SUNDAY, AUGUST 23, 2015 INTERNET EDITION : www.dailyexcelsior.com/magazineHHooww ttoo eeaatt??..........PPaaggee 44 SSttoorriieess ooff ppaaiinn aanndd ppaarrttiittiioonn..........PPaaggee 33

K.D. MainiSwami Budha Amarnath Temple is situated in between the main belt of Pir

Panchal range at Rajpura Mandi which is 25 kilometers on the north east ofPoonch city. This sacred place is located on the confluence of two gushingstreams namely Nallah Gagri and Pulsta Nadi. This place is surrounded bysnow bound lofty peaks, thick belt of fir forests (in the eastern side), lush greenpastures and crystal clear streams and nallahs. The climate of this attractiveand charming spot is very pleasant and cool. At present Swami Budha Amar-nath temple is connected with motorable road and it is 244 kilometers fromJammu.

The original temple has been constructed with one big stone. There arefour doors in the temple on the northern, southern, eastern and western sideswhich indicates that the doors of this shrine are open for all the four varnas.There is a natural Shivlinga of white stone (Chakmak) inside the temple. Num-ber of ancient idols collected from nearby villages are also installed in thepremises of the temple where there were four holy springs near the temple inthe past. At present the water of three springs has been diverted to fourth onewhich is on the southern side of the temple. The water of these springts isconsidered holy from religious point of view. The pilgrims first take bath in thisspring and then enter the temple for prayers.

This holy place has great religious importance. It is said that at this veryplace Lord Shiva had started narrating the Amar Katha to Parvati Ji which end-ed at Swami Amarnath located near Pahalgam Kashmir. This temple is con-sidered older than the Swami Amarnath Ji of Kashmir. This is why the shrineis known as Swami Budha Amarnath. It is believed that one must visit thissacred place before performing the yatra of Amarnath Kashmir.

A number of legends are famous in and around Poonch city regarding theeruption of this ancient temple. As per one legend, Mahatma Pulsat (the grand-father of King Ravana of Sri Lanka) meditated at this very place for a prettylong time. He was a devotee of Lord Shiva. There are a number of referencesin Neel Mat Puran about Pulsat Rishi. As per these references, Pulsat wasalso an artist and sculptor. He erected a number of images of God. One ofthe references in Neel Mat Puran is as under:-

'By seeing the Goddess erected by Pulsat, one is free from all his sins andgets highest knowledge'

The legend goes that Pulsat meditated with such devotion at Rajpura Man-di that Lord Shiva had given him Darshan at this very place. In the memoryof Darshana of Lord Shiva, Rishi Pulsat constructed the temple of Shiva anderected a lingum there. Since the Pulsats was a great Rishi, a sculptor hewas very popular among the habitants of this area. Therefore, after his deaththe people converted this small temple into a shrine. Later on this shrine tookthe name of Swami Budha Amarnath. Even now a number of idols of ancienttime are available in this area. It is possible that these idols may have beenerected by Pulsat Rishi.

There is a historical background of this area also. Swami Budha Amarnathtemple is hardly one kilometer north of Mandi which remained the place ofgreat importance for traders of Kashmir and rest of India upto 1452 AD. Fromthis very place the high mountains of Panchal range starts and it was not pos-sible for the Punjabi traders to cross over these mountains along with theirloaded horses and camels. On the other hand, Kashmiri traders were not ina position to accommodate themselves in the hot climatic conditions of Pun-jab. Therefore, the traders of both sides at this very spot for exchange of theirgoods for centuries together. It is said that these stalls were erected near thetemple of Swami Budha Amarnath and they were residing in the Sarai con-structed there. By this way, the temple of Swami Budha Amarnath alsoremained the centre of worship for centuries. But in one cloud burst the tem-ple came under heavy land slide and so it disappeared from the surface.

Again a legend goes that after the passage of centuries a hermit (sadhu)was a great devotee of Lord Shiva and was worshipping in a cave in theHimalayan range. By realizing his devotion, Lord Shiva once came in hisdream and told him that his prayer has been completed and accepted by him.

Now he must come out from the cave, then Lord Shiva directed the devoteeto go to the present Rajpura Mandi and asked him to explore his temple whichwas embedded in the earth. Next morning the Sadhu started traveling towardsRajpura, after sometime he reached there and started excavating and the topof the old temple came out from the earth. When Raja of Poonch came toknow about the eruption of the temple at Rajpura he sent his soldiers for fur-ther excavation. By this way, the ancient temple along with four holy springswere excavated from the earth. Then the Raja also visited along with Dar-baries and public and this place again became the centre of worship.

