The Lord's Lake

Gosainkunda, at an elevation of about 4,450m above sea level is one of the most revered pilgrimage and tourist sites in the country owing to its great religious importance and amazing natural beauty. People in their thousands throng to Gosainkunda every year on two occasions: Dashahara or Jeshtha Shukla Dashamee and Janai Poornima or Rishi Panchamee.

The first event is the tenth day (dashamee) of the bright (shukla) fortnight (paksha) in the month of Jeshtha that falls in June. The belief that taking a bath in a holy river or pond and offering pooja (worship) on this day relieves a person from certain ten sins, is also popularly known as Dashahara.

Janai Poornima is named as such because it is on this full-moon, falling in the last part of the month of Shraavan (mid-August), that adult males of the janai (sacred thread) wearing classes (Brahmin and Chhetris) replace their janai with a fresh one with blessings from a priest and hand over dakshina (money) to him. Also performed on the same day in the same way is Raksha Bandhan, or tying the cotton thread around the wrist for protection. The day is also recognised as Rishi Tarpanee as people show their respect (tarpan) to rishis (sages) for their holy deeds. Devotees fast in the early part of the day and eat a vegetarian meal later. Gosainkunda remains their first choice of destination for such events. For persons unable to reach Gosainkunda, Kumbheshwar in the middle of Lalitpur is the alternative.

Reportedly, Gosainkunda draws a greater number of visitors in Janai Poornima than in Dashahara. Hindu pilgrims largely from Nepal and substantially from India make it to the former festival and those visiting in the Dashahara are from other neighbouring countries. During this year's Janai Poornima an estimated total of about 8,000 people visited Gosainkunda.

Quite a few of such events had gone by before I decided to set out for the pilgrimage to Gosainkunda for this year's Janai Poornima. I nearly missed the opportunity  because of the bus operators manipulating the seat reservation. But luckily I managed to get my seat back. After leaving from Kathmandu at 8 in the morning, we reached Dhunche at around 5p.m. And the following evening at about 6p.m our pilgrimage started from Dhunche. I had started my journey alone but naturally came in contact with many fellow pilgrims on the way. However, going in a pre-arranged suitable group is more advisable.

Soon afterwards, the process of seperation among individuals and groups based on the ability to walk began to show itself. Some managed to reach Gosainkunda by evening, some halted at Laureebina, and many still remained far behind. The trail was fairly wide  but the steep course was unexpectedly lengthy and excessively tiring. Unable to continue the walk, a few people gave up the final upward journey and turned back, some fell sick but recovered and completed the trip. There was also a rumour that one young man died of altitude sickness. Apart from such few unfortunate and tragic incidents, the overall journey did not seem too severe. Taking various sorts of precautions and care while going uphill was, however, extremely necessary. Surprisingly, the comfortable composure and pace of some elderly people (a few of them close to their eighties) seemed to instill strength and spirit into many.

The problems caused by the notorious leeches were almost fully nullified most probably due to the dilution caused by the excessively large number of their preys, the travellers. But clearly, some effective measures are urgently needed to rectify the largely unfair dealings of some of the lodge owners and the reckless outdoor defecation.

Overall, a pilgrimage to Gosainkunda is an enchanting, enthralling and enduring experience with several important facets. For a Hindu devotee, taking a dip in the water of Gosainkunda (kunda meaning lake) and performing a religious rite there mean both salvation and virtue. The scenic splendour, the geo-morphological, biological and climatic diversities and the social and anthropological dimensions also appeal strongly to the interests and satisfaction of a variety of other non religious visitors. After all, the kund and its surroundings were, according to legend, created by Lord Shiva himself in order to eventually soothe out the burning sensation caused by the poison that stuck in his throat when he tried to swallow it to save all creatures.

Gosainkunda's source is the Trishuldhaaraa, which is believed to have emerged when Lord Shiva struck his trishul into the huge boulder lying a little above the kunda so as to make the entrapped snow-melt water flow out. Being fed with this water the Trishuli river has also derived its name thus. Although the number of pools around the Gosainkunda area said to be 108 in total, Sooryakunda, Saraswateekunda and Bhairavkunda are the prominent ones besides Gosainkunda.

Freedom
the wheels of a cart

"Once democracy is restored, the elite will be at the helm of the party, and the true cadres will have to fight against them once more". - BP Koirala

t first sight, he looks like a street vendor of Indian origin, selling tea and pakoras in a tiny cart in and around New Baneshwar crossroads. A  pail of water, a frying pan and a stove can be seen in his cart, which he prefers to call "For Sustenance of Life: Mobile Shop of Shiva Kangal, Warrior of Democracy". It is only the writing on the façade of his mobile shop that tells who the modest vendor is. The true outcome of his career proves that the late BP Koirala was right in his observation.

