Kailash Manasarovar Darshan (Yatra) -5

FIRST DAY OF THE YATRA - IN DELHI

We can divide the whole yatra into different periods of different moods, first you have to wait for the advertisement and apply and wait anxiously to be selected by the Lord for His holy Darshan. Then you prepare for the yatra. When you reach Delhi you tension is at peak because of medical examination. Once you are medically fit your joy is unbound. Then the yatra starts you enjoy the beauty of nature and also you also feel happy that a long goal is going to fructify. When you reach the Chinese side again tension whether you will have a good darshan , because many people have undertaken the yatra but they didn’t get proper darshan of the Lord because of bad weather and cloud cover. But once you get the Darshan and receive the blessings of the Lord your purpose of life has been achieved and you experience the internal bliss and it is very difficult to describe that feeling in mere words.

With great expectation and prayer in lips and mind the author reached Delhi on 14th August from Chennai for the darshan of the Lord of Universe, the ash smeared, three eyed, trident wielding, bull riding, moon bejeweled, blue throated Lord Shiva and His consort Mother of Universe Parvati . The accommodation for the yatris had been arranged in Gujarati Sadan by Delhi Government. When we reached Gujarati Sadan a banner welcomed us telling welcome to silver jubilee year’s yatra. The accommodation transport and food is sponsored by Delhi Government for the first three days. Shri . Joshi from Gujarat helped during the checking in period. Author was allotted room No 108. Shri. Tapaswi from Nasik later joined him as room mate. We discussed about the yatra and prayed to Lord that we should pass the medical examination so that we can have His darshan and slept. Next day early morning we were transported to ITBP Hospital for preliminary medical examination. Normally the yatris undergo medical examination at a recognized hospital, but as it was 15th August , Independence day and the hospital was closed there was a slight change in the schedule for our group. In the ITBP hospital the doctors explained about the difficulties one will face during high altitude trekking the steps to be taken in case of earth quake or blizzards and also assured that on the Indian side they will be there for the help of the Yatris.

Tapaswi and author

The important points they explained that day are

1.Try to start early in the morning and reach the destination before noon and have proper rest.

2. Trek in groups ands slowly and steadily do not over exert yourself.

3. Take lot of fluids while trekking.

4. Always walk nearer to the mountains with caution looking for any debris falling from above.

5. When you come out in the night you cover yourself well.

6. They also gave a pamphlet explaining about the precautions to be during a earth quake or avalanche.


They gave a four word mantra called COLD which one should not forget during the yatra.

C : Keep your body and clothes clean. Do not sleep with shoes on. Do not walk with wet socks which may lead to blisters and subsequent problems.

O : Avoid over heating. Do not run or over exert your self.

L : Put on loose clothes. It is better to wear clothing in many thin layers which can be removed when there is sudden change in weather rather than wearing a single thick cloth.

D : Keep body and clothes dry always. Do not walk with wet socks it will lead to blisters. Always wear rain coat while it rains and when crossing waterfalls, change wet clothing immediately.

Liaison officer called L.O is the leader of the group and is appointed by the Government of Indaia. They are high rank officers of Government Service, who takes care of all the needs of the group and also guides them, he interacts with Govt agencies both Indian and Chinese and also with the committees in between he is regular touch with the District magistrate and also Satellite phone is given to him for use in emergency situations. Overall he is the caretaker for the whole group. Our L.O was Shri Bishen Singh Bonal , Director of Delhi Zoo. He met us at ITBP hospital and took all the details about us . KMVN also collected our passports for Visa.


Then we were felicitated with garlands and facilitated with most essential things which we didn’t think earlier by Kailash Manasarovar Seva Samiti, New Delhi. They also gave a presentation on how to conduct ourselves during the yatra. They advised us to wear the woolen monkey cap always when we are outdoors and to remove that only when we enter into tents, can plug the ears with cotton daily, not to quarrel with others during the yatra, not to use slippers in the mountains and to chant the Five Holy Syllables of the Lord OM NAMAHSHIVAYA always. The main point was their advise not to use ponies in steep descends they also told about four such descends where yatris have fallen from pony and broken their bones. They are 1. The 4 K.M descent from Lipulekh pass into Tibet. 2. The 7 KM descent from Dolma pass during Kailash Parikrama. 3. The descent from Chiyalekh to Budhi while returning. 4.The 4444 steep steps from Gala to Lakhanpur. Also it was told that it is better to use pony on the Chinese side also instead of yak if available because pony can be controlled better. When riding a pony when there is an ascent we have to bend to the front and when there is a descent we have to bend backwards so that the horse will not feel much burden.

Thanks to Kailash yathra samiti for food and medicines

Blood pressure of all the aspirants were recorded on that day and those who had high diastolic (low) pressure were warned about that, we returned to Gujarat Sadan worried about the medical test of next day. Dinner was hosted by Amarnath Seva samiti they also gave valuable inputs some of the important points are that it is by the grace of the Lord and Mother that we have progressed so far and it is their will which brought us here and be thankful to them for that and leave everything at their feet they will take care of everything just don’t worry for anything and just keep chanting their names and everything will come good, exactly that’s what happened, how we went and how we returned we don’t know it’s all their grace that they led all of us all the way gave very good darshan and sent us back to tell the glory of them to the world. Always take the permission of L.O and act according to his instructions. It is better to carry pepsi bottles for carrying Holy Manasarovar water , because sometimes when we carry water in large cans they may break, also porters empty the water and fill them later with ordinary water, so if it is small bottle you can carry that along with us and there will not be any chance for pilferage. . If you choose to carry in water cans you seal it properly with m-seal or fevicol so that they cannot be tampered with. They also advised you carry back also water of Gauri Kund which has medicinal properties and also the water of river from Mount Kailash. They also advised that those who complete the parikrama earlier than others can trek upto Ashtapath. They also advised us not to touch any plant on the way and not to rub the mountain when we trek because some of the plant on the way are poisonous especially a plant scorpion plant when you come into contact there will be irritation for two three hours. As Kailash is the abode of Shiv Sakthi it is the most holiest place and so it is surrounded by celestials and always think positive only whenever you are there and due to this body we have some constraints like passing out the excreta whenever you have to do that first take the permission of the Lord and apologise for the same and do it at the opposite side of Kailash mountain.

Our L.O had a meeting with us at Gujarati Sadan and different committees were formed like food committee, finance committee, transport committee, bhajan committee with all the 45 aspirants as members without knowing the wish of the Lord. It was decided that each yatri will contribute Rs 2000/- to the common fund for the following items, provisions for cooking during parikrama, chlorine tablets, m-seal, packing material, small gifts to ITBP personnel and other common expenses. Thus the first day at Delhi went off nicely. Here I met a couple from Karnataka who were fresh from the yatra and asked them if they had good darshan? They replied in the affirmative and also told they had the darshan of OM parvat, Nag parvat, Nandhi and also blessed that we will also have darshan. I had in many articles that sometimes yatris don’t get the darshan although they travel up to Kailash, by their assurance that fear vanished from our minds.

To Be Continued.....