A small book [
“Walking with the Immortals – The Narmadha Parikrama”, published by
Vivekananda Trust, Arunachal Pradesh]
that I read recently gave
heart-warming insights into the some aspects of India’s cultural ethos
which, I believe, has been carried on for centuries if not millenia. In modern
terms this could be termed a ‘Spiritual-ecological adventure’. The book is written by Capt.K.K.Venkatraman -- a close family friend-- who undertook the parikrama
in 1987. The author’ style of writing
is straight and unassuming and brings out the gruelling nature of the practice
which was at the same time a rich, rewarding
and enjoyable experience for him.
About
the practice of Parikrama
1.
It is the spiritual pilgrimage practice of clockwise
circumambulation of the Narmada river.
This involves walking from the point of origin of Narmada river [
at Amarkantak, Shahdol district MadyaPradesh] along the south bank of the river
to the point of union with the Arabian sea [ at Vimleshwar, Bharuch district,
Gujarat]; crossing the river and walking back along the north bank to the point
of origin .
2.
The total
distance to be walked is 2600 km, considering the up & down
journey,The river flows for 1070 Km in MP, 75 Km in Maharashtra; and 205
Km in Gujarat. In some stretches, the landscape along the Narmada are thickly
forested mountain slopes;40 major tributaries join it and would have to be
crossed . It is common practice to go in groups of 4- 5 persons in view of the
long distances, forested route and other difficulties.
3.
Narmadha is considered a very sacred river.
There are many major religious centers along the river. For example Amarkantak,
Omkareshwar, Garudeshwar for Hindus; Mandav for muslims; Barwani for Jains. This
being a spiritual pilgrimage, certain disciplines are expected to be adhered
to:
·
Walking barefoot; walk only between sunrise and and sunset
·
Cannot carry any
money or valuables with you
·
Should
live on the food/ food articles offered by local populace or sought as
‘biksha’ from them. One is allowed to
ask biksha not more than 3 times. If food is not made available within this,
one has to forego food for that session.
·
Observe a vow of celibacy; Sleep on mat/
sheet/floor; should not shave or cut hair
·
No dirtying of river water; no use of soap or
oil
·
Be kind to all; no harsh words; do not lose
temper.
4.
Traditionally the parikrama is completed in 3
years-3 months-13 days. The
parikramavasis spend a few hours every day in the daytime to cook their food.
They halt at holy places along the way for a few days. During the 4 monsoon
months - the chaturmasya- one is expected to camp in one place.
5.
Parikrama practice is believed to have been
started by Sage Markandeya. There is a firm belief that the chiranjeevis in our
puranic lore –parasurama, hunuman, vibhishana, ashwathama, mahabali,
kripacharya, vyasa are continuously doing the Narmada parikrama and protecting
the Parikramavasis( hence the book title).
6.
The parikrama pathway is generally along the
bank of the river. For food one can go to the nearby village and seek biksha. The villagers along the
route feed the parikramavasis with
reverence; it is considered as an opportunity to serve God; Normally the groups carry cooking utensils with them,
the villagers or charitable
organizations provide items like rice, pulses, wheat flour, oil, chilli, salt ;
7.
As part of the whole process, the following has
to be done: at the source point collect Narmada water in a container and always
carry it with you during the trip. Prayer is to be offered to this water
everyday morning and evening. When crossing over from south bank to the north
bank at the mouth of the river, empty half
of the water in the container into the river and fill up again with
water from the river mouth. After reaching the source point again, empty half
of the water in the container and fill up again with water from the source.
8.
After completing the parikrama, on reaching
Amarkantak, one has to visit Jwaleshwar
temple and go round Mother’s Garden
before entering Narmada temple to reach
the Point of Origin. Then one has to visit Omkareshwar temple and offer the water
in the container to the Shivalinga deity there. This will mark the completion
of the exercise.
About
Capt.K.K.Venkatraman
1.
Was captain in the Kumaon regiment (6th
battalion)
2.
Saw action
in the western front during 1971 Indo-Pak war
3.
After release from army, Honorary worker at
Vivekananda Kendra, Kanyakumari
4.
During the period 1983 – 1993 was located in
Arunachal Pradesh; involved in the administration of the English medium schools
being run in the interior areas of the state by
Vivekananda Kendra, Kanyakumari
5.
Currently
does voluntary service at Ramakrishna Matha, Chennai.
6.
Is a
great fan of hindi film music (1945-1978 vintage)
Author’s
parikrama journey
·
Decided to undertake the parikrama alone rather
than in a group. The idea was to avoid the casual talk inevitable in a
group and keep the mind on spiritual
matters.
