Vinod Singh Negi
Alas ! Kashmir ! and another controversy (Kousar Nag) rages, commencing the cycle of strikes and polluting the tourist season air with ‘tension’. If the famous auditing firm PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) were to audit the losses caused till date due to Mr SAS Geelani’s strike calls, it would probably run into trillions of dollars. He also must be currently leading the aspirants for the Khitab of single person with maximum strike calls to
his credit in the Guinness Book of World Record. Best wishes Jenab, bash on regardless ! Every strike and controversay you rake up means moolah for you from across while it make the Aam Aadami poorer and sadder by the day.
Anyhow, this piece is not about Mr SAS Geelani, but is about another ‘yatra’ akin to Kousar Nag which got hijacked due to the vitiated atmosphere created by the likes of him. So, in Year 2011, with the pain of the cycle of deaths, violence and shut downs of Year 2010 behind us, the mood in the Valley in the Spring was surprisingly upbeat.Gen Syed Ata Hasnain’s doctrine of ‘the heart is my weapon’ was making the requisite impact on ground and riding high on the success of Kashmir Premier League(KPL) , ‘HOPE’ and ‘SPORTS’ were the flavour of the season. One good thing leads to another and when the atmosphere is positive, a succession of good things are bound tohappen. Hence, I was pleased when a group of locals Muslims (this qualification is only for the uninformed reader otherwise my moral and ethics do not permit me to distinguish between humans on the basis of religion or ethnicity) informed me of the Chota Amarnath Shrine located in Bandipora in the Dardpura Forest on the Hapatnak (Hapat means Bear in Kashmiri, and Hapatnak is where Bears stay) Ridge above Erin Village in my area of responsibility. They requested me to revive it as it had the potential of promoting bonhomie, generating lot of employment and revenue for the villagers. They further informed that before the onset of militancy Chota Amarnath Yatra used to be an annual affair. The Amarnath (Bada Amarnath of Baltal) Yatra was not deemed to be complete without paying obeisance to Chota Amarnath alongwith Budda Amarnath of Poonch in the month of Sharvan. So, that completes the trio of Chota, Bada and Budda Amarnath. It was said that features of Lord Shiva were engraved in the Cave and a ‘snow lingam’ is formed for a brief period every year. The Chota Amarnath was also called Maha Dhyaneshwar. That having been known, I set course alongwith the locals to demystify Chota Amarnath. It was necessary to follow the
trail followed by the pilgrims and that took me to the exact route which commenced from the interiors of Erin Village. I was surprised to know that at some point of time there were Pandit families residing in the far flung Erin Village also. The locals briefed me of the Yatra through the lanes and bylanes of Erin, then as we were crossing the fields and ascending towards Dardpura Village, they indicated a water point to me called ‘Nag’ and told me that at this point before commencing the Yatra puja used to be carried out by the Pandits. ‘Nag’ ?? This recollection now makes me is establish the connect with importance of water bodies for the Pandits and probably the relevance of
‘Kousar Nag’, the current centre of controversy emerges. One does recollect many such revered water bodies present Hindu/Sikh places of pilgrimage like Hemkund Sahib in Uttarkhand and Mansorvar in Tibet.
Hindu GODs have the mischievous habit of perching themselves on the highest points around, if Amarnath and Vaishno Devi are to be taken as shining examples of the same. This goes by the saying ‘bina mehnat ke, Bhagwan bhi nahin milte hain’. Luckily, Chota Amarnath at an elevation of 2800 meters and only 7 Kilometers from Darpura Village till where light vehicles could go was not to be so treacherous. We passed through Dardpura Village, then followed the jungle track, crossed further gorges and reached the meadows of Nurandur with a few Dhoks
of Gujjaars populating it. I was informed that the Yatra used to halt here for rest and recoup and the Pandits and the accompanying porters used to cook food in these scenic surroundings. Tents used to be pitched for those planning to stay overnight. Our Yatra thereafter entered the forest proper and moving laterally we were to locate the Chota Amarnath Cave amongst the thick foliage. We were able to do so half an hour later, with the help of people who had done the reconnaissance earlier. Now, we stood at the mouth of the Cave which was about half a meter in radius, with a small stream coming out of it. How to enter ? and what lay inside ? were the obvious questions ! We all were conscious of the Bear menace in the area and the havoc they created occasionally by attacking grazers’ and Army ambushes alike at night. This Cave seemed to be an ideal dwelling for a whole happy family of Bears. We were also not aware of the depth of the tunnel. Memories fade with time and discontinuation of rituals erodes them completely hence even the locals were not aware of the length of the tunnel nor as to what lay inside.
The tunnel inside was dark and narrow restricting the number of people who could go inside in one go. A single entry and exit meant, no escape in case Bears were present in the Tunnel. The locals volunteered to go inside along but as we could not risk the life of the locals, hence we decided to go on our own. Hence, three of us decided to try out combination of adventure and pilgrimage. We took out our shoes and other belonging and
with just the AK-47 in hand commenced crawling inside the dark tunnel with the help of a torch in the mouth while the with water flowing underneath wetted all our clothes completely. In Army, one is trained to
prepare of contingencies, however, there was no way of preparing our response incase some Bears came rushing out. With our head banging against the narrow walls, elbows and legs getting bruised, the flowing stream irritating and the silence being broken occasionally by the clacking sound of the AK, we progressed inside at a snails pace, while wondering how ‘healthy’ pilgrims would be negotiating inside the tunnel which had an apparent lack of oxygen also.
We, finally, reached the sanctum sanctorum, where the tunnel ended and an open space was present. The width of the sanctum sanctorum permitted three persons to stand comfortably, while the vertical space above was approximately 10 feet. On the roof were naturally jutting out rocks, finely shaped in a cylindrical manner apparently due to friction with water over years. There were also natural interesting shapes of the rocks around which could be construed whatever one would like to imagine. This place was definitely unique !
So, after mission accomplishment, it was time to move back so that the others could do the ‘darshan’. We lighted a few incense sticks, prayer for few minutes and started our return journey. Herein came the obvious question, which gives the title to this write up. What is the length of this tunnel ?? Having no means at our disposal other than an AK-47. We started measuring the AK-47 lengths covered as we crawled back and thus arrived at a figure of 44 AK-47 lengths. So, good luck or bad luck, the curse of AK-47 on the Valley, which is ubiquitous in the hands of the security forces and terrorists alike in the Kashmir Valley , is what came handy to measure the length of the Chota Amarnath Cave.
Having completed the reconnaissance with the active assistance of the locals. The entire Yatra plan was handed over to the district administration and local panchayat for implementation with we just in an observer role to avoid controversies and conspiracy theories. Later, in July/August 2012 it was time to launch the first batch of this revived Yatra, with potential of generating revenue for the locals, strengthening Kashmiriyat, ensuring development (the district administration had rolled out a road connectivity plan to the site) and fulfilling spiritual needs of the Pilgrims. But alas ! as a ‘jatha’ arrived, it fell to the machinations of ‘so called implications’ and had to return without visiting the Shrine.
So, as ‘Kousar Nag’ controversy rages, I am brooding over my ‘44 AK-47 lengths’, while the book on my study table of Sandeep Bamzai titled ‘Bonfire of Kashmiriyat ‘ stares me on my face. How apt a title given the situation in the Kashmir Valley today ???? Here’s praying for the return of sanity and revival of Kashmiriyat in the Kashmir Valley, Inshallah !
The writer has its own views