Saraswati yatra (contd...)

The momentous day:

Early morning, on 01st Nov, Yatris climbed into the buses and left for Adi Badri via Yamuna Nagar and Jagadri, about 90 km from Kurukshetra. It was a reverent experience to walk on the same soil, the hallowed ground of Adi Badri, where our ancestors once lived. The sight of Yatris in blue & white attire wearing the sandy-yellow/brown tercentenary caps seemed as though the river Saraswati had surfaced and was flowing along side the sandy banks. Shivaliks to Shrivalli :Against the backdrop of the Shivaliks at Adi Badri is the Udgam-Sthala of River Saraswati. The Srota of the Saraswati River is in the lower Shivaliks from where the waters trickle down through the ridges to join the Som River in the valley. One of the reasons for going there was to collect the Saraswati water in Kalashas and take it to Shrivali to be poured into the Shivaganga, in a way, bringing our ‘mother’ Saraswati to Shrivali and symbolising migration of the Saraswats as well. Udgam sthala:The Srota of river Sarawati had to be directed and channelled to be able to fill Kalashas and the idea of installing a Gaumukh that would bring Poornata to the Jalagrahan ceremony came up. A marble Gomukh, inset in a marble plaque, was installed in an attractive stone wall. The inscription on the plaque is simply divine