From Khajuraho in Madhya Pradesh it is still quite difficult to go
to the next state Uttar Pradesh. There is a train, which arrives in
Chitrakut at the ridiculous time at 3.30 in the morning. In that case,
you could only hope for bad fog to arrive there later. There is one
direct bus, which stops about 20 km before you get to Chitrakut or there
is the super bumpy road to Satna, which is in even worse condition than
it was 16 years ago and then change for another bus to Chitrakut.
Altogether not really fancy options. I chose the bad road with changing
buses as this seemed to me the most practical way. It worked out very
well. In Satna, I was able to jump in another bus immediately – very
full, but no waiting time. It is just not possible to have everything.
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| Chitrakut |
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| Chitrakut |
Chitrakut is a very small place, but for Hindu pilgrims it is very
important. Here, God Rama stayed 11 years during his exile. There is a
few Ghats (bath places) directly at the river. The second day was a very
auspicious day for taking a bath, as it was new moon. So, many people
came especially for this day to Chitrakut. Usually, this place receives
not so many visitors, but that day, it was very different. This was just
great for taking photos. Particularly as the people did not have any
problems with being photographed. It was simply great to watch the
people doing their rituals. Those, who knew some words of English, were
happy to explain the rituals.
My hostel was direct in the Ghats and had a gigantic terrace.
Unfortunately, the hotel had frequent power cuts, so basically from
07.30 to 17.00 o'clock and also after 21.00 o'clock there was no power.
Well, people go to bed early here. The only important thing was being at
the hotel around 5pm, as there was power in the hotel, and there was
the chance of getting a bucket of hot water for a shower.
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| Kamadgiri Hill |
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| Kamadgiri Hill |
On my last day in Chitrakut, I went to holy mountain Kamadgiri. Also
there, everything was about god Rama. Around the whole mountain, there
is a 5 kilometer circuit. As the mountain is very holy, people go around
it bare foot…. Not so funny. Here, there are many monkeys, cows and
goats, with all their leftovers on the paths. One must pay really
attention, where to step…. Moreover, there are sometimes extremely rough
stones or slimy ones because somebody has washed his cow, his
motorcycle or the ground in front of his shop. Around the mountain,
there are many beggars, preachers and holy men (Sadhus). Here are many
beggars, but they do not beg excessively like at other places, but the
people receive 1 or 2 Rupees from the pilgrims. (66 Rupees are one
Euro). Here, taking photos was no problem – where else do you get a
photo of a friendly Sadhu for just 2 Rupees? In Varanasi, they are
rather unfriendly and then ask for 100 Rupees….
In the evening, I did a nice trip by the boat, about two kilometers up
the river to the glass temple. This temple comes with two universities
as well as a museum, all that was brought up to life by a blind guru.
One is a normal university, the other one especially for disabled
persons. Well, the museum was also especially around the God Rama.
