The Mystery of the Kailash Trail - Chapter 9 - Part 3

Book 2: Chapter 9: Part 3: Hariram Maharaj comes to Darchen 

Hariram Maharaj was fascinated with what he had heard from the two pilgrims from the Karakul Lake and the Kongur mountains. He had never known that there were similar mountains, as sacred as the Mount Kailash, and that ancient peoples considered both Kongur and Kailash as continuity. How could that be possible? As a devout Indian, and as devotees from other religions, everyone knew that Mount Kailash, or Kang Renpoche, was the final destination in faith. This was the ashtapada and this sacred valley of the kora was the most sought after pilgrimages in many religions. But, as the two pilgrims had explained, everyone comes to Mount Kailash and return. Very few come here to stay.

It could certainly be possible, thought Hariram Maharaj. There were villages here that did not move during the winter. There were ancient nomads and herdsmen who lived out in the open pasturelands in the winter. There were mountain hamlets that could secure themselves and be able to live through the winter. Devotees and pilgrims who came in from India, Nepal and other Hindu, Buddhist and Jain lands would most certainly return after their pilgrimage. Tibetan pilgrims, Buddhist or Bon, would also prefer to return, but they did manage to do a leisurely journey and would not be chased away by the police. This was not like Lhasa, he thought.

The two pilgrims had had a profound impact on Hariram Maharaj. He felt that he had been wasting his life, living as a fugitive at Shiquanhe. He had settled in to the landscape, and could speak Tibetan very fluently and he dressed as one. Nobody could make him out unless they had to speak to him for a longer period of time. He should get started on his goal of completing the 108 koras and it could only begin if he were to be closer to Mount Kailash. He would have to bid goodbye to Luo Tsering, at least for the moment, and move ahead to Darchen.

Hariram Maharaj explained his dilemma to Luo Tsering, who heard him out patiently. He had known that this day would come, and he had been ready for it. He was fond of Hariram Maharaj and he did not want this gentle cook and expert of everything there was to be known about India and their strange vegetarians. How could there be people who did not eat meat, was an eternal puzzle to Luo Tsering. He spoke to Hariram Maharaj, “Go if you must, because I know that you dearly want to begin on your goal of completing the 108 koras. There is nothing wrong about it. Everyone knows you around here, and you are spoken about even at Darchen. The policemen know you. It is you who think that you are successful at hiding yourself. They know that you are not a criminal or a spy.”

“I am afraid, Brother,” said Hariram Maharaj, “I am afraid of the cold. I can suffer it here at Shiquanhe, because I am inside the eatery and always stand near the hot stove. I also sleep near the stove. But, I am not known at Darchen in the manner of a pilgrim. I will have to stay at Darchen for many years now in order to complete my goal of 108 koras. I need to get a job while I am at Darchen. Later, during the harsh winter, I want to travel back to Shiquanhe in the initial years, and be with you. You are my only family here in Tibet.”

Luo Tsering smiled, for he knew that Hariram Maharaj was terrified of the cold and the winter in Tibet. The pull of the sacred Kang Renpoche was very strong. HE decides about who will go into HIS shelter, and who will stay away. He said, “O Brother from India, you are a good man. You have a good heart. I know that you are totally shaken up by the stories of the two pilgrims who have come from an ancient land in Tibet, west of Ngari. But, my brother, this is Tibet, and we are in the most ancient lands of Tibet. Who knows what exists out there in the mountains between Kang Renpoche and Kongur and the Pamirs? Go if you must. But, you are always welcome here.”

The two pilgrims from the ancient lands had been hearing all this discussion. The elder pilgrim smiled, and said, “You are correct, O Master of this eatery. Who knows how the sacred mountains call you. They are everywhere. These mountains are living beings. They have noble souls within them. Countless numbers of noble people, sages, saints and seers have come to these mountains and have disappeared within them. Today, we are in a nation where law and order is visible. This was not the case, at least, about 3-4 decades ago. Many sages and noble souls have stayed back.”

