Sadhus: Shivaratri's irresistible charm
The Pashupatinath temple area at Gaushala is unusually surrounded with them. Wandering in from different corners of India and Nepal, these devotees of Lord Shiva, sadhus or yogis have started pouring in a week or so prior to Maha Shivaratri, which falls on February 20 this year. From along the stairway of the Mrigasthali to the ashram along the river bank, they are seen making themselves comfortable and gearing up to celebrate the birthday of Lord Shiva — Maha Shivaratri. And the celebration seems incomplete without them proving that sadhu babas are a major attraction of the festival for youngsters, devotees, and locals alike.
Heaven on Earth
With yellow and orange turbans on their heads, white or yellow cloth draped around their bodies with long and uncombed hair, foreheads painted in yellow and red, these sadhus from places like Kasi, Ayodhya and Mathura among others make their way to Pashupatinath temple every year. It is a sight to witness where you will come across a throng of sadhus in every corner smoking and rolling marijuana, doing hawan and
praying.
But why Pashupati?
“It is heaven here,” said Loha Nangri Naga Baba, who has been staying here for the past 25 years. “Pashupatinath is a famous place and it provides satisfaction,” he continued.
While Baba Bapan Das has been opting to come here for the last 15 years to “avoid being reborn as an animal because it is believed that one can wash away the sin of killing animals by paying homage to Lord Shiva at Pashupatinath”.
If you are a regular at Pashupati area, many of you must have seen the Ganga Das Baba. He is like a permanent resident here, and lives at Ram Mandir inside the Pashupati area. Originally from Janakpur, this hermit sets up his dhuni together with other babajis who have come here from different places. “It is believed that the head of Lord Shiva is at Pashupatinath while there are only body parts in other places. So, this place is regarded as auspicious,” said this babaji with a long white jata (dreadlocks) tied up in a bun. It has been 30 years that he has been living in the Pashupati area. “The number of sadhus has been increasing every year. There will not be less than 15,000 sadhus here during Shivaratri every year,” he shared.
Diverse experiences
Pashupatinath being one of the significant holy destinations among Hindu devotees, there is no way that the sadhus wouldn’t want to come here. Raj Charan Das from Mathura, who had been celebrating Shivaratri in Mathura in the previous years, and here for the first time shared, “I am a travelling sadhu and I have come here to pay homage to Lord Shiva. I am thankful that I am receiving good services from people and I am getting to worship Lord Shiva. What more do we need?”
“It is a renowned place and I am here for the festival as well as to see the place,” informed a first timer Binod Giri, who is from Kasi, India. “This place is very peaceful. From the environment to people, everything is good.” He is bewitched by the greenery of the place and people’s love and trust.
However, his friend from the same group, Raju Giri, who has been a regular visitor of Pashupatinath during Shivaratri for the last seven years, said that the number of saints coming here is decreasing citing “the management is not as good as before” whereas the place used to be packed with them in earlier years. He also added that the number is likely to decline in the next few years. “The charm and serenity is no more as there is decrease in the offerings of food and money,” he claimed smoking his chillum. He has come in a group of 35 sadhus this year. But “there used to 75 to 80 sadhus in one group in the earlier years”.
True devotion
These saints generally survive on alms provided by religious people and to manage all the expenses required to travel from India to Nepal is in fact a difficult thing. As a true devotee, Raj doesn’t feel any hindrance he faced in his journey while coming to Pashupatinath to celebrate Lord Shiva’s birthday. He divulged, “It rained on the day and I was wounded on my back,” but shared, “No worries! Even if I die, there won’t be any complaints as we have to die
someday.”
Amidst the crowd of babajis, you will find Laxmi Giri Mataji all the way from Jagannath Puri, India who is a first timer at Pashupatinath. But her first experience turned bitter as “her luggage bag, mobile and cash INRs 5,000 was stolen on the way”.
“A bhakta brought us here from Allahabad,” shared the Mataji who is accompanied by her brother who is also a saint. However she “is happy to be in the safe haven of Lord Shiva.”
Interesting
moments
Charanoke Das Swami Jogidananda, a saint from Kanpur, India is another attraction of this area. Clad in all black with a garland of rudraksha, he prefers to call himself a “great follower of Goddess Kali, Kamkhya and Ma Annapurna.” His fluent and tactful talks will impress one and maybe you will be inspired to donate to him whole heartedly. “I spent my last Shivaratri in Hadigaun and this year I will be in Pashupati area,” he said revealing that he “will stay in this area for the next 12 years. It was an order from my Guru Biswanath baba to leave India and stay in Pashupatinath area,” he added.
You can also find most of the babajis preparing and smoking marijuana. And if you wish to take a puff or more, they will welcome you without any
hesitation.
So, what motivates them to smoke so often? “Lord Shiva used to smoke marijuana and mostly sadhus smoke it while singing bhajans in praise of him,” informed Raj.
And why do they let people other than sadhus smoke it? “It is Lord Shiva’s prasad. But these days many people in the disguise of sadhus have started illegal selling of marijuana,” informed one of the babajis on the condition of anonymity.
Source: The Himalayan Times
