day 2

it was a really still night . there was no wind blowing but the was lightening in the clouds(which seemed to have mysteriously arrived , as there was none in the day when the sun was beating on us) . me and my friend could no longer bear it when there was power cut-off and went to venture out in this sleepless night just to stop the mosquitoes from sucking out all the blood from our body. we came out of the room to see that the light near the temple at the other end of the courtyard of the dharamshala was on and just kept moving towards the huge structure (possibly made out of red stone) . around the temple were old buildings with many rooms ( maybe these were in use before the new building was constructed) and could have been used in case too many people came to the place ( though looking at their condition it seemed a doubtful proposition) . there was some renovation work going on there evident from the fact that there were these bamboos , cement , ropes , other construction tools which were visible courtesy a solitary dim bulb that hung in front of a building (from where it was drawing the tension i couldn't see) . well the place did seem a little spooky but we decided to give a round . i don't know but at that point of time as we went around the temple i did think that i was hearing some sounds , but i ignored it considering them to my hallucinations . however we were not at ease and that was evident from the speed at which we completed our trip around the temple .
then as we completed the round we were back to the world of light in front of the temple . there we saw a well , yeah a well . we having spent the whole life in the city had never had the experience of drawing water out of the well so the bucket tied with the rope gave us the temptation to try our hand at it . so we picked the bucket and plunged it into the well . as we did so , we heard a spine chilling shriek , and for a moment our heart sank . then we saw that it was cat near the well , and started to breath normally again. the bucket hit the water and we excitedly pulled out the bucket . it did seem heavy so expected to complete the mission of drawing water and get away from the place . when the bucket came out it was not even 1/10th filled with water . then we thought of giving it another try and again the outcome was a little more than 1/8th of the bucket . then i told my friend that there ain't seems to be enough water in the well . just then a heavy voice from the behind says that there is water in the well . we look back even though we didn't want to move even our nails . we see a lumpish man in white dhoti-kurta , eyes red , a torch in hand , cheeks falling down like that of a bulldog and huge mustache turning upwards at the end, as sharp as a needle . he went on further saying that it was the wrong way in which we were putting in the bucket that resulted in so less water coming out . he asked us to tilt the bucket and throw it in with some force . we did it and this time around we knew that the bucket was filled because it was so heavy that we had to pull it out together . he walked along saying that city boys need to tone their body . point well taken , we pulled out the bucket . he went along with the torch in the dark shouting something maybe to show that he was awake and got some response from other watchmen who were awake . then we used the water we pulled out to wash our hands, face and legs . when we were done then the man come back and starts chatting tells that he is the head watchman out there . then he inquires about us where we were from and where we were heading and all that stuff . when we fell at ease then suddenly my friend out of nowhere asked him that the place looks so spooky , doesn't he feel so . then he gave a laugh and we knew that it was not a good question to ask . and gave a glaring stare to my friend who just kept looking down . anyhow the watchman kept continuing and we didn't even realize when he started an account of some incident that had witnessed . he started saying some weird things that had happened which did seem to us could only have been the brainchild of some mischievous spirit. then he said that we accompany him to the place behind the temple we he had observed something strange . we were out of our minds or what . we refused the proposal , hearing which he started laughing . the somehow made us agree to accompany him . he started moving towards the back of the temple , we sensing the opportunity just ran away from the place and moved towards the room at some pace. when we crossed the courtyard we heard the man laughing and going back to make his rounds. of course we didn't have any further sleep instead we were the alarm that day waking every one up in the morning at 5 am . well the place that was silent a couple of minutes ago was now hushing-bushing with everyone just telling the others to hurry . then we had a breakfast of tea and some snacks that we were carrying . after it was done we headed towards or vehicle to find that we were not allowed to take our vehicle(such as car , suv s, buses etc. ) to the temples we were to visit . so we were forced to hire a couple of auto-rickshaws which looked as if they could be instantly be dismantled . we had no option so we haired a couple of them and hit the road . it was some road . i would preferably call it a road that can be used to test the toughness of a vehicle . all the way long the rickshaw rocked like a cradle . we reached a temple shining in the whole of whiteness . the temple i wasunderstood was called samosaran as it is the place where the lord mahavira sat down and gave preaching to a gathering of all the creatures in the world as well as the lords from the heaven . It was made up of marble and round in shape . inside sat lord mahavira and around him was engraved in three different levels the lords from heaven , the creatures that moved on the earth and the creatures who flew . also at the ground level were small ponds which signified the presence of water creatures at the gathering . then the holy man showed us a well and said that the water from the well used to be used in ancient