The Shrawan pilgrimage to the fabled Neelkanth Temple of lord Shiva in Pauri district has proved a double boon for a woman from Jhajhra.
Aside from the spiritual satisfaction one derives from an arduous pilgrimage to a hallowed temple with mythologogical lore attached to it, it is rewarding for another reason. She gave birth to a baby girl on Friday while on the pilgrimage. Taking the baby as a divine gift from the lord, her dear and near ones have named her Parwati, the consort of lord Shiva who is believed to be a daughter of the Himalayas. While talking to The Pioneer about the delivery, the laxmanjhoola police station in-charge Pradeep Rana confirmed it.
Soon after Mamta paid her obeisance to the lord, she started feeling the labour pain. Finding the pain going beyond the tolerance level, she sat on the middle of the path in the vicinity of the Mauni Baba cave, amidst dense forest. Realising what the pain was about, those who were with her on the pilgrimage called 108 ambulance.
However, before the ambulance arrived the lady delivered the baby. The anguish of her relatives came to an end as they found both the mother and the baby in perfect health.
“We were rather exulted after we found the baby throwing her tender arms up in playfulness besides the exultant mother. We realised that the baby is not an ordinary one. lord Shiva has sent her to us in his infinite compassion for the mother who has embarked on such a pilgrimage despite knowing full well that the thing we apprehended might happen on the way,” said one of her relatives.
Another of them said that they had tried their best to dissuade her from going out on the pilgrimage, given the advanced stage of her pregnancy. “But she proved adamant. She argued that she must reach the revered temple at any cost as she was convinced that the lord Shiva fulfils the prayer nurtured by the pilgrim if he is satisfied with the sincerity of the pilgrimage. She has proved right. Our faith in the lord has got deepened by what we experienced,” she said. After the 108 ambulance came she was rushed to the Rishikesh hospital where the doctors assured that both the mother and her baby were perfectly healthy.
They however wondered how the baby was delivered in the midst of the deep forest sans any medical assistance.
Her husband Naresh said that he came on the pilgrimage every year. “But this time, my wife insisted on accompanying me. I finally gave in. Now, things have ended well for us as the lord has gifted us with such a divine gift — a lovely baby. We have named her Parvati, appropriately,” recounted the beaming father.
Though the laxmanjhoola police station in-charge Rana said that she had delivered the baby in the ambulance on its way to the hospital the eyewitnesses insisted that the delivery had happened in the forest much before the ambulance arrived.