A pilgrimage to Mani Mahesh
By Anil K. Sharma

AFTER scaling 10,000 feet and walking for 11.5 km we reached Gauri Kund, a kilometre below the sacred Mani Mahesh Lake. We were lucky for the sky was not overcast and the sun was peeping out of the hills as if Lord Shiva wanted to give us ‘clear darshans’. Mount Kailash usually remains covered with clouds. Women take a dip in Gauri Kund to seek the blessings of the goddess.

The pilgrimage to Mani Mahesh is called "Man ka Mahesh" because it provides one with spiritual satisfaction after viewing Mount Kailash and taking a holy dip in the lake.

The Mani Mahesh yatra begins on Krishna Janmashtami and concludes on Radha Ashtami every year. This year these fall on September 3 and 18. According to Mr Goverdhan Dass, J.E., P.W.D., Hadsar, more than 50,000 people visit Mani Mahesh every year during the festival season. The yatra commences with the start of "Chhari" from Chamba town to Mani Mahesh in procession.

The twelve-hour journey from Chandigarh to Chamba was quite comfortable. The day chosen by us for this pilgrimage was much earlier to the festival season. The famous Minjar Fair of Chamba, held in the Indian month of Sravana every year, concluded a week ago.

Next morning, we left Chamba for Bharmaur. The road was narrow, surrounded by high hills, as compared to the Pathankot-Chamba road. The 65-km distance to Bharmaur was covered in two hours.

On our way to Bharmaur was a small village, Bagga, which has been selected for stage II of the Chamera National Hydroelectric Project. Earlier, it was Chamera village where the power project was to be originally situated, of which this is an extension. The administrative offices of stage II are stationed at Karian, near Chamba. Stage I of the project, already functioning and generating electricity, is situated on the Bani Khet-Chamba road.

The track from Hadsar to Mani Mahesh is very narrow, Pilgrims have to climb along either side of the Buddha Nullah.

Suresh Kumar, Executive Engineer, PWD, Bharmaur, told me that the 1995 floods washed away most of the track up to Dhanchhou, half way towards the top, and caused great loss of property. The department had to rebuild the track.

According to him, the department erects temporary serais and toilets for pilgrims and also maintains the 13-km track.

The journey on foot from Hadsar starts at a height of 6000 feet and concludes at 13,500 feet at Mani Mahesh Lake.

The Mani Mahesh yatra of Himachal does not get much publicity as compared to the Amarnath yatra of Jammu and Kashmir. There the state as well as Central governments take keen interest. Although the Himachal government has declared the Mani Mahesh yatra as a state-level fair, there seems to be a growing apathy towards it.

We met people from far-off places. Initially, we thought we might be only a group of nine persons, which included two porters travelling all alone, and that too, without food and staying facilities on the way.

But we found a 15-member scouts’ delegation from Ferozepore division of Northern Railway based at Ludhiana, which was on its return journey. Mr Vijay Sharma, a pilgrim from Assam, said he was inspired by his friends who had visited this beautiful place.

A five-member group, including a couple from Asansol in West Bengal, told me that they had started their yatra from Amarnath, visiting the Vaishno Devi shrine near the Katra, Chintpurni temple, Jawala Devi and Kangra Devi, and were now on their way to the "most difficult yatra" of Mani Mahesh.

There is a lake and a four-faced marble idol of Lord Shiva at Mani Mahesh, placed in the open near the lake. A boundary wall was erected around the lake two years ago.

According to pujaris Des Raj and Tarsem Chand, four idols had been discovered by a rich man of Hyderabad and he was ordained by Lord Shiva to place one of these four idols here. Earlier, the idol was placed at Dhanchhou and in course of time it reached Mani Mahesh itself near the lake just opposite Mount Kailash, believed to be the residing place of Lord Shiva.

The height of Mount Kailash is about 18,000 feet. The pujaris say that no one could ever conquer it. He tells the story of a saint who tried to scale Mount Kailash. When he was about to reach the top, Lord Shiva turned him into a statue. They pointed towards one of the corners believed to be the body of the saint.

Another story of a shepherd whom the Lord asked in dream to reach the top by sacrificing at every step a lamb kept under his coat. When the shepherd was about to reach, the place, he tried to look under his coat and was turned into a statue that very moment.

There is a ‘kund’ in the lake called a ‘Kala Kund’. Any one who crosses it is considered to be the most religious person and, according to a myth, if a childless woman touches that person, she is blessed with a child.

The young family members of the pujari complain that although the whole area under Hadsar panchayat has been declared a tribal area, all residents get reservation in jobs except members of the pujari’s family. They have requested the Himachal government to end such discrimination.

Between Dhanchhou and the glacier comes a flower valley. Beautiful flowers of various colours and vegetation of a special kind are found on these hills. Most of the pilgrims felt drowsy during this part of the journey. The flowers and vegetation on these hills are used in ayurvedic medicines.