K For Kanvashram in Uttarakhand – A Mystic Encounter!!

K For Kanvashram in Uttarakhand – A Mystic Encounter!!

Kanvashram in Uttarakhand – A Mystic Encounter!!

Hello Readers,

Welcome to my Post.

This story has been written by Mr.Rakesh Nautiyal, a Senior Scientist, GM at ONGC. Recently I came across him and become friends. There are many interesting stories he would tell at times…being a globetrotter.  Basically from Uttarakhand, he had a real life encounter at this nature nestled place Kanvashram in Uttarakhand. It’s really interesting….Read on.

This is the story of a real incident of my life. My family was residing in a small town Kotdwar in the state of Uttarakhand. Kotdwar is a city, a Municipal Corporation and a tehsil in the Pauri Garhwal district of UttarakhandIndia. It is located on the bank of river Khoh. It is situated in the south-western part of the state and is one of the main entrance points in the state of Uttarakhand.

 

Mr.Rakesh Nautiyal.@pari3105

Kanvashram in Uttarakhand
Saint Kanva, Kanvashram in Uttarakhand

Situated in the foothill of Himalayas the town is encircled by small mountain range from two sides and the southern side is open towards plain land the entry point for the hilly region and northern boundary touches the Rajaji national park. Our house was in the midst of Mango orchard with a beautiful garden in front of the house. I have seen my mother always working and maintaining the different type of flowers in the garden. We all brothers and sisters loved to play outdoors games in the mango orchard spread over 8 Bighas of land having trees of Ashok, Guwava, lichhi, Pear & some rare medicinal trees, daily after returning from school within our premises. I always feel very nostalgic to remember the good old days. I have completed my higher secondary studies in the same town & went to Dehradun for further studies.

The story goes like this….it was just after few days of my marriage and we wanted to visit the temple for the deity’s blessings and planned to take my wife to the nearby place called Kanvashram.

To give a little introduction about Kanvashram it is said to be the birthplace of Emperor Bharat and an important place both historically, culturally and archaeologically in the history of India. It is located on the bank of the river Malini flowing alongside it, which makes it carefully, nestled in Mother Nature. The place was about 12 km from my home.

It is believed that Indra, the king of Gods, scared by The Sage Vishwamitra’s meditation, sent a beautiful celestial damsel named Menaka to the earth to disrupt his meditation. She succeeded in disturbing Vishwamitra’s meditation. With their union, she gave birth to a girl child. Menaka having succeeded in her purpose left the child on the bank of the river Malini and went back to her heavenly abode. This child was found by sage Kanna who brought her up in his ashram called Kanvashram. She was named Shakuntla by the sage. She later married to the King of this region named Dushyanta. She gave birth to a son who was called Bharata, the prince after whom India was named as Bharatavarsha. It is believed that nearly 10,000 pupils used to stay in the ashram of Kanva Rishi in ancient time to get Education. Since then the valley or Ghati is known as Kanvaghati.

Our trip to Kanvashram started as per the plan……Just like the rest of Uttarakhand, this place also boasts of lush green areas and mountains which are a breath-taking sight to behold. And among these forests live a number of wild animals, oblivious to the man –made inventions in their cities.

While visiting that place with my family, I couldn’t help but get drawn towards few animal enclosures they had there at the time just opposite to the Ashram. There was a temporary bridge over the Malini River connecting Ashram and the zoo maintained by the forest department. After all, it’s not every day that you get to see such beautiful wild animals roaming freely in their natural habitats…

Nevertheless, walking along such an enclosure, we spotted a gorgeous looking Barasingha aka a swamp deer. It was just like what animal planet would portray, with its majestic horns in all its glory. Suddenly, I felt an urge to go closer and feed it some snacks I had with me.

A natural Habitat for animals opposite to Kanvashram in Uttarakhand

Since I saw no guard at the enclosure entrance, I decided to try my luck and to my surprise, the gate to its enclosure was unlocked! As I walked inside and slowly towards the deer, visibly it sensed me moving towards it and looked in my direction, but did not waver from its spot.  I remember I was very impressed by its bravery. This encouraged me to get closer to it and I just went straight up to it and held out my hand with the snacks in it a few feet away from its head, hoping it would smell the food and come towards it. The fragrance must have gotten to it indeed, as the deer brought its nose onto my palms and started eating the food from it.

My wife was still standing near the gate. Only a couple of minutes must have passed that I suddenly heard a voice screaming in the background calling me to come out of the enclosure.
I complied, as I was already out of food to feed the deer. As soon as I was out, I saw a guard that had been waiting for me to reach the gate with bated breath.
He asked me in an exasperated voice, almost angry: “Why did you go inside the enclosure sahib?”

I told him why did I go there and asked him what the matter was and he promptly informed me:
“That Barasingha is extremely aggressive; it could have killed you in a second! He has already killed one person before and injured many.”

Surprised at that news, I asked him how all that was possible for that deer that looked so gentle.  However he told me that I was very lucky that it didn’t attack me because if it had, the officials would not have been able to save me.

Hearing that it’s true that I was hugely shocked ……………… and as I looked back at the enclosure, the deer was still standing with the same peaceful posture as before as if trying to disprove the guard’s facts. I soon realised how lucky I had been and made a mental note of being careful around animals as looks can be very deceiving!

But the fact is, wild animal are not always wild until provoked by humans.Even the most simple of life forms exhibit behavioral activity, and whether the behavior is normal or abnormal can provide insight into their mental state.

Instinct is a powerful force in the animal world. It dictates the behaviors necessary for survival, especially in species that don’t get much guidance from their parents. These behaviors are programmed into an animal at a genetic level. It may seem that what drives animal behavior ultimately boils down to a pretty simple factor: survival.

