Headlines
Nepal seers refuse to quit damaged ashram
By
Mohit DubeyDevghat (Nepal), May 7
The devastating
earthquake has failed to shake the faith in God of some Nepal seers, who
are determined to stay on despite deep and ominous cracks in their
ashram here.
Showing their complete faith in "God's will", the
dozen-odd aged saints have refused to move out of the Harihar Ashram
here even though the building that houses them has developed cracks in
its foundations and walls following the April 25 temblor. Devghat is
about 250 km from capital Kathmandu.
The authorities, and even
their own structural engineers, have advised them about the perils of
living in such buildings. But, the seers say, they are "wedded to life
and death in this very place".
"We relinquished the worldly life
many decades back. Fear of death or harm does not shake us anymore," a
95-year-old seer who refused to give his name told IANS.
Inshwaranand
Saraswati, a middle-aged woman in saffron clothes, rued that the
building has become an unsafe place for the youngsters and students who
study nearby.
"A lot of people used to come here early for puja
and other Sanatan dharm-karm, but now the footfall is less...we can
understand. Unlike us, everyone is afraid of death and harm to life,"
she said while showing this IANS correspondent the deep cracks the
'bhojan kaksh' (Mess) has developed.
The huge hall, which on normal days, accommodated over 400 people for community food is now locked out.
With cracks on the mosaic flooring, walls and even the ceiling, engineers say the building should be out of bounds.
The seers say they will not leave the ashram premises at "any cost".
The two-storeyed temple, housing separate temples -- Ram Darbaar, Shiv-Parvati and Vishnu-Laxmi -- bears a deserted look.
The
young priests have gone home. The sanctum sanctorum is locked as it is
very fragile and people have been advised not to go there.
It is
these old men and women who are conducting daily rituals like 'snan'
(bathing), 'shringaar' (decoration), bhog (offerings) and 'aarti' of the
deities.
Dhaneshwaranand, another seer overseeing the religious
rituals and administrative affairs, told IANS that after a stock-taking
by senior 'gurus', some settled in Kashi (Varanasi) and Haridwar,
decisions would be taken on when to the raze the building and how to
proceed to make new premises.
"It is an unphill task that would
require not only a lot of internal courage and spiritual focus, the
monetary concerns" would have to be taken into account he added.
Since
there are no workers around, even the 'gaushala' (cowshed) is being
looked after by these men and women with the help of some gurukul
students living nearby.
A biogas plant at their premises provides power power at night.
"We
are very hopeful and confident that things would look up for the entire
'sansara' (world) soon," said another 75-year-plus sage before he
excuses himself and heads for the evening aarti.
(Mohit Dubey can be contacted at [email protected])