Since today is a Monday (the day of lord Shiva). I kept thinking about my visits to various important shrines and Jyotirling's.
There are 12 Jyotirling's(temples) across India. Kempegowda Shiva temple (Bangalore) had a beautiful wall decoration of these 12 Jyotirlinga's and how each differed from the other.
* Somnath - Gujurat
*Mallikarjuna - Srisailam - Andhra Pradesh
*Mahakaleswar - Ujjain
*Omkareswar - Madhya Pradesh
*Baidyanath - Deoghar - Jharkhand
*Bhimashankar - Pune - Maharastra
*Ramnathswamy - Rameswaram - Tamil Nadu
*Nageswar - Dwarka - Gujurat
*Viswanath - Varanasi - UP
*Tribakeswar - Nashik Maharashtra
*Kedarnath - Uttarakhand
Grishneswar - Aurangabad - Maharashtra
So, without deviating much let's just focus on the heading. My first Jyotirlinga visit goes back to when I was in 6th std. It was winter vacation and we were in Bihar at that time. It was our first LFC tour to South India. We had come to Chennai. Our first temple visit was Tirupati Tirumala and then the next one was Rameswaram.
It was a cold winter morning, but here it was good enough weather. We reached Rameswar by bus from Chennai or Madurai (not sure) and viewed the spectacular Pamban Bridge(one-of-a-kind bridge over the sea). That day morning got up very early at around 5 am to view the sunrise. And we went to the beach. On the way could see people making big and beautiful rangoli on the road just outside their homes.
My father and my youngest brother bathed and the remaining three of us just enjoyed there. My youngest brother was around 3 yrs or below that so he started crying because of the cold water. Then we went to this temple. I don't remember exactly what happened but the picture of us that my father clicked showed we were all laughing and watching something unmindful of him clicking a picture of us.
Then in my 7th or 8th std, we went to Deoghar. My father's colleague had invited us to his relative's(native) home. They were Bengalis and their home had very small rooms but Bengalis kept their home very neat and clean. Their organizational skill is at another level. Maybe that's why typical Bengali people from Kolkata still manage well in their tiny carpet area houses. They were very hospitable and served us all the typical Bengali foods. We went to Deoghar Baidyanath temple the following day. Coincidentally it was a Sravan Somvar. Kaudia had reached there from far and wide. On our way, we could see so many Kaudia. This temple is not very big and one has to step down to reach the Shiva Linga. In Bihar, they don't have pujari in any Shiva temple. Here also same thing followed. There were Pujari's only to help but the actual puja was supposed to be done by self. Entering the Garbagriha of this temple was like hell. Stampede-like situation since there were no queues. One mistake we made was my father dropped his comb when he reached the steps of the temple and he wanted me to pick it up. When I tried to bend a little, the crowd behind me pushed really hard. Thankfully I got up immediately without reaching the ground. The picture from this place that I have show how happy we look after coming out of this temple. What a relief? 😂
My third Jyothirling visit was to the Grishneswar temple Aurangabad Maharastra. I always wanted to visit Sridi Sai temple and in the year 2016, there was a long weekend. So, I planned to visit Shirdi, Shani Signapur, Ajanta, and Ellora. Though I also wanted to visit Nashik but time did not permit us. Our cab driver suggested we visit the Grishneswar temple. That day was Savitri Puja. If we had known that they worshiped Shanidev on that day. We would have planned it that way. But, one way it was good not to go in too much of a crowd. So, the day before Amabasya we had been to Shani Singapur, and on the Amabasaya day started our journey with our first stop at Grishneswar. The puja and all went well followed by feasting on the famous Sabudana Kichhdi typical Maharastrian way. Moreover, I really like having Sabudana Kichhadi more than the sweet version of it. Even now when I don't really keep any fast, I prefer making this simple Sabudana kichhadi with potatoes, peanuts, and chilli. But, the real goodness of this Sabudana Kichhdi can only be felt if you keep a fast and have it at the end of the day. It pleases the soul to some other level.
Never mind I still did not get a chance to visit Mallikarjuna temple Srisailam. It's so near me but no luck till today. That's how it works. When I plan something it won't work and sometimes out of nowhere I will visit some magnificent temples. So, I have stopped planning to visit any temple after my kid's birth. Instead, all I do is pray and find my god inside me. I believe in Bhakti like Prahlad. Where you are god is there. And am now in a phase where I let god decide when he wants me to visit him in the temple.
With this thought let me now conclude this long long history that I wrote and get back to work.
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