Most of us know the beautiful city of Dehradoon as a tourist place but there are many other historical and metaphysical aspects which we may not be aware. One such holy place is Gautam Kund of Chandrabani which has a lot of historical importance in history.
Gautam Kund, Chandrabani
As per the ancient texts, the history of Chandrabani is nearly 3.9 million years old. This might come as a shock for the modern people who believe that civilization is not as old. We do not claim to say that this information is perfect but a little reflection shows that there are secrets in the world which are still not solved like how and when were Egyptian pyramids built or how come the ancient megaliths were built in such an accurate fashion when civilization was supposed to be savage.
Age of World: An Estimate
Before going into the history and significance of Gautam Kund of Chandrabani, let us take a look at what the scriptures have to say about the age of the world and compare it with modern view to get an idea of the similarity. As per Hindu texts, the world is divided into four yugas or cycles and the estimated age in years of each cycle is as follows
Satyuga 1728000 years
Treta yuga 1296000 years
Dwapar yuga 864000 years
Kaliyuga 432000 years
It is said that the current cycle is that of Kaliyuga and out of the total 432000 years only 5110 have elapsed and nearly 426890 have remained. Now if we compare this to what modern science has to say, they say that human civilization is nearly 5000 years old so possibly both these descriptions are right in their own place though it could be a subject matter of further research
Sangat Near Gautam Kund
History of Gautam Kund, Chandrabani
It is said that Chandrabani was the place where the various Devtas or Deities had a meeting to discuss some administrative issue However the name Gautam Kund has to do with the fact that Rishi Gautam meditated at this place for 12 years along with his family, including wife Ahilya and daughter Anjani. He had to come to this place because his initial residence at Brahmshail was getting too difficult to live due to some disturbances.
It was around that time that Lord Indra had become egoistic due to unlimited powers and he was also becoming addicted to all sorts of bad habits like establishing immoral relations with wife’s of other people.
One day he was asking other Devtas as to which is the most beautiful women in the world, and he was told that lady Ahilya was a unique female with intoxicating beauty. Chandrama or Moon God was involved in making a scheme so that Indra could satisfy his desire.
They knew the daily routine of Gautam Rishi that he went to Ganges to bathe early morning when the cock announced the morning by crowing. To take advantage of this Indra told Chandrama to imitate the voice of the Rooster so that Rishi could go for bathing.
The Rishi got misguided by this trick and it was only when he went to Ganges that he realized what had happened. He then returned back and cursed his wife to become of stone. Later he realized that it was wrong of him and gave a remedy that when Lord Rama would take avatar, she would regain her normal form.
There are many stories associated with Chandrabani which we shall share with you over time in different posts.
Baisakhi Mela at Chandrabani
The place has become quite popular these days as a spiritual center and there is a huge mela which is organized on 14th April each year on the occasion of Baisakhi. Apart from this the devotees come specifically on days like solar eclipse, lunar eclipse, Jayesthmasa and Kartikmasa.
Families At Chandrabani
Given above is a picture on one such occasion. The place can be reached by bus or local transport is only 8 km from the local railway station or merely 2 km from the Inter State Bus Terminal.