Travel for Pleasure to Kaleshwar Mahadev Math Mandir & Gurudwara Paonta Sahib

Cheer Society Chandigarh

Senior Citizens Cheer Society Sector 23 Chandigarh organized Pleasure-cum-Pilgrimage tour program to  ‘Kaleshwar Mahadev Math Mandir, Kalesar’ in Yamunanagar Distt., Haryana and onward to ‘Gurudwara Sh Paonta Sahib’, Distt. Sirmour Himachal Pradesh India on 23 Oct 2019. We were a group of 16 (Sixteen) and we had hired a Seventeen-Seater Travel Trekker.

The Cheer Society among its other activities also looks after welfare of the senior citizens and helps them to revive their youth days and more-over helps them free expression through Jokes, Songs, Gazals and to come out with their hidden desires to enjoy natural environment. The main office bearers are:

Patron:	Sh KR Malhotra
Chairman:	Sh RN Kher
President:	Sh. H.R. Satija
General Secretary:	Sh. B.K.Garg
Jt Secretary (fin) :	Sh. Anil Sehgal
Jt Secretary (gen) Organising Secretary	Sh.Nand Kumar Sh Ashish Vig

 We started to depart from Chandigarh at 8.20 am on 23.10.2019 and took our first halt for breakfast at Naraingarh, which is one hour drive from Chandigarh. We had booked ‘Gau Ganga Gauri Vaishno Dhaba’ on Dehradun Rd, Naraingarh for Tandoori-Paranthas, Butter, Curd, Pickles and Tea. After spending half an hour for the delicious breakfast, we departed from Naraingarh to Kaleshwar Mahadev Math Mandir, where we reached at 12.30 hrs. 

Our Trip to ‘Kaleshwar Mahadev Math Mandir, Kalesar’ in Yamunanagar Distt. Haryana.

The distance from Chandigarh to Kaleshwar Mahadev Math Mandir is appx 126 km. The Kaleshwar Mahadev Math Mandir located on Jagadhri-Paonta National Highway remains the center of unwavering devotion and faith of the devotees. The Math is identified as secular, where the people of different religions, bow with great reverence. It is also important for the ‘Shiva-Amrit’ prepared from different herbs, which is an effective medicine in many un-curable diseases.
We had our Madhu-shala program under the trees, a round-concrete-seating area with canopy probably designed for our purpose. There, everyone came out of the personal inhibitions to tell some joke or sing songs.  The monkeys playing around without teasing the visitors. The School children had come with their teachers from the nearby city of Yamunanagar. They made us friends and we had photographs with them. Those are unforgettable moments indeed.

The Shivalaya of Lord Shiva situated on the banks of river Yamuna in the foothills of the Shivalik hills, known as ‘Sri Kaleshwar Math’ is a center of reverence for the devotees. The temple has a very ancient Shiva-Fire, where devotees fulfil their wishes through worship. Shiva devotees appease Shiva Bhole by anointing holy water from Yamuna River with ‘Bel-patra’ (the Bel Tree Leaf). Ancient sculptures found during the excavation also testify to the very ancient Kaleshwar Math.

The age-old Vat tree standing in the middle of the Math gives celestial feeling and sitting for a little while under its shade gives peace of mind.

Our trip to Gurudwara Paonta Sahib Distt. Sirmour, Himachal Pradesh

From the Kaleshwar Mahadev Math Mandir to Gurudwara Paonta Sahib Distt. Sirmour Himachal Pradesh, is a 19 km Drive. We reached there at 2 pm.

Paonta Sahib is an important place of worship for Sikhs, hosting a large Gurdwara named Gurudwara Paonta Sahib, on the banks of the river Yamuna. The river is the boundary between the states of Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand.

The town was founded by the tenth Sikh Guru Guru Gobind Singh. Its original name was Paontika. Paon in Hindi means "feet" and tika in Hindi means "became stable". It is believed that Guru Gobind Singh and his horse stopped at this place and he decided to stay here. He lived here for four and a half years. He wrote many Sikh religious books here and then went to Anandpur Sahib to establish the Khalsa Panth. The Gurudwara also houses a museum which contains a lot of antiques and weapons used by Guru Gobind Singh during his stay.

The Guru had been invited by Raja Medini Prakash the ruler of Sirmour. The Raja, as many other stories relate, was very hopeful of establishing a strong relationship with the powerful Sikh Guru. The Raja had taken over a number of surrounding villages from the Mughals and there was great fear of roving bands of Mughal soldiers. The relationship with powerful Sikh Guru was a great help to the Raja.

In these beautiful surroundings, the Guru engaged himself not only in hunting and training his warrior Sikhs in the martial arts, but he also spent a great deal of his time in literary activities, composing many works of religious, as well as heroic poetry including Jap Sahib, Sawayyas Patshahi Dasvin the and Chandi-di-Var. Before he left to return to the city now known as Anandpur Sahib, he appointed Bhai Bishan Singh to look after the fortress-like complex and the Gurdwara within it.

The best time of the year to visit these two places are the months of October and November, when the day-time temperature ranges from 21⁰ C to 26⁰ C with a cool breeze from the river Yamuna. In the Gurudwara we were served with holy langar (Common Kitchen) where people of all cast and creed sit together on the ground and take meals together.

On our return journey we had booked popular ‘Sharma Dhaba’ at the place ‘Kalaamb’ on the roadside, where we reached at about 5.30 pm and enjoyed  Gobhi Pakoras (Kauliflower) and Mixed Pakoras (Onion, Potato & fenugreek leaves)in abundance and tea with full sugar to taste without any restriction from family members. The trip with our Sr Citizens group has been highly enjoying and unforgettable.