Today, on this
auspicious day of Bhadra navmi, birthday of a saint, Goga ji/ Gugga ji/ Jahar
Vir/ Jahar peer, I am reminded of one of the holy places I visited in
India, called Gogamedi in Dec 2009 where grand fairs are held on the day. Gogamedi
is 359 km from Jaipur, in Hanumangarh district of Rajasthan. The fair is held from the ninth day of the dark half of
Bhadrapada (Goga Navami) to the eleventh day of the dark half of the same month
in many parts of India worshipping Gogaji. However, I suggest going between the
months of October- December to avoid crowd and chaos.
Gogajee
is believed to born by blessings of Guru Gorakhnath, who gave 'Gugal' fruit as
a prasad to gogga's mother Bachhal. Since the fruit of Guggal was cause of his
birth, he was referred as Gogga. Whereas devotees call him goggajee respectfully,
adding the suffix 'Ji' or 'Jee' to the original name 'Goagga'. Another belief
is that he was called Goga jee because of his remarkable service to cows (Gou
in Sanskrit). He is a warrior-hero of the region, venerated
as a saint and a 'snake-god'. He is worshiped as a peer among Hindus and Muslims.
Gogaji
is popular as a Devta who protects his followers from snakes and other
evils. Almost every village in Rajasthan has a Than (sacred place,generally a
small temple) dedicated to him. His shrine, referred as medi (Gogamedi),
consists of a one-room building with a minaret on each corner and a
grave(Mazar) inside, marked by a Nishan( A symbol, a sign), which is made up of
a long bamboo with peacock plumes, a coconut, some colored threads and some
handpankhas with a blue flag on the top.
Today, the
people worship his symbol, a black snake painted on a wall. Worshippers take a
fly-flap, known as chhari, round the village. Devotees pay their respect to it
and offer churma.
The Savayians sing devotional songs known as ‘Pir ke Solle’ in his honour to
the accompaniment of deroos. Beating of deroos is the exclusive priviege of the
Savayian community; others may sing, dance or offer charhawa. It is believed
that the spirit of Gugga temporarily takes abode in the devotee dancer who
lashes himself with a bunch of iron chains.
Here I
present an account of our adventurous road trip to Gogamedi. We started around noon from Delhi. Delhi has international and domestic airports and is well
connected with other parts of the country through Railways and buses. However,
the best way to go to Gogamedi would be to rent a car or hire a cab. One can
also look for tourist bus option through their travel agents.
We
hired a cab and started the road trip. We had packed enough food, water,
necessary clothing, bedding, sleep accessories and mosquito repellents as
the place where we were heading to, was in the middle of a desert with no
hotels to stay or decent restaurants to eat. The flora is meager and fauna is
sheep, donkeys, dogs, birds, buffaloes, camels and goats etc. On our way
we saw local buses loaded with people and some local Dhabas (local restaurants).
After 5
hours of journey with some breaks, we arrived at Gogamedi. This huge gate is
where one enters to the Shrine. We reached there by evening and thought of
resting before beginning the tour of the holy place.
Once we reached Gogamedi, we looked for places to stay and all we could find was a Dharmshalas (dorms made by kind donation of devotees or people in the area).
There
are no hotels in the area nearby the village but these resting places provide
good alternatives where one can experience living in a rural area. Inside view
of Dharmshala we stayed at.
A room
in Darmashala. It says the name of person who contributed towards this building
this room. It is a good idea to go during October-December so these places are
not crowded and are relatively clean. Keep all your valuables safe with you and
gear up with hot plates, stuff to cook, locks and torch lights before you start
the trip.
 |
| The Room where we stayed. |
There was a Dhaba (local
restaurant) near the dorm. One could get things to eat or drink here but it
would be a good idea to get nothing more than just tea from here. This whole
area is vegetarian and for simplicity sake it is a good idea to stay vegetarian
for this trip. Cooking yourself would be a nice alternative.
The Journey begins early morning at 4 AM , first to Gogamedi as the morning Arati takes place there.
 |
| Temple entrance |
 |
| Beautiful door of the dorm! |
 |
| View of Main entrance to the road to shrine from the dorm! |
 |
| Samadhi places of various Natha saints |
 |
| Samadhi places of various Natha Saints |
 |
| Natha saints |
 |
| Natha Saints |
Gugga was a
Chauhan Rajput who had a kingdom called Bagad Dedga near Ganganagar
that spanned over to Hansi near Hisar in Haryana and included territory up to the river
Sutlej in Punjab. Gugga is worshipped in Rajasthan, Haryana, Punjab, Uttarpradesh, Madhya Pradesh Maharashtra, HimachalPradesh, Jammuand Kashmir.and Gujarat. In Gujarat, an annual procession is held in honor of
the great warrior. Rabari community
in Gujarat and Rajasthan is great believer in Gogaji.
