Dr. Anil Kumar Agarwal

‘ Lakhi Mela’- which is celebrated at Garhmukteshwar, an old sacred place, presents an amazing scene. More than twenty lakhs people from Uttar Pradesh, Delhi, Haryana , Rajasthan , Punjab , and other states of India come to the ‘ mela’, and dip into the holy Ganga.

It is said that there is an old story behind this fair. People even today believe the story. No body can comment on their belief. But it is certain that the fair has been celebrated for the last many centuries. It is said that at this place ‘Shivganas’ had got salvation from the curse of Durvasa Rishi. Since then it was called Ganamukteshwar.  There is a story in Shiva Purana regarding this episode. Rishi Durvasa was meditating into a cave at Mandrachal hill where Shivganas arrived wandering. They got an idea to tease Rishi Durvasa and they implemented it. Rishi Durvasa is known for his angry -temperament. So he immediately cursed them – although you belong to Lord Shiva, even then you would suffer a lot into the ‘Pisach Yoni’. Hearing the curse, they started trembling and went to Lord Shiva. They narrated him the whole story. Hearing their fable, Lord Shiva told them that he couldn’t help them in this matter. Rishi Durvasa could only help them if he wanted to do so. Shivgana went to Rishi Durvasa and lay down at his feet. They began to pray for some relief. Rishi Durvasa said, ‘I don’t know how to take back the curse, but I tell you a method to get some relief from the curse. There is an old holy place called Shiv Vallabh near Hastina Pur. If you meditate there you will get rid of it.’

After sometime, these Shivgana got the ‘Pishash Yoni’; they went to Shivvallabh area and did meditation religiously. Seeing their ‘Tapasaya’,Lord Shiva became happy, and Durvasa Rishi also got emotions for them. In this way, These Shivgana got freedom from ‘Pishash Yoni’. Since then the place had been called ‘Ganmukteshwar’, later on it was called ‘Garhmukeshwar’.

I keep my clinic closed on Monday morning but go to the clinic in evening on that day also. I was not feeling well as I have been suffering from acute bronchitis for three days. So I was asleep in the afternoon. Hearing the sound of television I woke up and sat before the television. There was an old movie telecast on a channel of television. A heroine of the picture was singing a song and trying to make her son sleep. Her son is very cute. In the next scene, she goes to a hospital for the treatment of her son. His treating physician loves the child. The doctor is an affectionate man and also the hero of the picture. He wants to see the child frequently. They meet incidentally either in a market or in a park etc. The heroine’s mother-in-law and sister-in-law don’t like their meetings. They indirectly and sometimes directly curse her and try to stop her to meet the doctor. They think that her meeting with the doctor is an unsocial act. The heroine is a widow too.

A nurse, working in the hospital loves the doctor. She does the trick and gets married with him. She is extravagant and ill natured lady. So he faces many problems but doesn’t say much to his wife. As she is a barren lady so he lives also sad. One day, he says to her that his father died a month ago but he got this news today. She shows surprise and says that he has never told about his father. He narrates her the story of his life, ‘You are my second wife. I and my first wife did the love marriage. My father got angry at my act and broke the relations with me.’ He says, according to my father’s will, my father’s grandson can inherit his whole property. The child will get ten thousand rupees per month till he becomes adult. Hearing this news the doctor’s wife becomes stunned. She starts making plans to get the property. A lawyer says to her, ‘If your father-in-law is proved insane in the court his ‘will’ will be nullified.’ She tells him the plan. Hearing her plan the doctor gets furious. One day she gets information through an old nurse that the heroine’s son is a son of the doctor.

She goes to the court to seek justice. The court’s decision comes in her favor and she gets the possession of the child. But he is not ready to live with her. So he runs away from her house. Every body starts searching the child. In this process she dies in an accident. The heroine gets her son back and her mother-in-law adopts the doctor as her son. The doctor and the heroine get married. In this way the film is ended. This is an old emotional picture. I saw such movie after a long time.