THE HOLY MOUNTAIN HIMALAYAS
INTRODUCTION
The another name for the holy mountain Himalayas is Himavan, and he is the son of Lord brahma, and his consort is Mata Maina also called as Menavati, and his brothers are Jambavan and Narada. His children are Mata Ganga, Mata Parvati and the Holy Mountain Mainaka. The holy rivers Ganga and Yamuna also flows through the Himalayas, and the Himalayan Mountain is considered as very sacred by the people belonging to Hinduism, Jainism and Buddhism.
A rare flower known as Mahameru Pushpam which would be flowered once in 400 years can also be found in the Himalayan Mountain ranges. It is a good natural heritage, as well a spiritual heritage for the Hindus, and it is considered as one of the
most important pilgrimage sites in the world.
The great poet Sri Kalidasa praised the Himalayas as follows:
“The Himalaya is a great god, and in that Holy Mountain, various gods and demi gods are dwelling. This holy mountain is considered as one of the world’s greatest Miracle”.
The first Jain Thirthankara Sri Rishaba had performed penance in the Himalayas and attained salvation. Similar to that, lot of saints and rishis have done severe meditation on the almighty and attained great powers through that. Mount Himalayas acts as the home for medicinal plants, flowers and holy trees. In this mountain, many Siddhars are living and performing penance on Lord Shiva. The demi gods like Yakshas, Kinnaras, Kimburudas are also living here along with their family. It is also believed that Lord Hanuman is still performing penance on Lord Rama, by staying in a cave at Himalayas.
The popular pilgrimage sites, Amarnath, Kedarnath and Badrinath are also located in this mountain. According to ancient legend, during the Krita Yuga, when once Bhakta Prahalada was defeated by his
cousin Andaka, he went to the holy mountain Himalayas and performed penance on Lord Vishnu. Due to that, he has obtained great boons from Vishnu, and fought with Andaka and defeated him and become the king for his kingdom.
In the ancient Puranas, the beauty and the spiritual significance of the Himalayas is explained as follows:
Among the various mountains, I am unable to fully describe about the beauty and the spiritual importance of Himachal. Here Mount Kailash is there, and in that place, Lord Shiva and Mata Parvati lives, and the wonderful Lake Manasarovar also appears with her divine beauty. By visiting and worshipping the Holy Himalayas, the sins committed by the mankind would be cleansed.
Lord Indra also praises the beauty of Himalayas, and he tells, that the Himalayas look beautiful than that of his Indra Loka, since it is occupied by the holy sages, Siddhars, gods and goddesses. And he further tells, that no one can fully explain about the importance of the Holy Himalayas, except by the great Lord Shiva. Similarly many great sages and saints have described about the natural beauty of
the Himalayas and its divine appearance.
Hence, let us see the natural beauty of the Holy Himalayas by visiting the holy temples of Amarnath, Kedarnath and Badrinath.
