To give a shape to an age-old pending task, we started from Koteshwor at 8:25 on a chilly rainy Saturday
morning. Watching the Sindhuli
greeneries, eating fruits and carrots in the bus was a different experience.
Janakpur had a
cool weather which was least expected and it was because of the rainfall too. We
reached at Ramananda Chowk at 3:30 p.m.
A hotel by the name of Sita Palace
had been waiting for us. We rested and had a hot lemon drink to beat the chill.
We were fortunate to meet some locals and went to the Janaki Mandir straightaway with them,
highly excited as we were. The temple was reachable within 15-20 minutes’ walk
from the Chowk. We could see crowd
everywhere. A quick view of the temple was enough to tell us that it was very
beautiful. It had a magical look. We were spellbound at the first sight of it. The
white artistic and unique designed marble monument full of its worshippers at
night didn’t let us leave her sight. We went inside the temple and did darshan, received the marigold garlands and
got a chance to click some photos with the pujari.
Also, we went to a room inside the temple and observed the MINAPA drama actors receive gifts for their hard work in the drama
performed for a few days at that time. We left the temple promising to look at
its beauty in detail the next day.
On the way, we planned for the next day’s puja and bought the required things. We had
dinner at hotel of which mine contained plain rice with green leafy vegetable
soup, an experience again. After dinner, we started dipping the cotton wicks in
the oil. Too tired as we were, we could not finish it till midnight. In the
hope of finishing it after getting up the next morning, we were soon in the
slumber land.
We could hear the heavy downpour and lightning and thunder
throughout the night. When we got up in the morning, the rain continued and our
work seemed impossible to be completed at the right time. As Monday happened to
be Buddhajayanti, and also looking at
our circumstances, the puja was
postponed for the next day. We got our energy back after this decision, and
relieved as we were, we slowed down the process a bit.
We had some apples and decided to have something in the
local shops as a breakfast. The rain had subsided; however, the weather was hot
and warm. We left our work and roamed around the area, left and right. A Hanuman temple was nearby. We went
inside and felt the peace of the temple within us too. Not much people came
there but the place was neat and clean and well decorated.
However, the locality seemed a bit dirty and too crowded. The
drainage system was not proper and people didn’t bother much about hygiene. We could
see them washing and bathing in dirty ponds.
We could also see locals eating pani puri, samosa, laddoo, pakauda, sweets, tea etc. as a breakfast
in the shops—all too oily and spicy. We had a hard time figuring out what to
eat. Finally, in a sweet shop, I relished aloo
chana gravy which had some potato pieces in it. Thanks to those pieces. Some
bananas in a cart sold just outside the shop worked as our proper breakfast.
The second visit to the temple allowed us to have its look
in detail. We could also see the shopkeepers selling items for the Sunday
special puja. We clicked the beauty
the temple bore and visited the Museum inside. The museum walls were decorated
with Mithila Arts which told the story
of Goddess Sita (Janaki).
Walking in the midday heat made us tired again. On reaching the
hotel and having our food, after a short rest, our battle continued for the cotton
wicks for the next day.
Leaving aside our work, the eve took us towards the
unexplored areas. The bus park remained at a distance of about 30 minutes’ walk.
A five-star hotel could be seen nearby. However, nothing much was seen as far
as the markets or shopping was concerned. Our returning back was in an auto, after
which we had our food and were back to the wicks again. We finished it at around
10 p.m.
Although it had rained throughout the night, we were able to
proceed towards the Janaki Mandir at
about 8 a.m. the next morning after guru came to our place and readied
everything for puja. We went in an
auto for Rs. 100 and the Mandir opened
at 8 a.m. Our puja began in front of
the main temple near the entrance and it took about 3 hours. All went well. As it
was a public holiday, many holy functions took place inside the temple premises
along with cultural dancing and singing with loud sounds and the crowd again
unbelievable.
After the puja, we
visited the nearby popular areas such as Ram
Mandir, Janak Mandir, Dhanush Sagar, Ganga Sagar. All looked beautiful. There
were too many worshippers seen everywhere. We could see a large number of
houses being demolished and the debris lay all over the roads causing
discomfort to the public. Moreover, when the rainfall had hit it, the situation
could be well imagined. Also, we found out that the main market in the area was
behind the Janaki Mandir, most of
which were jewelry shops and readymade garments.
On reaching back to the temple in the heat, we could see the
increased crowd. Our wicks were still in progress and some people were working
on it. We joined and made sure it was all burnt properly. Happy as we were, we
took an auto and returned to the Chowk
enjoying the cool air hitting us in the heat. We also booked the tickets for Kathmandu
for 7 a.m. for the next day.
The hotel served with rice and vegetarian thali at 2 p.m. After resting for a bit, sorting out our
things and packing began. Roaming in the area one last time started in the evening.
Some leftover cotton wicks were offered in the Hanuman Mandir and a few things were bought as gifts for Kathmandu.
A try of local silver necklace of 1 kg in a jewelry shop was a sweet experience.
After having our dinner, our packing continued and we slept early.
I started scribbling down the points of our travel in a
diary so that I could write on it on reaching Kathmandu. Clicking the last few
shots from the hotel terrace, we didn’t waste any moment to enjoy of whatsoever
was remaining. While checking out of the hotel, a misunderstanding created a
tense moment for a while which resolved soon and we thanked the Goddess Janaki for that.
So, at last, we left the divine area at 7 a.m. with a
euphoric feeling. With our young speedy driver, we expected to reach Kathmandu sooner
than planned. However, to our utter disappointment, he stopped on the way at Sindhuli for more time than was necessary
just to be in the company of his friends. Once he started the journey, the
speed continued. Despite several jerks, my sleep remained undisturbed while my
sister kept on enjoying the green landscapes. Kathmandu welcomed us at about 3
o’clock.
This is how our 4-day journey ended. All thanks to the Lord,
God, and the Almighty for making it possible. All is well that ends well.