After having bid a tearful farewell to Luo Tsering and his wife, and the other friends that he had made at Shiquanhe, Hariram Maharaj begged a request ride with one of the pilgrim vehicles that were going back to Darchen after the storm. The drivers knew him and never thought that he was something of an illegal traveler in the Mount Kailash area. They had always seen him at Shiquanhe and never thought him to be an outsider. Luo Tsering had spoken of a family that also had an eatery at Darchen and supplied equipment, yaks and horses to the pilgrim groups. He had suggested that if Hariram Maharaj were to say that he had come from Luo Tsering, he would be able to get a job as a cook at the Darchen eatery.

Luo Tsering had explained that the family was from a hamlet near Shiquanhe, and their elderly father stayed at their farm. Their daughters took care of their yak herd at Shiquanhe and they were well known in the town and in the villages nearby. The couple that ran the eatery at Darchen had settled in well with the trade of the pilgrims from Europe, India and Nepal. They maintained yaks and horses and had employed a number of boys to take the pilgrims around the kora. In fact, Luo Tsering had added, their son, Norbu, was also a yak-boy and he was well known in the kora. For all one knew, Norbu must have done the entire kora for more than 50 times as part of his job.

Hariram Maharaj arrived at Darchen soon enough and, after enquiry with the locals, found Norbu’s parents and their eatery. The couple was very happy to know that someone had come all the way from Shiquanhe, specifically in search of them. They knew Luo Tsering and his eatery, and appreciated the fact that Hariram Maharaj was an exclusive vegetarian cook and that he was proud of his skills. They needed someone like him, and agreed with him that he could work at their eatery and stay inside the place at night, warm, near the stove. That was very practical.

He had asked them about their son, for he was very interested in meeting him. More than 50 koras? Wow. That was something. He had yet to start on his 108 koras. Norbu’s parents had said that he was on the kora with a very rich and large pilgrim group. They had hired nearly fifteen yaks and ten horses, and were cooking their own food, Indian vegetarian food, of course, while stopping at each place on the path. They had seen the group earlier in the morning at Darchen and had been told that Norbu had stopped at the Dirapuk monastery and would be returning later with the monks from Dirapuk.

Hariram Maharaj was happy. He was where he wanted to be. From any place at Darchen, if he would turn around, he could see the most sacred Ashtapada, the Kailas Parbat, or the Kang Renpoche. The Darchen eatery was more comfortable than the one at Shiquanhe. This was an actual brick and mortar building, and warmer than Luo Tsering’s open shed. There were more pilgrims moving around here, having come from several routes. The local yak boys and the horse boys and the porters seemed to have more money to spend at the eatery.

Norbu’s parents had given an empty room, a small one, next to their eatery and had helped him to furnish the place with their extra stove, benches, carpets, wall hangings, utensils and firewood. From morning to noon, the vegetarian eatery had been made ready. A local signboard painter had got it all ready, announcing the “100% all-vegetarian Hindu food” and including mention that one could get “Gujarati Punjabi South Indian Bengali vegetarian Hindu food only”. Hariram Maharaj was happy. He had never thought it possible that he would be in demand in the shadow of the sacred Kang Renpoche.

The next day, Norbu’s parents had exclaimed happily and were pointing towards the Yamdwar, Yama’s entrance, a place where the pilgrims started on their kora. Except, their parents said, that something must be wrong, because their son was returning from Choku Gompa, with two monks, and they were all walking comfortably, with the two yaks and the mastiff following them. Norbu was not following behind the monks as one would normally do, but he was walking along with them and talking to them, actually talking to them, and they were all joking and laughing. Norbu’s parents explained to Hariram Maharaj that something must have drastically gone wrong. All these years, Norbu had never returned without having completed the kora. But, he was actually returning along the path where nobody would dare return unless dead or seriously unwell.