66 Abode of Gods
section or chapter devoted to this region. Parvati, the wife of
Shiva is presented in many a scripture as conversing with her
spouse, Mahadeo that 'What are the fruits of visiting a particu-
lar sacred place and bathing at a specific river bank'. Mahadeo
answers, "The place that you have spoken of, O Goddess, is
peculiarly dear to me because Brahma and other Gods are there;
though his sins were so great as can be imagined, the virtue that
accrues from a visit to Kedar is sufficient to cleanse them." In
proof of this sin cleaning potency of the region sacred to Mahadeo,
stories are related of great sinners whose crimes were absolved
by visiting it, even though involuntarily, a crow, for example,
carried the bone of a deceased sinner, and dropped it there,
whereupon the man's soul, though he had been guilty of the most
flagrant crimes, was borne to heaven, and all his sins were for-
given. This factor alone has counted for driving the devoted
pilgrims to visit holy dhams for deliverance of the self and family.
Even today as the pilgrim approaches the snow clad heights
with bated breath, he believes himself in the presence of divinity.
The route
The opportunity to visit the abode of Gods—Holy Badrinath—
came in 1968 when I was asked to take over the Joshimath
Sector of the Special Police Force for a brief spell of one month.
Charged with intense desire to see the holy land, I left from
Moradabad by road which gave me an opportunity of seeing the
picturesque greenery of the Tarai Bhaber, as I progressed along
the Moradabad-Kotdwar road passing through places like Kanth,
Dhampur, Nagina and Nazibabad rolled one after another. As
the evening fell I was in Kotedwara. I halted there. This small
town is the nerve centre of trade activity for the Garhwal hills
and is the source of supplies of various articles of daily use and
regular consumption. Kotedwar is also last railway terminal,
being connected through meter gauge with the Nazibabad. In
1892, the Oudh-Rohilkhand Railway which was running between
Saharanpur-Mugalsarai extended a branch line upto Kotedwar.
Step into Garhwal
From Kotedwar to Pauri, the route passes through Dogadda
from where one road bifurcates to Landsdowne which is a famed