Many kilometers inside 'Gango' in Saharanpur (UP), there are two Dargah (A dargah (Persian: درگه) is a Sufi shrine built over the grave of a revered religious figure, often a Sufi saint). One of them is named Mamu ki Dargah, which is situated further in the interiors, through the narrow, meandering, dingy lanes of the small town, hardly wide enough for a jeep to travel at one time. It is said to be frequented by devotees from Karnal, while visitors from Delhi tend to prefer Dargah of Qutub-ud-deen.
The day wore a cool bathed look right from the word go... the air was chilled and highly invigorating when we left for Gango (Saharanpur) in the darkness of the fresh dawn.
On the roads of Uttar Pradesh in a hired Qualis, the stop overs during the trip were not planned.
It was only incidental that we spotted the Bhagwan Adinath temple called Rishabhanchal on the Ghaziabad-Modinagar highway. The Digambar Jain temple stands adjacent to an equally big but much more prominent Lord Shiva temple with a pure white Shankh (an Indian conch shell) on its top. Thank God we spotted it just in time, because it was truly a delight to be at.
The temple has two darshans (sight of idols for obeisance), one in a small room on the ground floor and another one upstairs in a long wide hall. The seating deity of the temple is the first tirthankar of the Jain religion, Bhagwan (Lord) Adinath ji alias Rishabh dev ji.
The weather was adding to the gorgeous feel of the place. The concrete floor was enveloped with dry yellow wet leaves. Portions of floor had dried and much of it was still wet. The earth in the small garden in the temple complex was smelling sweet. The blooming red roses in the garden were looking brighter red. The typical temple ambiance was filling our hearts with joy. Children were the best mirror to reflect the ecstasy.
The journey grew more beautiful as we progressed towards Muzzaffarpur from Merrut. To compliment the weather overwhelmingly, the road ran along a spectacular stretch of fields on one side and a river on the other. The peacocks in the fields were in a mood to dance, inspired by the breezy, drizzling and chilly weather.
The panorama was particularly amusing for Vasu and Darsh who any day cherish spotting peacocks. Even a doubt of a peacock tail in the farthest landscape renders them jumping in their seats with excitement.
We stopped over at Khatholi for breakfast at a very well maintained Cheetal restaurant.
The restaurant is situated in the center of a sprawled area plush with rows of flowering plants and healthy palm trees. The entire area is decorated with millions of pots blooming with white, yellow, pink, purple and orange flowers. There is a bird zoo inside that houses various kinds of hens, cocks and their chicks. The chicks have been kept in separate cages away from their parents with a bright yellow bulb for warming up (incubating) the cage.
Vasu, Darsh and I thoroughly enjoyed paying a visit to each cage, one by one.
The variety of hens and cocks we got to saw here was actually stunning.
Vasu and Darsh ran around from cage to cage shrieking with exhilaration.
We left the place with a heavy heart. Had to.
To our utter surprise, there was something more thrilling awaiting us. As we arrived in the Muzzaffarpur city, dad spotted the gate to Vehalana, the Atishaya Kshetra (a place that has witnessed a religious miracle) devoted to Tirthankar Bhagwaan Parsvanath ji. Hardly a few kilometers drive inside the gates led us to the temple complex of Vehalana.
The rainy weather continued to be drizzly wet and chilly that added to the gorgeous and pious appeal of the place.
The child inside me was out of control and so were my children.
They ran around and slipped on the wet hard floor again and again.
Tiny Darsh could not really control himself on the frictionless floor and fell at least five times!
*******Thump!!!!!!!!! ********Thump!!!!!!!!! *********Thump!!!!!!!!! ********Thump!!!!!!!! **********Thump!!!!!!!!!!!
There was a pleasant well maintained garden in the courtyard of the temple complex.
While Darsh went really nervous on the back of one of them, Vasu was his cheerful best as he took the ride.
The journey to Gango was a long and tiring one. We reached there by early evening. It was our first ever experience of any muslim shrine.
They offer chadar (piece of cloth), some eatables, some incense sticks, bindi, bangles, all served in a small basket made up of thin bamboo sticks. What I found indigestible was an accompanying broomstick in every basket, as an offering to the tomb of Mamu.
Though it was different, it was also similar to a Hindu temple. A qazi (priest) coordinated the entire scheme of paying offerings and obeisance and guided us throughout.
On our way back home, we were suggested to go via Karnal, rather than going through the entire train of UP cities.
And that led to our vehicle going past a fairly wide sprawl of the dried river Yamnua's catchment area on wheels!!!
Going through the river basin was so thrilling and one of its kind experience; thrilling truly.
And then the kucchcha road to the highway was a broad spread of earth with golden fields on either sides, flowing to and fro with the pleasant wind. We actually plucked some bulbs of wheat plants. I extracted wheat grains from each one of them scrupulously and Vasu was very alert to not to miss eating them all almost alone. I tasted a few myself and they were nice and sweet.
Way to home was actually not long after that.
