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KAILASH YATRA
By:
DESRAJ KATAL
Historical Perspective
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Kailash
Yatra began from Gatha where the CM was conspicuous by his presence
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Kailash
is not the name of only a particular religious place it in fact, is the
name of the vast mountain range housing a number of religious places on
it. According to Vasuki Puran, the holy Mount Kailash locally called as
Kaplas once used to be the abode of Lord Shiva who on the request of
Vasuki Naag gave it to him and himself went to Mount Manimahesh making it
his permanent abode. There
are different stories related to Lord Shiva gifting Kailash to Vasuki
Naag. According to one
theory, Lord Shiva gifted his abode, Kailash to Vasuki Naag because he
was pleased by the hard worship that the latter had undergone to please
the former. According to second theory, when Vasuki Naag chased by his
enemy called Yakhsh went to Kailash and requested Lord Shiva to protect
him from his enemy, Lord Shiva gave him shelter in the holy lake. There,
Vasuki Naag underwent a rigorous worship pleased by which Lord Shiva
gifted his abode, the Kailash Mount and various lakes to Vasuki Naag. Yet
another legend suggests that when Garur and Vasuki Naag became friends
after the Jimutvahan episode, the latter handed over the throne to the
former and went to Mount Kailash for spending his last days in the
worship of God. The second theory how-ever, seems to be most relevant
because it is duly supported by ancient marks on the rocks enroute
Kailash yatra. The holy mace of Kailash yatra begins its journey from
Gatha temple of Vasuki Naag at 8 O’ clock in the morning of Duadshi
of Shukla paksh (Aug./Sep.) every year. At Nagar Bhadarwah
it is joined by thousands of people accompanying the holy mace of the
main Vasuki temple. The joint procession of the two maces reaches Niaoji
temple on the outskirts of the town. After resting here for a while,
the procession of the holy mace after passing through green paddy fields
and paying obeisance at Shiv Temple at Gagal and Kali Naag at Sungli
reaches Jaslote plateau the place where prince Jimutvahan had offered his
sacrifice to save Nagas from Garur. A small temple of Jasloo Devta is
built here in memory of prince Jimutvahan. The procession of the holy
mace stays there for a while and then continues its on ward journey. After passing through a thick
forest of Deodar, the holy mace reaches Hayan where ruins of an
ancient Naag temple (Marhi) speak their tale of woes. The procession
stays here for he night and remains awake amidst holy slogans and
devotional songs of Vasuki Naag on the beats of drums. In the morning,
the procession begins its on ward journey. Though the trek passes through
dense forests the journey is arduous being steep.
At Gaopaida the procession stays for a
while and the yatris quench their thirst with the icy cold water
of the nearby Jigar gad. At Gaopeda presence of marks of
the hoofs of a cow on a rock give legitimacy to the theory that at that
place Vasuki Naag had assumed the form of a cow in a bid to dodge his
enemy, Yakhsh. By the time the holy mace reaches Ramtund the yatris are almost exhausted.
 Ramtund is a small plateau from where Mount Kailash and the
entire route leading to it are visible because due to high altitude the
area is barren and there is no tree found there. At Ramtund there
is a rock shaped as God Ganesha locally called as Ganoka. Legend
says that this is the gate way to the mountain range of holy Kailash.
Next to Ganoka there is another rock with foot marks of Lord
Vishnu. Then comes Shagerhni. These are two rocks in the form of
two women carrying their babies on their backs and baskets of wild vegetables
collected by them on their heads. According to the legend, chased by his
enemy, Vasuki Naag while on his way to Kailash had turned the two ladies
into stone by his spiritual powers because they had made a joke of him. A
little away from Shagerhni there is yet another rock in the form
of a man. It is said to be statue of Lord Brahma. Enroute to Kailash at Bolal
there is a large boulder, which can be seen from Bhadarwah and its
adjoining areas with naked eyes. The stone is called as Ghori in
local parlance. It is said that when Vasuki Naag, fleeing for life looked
back after reaching that place, he saw no signs of Yakhsh who had
been left far behind. Tired as he was, Vasuki Naag went atop the big
boulder to take some rest there. And soon he fell asleep. When Yaksh saw
Vasuki Naag sleeping, his joy knew no bounds, but as it was unholy to
kill an enemy when he was asleep, Yaksh decided to wait for Vasuki
Naag to become awake. But being tired, he too fell asleep. After some
time when Vasuki Naag woke up he was shocked to see his enemy sleeping
beside him. At that time a stream of tears rolled down his cheeks making
deep marks on the rock, which are present even today to tell that the
above story has substance in it. Vasuki Naag stealthily climbed down the
rock leaving Yakhsh in deep sleep and hastily marched ahead. But
it was equally unholy to run away from the enemy when he was asleep,
which was not acceptable to Vasuki Naag. So after walking a little
distance, Vasuki Naag blew up Shankh to wake up Yakhsh from
deep slumber. To prove the story true, a Shankh still exists there
from which suddenly water springs out even today as soon as the holy mace
reaches there. The vast and sprawling plateau hence called as Shankh
Padhar. Another ancient mark in the way is in the form of Saadhu Marhi
in its original form existing even today. It is also believed that
Shandli Rishi had gone for rigorous worship here and the place hence is
also known as Shandli Ashram. It is the last historical mark before
reaching the holy Kailash Kund about half a mile distant from here.
Legend goes that when Vasuki Naag reached
Kailash, the abode of Lord Shiva, he requested the Lord to protect him
from Yakhsh. Conceding to his humble request, Lord Shiva asked Vasuki
Naag to slip into the holy Kund. When Yakhsh came to know that Vasuki was
hiding in the lake, he started drinking the water of the lake to make it
dry. However he could not succeed in doing so because when the lake was
about to dry, Gouri Mata, the consort of Lord Shiva broke the walls of
her own lake called Gouri Kund situated above Kailsh Kund thereby filling
Kailash Kund once again. Desperate as he was, Yakhsh left his job half
way in frustration and went away. After sometime, Vasuki Naag came out of
the lake and expressed his gratitude to both Lord Shiva and his consort,
Goura Mata. He also made a fervent request to give a place in Kailash
where he could keep himself safe from his enemy. Benevolent as he has
been, Lord Shiva once again acceded to the request of Vasuki Naag and
gave the entire range of Kailash mountain along with all lakes including
Kailash Kund to Vasuki Naag as a gift and himself went away to settle in
Manimahesh range of Mountain, which can be seen from mount Kailash as if
it was just at an arms length.
In Vasuki Puran, Vasuki Naag has been
described as a noble person and a popular King. When his subjects came to
know that he had made Kailash as his abode, they went in the form of a
procession to request him to return. But since Vasuki Naag had decided to
spend remaining days of his life in the worship of God, he declined to
return. The disappointed procession returned home, but went to Kailash
every year in a bid to persuade their king to return home. The practice
finally became an annual event and continues even today to be called as
Kailash Yatra.
The traditional yatra dates back to
prehistoric period therefore it may be described as a myth, but when seen
in the background of different ancient marks on stones and rocks en route
to Kailash Kund, it can genuinely be called as a historical truth.
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