03 - September, Gangotri,

continued

It turns out that Sunil and I really enjoyed each others company. He asked me to come and stay with him and his father in Gangotri. (His mom had passed away) I was happy at his invitation. Gangotri is a very beautiful place. It has a walkway that leads all the way to the main temple. Along the walkway are villagers selling all sorts of amenities. To the far right will be the Ganges flowing fast and loud. On the other side of her banks are many Ashrams where pilgrims take rest. In the old days, many pilgrims would make the journey to Gangotri via foot. Many of them from all over India, including the Southern most part. This would mean years on the road for some. This gives one an idea of how special this place is. It is believed to be charged with the energy of many an aspirant, many a seeker, many a holy man throughout the ages.

Ganga Ma Temple - More than 300 years old

If this is true, i can certainly understand why everything here feels so ethereal to me. I walked with Sunil and he took me straight to the temple where he did his prostrations. The temple is an amazing white stone structure said to be over 300 years old. I bent down to kneel outside the temple gate and i could feel my body shaking. It caught me off guard and i did not know why. I was also a little light headed and Sunil could see the look of bewilderment on my face. He smiled at me and said, come on lets go. It was an encounter for me. I had never had this reaction in any of the other places i had been so far. For Sunil, it was another day of coming home to Mother to say hello and then off to play.

We then walked to his house, a simple two-roomed building on a hill to the left of the Ganges if you stood on her banks and were facing the source. From his house you could see everything, all the other village houses, the main temple, the Ganges and the other Ashrams. If one veered off into the distance, one could see what looked like cave dwellings of holy men in the distance. Yes!!!! In fact there were Caves that were clearly visible in the mountains; and yes some of them looked like they were being inhabited. Excitement began to rise within me. My oh my what a day for an adventure.