Ancient City of Allahabad

In February this year, we had the fortune to visit Allahabad. We were attending my cousin’s marriage and since the girl was from Allahabad, the marriage was taking place there. First we went to Agra and from there the entire entourage of family and friends took an overnight train to Allahabad. The journey was good. Baba had met up with many of his childhood friends who were part of the marriage party and the seniors were having a great time. The kids were asked to sleep early as the next day would be very tiring one and there will be no chance to rest. The rest of us were having our own fun. There was some singing and joking and the usual festivities usually associated with an Indian marriage. Finally, well past midnight, one of the co passengers requested us to keep quiet and we also realised that it was quite late and one by one we went to sleep.

The train reached Allahabad at around 7 in the morning. It was the day after the final day of the Ardh Kumbh Mela which was on the 2nd of Feb, 2007. The station was full of saffron clad sadhus returning from there visit to the Holy Ganges. Also, lots of pilgrims on there way back after they had taken a dip in the Ganges. Bala, who is very perceptive of these things, felt a lot of positive energy on getting down at the station. I cannot say that I felt the same but I definitely did not feel as irritated as I usually feel in a crowded place, especially a station. There was the usual confusion that prevails when the Grooms party of around 45 to 50 people land at the Bride’s place. Many biscuits and cups of tea later, we made our way to the hotel where our stay was organised. All the small units of family were given separate rooms and we all retired to our respective rooms to bathe and freshen up. Some cousins of mine were already there and among them Baba’s elder brother’s son. He and Bala hit it off quite well right from the word go.

We all freshened up and made our way to eat some breakfast. The whole day was packed with lots of rituals which finally culminated in the marriage ceremony in the night.

Bala and my cousin wanted to go to the “Sangam”, which is the point where the three Holy Rivers of Ganga, Jamuna and Saraswati meet. It is supposed to be a very beautiful and a very charged place. I, of course, would not be left behind. We planned to go in the afternoon but never made it. Then someone suggested that we go in the night as it is a very beautiful sight at night especially it being the day after a Full Moon night. We never managed it in the night as well as it was too late and we were too tired. It was decided that we will go early morning the next day. At around 5 am Bala woke me up and called my cousin’s room to wake him up. We quickly got ready and left at around 5.15 am.

In the North, there are shops which are open throughout the day and the night where you have these huge vessels on the fire where the milk is continuously boiled with sugar and the thick cream that gets formed is pushed to the sides. There are these huge pot bellied people managing this who are called Halwais. The thick cream known as Rabri is then taken out and served in small earthen pots. These shops also serve hot milk and cold lassi in long glasses which are really great.

My cousin headed straight for one of these shops across the road from the hotel and had a glass of milk. Bala and I had some nice tea. Then we went in search of transport that will take us to Sangam. We managed to fix one of the eight seaters for the up and down journey. It was a 10 minute drive from where we were staying and we reached the banks of the River Ganges at around 5.40 am.

We had to take a small walk to reach the shore of the water. We passed an old fort which houses an ancient underground temple. On reaching the waters, we learnt that we will have the wait as the boat takes around 8 – 10 people and we were only three. We did not want company and hence we decided to hire the entire boat only for us. It was a little expensive but well worth the experience. By this time it was around 5.50 am and the Sun was slowly making its way up while the Moon was not yet ready to leave the scene and caught in between these two giants was our tiny boat making its way to the Sangam.

It was a sight that I had never seen before. The Moon, which was almost a Full Moon and the Sun were in the sky at the same time. I looked to my right and saw the Moon and then to my left and there was the Sun. You could look at the sun as it was still very early and it was not yet very bright. And right above our heads there were hundreds of white birds flying all over and making tiny little noises. The only other noise was the sound of the oars falling gently into the water with a tiny splash. It was an experience and a half. Added to this we had a boatman, the one who was rowing us to the Sangam point, who was a very friendly man and has been doing this work since he was a young boy. His ancestors have been doing the same work before him for hundreds of years. He was also very talkative and started telling us the legends around the place.

It was a treat to hear him talk. One of the several things he told us was that the River Saraswati no longer flows on top of the earth. It was a curse from Mother Sita that made the great Saraswati go underground. That the Saraswati flows underground may be true as some satellite pictures have shown a water channel below the earth at that place. But for the boatman to know of this and talk of this was something different. The Sangam, as is the case now, is the meeting point of only Ganga and Jamuna as the Saraswati does not flow above ground anymore.

Soon we reached the point that we had come all the way to visit. The Sangam. There was a small barricade installed where the boats get tied and people bathe at that point. We did not want to take the plunge and just asked the boatman to row us very slowly. You could actually see the point where the two rivers meet as they had opposite currents. It was beautiful and serene. We had some cans which we had bought to carry back the Holy water and my cousin filled these up. By this time the Sun was a little brighter and the Moon was gone. The birds still danced and sang around. The oars made wonderful music with the water. I don’t think any of us wanted to leave that place. It was one of those times which remain etched in your memory eternally.

But then all good things have to end and so we made our way back to the shore. On reaching terra firma we walked to the fort and were told that we can go inside and see the temple.

We entered the fort and had to walk thru a walkway sloping upward and reached a courtyard. There was a huge tree in the middle of the courtyard which was half hidden under the ground. We were told that you can see the bottom half of the tree from inside the temple. Since it is an underground temple, to go inside it, we had to descend a few steps and go down. Amazing is not the word for what we saw…. Assembled all around were some 40 idols of various Gods and just by looking at these idols you could say that they were ancient. Never saw these kinds of idols anywhere else. The shapes and forms were unique…. First time I saw an idol of Hanumanji with Ram and Lakshman on his shoulders… there was writing on a board which said that a Chinese traveller who had visited India around the 6th century mentioned this temple in his travelogues. This meant that this temple already existed 1500 years back and probably stood there from much before. And then there was the bottom part of the tree that we could see from inside. And it was amazing to see the temple built around that tree……… we were there for around 30 minutes and then reluctantly made our way up.

The next stop was a Hanumanji temple on the banks of the river that again is unique. Here the idol is a huge one with Hanumanji carrying the mountain in his left hand and his mace in the right hand and leaping into the air. It is saffron in colour. Now I may be asked what is so unique about this posture which is quite a common one. The uniqueness lay in the fact that this idol was in a lying position. It was flat on the ground. There were doors leading in and out near the head and feet of the idol and steps that descend down to where He lay. There were railings all around Him and you could look at him from there. It was an awesome sight. Bala, as I mentioned earlier, is quite perceptive and said that the place was charged. He took a long time coming out. My cousin was also quite awed by the place and said that it was the first time that he had tears in his eyes while visiting a temple. There were of course legends attached to this temple. One said that when the British were here, they had tried to pull the idol into a standing position but after several attempts gave up. Another said that when there is high tide, the Ganges comes up to this temple and washes over the idol and goes back. It never goes beyond this temple. Incredible, right? But true.

It was time to go. Though we did not want to, but time constraint forced us to head back to the hotel. We had a train at 12 noon that would take us back to Agra and people at the hotel would be wondering where we were. So we sat in the same 8 seater and travelled back each immersed in his own thoughts of the experiences of the morning. We arrived at the hotel and had a nice breakfast. There were some ceremonies to be completed after which we packed and made our way to the station and bade good bye to Allahabad which will always remain in my mind as a place where in a very short time I had experienced a lot.