The eye catching view of the confluence of two rivers—Modi and Kali Gandaki—at the foothills of Bada Gaun in Kushma, is very beautiful indeed. The beautiful meeting point of two historical rivers is called Madhav Ganga Beni. It is part of Kushma Bazaar, the headquarters of Parbat district in Dhaulagiri zone. Modi flows from the Himalayas in the Annapurna range and Kali from Damodar Kunda, and Gandaki from Mukti Nath. This history of the origin of these rivers provides insight into Nrisingha Deva, an incarnation of Lord Bishnu. The description of this awatar is found in Mahabharata, an ancient epic composed during Dwapar yug.
For devout Hindus, the message delivered through the story of Pandavs and Kauravs in Mahabharata is very appealing. The epic highlights the painful consequences emanating from evil human tendencies like ego and humiliation. Despite being the descendants of the same king, the Kaurava’s ego and Pandava’s humiliation forced them to a war in Kurukshettra. The results were devastating.
Among Hindus, there is a strong belief that different incarnations of the Lord with various sacred missions have lived in this world at different times. Rama and Krishna assumed the roles of rulers of Ayodhya and Dwarka respectively. The purpose of their presence on earth was to educate people about humanity. They have exemplified that truth prevails over everything else in the world.
Hira Bahadur Thapa
According to Hindu mythology, Lord Bishnu is the one who takes care of all living beings. He is thus the protector. For someone with faith in Hinduism, revering Bishnu is akin to worshipping the protector of your life. Bishnu, as stated in the epic Mahabharata, had at one point assumed the form of a peculiar God with the head of a lion and the body of the Man. This incarnation is revered as Nrisingha, because in Sanskrit, Nar means man, and Singha means lion. The curiosity as to why Lord Bishnu decided to assume the Nrisingha Awatar remains to be solved.
Madhav Ganga Beni is one of the most revered spots for people in the neighboring areas like Baglung, Myagdi, Gulmi, and Shyangja, among others. Devotees from far off places flock to this temple, particularly on occasions like Maghe Sankranti, Baisakh Sankranti and Ranke Sankranti (First of Sravan) etc. They believe that a visit to Nrisingha Bhagawan, worshipped daily by the designated worshipper, will remove all impediments to their lives, as Bishnu is the sole protector of all living creatures. This Saligram has an oval shape but has a hole at one point. This is its uniqueness, in which it is different from several other Saligrams inside the Nrisingha temple. Not every oval black pebble found on the banks of Kali Gandaki is Saligram in the real sense. The genuine one embodies divinity. The writer was fortunate that Prem Das Bairagi, the oldest surviving worshipper of Nrisingha Temple, opened the temple doors and allowed him the privilege of viewing the holiest Saligram (placed at the center of the worshipping area separately from many other Saligrams) from close quarters.
The traditional worshippers of the famous Nrisingha Deva Mandir still reside in the periphery of the temple. One of the oldest surviving worshippers, Prem Das Bairagi, a descendent of Late Jai Ram Das Bairagi, had a chat with this scribe during his visit to Madhav Ganga Beni. According to Bairagi, his great grandfather Late Jai Ram Das Bairagi had started worshipping Nrisingha in 1870 BS at Madhav Ganga Beni.
Bairagi explained that the Nrisingha temple has undergone several changes from the time his ancestor erected the first one about two centuries ago. That temple is now a showpiece constructed in stone, cement and iron rods. Owing to renovation, the temple has lost its ancient architecture. The failure to persuade the mandarins of culture ministry to lobby at the UN to designate the historic temple a World Heritage Site has led to frustration among community leaders like Keshav Das Bairagi. The temple’s inclusion in the list would have enabled us to receive international assistance.
The above frustration notwithstanding, Bairagi proudly showed the ongoing construction work to the scribe, including the construction of a cremation platform on the banks of Kali Gandaki, and a Satsang cum Bhajan Hall and a home for the elderly people to the east of Nrisingha temple. Hopefully, a new complex will be ready for use in the foreseeable future, provided extra funds are available. Encouragingly, last year a Saligram Maha Yagya in Madhav Ganga Beni was organized. It helped mobilize local people in the neighboring VDCs, who together generously donated a few million rupees for the said purpose.
The purpose of this write up will not be served unless an explanation is provided as to why the river Kali Gandaki is so significant to Hinduism. Every year, thousands of devotees pilgrimage to Muktinath in Mustang, the most notable attraction of which is its 108 water sprouts. These sprouts originate from river Gandaki. According to Babu Ram Subedi, a retired secondary school Headmaster based in Kushma, the river from Muktinath has been called Gandaki because of the belief that the water has flowed down from the cheeks of Lord Bishnu. Gandak in Sanskrit means cheeks. He elaborated that the same river joins river Kali at Kag Beni, which comes from the holy Damodar Kunda in Northern Mustang. The confluence of Kali and Gandaki is called Kag Beni, where Ka is for Kali and Ga denotes Gandaki.
Furthermore, Yam Dhungana KC, a resident of Kushma and a retired civil servant, sheds proper light on the religious importance of Kali Gandaki. He opines that this is the only river where Saligram (incarnation of Bishnu) is found. That is why the river is one of the holiest for the Hindus. His most recent book Dhaulagiriko Kakh Bata provides useful reading material in this respect.
Despite the mobilization of resources at the local level for the development of Madhav Ganga Beni, considering the requirements—a hall for devotees to sing and meditate and a separate residence for elderly people—more funds are needed. The concerned District Development Committee should take initiatives to allocating additional funds for this purpose. It should approach the related government agencies to make extra financial resources available to facilitate the rapid development of this site. The development of Madhav Ganga Beni can foster cultural tourism besides promoting spirituality at a time when society is moving fast towards moral degradation.
The author was Foreign-Relations Advisor to former Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal
thapahira16@gmail.com
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