The Meeting Pond

Basu Sharma

After the Sokpa’s story, grandma continued to describe her journey, ‘The trail after the rock shelter called Ghopteodar was exceedingly difficult and steep. There were mainly two trails called Selele and Phelele on the rocky surface. They were so steep that it seemed as if your nose would hit the ground when climbing up; so steep that it felt as if we would fall down to the bottom of the hill if we slipped while walking down. But, may be the rock had been eroded by frost or snow, the surface was coarse and not slippery at all. How strange! Our feet stuck firmly when we took our steps. In this way, walking up and down all those steep trails, climbing mountains and several crossings, we finally reached Sabhapokhari. It was amazing! How pleasant was Sabhapokhari and its surrounding! When reached there, I forgot all the difficult trails, all the ups and downs and my tiredness.’ Her eyes shined when she recalled her exciting journey. When she was describing it, she asked us time to time if we were interested. We nodded our heads every time she asked to express our interest.

‘Several kinds of rhododendron are found all over the hills surrounding Sabhapokhari – red, white, purple, pink and so many other colours. You know, people say there are twenty-five different colour rhododendrons found in the surroundings of Sabhapokhari. In the surrounding forests there are also found different birds and wild animals such as Danfe (Nepal’s national bird) and Munal (both belong to wild pheasant family) and Ghoral and Chittal (both are like deer or goat). In such a beautiful place, the lake itself was so eye-catching. There is a small island at the middle of the lake. If you see it from a height, the clear water surrounding the island looks like a big bangle of silver. As if God had decorated the beauty of this part of the earth with jewellery. The water is so clean and clear that you feel you can see the bottom of the lake. There is not a single piece of leaf or grass in the lake. People say that if any leaves or pieces of grass fall off into the water, birds come to the lake and use their beaks to remove the pieces and take them out of the lake. The water of the lake is not only clean and clear but also regarded as a sacred water like Gangajal (water from the river Ganges in India) in Hindu Religion. It is believed that if anybody worships in the temple located by the lake at one corner of the hill after taking a bath in the lake, their wish is fulfilled, and good fortune comes to their family and children. If a couple, who want children but are not having any luck, if they take a bath together in the lake and worship in the temple wishing children, they will have one soon.’, Having said this, grandma paused for a while.

She cleared her throat and continued speaking, ‘There is a priest who offers daily worshipping of Lord Shiva and the Goddess Parvati. Further away from the temple, there is a Buddhist monastery and a place for meditation. It is believed that there is plenty of divine power accumulated in the surrounding of the lake. Therefore, in the season the snow melts, many Hindu Saints and Buddhist Monks live there for three months in meditation. So, you can say, Sabhapokhari is the meeting point of Hindus and Buddhists.

‘Now, I’ll tell you the history behind the name Sabhapokhari that how such a sacred pilgrimage place got its name.’

Grandma gave us an insight of the historical background after describing its present situation. ‘A long ago in prehistoric age called Dwaparyug, the Great Saint Vyas organised a conference of many saints in Sabhapokhari to discuss and perform a Yagya (a Hindu ritual in front of a sacred fire often with chanting sacred verses called mantras) for the welfare of humankind. They built a stage for performing the Yagya on the island at the middle of the lake and prayed to gods to take part in the meeting, too. Being pleased from the Yagya of the saints, gods also landed on the place and participated in the meeting.  Sabha in local language means meeting and Pokhari means a pond (lake). Thus, the lake, where a meeting of the gods and the saints took place, got its name to be Meeting Pond (Sabha Pokhari)’.

(The Meeting Pond is an excerpt from Basu Sharma's newly published novel 'BIZUWA'. Basu Sharma, a Nepalese writer, has been actively engaged himself in Nepalese literature writing since past forty years and more. As a poet, a ghazal writer, a quatrain writer, a story writer and an essay writer, his name is established within the Nepalese community in the UK and back in Nepal. He continued his literary writing after he migrated to the UK in 2006. His four Poetry books, one Ghazal book, one Quatrain book and one Essay book have already been published but all in Nepalese language. Now, he has written BIZUWA: The Lost Tales From The Himalayas in English language. This book offers to the readers a range of essences from natural beauty of Nepal to the Nepalese social cultural contexts, some historical contexts, and some folklores along with some mythical characters. The novel is now widely available in Amazon.)