·
Carried two small shoulder bags with him to hold
the minimum essential items like
clothing, a mat for sleeping on, blanket and prayer book. It also included a few special
items like notebook & pencil with a blade for sharpening, a small stock of postcards and inland
letters. An important item was an 1.5 metre long wooden stick to identify and
avoid loose sand while crossing tributaries and to help in chasing away dogs.
·
Keeping his work commitments in mind, he planned to complete the whole exercise in
about 4 months, implying an average walk
of about 20 Km everyday and started the
parikrama on October 26. 1987.
·
The daily routine
o
Start walking
at sunrise after finishing
ablutions. No bath. Normally will get
tea from a village resident before he leaves. Walk for
10 to 12 km by noon.
o
Around noon stop at a village. People there
normally offer raw items like rice oil etc
for cooking. Since KKV was not conversant with cooking, people would
happily offer to serve him cooked food. Finish bath, wash and dry the used
clothes, have food.
o
He totally avoided post-lunch rest. Even the
talking with the hosts was done standing for fear that sitting down would tempt
one to lie down and then take a nap etc.
o
Cover another 10-12 km in the afternoon till
sunset.
o
Around sunset halt at wayside mandap or temple
on the bank of the river. The village folk generally visit the river bank to
know if any Parikramavasi is halting for the night. They enquire about their
food and arrange to feed them if necessary.
o
After
food there would be conversation with the village folk, with them evincing keen interest to know where he was from, what was his work etc.
Even though they did not have formal education,
they talked about our epics, efficacy of devotion, surrender to God etc.
Often he would join in the pooja, satsang in the village
o
At the end of the day, make notes on the day’s
events, distance covered, villages visited, people met etc.
·
A sample of experiences
·
On day 18 morning he declined an invitation for lunch from a person because he
had just covered 3 km and lunch time was a few hours away. The person, who was
headmaster of a school located 8 miles ahead on the parikrama route , insisted
that he would bring lunch for him to the school
and requested him to stop for
lunch at the school after his morning trip. So he had a warm welcome at the
school and had lunch with the staff. At
their request he addressed the children, talking to them about Arunachal Pradesh,
the Brahmaputra river, their Vivekananda Kendra schools in Arunachal. When he
took leave and left, the teachers, HM
and students walked along with him for quite a distance.
·
On another day, around noon he was passing thru a village. His first two
requests for biksha were unsuccessful.
He chose his person for the last chance at biksha very carefully – a house with
a small provision shop in the front and an elderly man sitting in the shop.
When asked for biksha, the shopkeeper offered to give raw food items. When he
confessed that he could not cook and requested for cooked food, the shopkeeper
lost his cool and said such people
should not be undertaking parikrama. The
author apologized and left. But soon enough he saw a woman running and calling out to him. Behind her was the
shopkeeper, obviously her husband. They apologized profusely and requested him
to honour them by having lunch at their
house. KKV had mentally made up his mind to go without food
that day as punishment for not
being able to adhere to the rule of self-cooking. However he felt that couple
were afraid of incurring his curse for turning him away and agreed to their
hospitality.
·
At one
stage the river flows thru a 100 km forest stretch. In this stretch the author
joined a small group of parikramavasis to have safety in numbers. The poor
forest inhabitants had the habit of stopping such travelers, taking away all
their belongings including the clothes worn and leaving them in minimum garments. To handle this, an
informal free luggage safekeeping service was available. The parikramavasi
leaves his belongings at the last village before entering the forest. He will
be able to collect them back when, on the
return sojourn along the north bank of the river, he reaches the spot
opposite to this villages, he sends a note thru the boatman who runs a regular ferry
service here. There was also an arrangement whereby a flour mill owner in the
village offered an empty gunny bag to each traveler for wearing after his dhoti
is taken away. On day 46 they entered
the forest. The group was stopped by the locals and asked to give their
possessions. Surprisingly, the author was spared, his dhoti was not taken away
and only the blade and matches in his possession were taken. For the group, the
next few nights they had to pass in the
forested region were very hard and trying. There were no temples/ mandaps and
they had to stay in the open, that too
without their blankets. The cold kept them awake most of the time and they
tried to occupy themselves singing bhajans.
·
On the day they emerged from the forested area,
they did not find any village where they could seek food. In the afternoon, from
across the river a couple of people called aloud to say that they would bring
cooking utensils and food items and asked for the number of people to be fed.
This arrangement was from the Dongre Maharaj ashram from inside the forest .
All the stuff arrived after about an hour and soon enough they all had a hearty
meal after more than 24 hours.
On day 130 reached Ramakrishna Math at Amarkantak after covering more than 2500 km and
completed the parikrama
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