Prayag (Allahabad) Maghmela 2011

Prayag (Allahabad) Maghmela 2011

The woods are lovely dark and deep
....
Miles to go before I sleep..
Though I discontinued my padyatra from Koilakh in 1993 my , yatra is continuing amid sorrows and despair..

While writing my diary for Feb.12,2011, I could relate the meaning of
“Bhel prat lagi gel lohi
Ram, Ram kay chalal Batohi
He Hari madhav bhetab kanha
Ganga Jamuna sang me janha,,”

I listened to it from my father in 1960s at Forbesganganj(araria) where I born in 1955. He used to say this in the early chilly winter morning(Lohi.. is fog) and at times used to ask a vender to have chhola for us..

I had uttered this song many times in past but could know only today that the pilgrims from Mithila used to go to Prayag(Allahabad or Alla bad where God resides) on the sangam of Triveni(Ganga, Jamuna and antahsalila, not seen but internally connected Sarswati)..

Sarsawati is the mystical river of which telescopic pictures obtained and analyzed for which Wakankar, a RSS activist who was awarded Padmashree even during national emergency of 1975.. Sindhu Valley civilization was in fact Saraswati valley civilization.

Then Himalaya was in fact a salty lagoon in several rivers drained (from south to north as opposite to now, only one Jhaggar in afganistan is draing that way still)
Geological changed did erected Himalayas and rivers became southwards to the oceans( Sindhu sagar/ Arabian sea and Gangasagar to bay of Bengal)..

Hindus had Triveni in mind and they use to have a kalpwas(one month stay at the Triveni bank in tents0 in Magh(Jan-Feb) since time immemorial..

I had snan and sandhyabandan and tarpan there and within 30 minutes of notice by Bablood Pandit of Maithils there in the Maithilwada so called because some 200-300 small tents had almost all Maithils from Madhubani, Darbhanga, Samastipur and Saharsa to quote a few I could know ..
I was a preacher..though not a sain..
There were ladies mostly aged and some young..

One of them from Chikana village of Madhubani district Nirupa Devi shoed Mithila Samad from Kolkata, Maithili’s only daily in which her writing was also published.

One of the retired person from saharsa’s bangaon knew my mother’s maternal uncles..and he was very much sorry that ground work was not done for Mithila movement.
Some others too took my phone number and gave theirs when I said I wished to go their village if they called me.

One of the old lady was also expecting some help(financial)..
I was in dhoti and was in a preaching mood with a mix of Maithili’s enumeration in cesus as mother tongue and among two other languages Sanskrit and Hindi.

I pointed out that Rishi Yajnavalkya had come for such a maghmela and use to listen to Rishi Bhardwaj’s Ramkatha..and when sankranti came(like today) and he was to depart Rishi Bhardwaj clasped feet of Yajnyavlakya and requested him to deliver Ramkatha which has been written in Ramcharitmanas by Goswami Tulsidas..

I explained them the awatar’s and in Mithila(like Narsingh at Sikaligh_Dharhara near Banmankhi in Purnea) which I could know at Porbandar’s Bharat mata mandir..(and in a train a village old lady had told me the place when I enquired that) and later I visited there..

I counted many shrines like Phulhar(Girijasthan) where Seeta saw Lord Ram first(near Basopatti from where village Fent one person was there in the audience)..and so I narrated my view that beng one arm of Bhagwati fallen in Mithila we are not vammargi as in Patnadevi Her one of thighs had fallen which are shaktipeeth( below naval parts.. Vammargis)..

I also sang my Maithili rendering of Jagjanani Jay Jay and Jay Ambe Gauri..

In fact I had promised Swami Chidatmanananad of Simariaghat that I would speak in Maghmela,Mithilak Bhartiya sanskritime avadan” during 12-12 February but when I contacted on Feb.10, iwas informed that it was preponed to Feb.9-11 and my ticket was for Feb.12 which I thought still to utilize with the help of Vidhuynath Mishra (grandson of MM Umesh Mishra) who had contacted at Maithilwada..

In 2010 also I had gone to this Maghmela but could not find Swami Chidatmananada’s tents but had only snan and then had gone to meet Jaykant Mishra(son great uMesh Mishra) but he had been shifted to his residence where I had his last darshan and he expired only after two days..What a coincidence..again on Feb.12, his statue was to be inaugurated at Gajhara in Mithila and I was at his karmbhoomi Prayag whith his nephew Vidhukant Mishra..

The journey to Allahabad was also educative. From Mugalsarai I took weekly Bikaner superfast in which had not many passengers. I found one Youngman smoking and I changed to other coach where I was introduced to a Rajasthani Vijay Singh Duggar from Rajalsesar who though worked at Kolkata was a frequent visitor to his native village which has now a population of some 75000. He informed me that at Kolkata almost every village had a group and so at other cities and they use to make public schools, roads, dispensaries and hand over to Government. The development of villages were due to those non-residents, Whether Maithils can do that. Now people do not migrate from Rajasthan villages because it has water and cash criops. It needed to be replicated by Maithils also.

And similarly whether maithils can leave ‘service orientation,?” A Marwadi does not go for menial work. In GD Birla’s time every person coming from’Desh(Rajasthan) was immediately given a job(now they too ask for merit etc?)

A marwadi will do job of high quality only otherwise business. He had low opinion for Sindhis as they were to earn anyhow. He quoted one person Bhaiji of Sardarshahar who had not evben a kg of suigar from PDS shop(Kota) not to talk of any unaccounted money though had kilos of gold..

Duggar was knowing many persons of my town Fornesganj(and base sardasahar where my uncle had been) and named a few of them which I also knew like ‘Raka Vastralaya.
He had traveled from Nepalganj to0 Biratnagar in neal and had many memores to share.
He was a Terapanthi follower Jain and explained me about the genesis of them and of others like 22 panthis ,etc. which I had little information. Now he devoted his time for religious organization and would go for a padyatra with his Jaini swami at his native after attending last rites of one of his relatives.

I told that I consider Jains also Hindus as they believe on ‘AUM.”
They are nastk only because they did not follow Vedas otherwise they are like us , the Samnatanis.

In my return jouney, Vidhuji dropped me at Rambagh(Allahabad city) station for Bibhuti Expres which was almost vacant. One young student of fine arts from BHU had told me many things about idols. He had come for duplicate admit card for teachers examination. He had spent one night in maghmela in any akhada oine can have free food and shelter,if you have a blanket. He had enjoyed some pravachan and Ramleela in the night and had bath in chilly water in early morning in the sangam. What devotion he had- a boy from Sheduled Csate(even me, a Brahmin had not of that temper!). I had asked his caste in fact when he said that his younger brother of calss VIII had gone out of room in his absence and never returned, I thought whether he had been a saint! Or he met with any accident! His father was a farmer. If I see that bearded Fine Arts boy anytime I will recognize.

And there came a girl of teen who was alone without a ticket as if going to her home Luckisarai in a suspense. At Luckisarai though train stopped, I found her at next station Kiul sleeping with blanket on her mouth when after ticket and a lot of wandering I had come to sit at a place. I thought it was she though she may be different!

There was a bit rush in Muzaffarpur-Bhagalpur intercity and a young boy was objected by some one whom I chided. This is normal happening in that part, people do not want to cooperate.