Day 1 - March 21, Saturday
We all get up early in the morning and get ready by 5:30 am. It took me 20 minutes to fit the luggage into my Sparky. There were 2 huge suitecases, 2 backpacks, 1 carrycase with a labtop, 2 handbags, and countless small bags!. Wifey had packed lots of things to give to her mom. Over and above that, One 5L, two 2L, three 1L water bottles! on top of that, packets of snacks, biscuits, and fruits
Finally, with ODO reading at 9356, we start by 6:15 am from our home in Vijayanagr and drive upto Dobbespet and stop at Kamat Upachar for breakfast at around 7:30. After a 40-minute break we start again.
The plan for the day was to go to my uncle's house in Shimoga for lunch and then to go to Siddapura and stay overnight. So, there was no hurry. The roads were good throughout. Wifey was sitting next to me and dad and mom on the backseat. They were busy discussing tour plan.
Dad - "Our Kuldaivat is Mahalakshmi Damodar, so we have to first go to Ponda, visit Shri Mahalakshmi and then go to Jambavli"
Mom - "Don't confuse him. Let us stick to original plan. Why are you always acting smart !"
Wifey - "Nope whatever dad says, we will follow. Moreover, most of the temples are in Ponda. So, we can finish all the temples in a day and then go to Jambavli..."
Meanwhile Sparky was cruising smoothly at 60-80 and I was listening to favorite music, ignoring their conversation.
I just did not know when we crossed Gubbi, Tiptur, Arsikere, Kadur, Birur, Tarikere, Bhadravati and suddenly we were in Shimoga by 12:30 pm. We had lunch at my uncles home, took some rest, and started from there at 2:30 and finally reached Siddapura by 4:45 pm.
In the evening we visit some of wife's friends and relatives in Siddapura, come back home, have dinner, and go to sleep in anticipation of great journey of next day.
As I sleep, thought comes to my mind about the history of our community - Gowda Saraswat Brahmins (Information given below was gathered from Internet and as told by elders)
Saraswat Brahmins are Brahmins who lived on the banks of the former river Saraswati that once flowed in northern India, joining the Ganga and Yamuna in Prayag. Around 1000 BC, the river Saraswati started vanishing under ground and the people on its banks started migrating to other parts of India.
The story of the migration of this community can be traced from Sintashta-Petrovka and Arkaim regions of modern Lower Central Russia near the border of Kazakhistan. These migratory experiences were written and the scrolls can be found stored in the Partagali Mutt. These scrolls were studied by the Archaeological Survey of India for studying the theory of Aryan migration. The community which was called Saraswat, as in "Saraswati Teeraya yasya tey" (meaning the people residing by the River
Saraswati), spread to parts of modern Afghanistan, Punjab and Kashmir. From here, they slowly migrated towards some place in Nepal. In fact, the Kula Devi (presiding deity for the clan) of the Kings of Nepal is the Goddess "Shree Mahalasa Narayani" (a female form of the divine lord Vishnu), whose temple is now located in Mhardol in Goa.
They then moved to modern Bengal, which was known as "Gauda Desha" in ancient times. From this place, with the blessings of their Guru, a small community moved into lower part of India, starting with Goa, and onwards into Karnataka and Kerala. These people were addressed as Gaud Saraswat Brahmins.
Saraswat Brahmins form a great proportion of the Hindus in Kashmir, who are called the Kashmiri Pundits. Gaud Saraswat Brahmins residing on the western coast of India (primarily in Maharashtra, Goa, and Karnataka) are thought to have descended from these Kashmiri Brahmins. Substantial evidence has been set forth by several historians relating that the Kashmiri Brahmins migrated to Goa by the eleventh century AD.
To trace the Gaud Saraswat Brahmins ancestry from Kashmir to Goa, one must begin with the story of the famous seer, Saraswata. When there was a famine in northern India, he continued to recite the vedic texts by consuming the fish that the goddess Saraswati had given to him. The brahmins of later generations who accepted fish as a part of their diet were often known to have referred to this story to justify their full-fledged status as Brahmins despite their acceptance of fish.
Gaud Saraswat Brahmins' fish eating habit finds mention even in Ramanyana. Before performing Rajasuya yagna, Shri Rama asked Lakshmana to invite all the Brahmins for the yagna. Lakshmana invited everybody, except Gaud Saraswat Brahmins. When asked, Lakshmana explained that he observed them eating fish, which was considered
non-vegetarian and therefore, they could not be Brahmins. Shri Rama was puzzled and asked Lakshmana to elaborate what he saw. Lakshmana explained how the Brahmins would catch the fish, separate the head and tail from the fish, then using vedic mantras rejoined the head and tail. They would then release the fish in water. The fish would live again. The Brahmins ate the middle portion of the fish. Shri Rama was impressed. Since the Brahmins were not killing the fish, he felt that no sin was
committed. Shri Rama instructed Lakshmana to invite Gaud Saraswat Brahmins to the Rajasuya Yagna...
DEEPU... DEEPU hello DEEPAK... DEEPAKKKAAA !!! Wifey is yelling at the top of her voice. "We are all getting ready, its 5:30 now and you have exactly 1 hour"
Continued...