Following the restoration of democracy, this untiring freedom fighter has been neglected and has been rebelling against the elites, who wield power, pulling his cart in front of them.

On the one hand, Girija Prasad Koirala, the commander of the armed rebellion called by Nepali Congress Party for the reinduction of multiparty democracy, has become prime minister for the fourth time, Shiva Kangal, Koirala's once comrade-in-arms, on the other hand, is a pauper, and has been struggling hard just to make both his ends meet. Shiva Kangal was entrusted with the responsibility of supplying weapons during the rebellion in Bagmati and Narayani zones. He endured corporal punishment and was imprisoned for many years on the charge of exploding bombs several times.

The relationship between Koirala and Kangal, as a commander and a soldier respectively, has been severed now. Kangal with hollow cheeks and sunken eyes with spectacles pouring out his grief over the negligence of the Nepali Congress (NC) after the restoration of democracy says, "DB Lama is the one who tried hard to prove Koirala was guilty of attempted murder during the Panchayat regime. And now the ruling NC is placing faith in him. In such a situation, what alternative has been left for Shiva Kangal to keep his dignity intact other than by pushing this cart?"

Born in Kavre 56 years ago, Shiva Prasad Badal, who later migrated to Kapilbastu district, preferred to christen him as Kangal, a 'pauper', being fed up with his deprivation and poverty. "While I was in school, there was a trend of having nicknames. With great care, I chose Kangal. That time too I had difficulty to buy books and copies. Now it has become synonymous with life", he said recalling his bitter childhood.

He entered politics without knowing it. He had some NC activist friends. Just for being in contact with them, he was warranted in 1965 and he fled to India. In Banaras, he met Kashi Nath Gautam, Pradeep Giri and Om Prasad Gautam. In contact with them, he was more actively involved in politics.

When BP called the armed rebellion against the partyless Panchayat system, GP, the then commander, recruited Shiva Kangal as a soldier. GP Koirala ordered him to go to Kathmandu and to hurl a bomb at an incumbent minister in 1976. Shiva Kangal has a bitter experience to speak of when Sher Bahadur Deuba and Tek Bahadur Chokhyal denied him shelter. "However, Chokhyal helped to hide the bomb in a maize field", he says. "I hurled the bomb at the car of Prayag Raj Suwal, the then Transport Minister at Jaisidewal and fled to India", he admits.

His fingers also indicate that he hurled bombs. But he does not want to disclose the fact. "I have a different story behind this. It would be pointless to tell you," he says emotionally staring at his hand.

Within fifteen days of hurling his first bomb, Koirala ordered him to go to Kathmandu and throw another where there was a warrant for his arrest. "Thankfully, Jagannath Acharya reached Banaras and suggested me not to return to Nepal", he relates. Later, I settled at Raxaul but Nepal's government was always after me. I was accused of attempted murder", he says. The Nepal government asked India to either arrest him or keep him at least 60 kilometres away from Nepal's border. Then he returned to Banaras.

Besides supplying arms, Shiva Kangal also contributed to the movement by publishing papers and distributing them. He was the publisher and editor of Nepal Prabha, printed in Nepali, English and Hindi in 1978 and distributed in Nepal secretly.

Though he is good at Nepali, Hindi and English, he does not want to disclose his academic qualification. He simply says, "You can guess my education from my calling."

As per BP's tenet of National Reconciliation, other leaders returned to Nepal in 1978 but Shiva Kangal was arrested when he re-entered Nepal three years later and was released after three months and went to India. Again he was arrested on the charge of making plans to kidnap prince Dipendra, being involved with the Revolutionary Republic Gang of Five. The then Police officer, DB Lama told him that if he named GP Koirala and Rishikesh Shah in the conspiracy, he would release him but he flatly rejected and said that he would give evidence only to the open court.

Unfortunately, Koirala has not made him a parliamentarian. "The leaders have failed so I have stopped visiting them," he said adding, "with the restoration of democracy, perhaps we have become redundant." Though he got Rs 50,000 as an assistance to political sufferers, he is not happy with it in that those who do not deserve have got more than the true sufferers.

"They should not make every sufferer an MP or a minister but they should guarantee their shelter and food," he argues. By pulling a cart, he is doing two things: fighting for his sustenance and raising his voice against the negligence of genuine cadres, he explains. "At least, I can work, but there are others who can't even do that," he says remembering Ram Jeevan, one of his fellow freedom fighters.

His private life is also full of struggle. He and his  fiancée had to wait 18 years to tie the nuptial knot. Eight years ago, at the age of 49, Shiva married his fiancée while she was 36 years old

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