During the reign of Dogra Raja Moti Singh, (1850 to 1918 AD), this templewas renovated. In summer season, the Rajas of Poonch principality used toshift to Rajpura for some time and therefore, there remained great hustle bus-tle around the temple during the stay of Raja in this area. Raja and Rani werepaying frequent visits to this holy shrine. In this very period, the yatra of Char-ri Mubarak was started. In the past the sacred mace (Charri Mubarak) wasbeing carried from Dashnami Akhara Tetrinote presently in Pak occupationand also from Shivalaya Khakhanaban. But when the Dashnami Akhara wasrenovated by Dogra Rajas and it became a seat of Rajguru, then it was decid-ed to start the procession of Charri Mubarakh from Dashnami Akhara Poonchwhere Raja of Poonch participated in the Yatra of Charri Mubarakh.

Since then the procession is taking place from Akhara and this yatra ofCharri Mubarak is similar to the yatra of Swami Amarnath of Kashmir. In 1947,this area was captured by Pakistani forces, they tried to destroy this templebut they could not destroy it upto the last. Later on in 1948, this area wasrecaptured by the contingents of Dogra regiment of Indian forces under thecommand of Lt. Col. Mulak Singh. The temple was again renovated both bythe Army and local people.

Two days before the Mela, a religious congregationg held at DashnamiAkhara Poonch for Havan and Pooja of Charri Mubarakh. In this congrega-tion people from all walks of life come and pay tributes to the sacred madeafter bhajan, kirtan and pravachans (speech) of the Mahant of the Akhara, theprocession of Charri Mubarakh starts from Akhara in between the chanting ofbhajans and religious slogans. A guard of honour from Police contingents ispaid to Charri Mubarakh at the gate of the Akhara. The Swami Ji is being car-ried in a Palki by the devotees, along with the sacred mace. Thousands ofdevotees and hundreds of Sadhus accompany the procession which leadstowards Swami Budha Amarnath on foot. The main halt is at Chandak, (thename of the Chandaka Devi) where lunch is served to the yartis. While onthe way from Poonch to Mandi, a numbers of stalls remain erected for wel-coming the Charri Mubarakh and yatries. At Chandak, light drinks at all timesare served by a prominent Muslims of Chandak to yatries. The processionreaches Rajpura on the same day in the afternoon where it is received by thelocal people, sadhus and workers of the Trust after guard of honour by theBSF contingents at the gate of Swami Budha Amarnath, the Charri Mubarakhis taken to the main shrine in between the traditional rituals followed by theAarti of Lord Shiva.

This year, the Yatra is to conducted from 19th of August to 27th August inwhich the pilgrims from all over the country are expected to participate. How-ever the Charri Mubarakh Yatra shall start from Dashnami Akhara Poonch on27th August under the leadership of Maha Mandleshwar Swami VishavatamaAnand ji Maharaj. It is expected that Deputy Chief Minister Nirmal Singh shallsee off the Yatra from Dashnami Akhara Poonch which shall reach at SwamiBudha Amarnath Shrine on the same day after 25 Kms walk on foot.

SWAMI BUDHA AMAR NATH YATRA

Rumpy MadaanKites have a very ancient Kite tradition. Most people

believe that kites were brought into India by Chinese trav-eler FHien and Huin Tsang .The symbolism of this festivalis to show the awakening of Gods from their deep sleep.Though in Indian history it is said that Kite flying traditionwas started from Royalties and later followed by Nawabswho found the sport entertaining, over the years it becamea public sport.

Most popular among them is international kite festivalthat takes place in Gujarat, which takes place on 14th Jan-uary. The festival is called Uttarayan or Makar Sankranti .It becomes a public holiday. This International festival wasfirst celebrated in 1989 and people from across the globeparticipated. In the recent 2012 event, the international kitefestival was inaugurated by then Chief Minister Mr.Narinder Modi in the presence of Governor Dr. Kamla.

In Jammu, Kite flying is an important part of the cele-bration of Raksha Bandhan and Shri Krishana Janmash-tami

The Kite is called a 'guddi' and the string attached to itis called 'dor' or 'manjha'. Crowded roof tops and fun lov-ing rivalry to out do each other sounds like fun and harm-less sport. The trouble is that who so ever has seen thekite runner, knows that kite flying can be extremely com-petitive and cut throat.

