AFVOA Newletters of Year 2013

Page 16 of 61 days later on full moon night on our return stay after performing parikrama of Mt.Kailash. I was not part of this group. When we got up in the morning we could see water dripping from the tin shed roof. We had been informed the previous night that Pooja and Havan would be performed by the lake side the next morning. So all were gathered at the lake side for the same. We were singularly fortunate to have in our group a temple poojari (panditji) who performed all the rites in a very correct and professional manner. Many fellow travellers had brought their idols from home to do the pooja with water from Manasarovar Lake. It was another bright and clear day and all through the performance of the pooja we were blessed with the wonderful darshan of Mt.Kailash. A few also ventured into the lake and took a dip. By the time the function got over it was lunch time. After packing our luggage we were all set for further proceeding on our journey in our respective vehicles. First was the parikrama of Manasarovar Lake approximately 80 Km. The road around the lake though katcha was pretty good though vehicular movement kicked up a lot of dust. Towards the far end we crossed a lake on our left called Rakshas Tal where Ravan, on one of the islands in the lake, is supposed to have carried out severe penance to seek boon from Lord Shiva by offering a head everyday till the 10th day when the Lord granted him super powers. This lake is linked with the forces of darkness and the water is also believed to be salty and has no aquatic life. No one tastes the water of this lake as it is considered inauspicious. We did not stop either. The parikrama of Manasarovar presented a beautiful view of the lake from all sides. After completing the parikrama of the lake we proceeded towards Darchen which was to be our base camp for the parikrama of Mt. Kailash. However we did not stop there but proceeded further to a place called Ashta Parvat. The ice formation on the track leading to the feature and the inability of the vehicles to negotiate the same, made us beat a retreat back to Darchen for our night halt. I got a room on the first floor of the hotel and the window opened out to Mt.Kailash. It was simply divine and all six of us in the room spent the evening watching this splendid spectacle. Please click on the link for the snaps. https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/sredir?uname=107003211807459788484&target=ALB UM&id=5752067532310090401&authkey=Gv1sRgCLbp07zE06G2uwE&feat=email (to be continued ) LETTERS FROM OUR MEMBERS Battle Honour GAZALA The Newsletter was very informative, well conceived and nicely compiled. My congratulations. The contributions by the Viswanathans (Maj Gen and Col) made enjoyable reading. A pity the Gen did not list out the Arty units that participated in the North African campaign, for had he done so, my unit (7 Fd Regt) would have come in for