According to the local calendar, we are in the month of Bhadrapada on the day Shukla 11 in the year 2071.
Today is the end of summer and the cold season starts..
Both the people and the Gods stake this day to take a holy bath. Sacred rivers, springs or lakes are suitable for this purpose.
The god from the village of Vaschisht, for example, is carried by the villagers up to Brighu Lake at 4270 m, so that it is washed there.
My friend Jogi has also been on the road for three days. He and his village comrades carried their god from a village near Naggar for two days to Bunthar, 30 km away. Here the god was bathed ceremonically. Now the villagers march back for two days more. They stop on the way in Kullu and sleep and eat outdoors.
The people here are very religous and time is taken for such pilgrimages in the community. Through this faith, which is anchored in the local Hindu culture, the people here are still very close and hold on
For such important religous days, earning money is only secondary and time is given only to God.
I, too, took a dip in Vaschisht’s hot springs today.
That I wouldn’t be the only one with this plan, I could have imagined! At first my car rickshaw was stuck in a traffic jam and then I had little room to move even towards the pool. About 50 other local women were with me in the bathroom, which is maybe 5×4 meters big in size. But it was enough for a holy bath in the rain. And who knows, maybe it had very special effects on me today!
