri and Adi Kedar. It seemed like the perfect way to start the yatra.

The case of the accurate astrologer
I had planned the journey to Ladakh sometime early in March 2010. The tickets and other arrangements were completed quite early to pick up low cost fares. I had not made any plans to visit Kataragama in Sri Lanka and even the thought or intention had not come about. For some other reason, I had to meet an astrologer, a friend, of whom I knew about for some years. I had gone to him with a different question, an aspect that had been troubling me for some years. We met in March, after I had purchased the tickets for Ladakh. We discussed the question that I had wanted to ask him, and he also looked at the details on my horoscope by merely wanting to complete his professional scrutiny.

Off-hand, he mentioned that due to some movement in my thoughts and behaviour, and according to the locations of the stars and planets on my horoscope, I would travel out of the country in July 2011 for a short trip. I was perplexed. I was sure that I was to travel to Ladakh in July 2011. Was Ladakh going to be considered by astrologers as beyond India's borders? Did astrological calculations go skewed in the upper Himalayas? I asked my astrologer friend if he was sure of my travel out of India in July 2011 since I had already booked tickets for travel to Ladakh and I was to be part of a group.

He smiled, and replied that he was not concerned about the Ladakh journey. He was convinced that I would travel out of the country. I wondered about the conflict in the schedule. My astrologer friend reaffirmed that whatever may, but, I would surely travel out of the country. Soon, June turned to July, and the Ladakh trip disappeared. The tickets and plans for Sri Lanka got completed, and friends joined me in the journey, and Kartikeya allowed me to travel to Kataragama.



Journeys before the first journey
The journey to reach Kataragama had many other earlier journeys. Each one was a miracle. The journeys did not edist even as invitations or as an inclination before they happened, suddenly. There was the trip to Jamnagar, Nageshwar Jyotirlinga temple, Nageshwar areas, Dwarka temple, Okha, Okha-Bet Island, the Krishna Balarama temples at Okha Bet, driving through Porbandar, while visiting the Harsiddhi mata temple, and on to Somnath Jyotirlinga temple at Somnath, and later, the Ghatwad-Kodinar Rudreshwar Mahadev temple and the Balaji temple at Khorasa-Junagadh. I would never have been able to plan these journeys by myself, even if I would have wanted to.

There was that journey, one day, suddenly, to Tryambakeshwar Jyotirlinga temple. It just happened. Did not have ot plan for anything or any aspect of the journey. We rushed through the temple and I was able to offer the rudrabhishek (= sacred offering with liquids - water, milk, honey, curd etc - to the jyotirlinga) puja at the jyotirlinga despite misgivings and problems about the time-allocation for various rituals and devotees.

So, when does a pilgrimage actually happen, and get completed? I think, as in the Ashtavinayak yatra, there has to be a beginning point, a starting location, and one must return to the location to completely surrender with the diety for having allowed one to complete the yatra. In the Ashtavinayak yatra, it is known as 'Sankalp' (= oath of determination) to decide on a route, and to go ahead and actually be able to complete the journey. One has to return to the first temple though, and inform the priest that the journey was completed, and one would now break or terminate the 'sankalp' of having wanted to proceed on the yatra.


The magic of fellow yatris
The magic of fellow travelers or yatris is amazing. From nowhere, never failing, there have been friends joining me in the bharatayatra. Also, there are new friends who meet up in the various locations. The aspect of individuals becoming friends, and friends becoming fellow travelers is a tremendous feeling. Trip after trip, journey after journey, the wish becomes the desire, the desire becomes the plan, the plan picks up points of action, and the action turns into reality. The reality gets a bonus, and becomes twice the joy, when a friend comes along and joins in the trip.

The first yatra, to the Bhimashankar Jyotirlinga temple, a journey that happened out of nowhere, saw me meeting up with Neetin Desai, Amar Supate, Shivaji Aiwale and Pichika Dharmadath. I had not met Neetin Desai earlier, and our friendship has grown since then. They have helped me internalise the spiritual energy. The temple, the priests and the Sahyadri hill ranges are exhilirating. Early morning fog, and the possibility of trekking in the wildlife sanctuary, and the added ability to go around for birdwatching was vital to get me convinced to begin planning the bharatayatra.

The Bhimashankar Jyotirlinga Temple Shikaraa

Friends made during the yatra have stayed their course. Chaubeyji, the priest at the Adi Badri temple, retains contact and keeps track of my journeys in the mind and on land. We have discussed the story of Maharishi Veda Vyasa, and the possibility that the great sage may have written the Srimad Bhagavatam at Adi Badri in Haryana. For Chaubeyji, it does not seem like a possibility. For him, it is a certainty. He is absolutely sure that the Srimad Bhagavatam was written at the temple. When he explains it, and shows the various locations, you know that it could have certainly happened there. You can see it happen.

bharatayatra - is there a longer journey?

Is the journey much longer? Is the journey more intense? Are there several journeys within each other? Just about when I was assuming that there would perhaps be, a finite list of Shiva's halts in the Indian Subcontinent, I got to read that Parashurama established 108 Shiva temples in the Konkan Coast, in the lands that speak Malayalam and Tulu. Parashurama was known to be active on the Konkani and Gujarati speaking coastal areas also. Do we even know the number of Shiva temples that he is associated with in these regions?