It seems obvious that the role of survivorship is pretty powerful. Nature tends to reward the behaviors that best ensure that an individual escapes predators or finds food.’Survival of the fittest… right?

I was only feeding him, so his behavior was quite normal. Probably it understood my intentions.

On my way back I realized that may be this has been a message taught to me in the vicinity of the Kanvashram…that had once educated thousands of pupils. They say na…The aura of a place has its own mysticism around. 🙂

It was truly a mystical encounter for me….

Kanvashram in Uttarakhand

Isn’t it really touching…Hope you had a great read!!

This is My Post for The Alphabet K  #AToZChallenge 2020 by @blogchatter in the Month of April 2020

For My Theme CLICK HERE

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25 Comments

    • Author · Edit

      YES..Very true, However I remembered Sakuntala and Dushyanta story, I never remembered the name of the sage. Uttarakhand is place of many such places….captivating and majestic. Thank you for visiting the post.

      Reply
  • This description captures the beauty and natural wonder of Uttarakhand fair and square. Animals really are intriguing the more we get to observe their behavioural patterns!

    1
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  • · Edit

    Very nice Tinaji.
    I am delighted and thankful that you liked and considered my story to be shared under your prestigious website.
    pl accept my heart filled gratitude.
    Best wishes for your A to z challenge ahead.

    1
    Reply
    • Author · Edit

      The pleasure is mine Sir. The story, the place and the whole narration itself is a very wonderful read for me too. Looking for more such beautiful stories. Thanks You 🙂

      Reply
  • · Edit

    Beautiful narration As the incident occurred after a few days of our wedding the memory gives me goosebumps as i was with my husband that time. I feel nostalgic when i remember the incident and beautiful place KARNAVASHRAM .
    Thanks for sharing the story in your blog Tinaji.
    Best wishes for your #AToZ Challange ahead👍

    1
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    • Author · Edit

      Thank you sooo much Maam. I know how it goes through the veins when we once again encounter such incidents in our memory lane. Thank you for your motivation. Love and Hugs(Social distancingwala)

      Reply
  • Wow!thats an excellent combination of a story with a lot of information about a historical place like kanvashram. It’s indeed correct that wild animals have their individual behaviour. Being a forest officer I can say that some may be docile while others may be aggressive by nature. So it is best to keep safe distance and admire the beauty from a distance. During school days we did use to feed deers there but from the other side of fence. It was definitely scarey to get into that enclosure. Thankfully timely warning was sounded. Excellent narration ! Pl keep writing.

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    • Author · Edit

      Thank you for your wonderful response Sir. Would like to hear few stories about your encounters with these non human beings. Will be glad to share here . Thank you once again for your visit. 🙂

      Reply
  • · Edit

    beautifully written!! kanvaashram ..still this place gives peace and divine feeling.. still it has wild animal around.. it is still main attraction to visit. we still wait for vasant panchmi to visit this place..this story reminds me my childhood 🙂

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    • · Edit

      Thanks a lot Neha.
      Well said ,you have spent your childhood in this beautiful Karnvaghati area.
      And obviously lot of memories are attached to it.
      You were there during Basant Panchami this year. How was the fair this time at karnvashram ?
      Thanks for your response.

      Reply
    • · Edit

      This is excellent,interesting and sensitive remeniscence of my elder brother sh Rakesh nautiyal. This is also a manifestation of our cultural resource management including nature.

      The karnashram is located at periphery of Mayapur ( Modern Haridwar) and mordhwaj,which are historically and culturally very rich sites of our nation.
      Learning of this reminesce is beaware to beheviour of wild animals and reflect cultural resources.

      Congratulations to brother and thanks to Teenaji

      Regards

      1
      Reply
      • Author · Edit

        Thank you soo much Sir. It’s pleasure to have Rakesh Sir’s write up. They are full of knowledge and insight. 🙂

        Reply
  • · Edit

    Sir, Very beautiful narration. Indeed a riveting story. Kanvashram seems to be an interesting place, hope to visit it someday. Furthermore, your encounter with the deer educates us about the animal instincts & behavior. It teaches us humility & kindness which can turn even the wildest beast into a sweet & amiable being.
    Kudos to you, keep writing 👍

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    • Author · Edit

      thank You Soo much for your Beautiful Response Mr.Ransher. Keep visiting my websites for such more wonderful stories.

      Reply
  • · Edit

    MIND BLOWING SIRJI

    THANKS FOR TAKING ME TO THIS BEAUTIFUL JOURNEY OF YOURS

    I HAVE NEVER BEEN TO ALL THESE PLACES

    BUT VISUALISED IT THROUGH THE ENTIRE NARRATION OF YOURS

    GOD BLESS YOU SIR AND WAITING FOR POSTS LIKE THESE IN FUTURE

    THANKS AND REGARDS

    RAHUL SHETTY

    1
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    • Author · Edit

      Thank You Mr.Rahul for your visit and wonderful Response!! Keep coming to my website for more such lovely Stories.

      Reply
  • An interesting story with beautiful narration. Hope to read many more stories like this from your side. Wishes and regards.

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    • Author · Edit

      Thank you for visit and reading the post Chayanika. Glad u liked it. Will come up with more such wonderful stories.

      Reply
    • · Edit

      Thank you Saurav for visiting the post & response. There are many more posts written by Tina Madam under different categories, which are very pertinent to our society in general.Ispeciallly suggest you to visit the social issues category to read some well written & beautiful posts.
      So, keep on visiting this site & keep reading.

      1
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  • · Edit

    This is a story from our ancient past and we have all gone through it sometime or other.The place is really special and was less kn own earlier but as the informed india grows so do the information about them.

    Reply

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