Pretshila Hill Boys
While
covering once, Pritipaksha Mela at Gaya in Bihar, where it is believed in
Hindus that the dead soul couldn’t attain salvation or peace until they are not
worshipped by doing Pind Daan to the departed souls of the ancestors in the
month of last September and October every year. So in that pretext I was in
Gaya and covering the pious events. This is the event going on for centuries
and there is belief that without worshipping at Pretshila hill the souls of the
ancestors who died suddenly in some accident couldn’t get salvation. It is a
steep hill of the hight of 676 steps and climbing is very difficult due to its
steepness. For the bulky and old person it is quite difficult to climb so the
locales are operating palanquins and take huge charges from the devotees.
Children also help pilgrims in offering puja and get some tips.
This hill is
situated about 8 Kms from Gaya and anybody can reach there by hiring taxis,
autos or electric rickshaws. It is believed that Lord Rama also offered ‘Pind
Daan’ with his wife Sita and brother Luxhman to his late father King Dashrath,
so the Gaya is since then remain site of importance for this Shraddha. This
Pind Daan is also done at Varanasi, Allahabad, Badrinath, Haridwar, Dwarka and
Jagganth Puri also but Pind Daan in Gaya has more importance due to its more
religious belief as performing this puja at the bank of Falgu River and
Vishnupad temple believed to be done by God Ram and people from far off places from
South India, West Bengal, Nepal, Bhutan converge there for this rituals. If
there is no other males are in family then daughter can also perform this shraddha
of ancestral along with her husband.
A ball is
called Pinda is made with the mixture of cooked rice, Holy water of Ganga,
honey and it is kept on leaves and in this way this ritual is performed with
the recitals of Mantras by Pundits with the photographs of dead persons.
Gaya is well
connected by rail, road and air from all over the country and lot of
accommodations are available but during Pritipaksh period it is advisable to
have prior bookings for the hotels due heavy crowd congregates there.
Text and Photos by- Ashok Karan,
Ashokkaran.blogspot.com,
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