Uttarakhand’s highly auspicious pilgrimage, the Nanda Devi Raj Jat Yatra, held once in 12 years and considered the Kumbh of the Himalayas, faces cancellation on account of the relentless fury of the rivers. The Char Dham Yatra was the first to be cancelled when torrential rains fell in June; on August 1 the State Government officially cancelled the Kailash Mansarovar Yatra.
Now the Nanda Devi Raj Jat Yatra, scheduled to begin on August 29, faces the axe. Reeling from the catastrophe and its inability to cope, the State Government quietly withdrew from the Yatra organising panel a week ago. But after Almora Sub Divisional Magistrate (SDM) Ajay Arora fell into the Mandakini (his body could not be recovered), the Government received flak from all quarters for its abject failure to manage the situation and began to exert pressure on the organisers to ‘postpone’ the Yatra as serious problems, including damaged roads along the route, are anticipated if the Yatra commences as per schedule.
Though the organisers have not responded so far, local residents anticipate cancellation given the overall situation in the State. The Yatra involves an arduous 280-km trek within 19 days, from Nauti village near Karn Prayag (one of the Panch-Prayags of Uttarakhand) in Chamoli district. It ends at Hom Kund at the bottom of Trishul Parbat near Mount Kailash, where Nanda married Shiva.
The journey, which must be accomplished on foot (the devout walk bare foot despite the difficult terrain), covers picturesque but treacherous terrain through Bedini Bugyal, Roopkund lake, and the perilous Jyura Gali Pass (on Nanda Ashtami). Without rescue support from the State Government, it is dangerous and difficult to conduct the Yatra. The organisers have already asked elderly and physically weak persons to desist from the pilgrimage.
Nanda Devi (and her twin, Sunanda Devi) is the highest Himalayan peak that is wholly in India. As supreme deity of Garhwal and Kumaon regions, Devi is believed to visit her maternal home in the Himalayas during Bhadrapad (August – September), an occasion of joy for the people. The Yatra symbolizes the people of her locality escorting her back to her marital home after her visit to her mother’s home ends.
The procession is led by a four-horned ram that is mysteriously born in a neighbouring village once in 12 years. On arrival at Hom Kund, the murti of Devi, carried in a palanquin, is immersed after prayers. The ram takes the gifts made by the devout and disappears into the mountains. The people return without looking back.
It is widely held that Adi Sankaracharya, who rebuilt the Kedarnath temple and whose samadhi was washed away in the apocalyptic floods ravaging the State, launched the Nanda Devi Raj Jat Yatra. Certainly the images of Parvati, Bhagwati and Bhigneshwar that have been found in Dewal, Bdini and Kaila Binayak date back to 8th to 10th century AD; there is also a murti of Ganesha, bearing an inscription, and dating back to the 9th century, which gives insight into the traditions of the Yatra. Scholars date the yatra back to the 9th century, when it was celebrated each year at different places by the locals.
In the 15th century, King Ajay Pal (Shesh Pal) of Chandragarhi united all the yatras into a single royal pilgrimage and began to celebrate Devi’s farewell journey once in 12 years. The king changed Nanda Jat to Nanda Devi Raj (royal) Jat and declared that the royal family and royal priest would participate in the festivities. The yatra has since been organized by successors of the royal family. They offer tarpana (food to dead ancestors as remembrance and for spiritual peace) for their ancestor Yashodhawal, his pregnant wife Vallavi, courtesans, and other local people, at Roopkund.
Roopkund is surrounded by hundreds of ancient skeletons of humans and horses. Local lore states that a king (possibly Yadhodhawal) once took some dancers to this sacred spot, but the party was cursed by the Goddess and died in heavy snowfall, being transformed into skeletons and stones. According to another story, Roopkund formed out of the streams that erupted when Shiva thrust his trishul into the ground; Devi Nanda used to see her face in the lake, hence it came to be known as Roopkund.
The Nanda Devi Raj Jat Yatra was originally scheduled to be held in 2012, but had to be postponed on account of malmaas (an inauspicious month) falling at the time of the yatra. Should the pilgrimage be cancelled, the entire calendar of auspicious events in Uttarakhand would have been wiped out this year.
Niticentral.com, 14 August 2013
