Traveling is something that has always fascinated me. I always wanted to travel but due to the hap hazards of life could not do so. It was also not far that I wanted to convert this fascination of mine into a profession by becoming a traveler but had no luck in this field (as had no clue of the sources from where to get such jobs).Despite of all the odds I have managed to travel some rare heritages of India. Be it from the small but beautiful town of Maharashtra named Dhulia or be it Binsar in the Himalayan regions. Well places like Binsar have come into lime light in a small time span and are well known among those who are always larking for natural beauty and peace but today am not there to let to know about one of my experiences of such but today will try to take you to a place called GAYA.
Gaya, may be known to some due to its religious belief among the Hindu’s....a place for the salvation of the souls of our ancestors. There are many mythological stores related to this place, which tell, as to how this place came into existence, its past history, why Gaya is so important for the souls salvation of our loved ones, and many more. Such stories can be easily surfed on different internet platforms and a few relevant ones I will be covering in this write up for all my readers. Don’t worry... I will not be taking you in a session of history neither will I provide you knowledge over the topographical aspects of this historical place but will try to show you the rare picture, scenes, the cutler, the people out there or better can say the traditional India that I saw on my visit to Gaya. What I will be telling you about Gaya and the stories related to it might be possible that many might have had heard about but for many it could be totally new. Besides making you aware about the mythologies of this place I will try to sketch before you a picture of the old and simple houses of Gaya and the narrow lanes of this city. Before I take you on this short trip, let me show you the beautiful picture of the Gaya’s market place.
These lanes are near the massive Lord Vishnu temple (well known as Vishnupad Mandir) Lord Vishnu is said to be the divine deity of the place. So now when you have seen a glimpse of the place that I will be telling so without wasting any time lets fasten our seat belts and set forth on our journey to GAYA.
My trip to Gaya was a short one,one that was allegedly for three days, where I had to accompany my family members who were moving towards Gaya to perform the Shraadh rituals (Pind Daan) of my grandparents. I had no clue as to how this place would be but on the contrary was also exited to check out the place because my trip to Gaya situated in Bihar was a totally new one. I quickly packed my stuff and our train reservations were made. But before we could start on to this journey, unfortunately due to some technical glitches the train was canceled. To this, some of my family members were looking for other sources to reach the place while the others were thinking to just postpone the trip, but on the other hand it was important to carry out the rituals cause the days on which we had decided to go there were the days on which the Shraadh are usually carried out(as per the religious believes, in the whole year these fifteen days were the right time the souls of our ancestors are worshiped and those souls which have not received their salvation get it in these days).Well if you ask about me... I simply did not want to miss this chance of exploring a new place so I came up with an idea of hitting Gaya by road.., to which all agreed. Though it might be a tiring journey but taking a few stoppages on the way would make it a bit easier.
It was difficult to arrange a cab in such a small span of time but I was able to get hold of a gentleman named Mr.Dilbagh Singh, the owner of a travel company in Alambagh (Lucknow). He arranged for us an SUV that reached our place by the preferred time. So to avoid the day traffic we started our journey in the night.
It took us one and a half day to reach Gaya cause we made a days stay at Varanasi, to carry start on with the Shraadh puja we had to perform a small ritual at ‘PISHACH MOCHAN KUND’Varanasi. After the ritual was carried out successfully.... we also visiting a few temples and Ghats... took a hotel room for change and shower, filled up our bellies with some remarkably delicious food served at Spicy Tadka restaurant of Varanasi(a must visit restaurant), rested and set back on our road trip to Gaya.
We did not spend more than a day in Varanasi cause we had to complete the puja in Gaya that to on a fixed day and more over it wouldn’t have had been easy for us cause going there we had to find a PANDA or PANDIT who will be doing the puja ( by enchanting the mantras and telling what and how we had to do the puja) and as told and guided by the others who had already don’t the puja there, it’s very difficult to find the “right one” but the only relaxation we had was that I had already made the rooms bookings. Since room at Gaya were not available ( due to the Shraadh) so willingly or unwillingly I had done the hotel booking in Bodhgaya, yes.. though on the out skits of Gaya but approximately 15.7 km, which was just a half an hour drive, rather its my personal suggestion to the ones traveling east to Gaya specially during the rush hours of the year to opt for room bookings in Bodhgaya cause they are easily available at reasonable prices.
Well... much of the hit around the bushes lets inculcate something about Gaya and its background. Gaya, a small town of developing India is located in the northeast of Bihar, situated on the banks of river “Falgu”.
To Be Continued.....