We left Naintal and moved towards Patal Bhuvaneshwar around 7 AM, refreshed because of unforgettable experience of Nainital. There are two ways to go to Patal Bhuvaneshwar. The normal and shorter route is to turn towards Almora and cross Bare Chhina, Shera Ghat and by-passing Beri Nag, we reached Patal Bhuvaneshwar.
We parked our car outside the temple and walked around 200 meters to reach the caves and here were the ASI boards which informed us of their importance. Meanwhile we were also told by shopkeepers of that area that we are not allowed to take cameras and mobile phones inside the caves.
Once we reached the entrance of the caves, all we could see was an open gate with a big bell and it was slightly disappointing for me to start the journey of the cave .It certainly wasn’t an impressive sight, and I wondered what we were doing here. Meanwhile, we were approached by a guard who told us that we have to hand over our cameras at the entrance and pay the entrance charges at a small cabin which we had ignored. We approached towards the cabin and I had a look at that small cabin. Lot of phones and cameras were there and yes there were no lockers to put them. The lone person sitting in the cabin told us that he would take care of them, and that we should also hire a guide, since otherwise we would not understand anything about the caves. He took our details like name, address and all and we left with the guide to explore the caves.
We stepped into the collapsible door after being frisked by the an old guard, and suddenly, I felt myself entering a different world! It was immediately apparent why the place was called ‘Patal’ Bhuvaneshwar – just the sight of the tiny tunnel-like cave leading downwards made me feel I was entering the bowels of the earth – the nether world or ‘Patal’ as it is called in Indian mythology! It’s a pity photography is not allowed inside, for I am sure I could have taken better photographs of the place than those which they sell outside. At least I would have shots of the tunnel and the rough steps, some cut into the stone, and some simply boulders placed at strategic positions for grip and ease. To be honest, initially when I started going down , I wanted to give up as I was too scared to enter the caves. All I thought that what will happen if an earthquake will come and all of us will be buried inside the caves. Even then, I barely managed the descent by holding on to the chains provided and chanting Bum Bum Bholey and Har Har Mahadev again and again. We had to crawl through a few sections, and even slide along at times! Our descent came to an abrupt halt after about 5-7 minutes, and I found myself on a ledge from where we had to go down by stairs. Even that wasn’t easy for me as I had to took help of a man to jump and when I did I saw the most pulchritudinous scene of my life. I was awestruck by the beauty of the cave. I turned around with a gasp to see that subterranean cave, one which could easily hold around 50 people. It was cold inside and surprisingly my fear of earthquake was gone by the time. The first image I saw was an outgrowth from the stone wall, which, at first glance reminded me of the hood of a snake! At once I realized the importance and the interest the cave holds in the mind of the Hindu tourist, for here was a place where it was so easy to relate to the stories we have heard in our childhood and been brought up on. The stone j had a suggestion of curve, and to my mind, it immediately conjured up an image of a snake – SheshNaag no doubt! No wonder people turned up here in large numbers! A minute later, I was proved right when our guide began his lecture telling us about this being the inside of SheshNaag. He pointed to a series of bumps on the surface, and told us that these were the ribs of SheshNaag. While my rational mind could see the association of ideas, I found myself appreciating not just the beauty of nature which had created such a place, but also the imagination which led to it being idolized and eulogized. I again had a look at those ‘ribs’. That formation was approximately at the centre of the cave/tunnel throughout and did, indeed look like ribs. I really wish I had some pictures of them. For those readers who are interested, here is the history/legend of the cave – this cave has apparently existed since the beginning of time, and has been the abode of gods and goddesses. It has remained closed to humans except for certain instances in every age/yuga. It first opened to one of the ancestors of Lord Ram in the Treta Yuga, when he was fleeing from a demon, and Lord Shiva granted him darshan here. He also informed the king that the cave opened for him only because of his need and his worth. The cave opened again in the next Yuga when the Pandavas passed by on their way to the Himalayas, and they are believed to have rested here for a while. It closed again, only to be opened for Adi Shankaracharya in the present age, who asked for the cave to be kept open for the upliftment of humankind. Of course, the legend also says that this cave has four gates, one each for truth, righteousness, duty and nirvana/moksha. Of these, only one remains open now, the one for duty, since that’s all one can do in this age of sinfulness. So it really does not matter if the cave is opened in this age. Also, the cave is believed to be an indicator of the Yuga, and its progress, and is believed to indicate the end of the Yuga. It will be destroyed along with the world at the end of this age, and will again be formed in the new cycle of life, or so goes the legend. Getting back inside the cave, our guide took us through the various formations of stalactites and stalagmites, each representing to the believer, some form of the lord. We passed by Ganesha in his original form, waiting for the elephant’s head to be fixed on his neck, while the Brahma Kamal (lotus of Brahma) dripped nectar on him, keeping him alive. We passed through Vasuki and Takshak, the two great snakes, Patal Devi, the guardian of the netherworld, the swan of Lord Brahma, cursed for trying to sip the holy water, his head turned away from the bowl of water he was supposed to be guarding, the Kalpavriksha, the wish fulfilling tree, the thousand legs of Airavat, the elephant of Indra, the Parijat tree, the tree from the heavens, and many many more. But this cave surely belongs to lord Shiva because lot many shapes resemble to him or related to him. Firstly, to me, this seems just like the kind of place the lord with no attachments would love to be in! Secondly every small projection from the ground resembles the lingam, the form we pray to Him in. Further emphasizing this are the drops of water which fall perennially on these small lingams, yet do not collect and stagnate as they do at most places. Moving further we saw the impression of famous Shiv Jata to hold the flow of river Ganges. How easy it is to believe in the stories of the descent of the Ganga, especially when you see, just at one place, standing out against the black surface of the rock, white streaks aplenty, in bunches, resembling hair, with water cascading down them, filling a small pool with clear water. Trust me the entire scene was tasting sweet and heavenly. As I write these words I wish I could show you the cave as I saw it through my eyes – not through the eyes of those who are just concerned with making it a place of pilgrimage, for here is a place which is truly spiritual! I wish we could learn to appreciate the beauty of nature more, and try to keep the beauty of the place intact, learning how to keep it clean and unspoilt, the way it has remained over centuries without any help from us! I wish people would learn to pray with their hearts rather than with flowers and incense, water and milk, for I can see the place becoming as crowded as any other temple, easily accessible as it is by road! I shudder to think what will happen when hordes of people descend on this place and desecrate it with filth that they leave behind. As of today, in spite of advertisements and even a website, the caves are still their natural self, apart from a few human and inevitable changes. I can only pray to the lord to take care of the place he has cared for over the ages, and not allow us to spoil his work and his presence! I did buy a set of photographs at the cave, but have not uploaded them yet, since the photos can be seen on the temple website which also has lots of other details. This post is not as much about the structures in the cave, but about the feelings they induced in me. If you are interested, please do go through their website and see all their photographs and details. Patal Bhuvaneshwar is located in the Pithorgarh district of Uttarakhand, 91 Kms from the city of Pithorgarh and 177 Kms from Kathgodam. The journey from Nainital will take around 6 hours.
