28/11/2016
May 2014, we reached Devaprayag from Banbasa, the Indo-Nepal border. It was the 56th day as part of a documentary shoot. What we saw there was the Devaprayag that hadn't fully come out of the destructive landslide and flood that took more than thousands of lives in 2013. It had become an obscure world! Back then, tourists from all destinations would swarm Devaorayag temple and its surroundings. "visitors have reduced drastically; say five to six!", the temple priest had informed. True! It was disheartening to realise that people had lost faith in that enormous beauty and energy!
While we had food at a partially demolished hotel, they told that it was the remains of the hotel kitchen once that the furious waters had washed away. The rest was totally quaffed in! While the disheartening stories continued to haunt us, we went ahead with our shoot.
The enormous beauty flowing from either sides- Bhagirathi and Alakananda. Alakanda is said to originate from Lord Brahma's heart, and it joins Devaprayag in a magnificent silence. Well, contradictory to that the boistrous Bhagirathi gushes down to touch Alakananda. I couldn't but relate this haughtiness to the fact that Bhagirathi takes its life from the head of Lord Shiva! And there starts the birth of river Ganga.
That night we put up in a motel on the banks of river Ganga. After transferring all the images to the laptop, I came off to the balcony. The night was spectacular with varied hues of lights gleaming all over. I was awestruck to see Alakananda and Bhagirathi merge to form Ganga deep down the Devaprayag temple! With jostling breath I clicked this photo instantly.