Final three days on the Chinese Side
Our L.O Shri Bonal and Shri Dhanuskodi in front of Kojernath Gompa On the nineteenth day of journey early in the morning we got up and enjoyed the changing colors of the lake at the time of sun rise. Had a fifth and final dip of the yatra in Holy Manasarovar. After that we did ablutions to our personnel Murtis and conducted a third homam, this one mainly for asking the forgiveness to the Lord for any mistakes which we may have committed during our stay in the Holy land. We had our breakfast and boarded the waiting bus for Taklakaot after thanking the Lord and Mother for a great darshan.
Holy Kailash from the Shores of Rakshs Tal
We crossed Ganga Chu and then crossed Gurla Mandata ranges at Rakshas Tal pass and reached the Rakshas Tal shore, now the weather was fine and there was no clouds we had the final darshan of the Lord for this yatra , we all got down and sang the Om mangalam song and prostrated to the Lord thanked Him profusely and left for Taklakot. In between we had a brief stopover at the memorial of Col Zoravar Singh, when the Chinese captured Tibet including Holy Mount Kailash, Col Zoravar singh left to recapture Kailash along with his 10000 soldiers but he didn’t time it properly so he lost the battle and he also became a martyr. During the cultural revolution his Samadhi was desecrated now only this memorial is left. Around 3 ‘O clock in the evening we were back at Taklakot and utilized that day for rest and made ISD to our near and dear ones to tell the happy news that we have successfully completed both the parikramas by the grace of the divine supreme dancing merrily at Thillai.
The twentieth day was a day of rest. As the next day we have to cross back into India so to make up for any delays this day of rest is kept at Taklakot. We visited a Gompa at a place called Gojarnath . This shrine was on the banks of Karnali River , this side was little fertile and was nor barren as the route to Kailash, we could see many wheat fields . The Buddha here is called talking Buddha, the legend is that the Buddha talked seven times, especially during the cultural revolution when the Chinese came to destroy this shrine the locals told about the greatness of the Buddha but they did not agree and wanted to see their deity speaking. Buddha did so and the Gompa was spared. There are three deities Bodhisathuva, Vajrapani and Manju sri and for some it Is our Ram, Lakshman and Sita. The statues are shining in gold and were tastefully decorated. There is a narrow circumambulatory path around the shrine in which one has to come out in a position akin to one comes out of mother’s womb. The Gompa committee gave a reception to all of us and we were treated as guests and were served tea thanks to our guide.
We returned happily from that trip and in the evening went for a final shopping, we picked up many items as souvenirs for gifting to friends and relatives, also we bought small gifts to ITBP men who help us during our trek on the Indian side. Mr Mudgal who was looking after the common fund on the Chinese side did a good job and returned the amount to all of us and we all converted the yuans back to Americal Dollars. We paid 200 Yuans each for common expenditure out of which he bought water cans, the amount paid to cooks and porters and for truck to Aliroad. We all thanked our guide Mr David and presented a small gift to him and the bus driver. He was really a nice guide and co-operated with all of us and showed all the important places and also explained their significance also wherever needed. Later we packed all our items and were ready for the return journey. The 20th day was the final day on the Chinese side and a day of shopping .
21st day Taklakot to Lipuleh pass by Bus
The timetable of the yatris meticulously planned in such a way that when one group enters China another group will be ready to leave China. As the other group will be at Lipuleh Pass around 7 O’ clock we also started early after the Immigration authorities checked our passports to ensure that all are leaving China. We started in the bus in which we were traveling all these days there was some mechanical problem in the vehicle and we were delayed by about two hours and the other group was waiting for us, as usual the bus stopped about 3 Km from the pass and this time we traveled in ponies as this was uphill we saw the Gurla Mandata ranges and bid adieu to China with the hope that may be Lord will give us another chance of His darshan some other time in future thus the yatra on the Chinese side ended without any problem and a very nice darshan of the benevolent three eyed Lord and the golden daughter of the mountains.
