Location: The hill of Janapao, 

Village: Rajpura Kuti.

Tehsil: Mhow. 
District Indore. 

State: Madhya Pradesh, India




Approximately 15 kms from Mhow (roughly 40 kms. from Indore) on  the Agra Bombay Road as one drives towards Mumbai.


Kartik Purnima is the full moon day exactly fifteen days after the festival of Diwali. This year it fell on                 Saturday, November 24. Since 1994 I have been climbing the hill of Janapao on this day. There is a Siva            temple on top of the hill and a huge fair is held on this day. Thousands of people, mostly villagers, visit the fair on this day.  This is a typically Malwi festival. More so as it is not known nationally. According to legend              this hill is the abode of Jamadagni, the father of Parasurama - one of the ten avataras (reincarnations)             of Vishnu.                                                                                                                                                                                          

The river Gambhir originates from this hill. It merges with the Kshipra which is the river on whose banks the   holy city of Ujjain is built. Another river which originates from this hill is the Chambal. This flows north and      then it merges with the Yamuna. The Yamuna, in turn, merges with the Ganges which flows into the Bay of     Bengal. Interestingly the Kshipra merges with the Chambal. The river Choral also originates from this hill.      The Choral merges with the Narmada which flows into the Arabian Sea.  This spot could well be the only one in India from where one river emerges and eventually flows into the Arabian Sea and another river emerges and merges with the Bay of Bengal. My friend Anurag tells me that this makes this feature a unique one in     India.                                                                                                                                                                                              

I drove down in a hired cab this year. Haroon who had driven me here last year brought me here this year too  in his  Ambassador car. Here are some pics I took during the mela:                                                                                                                                                                                                                             


















Bangles for the ladies. I cannot imagine a village fair without such a shop.




One walks through forests as one heads towards the hill. It is a walk I enjoy everytime I come here.

On the way I cross fields. This one has potatoes growing in it.

The 'mobile towers' were absent a few years ago. 

Bananas were selling at Rupees ten for a dozen. Dus ke baarah, Dus ke baarah as the man was yelling.

 

I went and bought 100 grams of 'Marwar ke ber' (Berries from Marwar, Rajasthan) for five rupees from Keshav.  He was here last year too. And he remembered  me. I asked him where he got these ber from. He told  me that they are available in the wholesale market in  Indore.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            
                                       





The pipal tree growing on a Mahua tree. A fascinating site. I had overheard a village woman once telling her friends a story that the Mahua tree had taken a loan from the Pipal tree in a previous birth. She was repaying her debt in this manner.  A beautiful story indeed.


This old man was initially reluctant to get photographed. But his companions protested. So he agreed and let me click him. Ram, Ram baba. Dhanyavad.



A group of women pilgrims descending. Many women do the pilgrimage barefeet. I am full of admiration for their toughness and dedication to Siva.



A cement path has been constructed and goes up for almost half the way. And many youngsters use motorbikes to go as high as they can go. Ironically, almost all the elderly people I see here are doing it on foot.
 I feel that a pilgrimage shouldnt be made easier. The sense of achievment goes out of it when too many comforts are provided.


A couple from Jhabua. They tell me that they had visited Omkareshwar before they came here.