SmartSurat  #  Hinduism

Benares (Varanasi)

Benares is the most famous centre of pilgrimage. It is situated on the left bank of the Ganges, at the point near where the tributary of the Ganges, the Yamuna or Varuna, joins it. Confluences of rivers are considered to be particularly auspicious sites for temples and have traditionally been associated with asrams, the homes of famous Hindu sages. Benares is especially associated with the God Siva who is believed to have lived there as an ascetic. Also at Benares, the thirty-day enactment of the Ramayan takes place each year at the Dussehra/Dasera festival. Benares is associated with Vedic and Sanskrit scholarship so Indian scholars travel there. The place is considered to be so sacred that if one dies there and has one's ashes thrown into the Ganges, purification and release from samsara is achieved. The same is believed of the river at Hardvar in northern India.

The importance of pilgrimage

Pilgrimages are rituals which are kamya, that is to say, they are desirable but not obligatory. Because Brahman is believed to be manifest in everything, it is everywhere and so every place is sacred - rivers, mountains, coasts, groves, etc. But there are many sites where the divine has in some way become more explicitly manifest on earth and such places are subsequently felt to be the best and most auspicious sites for contact with the divine. Yatra to such sites is considered very auspicious and karmically rewarding. Consequently, everyone seems to be on the move in India. Many pilgrimages are undertaken to acquire good karma, to perform certain rituals for deceased ancestors (something often considered obligatory) or because of a festival. Some people make the journey through an organized tour, some by public transport and some on foot. The emphasis is very much on showing devotion to the divine, and men and women of all castes travel on the same roads to a centre of pilgrimage. Whatever caste a Hindu belongs to, visiting a sacred place is believed to purify the inner self and so bring the individual closer to God. Thus in some cases pilgrimages offset the usual caste barriers, but in others, such divisions persist, especially where commensality is concerned.        There are hundreds of places of pilgrimage all over India but twentyfour temples have become the most important. Most Hindus hope to visit the four famous shrines of the Jagannath temple at Puri on the Bay of Bengal in East India, the temple of Ramesvaram in the South of India, Dvarkadheesh on the Western coast, and Badrinath in the north, 10,400 feet up in the Himalayas. Some Hindus spend their life's savings visiting these shrines, and will often undergo severe hardships on these journeys. At a deeper level pilgrimage, and its often arduous accomplishment, is like a journey within one's own self, a journey to the divine. The individual has to overcome both mental and physical challenges as well as plain discomfort, uncomfortable surroundings, theft, inadequate sanitation, shortage of food and so on. Such problems have to be transcended rather like the sannyasin transcends the world: it is a taste of the life of the renouncer. This again is an expression of devotion to God and to spiritual matters rather than material ones. Essentially, the whole journey becomes an act of devotion and is as important as the final destiriation. Pilgrims can often be heard singing bhajans on their way as they travel by walking or by coach. The journey itself serves to help people transcend normal ties and routines in life. Pilgrimage also helps the Hindu to be tolerant and aware of other Hindus in the vastness of India, since India has Hindus of different ethnic origins. On a pilgrimage Hindus will meet other Hindus who have differences in language and dialect and who eat different food. While undertaking a pilgrimage of a considerable distance from their homes they will encounter cultural , differences as much in their own country as others travelling to different countries: India is vast enough for this to be the case. So wherever one is in India one sees Indians from all backgrounds and areas.

Kumbha Mela

Every twelve years at Allahabad; and in turn at other highly sacred places, a huge religious fair is held called Kumbha Mela. Fifteen million people attended the last one there in January 1989. Kumbha means ' Aquarius ' and the gatherings take place when the sun passes the sign of Aquarius and so are called Kumbha Melas. Literally millions of people attend these huge fairs. Such fairs, melas, are common and have all the characteristics of fairs. with the carnival atmosphere, side shows, numerous stalls, acrobats and so on, but the Kumbha Mela is a spectacular event, attended by people from all over India.

Puri

At Puri in Eastern India, there is a very famous temple dedicated to Jagganath, the Lord of the Universe. Jagganath is the manifestation of the God Visnu as Master of the Universe, and pilgrims and the people of Puri pull a huge cart around the town on which a statue of Krisna is placed (this is the origin of the English word `juggernaut').

Rivers

Rivers are a prominent feature of pilgrimage. Water means life, and rivers represent the life-giving nature of God. Water not only washes outwardly but is symbolic of inner spiritual cleansing. The banks of rivers have been the favourite dwelling places of the Gods, the Hindu gurus and sages, and have been the scene in which many Hindu scriptures have been composed. The Ganges is the most sacred river and is a gift from heaven, and to bathe in it or drink from it is highly purifying. So all Hindus hope to bathe in the Ganges once in their lifetime and hope that their ashes will be cast into it. The Yamuna, or Varuna, is the second most sacred river and Krisna is said to have lived on its banks during his early years. Other sacred rivers are the Godavari, Narmada, Sindhu ( or Indus ) and Kaveri.        Hinduism is thus a complexity of widely different practices, beliefs, customs and traditions. Its classic accommodation of ideas, rather than the discarding of the old or the assimmilation of the new, has served to make it a religion of colourful and profound variety, rich in myth and containing the kind of breadth in its dimensions to cater for all levels of consciousness. Yet, despite such openness to the infinite paths to God, societal life, as we have seen, remains largely class and caste bound, so it would be true to say that while the paths to the divine are infinite, the karmic and Dharmic placements of birth dictate to a considerable extent which of the multitude of paths an individual must take. This typifies the complexities of the religion rather well, illustrating the dualities and opposites which manifest existence necessarily contains - yet all are ultimately united in the Absolute, Brahman.

Vrindaban and Ramesvaram

Two places in particular are associated with avatars of Visnu. Vrindaban on the river Yamuna is said to be the birthplace of Krisna. The area is associated with stories about the childhood and youth of Krisna and, in addition, pilgrims can visit , Dvarka on the west coast, which is the place where Krisna had his palace. Also associated with the God Siva, Ramesvaram, on the southern-most tip of India, opposite Sri Lanka, is a famous place of pilgrimage associated with Ram. When Ram succeeded in rescuing his wife from the demon king Ravan he landed at this city and built a shrine to Siva in order to purify himself and his wife Sita after the killing of Ravan's soldiers.