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.

Kartikeya leaves Kailasa - The story and the mystery.

The story goes that there was a certain reward to be shared between Kartikeya and Ganesha. Shiva had to decide if the reward was to be shared or if it was to be given entirely to only one of his sons. There are many versions of this story, and some say that the reward was just a fruit, a magical fruit nonetheless, and other stories claim that the reward were two brides to be married to the two brothers. Anyways, Shiva determined a competition between the two brothers to help him choose. He asked them to circumnavigate the world, thrice, and return to Kailasa, to claim the prize. The brothers agreed to the competition.

Kartikeya went out, seated on the Peacock, his vaahana (= vehicle). He went about to complete the circumnavigation of the globe and completed three rounds and returned to Kailasa rapidly. Upon reaching Kailasa, Kartikeya found that Ganesha was seated comfortably, happy, and that he had already claimed the reward. On enquiry, he was told that Ganesha had moved, seated on his mushika (= mouse), that was his vaahana, and had merely done three rounds around Shiva and Parvati.

When asked for an explanation by Parvati, Ganesha had answered that, to him, his parents were his entire world. He had done what he thought was correct, and that he had gone around his parents, for they were the entire world. The answer had pleased Shiva and Parvati immensely, and they had given the entire reward to Ganesha, without waiting for Kartikeya's return.

The answer had angered Kartikeya. It implied that they had not valued the determination and hard work that he had put in while traveling around the entire world thrice. In anger, Kartikeya left Kailasa and traveled out of the Himalayas.

There is certainly an aspect of mystery about the exact nature of reward that was to have been shared between Kartikeya and Ganesha. One story reveals that it was supposed to have been a celestial mango given to Shiva by Narada when the latter visited Kailasa. The celestial nature of the mango was that it was a "fruit of knowledge" (= gnyana palam), coupled with excellent taste. 

Being young lads, the story goes, the desire to possess the entire fruit was competitive. An intriguing aspect of the competition is the immediate acceptance of the challenge posed by Shiva for the winner to be declared after knowing who circled the world and came back before the other. Perhaps, Shiva, had no other option but to accept Ganesha's intelligent maneuver in declaring that his parents were the world for him, and going around them, and thereby winning the mango-fruit. For, after all, wasn't it supposed to be the 'fruit of knowledge'? Who else could lay claim to it, other than the one with the sharper strategy?

The other mystery could be that it would have probably taken a tremendously longer time for Kartikeya to have gone around the world, and return to claim the mango-fruit. That was however not so, declares the Puranas. It is thus written that Kartikeya traveled on his celestial vaahana (= vehicle), the blue peacock, and returned in the "blink of an eye". 

This really intrigues me. If Kartikeya did return in the 'blink of an eye', it would have still taken Ganesha more time to actually walk around his parents. Anyhow, Kartikeya returned to Kailasa, understood that he had been outsmarted, and got angry. It is said thus, that there was perhaps inherent reason for Narada to visit Kailasa, and incite a family fight, and break up the happy household of Shiva and Parvati and cause the events in the future to begin to uphold all over the Indian Subcontinent.