times for lighting up lamps (instead of the conventionally used oil) . we came out of the place and moved towards the auto that was waiting for us for taking us to our next stop which was jal-mandir (water-temple) . this was a temple in the middle of a large square shaped pond . the story so goes that when lord Mahavira died then he was cremated in this place then the ashes spread over such a long area that when the ashes were picked up it dug up such a big hole that it became such a big pond . and a temple in erected right in the middle of the pond as a remembrance of the place where he was cremated . in near vicinity were a couple of temples whose significance i am not aware of. but at least after having been to these couple of temples , i got some idea of the life of lord Mahavira and why he is worshiped . now we left the place and we had our bolero waiting for us to get loaded and move towards the Raj-giri . in between we were to stop at a place called kundulpur . it is the place where lord Mahavira is supposed to be born . there is huge temple built there with an idol around 10 feet tall made out of possibly green granite . out there was a building which had the idols of the 24 tirthankars of three periods i.e. the past , the present and the future . it was here that i came to know more about the lord who is worshiped . lord Mahavira was the last of the tirthankars of the past and it was him who through a tedious life tried to spread the message of Jainism to the people and it is due to his influence on the people and his selfless life devoted to the cause of preaching Jainism that makes him a lord to be worshiped .from here we moved towards Rajgiri . in between came a place that has always fascinated me . Nalanda Vishwavidlaya . i know i will regret the fact that i couldn't watch the place because we didn't have time . well after a drive of about an hour we reached rajgiri . it was basically a place at the bottom of a couple of hills . at the top of these hills are a couple of jain temples . we reached the place at around 11.30 and even here we got a dharamshala to live in . here i figured out that there are two class of worshipers in Jainism . one is shvetanber and the other is dwigamber . shvetamber worship the lord by making him wear clothes where as dwigamber believe that lord moved around without clothes and thus should be worshiped without them . both these cults have their separate dharamshalas at every place and thus the people of the respective section of worshipers enjoy the services of the respective dharamshalas . now by the time we reached rajgiri we were late for climbing the mountains to go to the jain temples . so we hired horse carriages which took us to the different places worth visit . the rider of the carriage told us that there were many historical monuments here but most were destroyed in an earthquake that hit the place in 1966 . anyways we were taken to the japanese temple on the top of a hill . to reach we were to get up on a rope way taking 7 1/2 minutes or walk at goo pace on the stairs to reach in about 45 minutes . we opted for the rope way and there was no reason to regret . it was a nice ride up the hill at a very easy pace . another 5 minutes walk and we noticed what was termed as Japaneses temple was basically a shanti stupa and beside it was a Buddhist temple . we spent quite some time out there taking some photographs of the picturesque scenery that was on offer . then was the time to come down again enjoying the services of the rope way . after coming down we took the carriage ride to a well that has hot water in it . people worship and do all sorts of thing there . i went there and washed my hand and face there and yeah it was quite a refreshing experience to splash naturally hot water on your face . anyways next we went to a place called veerayatan . it is locally known as a museum . i was surprised at the thought of visiting a historical museum at such a place . anyways we got our tickets and went inside to find that it basically depicted various incidences of lord Mahavira life through beautiful depictions using dolls and clays structures and various other things that completed the scenes and at the bottom a plate describing the scene . it was beautiful and very tedious done making the descriptions both detailed and beautiful to look at. it very beautifully conveyed the messages that lord mahavira had spread amongst the masses during his life time . it certainly was a place i would like to visit again and again . i rue the fact that i didn't pick up a CD which claimed to have all the illustrations along with a running commentary . anyways out of that place we were then escorted by the carriage to a Buddhist temple . it was huge and it had some thing special about it . it was one of the most peaceful place i had ever been to . we came out and headed straight to the dharamshala . it was already a long day . then i and my friend decided to move around the market . it was not much of a market , just a couple of stalls chats and boiled eggs . and the rest was some fruits and vegetables . but the hustle bustle around the place made it look like a very busy market . what i and my friend were looking for was something called taadi . it is a juice of some fruit that is fetched from long trees which were in plenty out there . anyways there is an interesting story around it which i shall disclose later . anyways there was not much adventure left in that day . we just went to the dharamshala rested a little and came out at around 8 and went to restaurant and had our dinner . went back and slept. i must say that these people were not that much of chatters . i mean whenever we were not traveling they all dosed off to sleep instead of having fun and chatting around . well i am a complainer and i would have complained even if they talked because it is a strange feeling of sitting in midst of a bunch of people who are speaking a language that you don't understand . whatever we got ourselves mortien coil for the night so that we were not troubled by the mosquitoes again . and then went into the dreamland till the next morning .