KILLER KITESThe killer kites use glass coated manjha to sever their

competitor's strings. Their other causalities include Birdswings and breasts and even human throats. Every yearbird sanctuaries are called to assist thousands of pigeons,cows, Owls, hawks and other birds who have been badlymaimed. Pedestrians and people riding on bicycles andscooters have also been injured and even killed. 5 peopleincluding 2 children, were killed and nearly 250 peopleinjured in one state alone during previous Makar Sankran-ti .To make matters worse the Chinese made plastic man-jha has joined the gang, Making kite flying a National Haz-ard to Humans, Birds and Environment.

The Chinese manjha may have come from china, but itis said to be made in India. Bad enough that it is used, butworse when abandoned in branches of the trees eitherwhen cut, or when kite flying for the day is over. The birdsdo not notice it and in an effort to escape from its clutch-es, flap their wings in panic and the manjha cuts deeper allthe while, resulting in painful amputation and death. If man-jha hits an electricity pole it can easily transmit electricitybecause the kite strings would have positively gatheredmoisture and be damp, more likely wet, and worse it con-tains metal. In January 2014 in Nagpur, a man who wasriding a scooter that too without helmet on, suddenly bledto death after his neck was slashed with manjha.

Many NGOs have taken up the issue. In 2009-2010 itwas banned in cities like Chennai and Mumbai, butGujarat"2010 Uttarayan went ahead with kites battling inthe sky. Five humans and hundreds of birds also battledfor their lives and died.

In 2011 manjha for flying kites was banned in Ludhiana,Jagraon and Khanna rural districts of Punjab. Also a dayafter Makar Sankranti that year , police banned the saleand use of Chinese kite- strings in Amritsar city and dis-trict, because it was responsible for the death of a personand nearly half a dozen were injured by it.

Similarly, in Jaipur 250 kite flying accidents occurred in2011- 30 of which mainly were children. 81 birds were res-cued whereas 16 died due to manjha injuries, howevermanjha did not spare some critically endangered specieslike white backed vultures-eight were injured aroundAhmadabad. And at Bhavnagar twenty painted storks dieddue to Chinese manjha

2014 Uttarayan resulted in 1904 injured and 490 deadbirds at Ahmedabad alone. In 2015 Gujarat reported 2789mishaps related to kite flying. One person died in Amrai-wadi, after he slipped and fell trying to avoid manjha com-ing his way. In fact 76 road accidents, 22 cases of assault,21 slit throats and 38 cases of falling off the terraces, while

flying kites were reported from Ahmedabad.The ban of Chinese thread has already been put on the

table. The Govt. is yet to take action on it. It will take time.Manjha ban has also been put forward by PETA. It is a mat-ter that involves the Govt. since it would involve shuttingdown factories and shops, which also leads to unemploy-ment and human rights issues. so we need to keep push-ing the matter with the Government. Hopefully in a fewyears , the ban will be implemented. The Govt. will have togive compensation to families who lose their factories andbusiness due to this ban.

AWARENESS AND ACTIONIf we leave the legalities of the issue on hand and think

about the harm this killer manjha is going to do to thehumans and birds alike this coming festivals of RakshaBandhan and Janamastami. Let's join hands to make thisfestival free from harm and injuries say no to this killerthread or Chinese plastic manjha and use cotton threadsto fly kites and celebrate this kite festival in Jammu andKashmir. Motivate your fiends not to buy this lethal kite fly-ing thread.

KITE SAFETY

Whether you are flying alone or in a busy park, it is goodto remember the 3 C's of kite safety, caution, courtesy, andcommon sense.

Parks and playgrounds can be crowded, with many dif-ferent activities competing for space. it is each kite flier'sresponsibility to fly safely.

Consideration of othersDo not fly very close to or over roads where drivers could

be distracted.Do not fly noisy kites in crowded placesBe careful not to scare animals, particularly horses with

riders.Be careful not to fly where you might scare nesting birds.Use cotton thread for flying kite and avoid killing help-

less birds and humans.Kite lines conduct electricity so do not fly near over-

head power lines.Let Kite flying be a Fun as it used to be in old days , say

no to Killer Kites .Its better to be safe than sorry,Little compassion in your heart can Save so many lives

this kite Season.

Killer Kites