The 108 Vaishnava Divya Desams are like trianges within triangles, and yet, some triangles away from triangles. Then, there are the many 'Paadal Petra Sthalam's of Shiva (= places where his footsteps have reached), that are also in good number. It would perhaps be more sensible, and humble, certainly, to begin with a smaller and very finite number of locations on this journey, and not succumb to the easy temptation of visiting more locations. Some temples may be in adjacent towns, and the temptation would be great.

There is certainly a longer journey out there. Kartikeya is known from Central China and also from Iran, in pre-ancient times. Shiva is known from Kashgar, reputed to be the pre-ancient Kashi. The city is known as Kashi since pre-ancient years to this day. Could Kongur have been the earlier place of retreat for Shiva and Ambika, before settling in Kailasa with Parvati?

What do we know of these places that tempt countless travelers through centuries? On any monday, on any Shivaratri, one has to just sit at peace at any of the Shiva temples and watch the sea of humanity that seeks blessings. Similarly, important days bring devotees to Parvati, Kartikeya and Ganesha. What brings them again and again? Simple and plain devotion. Why would devotees go to visit other temples in various places, when the deities are present in temples in their own towns? It is in the journey to visit temples in other towns, that the devotee becomes a yatri. The journey becomes a yatra. And, when one travels all over India, it is a 'bharatayatra'.

I thought that the name was quite apt, considering my name, and the geographical span of the land. But, there are locations outside of India. There are some shakti peethams (= Temples of Devi) and Shiva Sthals (= Temples of Shiva) in Pakistan, Nepal and Bangladesh. There are equally important ancient locations in Sri Lanka, China and Bhutan. Perhaps Myanmar, Cambodia and Afghanistan. These are amazing lands, and each one of us, has but one life to live, and there is simply not enough time.

bharatayatra, is quite apt, for the journey and travels that I undertake. Most travels are serendipitous. Some require careful and attentive planning. The difficult part of the bharatayatra is to write it out in detail and allow for the information to be useful to others. The easier part of it seems to be to seek blessings and permission from Shiva to travel on the journey.

There are different components to the bharatayatra from Kataragama to Kailasa. There is a 'core' to the journey. The core is the visit to all the jyotirlinga temples. Beyond the 'core', are other regions and places. So, I would term the twelve known and generally accepted jyotirlinga temples as the 'inner core'.

Beyond the inner core, would be the outer areas in two parts, i.e., the southern core and the northern core. The southern core would be in Sri Lanka and the northern core woudl be in Nepal and Tibet in China.

Then, there could be the second set of places in homage to Shiva, being the Panchabhoota lingams  and the places in homage to Kartikeya, being primarily, the 'aaru paada veedu' (= the six places of Kartikeya's footfalls), or the 'ashtavinayaka' (= the eight temples in homage to Ganesha in Maharashtra).

The list goes on and on. There are also the 108 Vaishnava Divya Desams (= Splendid /celestial pilgrimage locations of the Vaisnavas) in homage to Vishnu, and the 52 Shakti Peethams (= pilgrimage centres of mother goddess of Energy) in homage to Devi Parvati. And, of course, in each region of India, there are more and more locations or sequences of temples. For example, Parasurama's 108 Shiva temples in the Malabar Coast.

Therefore, the bharatayatra from Kataragama to Kailasa is planned for a very simplistic core of locations. Starting with Kataragama, and always proceeding northwards, never doubling back, and returning to a connected route all the way.

There are also other options that present themselves all the time. For example, while at Kanya Kumari, one could also go to visit Thiruvananthapuram and visit the Sri Padmanabhaswamy temple, or spend more time at the Sri Vivekananda Centre. All good, honest and valid reasons.

The journey could be partitioned in these many ways -

Part One: In Sri Lanka. Kataragama, Tondeswaram and Muneeswaram. Does not include the three other Pancha-Ishwaram temples, Sri Pada or Adam's Peak or Mannar in Jaffna.

Part Two: In Maharashtra, India. The Ashtavinayaka (= eight temples of Ganesha) temples. Morgaon near Baramati, Siddatek near Daund, Theur near Pune, Ranjangaon on the Pune-Nagar Highway, Lenyadri and Ozhar near Junnar, Mahd near Khopoli and Pali in the Konkan near Karnala.

Part Three: In Tamil Nadu, India. Kanyakumari, Rameswaram, Dhanushkodi and Madurai. Including the southernmost Jyotirlinga temple - Rameswaram.

Thereby, the bharatayatra begins with the permissions of Kartikeya (at Kataragama), Devi Parvati (at Kanya Kumari), and Ganesha (at the eight ashtavinayaka temples) before visiting the first of the twelve jyotirlinga temples, i.e. Rameswaram.

I have decided, with a heavy heart, not to visit the aaru paadai veedu (= six footfalls, i.e., six places) temples of Kartikeya in Tamil Nadu, the five cosmic dance halls and five panchabhoota lingams of Shiva in Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh, during this initial journey. Many of the easily accessible Shakti peethams (= temples of Devi /Durga) and Vaishnava divya desam temples (= Vaishnava shrines) are also excluded in this initial yatra.

I am however including the second ring of jyotirlinga temples, being Parli Vaijnath and Aundha Nagnath in Maharashtra, and Jageshwar in Almora in Uttarakhand. There may be more temples to include, especially a Bhimashankar temple known from north India. Mahabaleshwar, Srikalahasti, Rudreshwar Mahadev at Kodinar-Ghatwad, Bhuleshwar and Walkeshwar in Mumbai may be included, if they get to be visited during this initial bharatayatra.