Enlightening Pilgrimage of Indian Heritage

A Wish That Came Through

(From the Travelogues of Mathew D. Kunnappilly)

At Gaya

Now, our problem was to find a place to stay. You cannot find a lodge with clean surroundings, at least in the area I looked for one. There is a limit to what you can do without knowing the language. After checking in three other lodges we found the fourth one fairly clean. So we checked in.

After cleaning and changing, and had some breakfast, we set out to explore the city in an auto rickshaw. We got the auto rickshaw arranged by the manager of the lodge.

Gaya is an ancient city. Until you SEE Gaya, you may never comprehend the meaning ancient We use many words, like eternity and infinity, without understanding the real meaning of it. We may have an intellectual understanding of it but never a realistic grasp of it.

Everything in Gaya looks very, very old. Even the railway station which cannot be that old. I hardly had seen any new buildings. The streets cannot be called roads for they are so narrow. The allies are not as wide as our hallways. If you are walking through one of those allies and another person comes from the opposite direction, both cannot pass each other without waking side ways. There are dwellings on either side of the walls like catacombs. There are small brick houses. Here and there are some two-story houses. Some big houses with walls around it are there too. But all look so
ancient.

If there are newer suburban Gaya, I had not seen it.

I must say that I had not seen a dirtier and filthier town than Gaya. There are no sewers. Everyone throw all the rubbish out on to the street. It is ankle deep dirt, mud, rubbish, and filth anywhere you go. The pigs plow through it all the time. The stench is horrible. It seemed that there is no garbage removal. They are piled up high in every corner. I think that the recent flooding has contributed greatly to this miserable condition. A major festival was about to start. Busloads of people have started coming in. People were even riding on top of the buses, like we see it in movies. In preparation for that festival, some effort to clean the streets was going on. The small bulldozers were scooping those garbage piles that made the whole city stink.

The city is not very big. One can walk from north end to south end, or from east end to west end, or even diagonally, in about one hour.

In sanctity Gaya is second only to Varanasi. Hindus believe that if one dies in Varanasi and the body is cremated at Manikarnika Ghat his soul will go straight to Brahma and will never have to be born again. A sort of front door to eternal salvation. If that is so, Gaya is the back door to the same place. If someone offer Pindas (Funeral cakes) and perform Sratha here at Vishnupada Temple his ancestor’s soul will attain the same destination.

Gaya was part of ancient Magadha Kingdom. The most important thing in the city is the Vishnupada Temple. It is built over the footprints of Lord Vishnu. It is carved out of a solid boulder. It is an octagonal building, 100ft high, with a pyramidal roof, which culminates into a single golden pinnacle.

The Temple sits on a mound. There are buildings, newer in look, around it. Of course, you can go in only bear footed. The ground is stone paved. People are pouring in every second. Hindus come in from all over the world. The pujas, offering of Pindas and Sratha ceremonies are going on continuously. The whole compound is a mess. It smells so bad. Generally speaking, Hindu Temples are dirtier than other places of worship that I had seen. There are several reasons for this condition. First and foremost is the fact that only in Hindu Temples liquid and solid foods are allowed in. These are not for them to eat and drink, but for the Deity. Only Hindu Gods prefer food and drinks. All other Gods prefer MONEY. When the floor is constantly wet, food items are spilled on it, and people walked over it, it is a natural consequence. Second, the cleaning is not a collective and joint duty. It is a selected duty for a selected group. If they would not do it, the filth may stay there. Another reason is that the cleaning is not systematic. And are many other reasons.

At Vishnupada Temple, food and water are brought in constantly. The food is mixed on the Vishnu’s foot prints which are in a depression on the floor right in front of the Sri Kovil(Main Sanctuary) Then offered to the Deity. Then thrown out. Here, the crows and the dogs are so choosy. If the food does not appeal to them they do not eat but scatter it all over. At least one whole week's left over, food and banana and other leaves, are piled up there.

There is a lotus pond in front of the Temple but that was not kept clean either.

There was nothing else to see. But I decided to see the exterior of the temple by going around the Temple.

Holy Lord, alas, there it was.

Next - Shiva Lingam