TRAVELOGuE-HIMALAYA-Part4

The next day we got into our van. Those who rode the horses, could ony stand up; others could not stand up. The muscles got stiff. Those who walked, were better. We saw many foreigners walking along the road, with the travelers’ bag on their back. At on place, the river  was hidden from the sky, by projections of rock of the mountains on either side. The driver said this is Gupthaganga, hidden Ganga. At a place called Srinager, the river was flowing almost parallel to the road. Here the side of the river near the road  was sandy.The van stopped and we had refreshments. Many would have liked to take bath in the river, but the driver refused. He has to take us to the next halting point, before sun set, No vehicles moved in the night. We bought good curd available in the shop. We got ingi or adrak (ginger), with no fibre inside
That evening we reached Joshimath. From here to Badrinarth, it is one way traffic, as the road is wide enough for one car or van only. The road was closed for us  and the driver told us to relax or go about and come after half an hour.
Some of us went to the right side, where there wre houses. while walking, we saw a board-Namboothiri house. We wer surprised and went in to find out. They welcomed us and asked whetehr we needed anything. We said we wanted to know if they know Malayalam. . The explained that their forefather was anamboothiri. When they learned that we are Namboothiry, they felt very happy and plucked apples from their yard and gave us. The fruits were sweet as sugar.
Someof us bought woolen sheets from hawkers. Too cheaop to believe. Our time was up and we rushed into the van.
It took about one hour to reach Badrinarth, which was a small township. It was late evening and lights were on We got rooms. we were tod not to use kerosene  stoves as oxygen was scarce in the atmosphere. We were abot nie thousand feet above sea level, but could not feel it as the surroundinngs were plain
As all windows were closed to prevent cold wind , I felt suffocated . Somehow, the night ended and fresh morning came, welcome in many ways. we took bath in a well of hot water and refreshed ourselves and went to have darshan of Narayanan. Here only namboothiriea are apoointed as poojary . people waited in awe, for a darshan of the poojari who arranged special meals for us.At one poitr, Sarojam began crying ,; all our efforts failed to console her.Afterwards,, her husband explained that his father has objected to her son marrying the girl he loved, because her husband was a drunkard. We all prayed for the successful marriage of the lovers. Our prayers were heard and the couple have a child.
There is a belief that the idol was Budha. Sankaracharya, along with his devotees, threw it into the near by river Alaknanda, a tributary of Ganga, and installed Narayan there. The Budha Bhikshus escaped into Tibet and China and spread the message of Budha.
It is said that, before Sankara, only one poojary was there,for both Kedarnath and Badinath. He would do pooja in one temple and walk all the way to the next. Do pooja there and come back, thus shuttling between the two temples. by walk, the distance may not be muchu.
On our return, we saw the way to the valley of flowers, but we had no time to see it. At joshmath, we saw the cave where Sankare meditated, before he went to Badrinath to install Narayan there. There is big rest house there. We started our journey back. At one point we saw a small tea shop, situated on the bank of the river,. In the night there was no flow of water. In the day, snow melts and water flows. At the junction of two branches of the Ganga, we saw a dead body. The cremation will take place that day. I felt disheartened. Life is a tragedy, says the Mahabharath. When we saw curry veppu , Ranjith tried to pluck its leaves. Seeing this, a number of urchins helped him and we had a bagful of leaves, , which would last for a week. We saw only mountains for all these days and began thinking of the plains with with affection!