DAY TWENTY THREE
So… “no Law and order problems in Chhattisgarh” we are told. The jungley road we had been warned off by a local cyclist, is fine too, not impassable, so we are all set for the next leg of the journey.
Amarkantak has turned out to be a very auspicious place. Pilgrims are flocking here by the lorry load, huge bundles in tow. Here the sacred Narmada River has its source. The story goes that the Devas and Asuras (heavenly beings and demi gods) churned the world, which was an ocean of milk. The churning produced some good things but also, a deadly poison, which threatened to destroy everything. Shiva, one of the Hindu Gods, took this poison, and with his extraordinary powers, retained it in his throat, but the effort was supreme, and sweat poured from him. These sweat droplets formed the Narmada River.
We sprinkle droplets from the source, a rather murky and off-putting tank, on to our heads. We carefully avoid the sugary puja beads, also made from this filthy looking water, and leave them discretely for the temple monkeys.
