Those pilgrims who perform the Holy Kailash Manasarovar Yatra via Nepal also get a chance to perform the yatra to Mukthinath also. The author was blessed with both the yatra's in 2014 these are his experiences.
Mukthinath
Muktinath the “Place of Liberation or Mukthi”
is revered as oneof the 108 Divya Desams of Lord Maha Vishnu is situated in
Nepal. Among the 12 Azhwars the the Tamil bards of first century A.D who sang about Lord Vishnu two Azhwars namely Periyazhwar and
Thirumangai Azhwar have sanctified this holy place. Muktinath also is called as
Swayamvaktha Kshesthram where the Lord is self manifested. The other places are
Srirangam, Srimushnam, Tirupati, Vanamamalai, Pushkar, Naimisaranyam and Badrinath.The ancient name of this place in Sri Vaishnava, before Buddhist origin,
is Thiru Saligramam. Incidentally the Salagrama
shilas considered as the manifestation of Sriman Narayana are available here. Ramanuja
who propogated Vishistatvaidya philosophy also has visited this shrine.
Muktinath Shrine
108 waterfalls
This is probably the only place on earth where
you can find all five elements called as Pancha Boothas from which all material things in the universe are
made namely Sky, fire, water, air and
earth are found. They are all found at the same place together in their own and
distinct form. Also trees are found at his
altitude here which is a speciality. So it is believed that many unseen yogis
perform penance at Muktinath.
Beautiful Garuda statue in Manokamna Devi temple
The
unique feature Muktinath is that it is holy to both Hindus and Buddhists, the
Hindus worship as Lord Vishnu, whereas the Buddhists consider Him as Avalokiteshvara
and call this sacred place as Chumig Gyasta meaning place of hundred waters.”For them
Muktinath-Chumig Gyatsa is a very important place of Dakinis
goddesses known as Sky Dancers and one of the 24 Tantric places.The tradional
caretakers of Muktinath-Chumig Gyatsa are the Tibetan Buddhist Chumig Gyasta Nuns with the head of the Gye
Lhaki Dung as their abbot.Hindus
and Buddhists alike visit Muktinath-Chumig Gyatsa since hundreds of years.Padmasambhava and the 84 Maha Sidhas blessed
this place with their visit. The
Padmasambhava statue in Narsingh Gompa is considered most holy along with Chenrezig ( Muktinath) statue.
Phewa Lake in Phokra
Muktinath is also considered as a Sakthi Peeth
Seat of Mother Goddess where the temple
on the forehead of Sati Devi fell here. Here Mother is called as Ghandaki
Chandi and Bhairava as Chakrapani. The Damodar kund from where the Holy River Gandaki originates is considered is
formed by the falling of the body parts
of Sati. In these lakes only Shalagrama Shilas form and flow along with
Gandaki.Some pilgrims trek to Damodarkund also from Muktinath.
Manokamna Devi temple
Annapoorna Peak
As Muktinath is situated at an elevation of
3710 m at the foot hills of Throng La in the snow covered
Daulagiri Ranges on the banks of Kandaki River the journey is really tough. It
takes around five days from Kathmandu the capital of Nepal to complete the
yatra if everything goes well. Weather, climatic conditions can spoil the well
laid out plans. The distance from Kathmandu is about 272 Km.
Lake Varahi temple in the Phewa Lake
Nilgiri peak in Jomsom
The Government of Tamilnadu reimburses Rs
10000/- to 250 economically weaker yatris from Tamilnadu who undertake this
yatra as this is a holy yatra to on oneof the 108 abodes of Vishnu. For travel
by air from Chennai to Kathmandu and back the approximate cost will be
Rs 40000/- and by train through
Gorkhpur will be Rs.25000/-.
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