His father's name was Jewar. His mother, queen Bachal, was from Tuar clan. A clan
of Rajputs, Bachal Rajputs, is said to get the name from his mother. They worship him as Kuldevta can be found in the states of Rajasthan, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh.
Accounts of Guru
Gorakhnath (Gorakshnath) and Jahar Vir are recorded as magical and out of this
world. Some interesting reads-
http://gorakhnath.org/legend.php
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gorakshanath
Guru
Gorakhnath is the ninth guru of Natha
tradition. The lineage starts with Dattatreya. These Natha yogis were adepts
and had mystical powers. He traveled across India and adjoining
countries and spread spiritual knowledge of highest order.
After temple Arati, we
went to see the place where Gugga ji has been said to go underground with his
blue horse. When his wife saw this, she too took samadhi nearby. Their devout
servant Bhajju kotwal also took Samadhi. In this place one can also find a
small market place where one can buy small booklets, local literature on story
of Gugga ji, along with other things.
 |
| Samadhi place of Gugga ji/Jahar vir/Jahar Peer |
 |
| Entrance to the Samadhi Sthal of Gugga ji! |
 |
| Gugga Ji's mom and wife- Bachal and Sreeyal, both on seeing Gugga ji burying underground, collapsed here. |
 |
| Local shops |
 |
| Some nice things to buy from local shops |
From here we went to
Dadrewa Village where Gugga ji was born and nearby that area is a shrine called
Gorakhteela (a small mountain named after Guru Gorakhnath). The place
where Gugga ji was born is converted into a temple and there are places inside
where one will find cemetery like mounds representing various people from
lineage or saints that are no more.
 |
| Entrance to the Palace |
 |
| Palace of Birth- Jahar Vir |
 |
| temple inside the palace |
 |
| Decorated Door |
 |
| Wish Tree!! |
 |
| Some inhabitants of the village! |
 |
| Trying to look into the car! |
 |
| Memorials of Lineage! |
 |
| This is where Jahar Vir was born! |
 |
| With Residents of Dadreva ! |
 |
Dadreva Village- I had been there in dreams so many
times before I actually visited, especially this spot! |
 |
| Dadrewa Village view of a street- Deja vu! |
 |
| Dadrewa Village- Nostalgia! |
 |
| Village |
 |
| Near Gorakhteela! |
 |
This is the place which was turned into acres
of beautiful Garden by Guru Gorakh nath. |
It is said that Guru
Gorakhnath meditated here for many years and the fire that he lit still is
burning in this place. No one knows how but from within the earth the fire
comes and ashes are constantly produced. People collect these holy ashes and
bring back to their homes. They believe it has magical powers of healing. Guru
Gorakhnath performed many miracles where ever he went. In this village too,
according to folklore, he turned a completely barren desert land into a
beautiful garden and also created a beautiful lake nearby. The trees in the
following pictures have been there ever since.
 |
| Guru Gorakhnath meditated and performed prayers here for 12 years! |
 |
| Lake that has been turned into a small reservoir! |
 |
| Trees from Guru Gorakhnath's time! |
 |
| Trees from Guru Gorakhnath's time! |
 |
| These trees have been here forever! |
Gogamedi is one of the
most visited Shrines by all kinds of people, especially from most rural areas.
The beauty of this place is intact as it has not been much explored by tourism
department and hence maintains serenity and originality of its kind. It has not
been developed as tourist attractions but when you sit and meditate where Guru
Gorakhnath did or when you look at the desert land where he created beautiful
garden and plantations, or where he created a river called, Gorakhganga or when
you take ashes from ever lit fire place in his small hut you feel you are
transported back in time when all of this must have happened.
Places to visit and in this order- Gogamedi (first thing in the morning), Dadrewa Village- the birthplace of Goga ji is a palace, and finally Gorakhteela- it has Guru Gorakhnath's meditation spot, eternal fire place, small gorakhtaal (lake/pond), area where heavenly garden was magically created by him, and old trees from his time.
Happy Goga Navmi-
birthday of Goga ji/Gugga ji/Jahar Vir/Jahar Peer!
