1. Mangi Tungi.

To conquer a fear, one of the choices I can make is to invite it head-on.

Last week, when I checked the message on the group, I ignored after an initial glance. It mentioned about 7-8 hour night journey by bus to reach the base and start climbing in the wee hours.

Over years, I have been nurturing the phobia of being hostile to the road travels in the dark hours. Inviting this fear to join the party wasn’t an easy job but the white portion of the mind conveyed the invitation with an assumption of calling in for the party and leaving the preparations part to the cosmos.

At 10 pm before boarding the bus, witnessing a group of 20 that encompassed young and chirpy folks was a lucrative starter on the plate. Soon as the bus departed, the gang was all pepped up to play loud music and have maximum fun during the voyage. In round 1, Mr. Fear was knocked down.

After having a lot of fun with music and singing, the clock showed 1.30 am and probably, some sane minds received a thought that mentioned about the expedition that was imminent in few hours. A quick tea & bio break was around the corner, too.

Even though the north and south eyelids were enticed to meet each other, the brain-master was contemplating the strategy for round 2. Amid the hustle, a couple of hours passed, and so did round 2 with an average performance.

The upcoming round was about checking out the remaining distance and trusting the ETA provided by the map app. Shutting-Opening eyes, breathing exercise and passing thoughts came to the rescue. At 6 am, the fear was knocked. Now, it was time to conquer the 2 peaks. However, it seemed that the tougher battle was won. Yippee!!

The base village hosted 2 beautiful temples in the premise. Earning some beautiful moments at those shrines could sweep away all the tiredness accumulated during the night.

Post belly-filling fuel and a taste-quenching hot coffee, we reached the base and at about 7.45 am, we embarked onto our climb.

There are several different numbers mentioned about the stairs. Anyway, I didn’t bother much about the count. The focus was on the 3 landmarks to be visited during the excursion. 

Slowly and gradually, we reached the first stop that is an open-air home to the 108 feet humungous Lord Rushabhdev (The first tirthankar of the current era per Jainism). The Ego in me that I feel is huge got completely dwarfed by the existence and divinity of this tall-standing almighty. Lord needs nothing, but with an intent to purify our souls, we recited about 5 prayer songs and sat in silence for some time.

The next milestone was to regroup at the upper base that bifurcates into 2 further climbs. On the left is the Mangi pinnacle and on the right, the Tungi summit is visible. Leaders chose to opt for Mangi first, and thereafter, we moved our stationary bodies.

At the top, along with soothing peace, we encountered wonderful caves that must have been dwelling since several generations or maybe centuries. Most of the caves hosted single & multiple idols of God. After visiting few, we settled in one; and the energetic young guns recited a new set of bhajans that were once again a treat to the ears and soul.

We circled the summit and regrouped before starting to descend towards the bifurcation. At that juncture, some of us treated ourselves with the refreshing lemon juice that hydrated the body and the sugar in it, ignited the tastebuds.

The road to Tungi is popularly called at the staircase to the heaven. I believe there can be no better description for this. With fantastic views on all the sides, reaching the Tungi summit made me feel heavenly.

Tungi is also a celestial abode to a lot of divine souls residing in form of pious idols, carvings inside the caves and on the outer periphery of the gigantic rock.

It is said that 99 crore souls have attained liberation over a period of years from the Mangi-Tungi Mountain.

At about 12.30 pm, we had the final group meet at the upper base before the last descent.  The Sun was at the peak of its youth but the weather was not very hot. It was time to decline to the main base and before that, some of us felt like giving justice to the luring fresh lime.

The clock showed 1.15 pm when I managed to reach the base. Few of us chose to eat at the kitchen hosted inside the temple premises near the mountain base.

Post having a delicious Rajasthani lunch followed by a tasty buttermilk, we bid adieu to the most marvelous temples and the enormous Mangi-Tungi mountain. The driver stepped on the gas at about 2.30 pm.

While return, the only halt we had was around Sunset, where hot snacks were served. I chose to stuff in enough that could help me survive till next morning.

Travelling about 550 kms on road in 24 hours and making space of a pilgrim climb and descent consisting of 8000-9000 stairs (number vary as there’s no confirmed info with me) was something I couldn’t have imagined doing anytime.

I would like to express my sincere gratitude towards all the organizers for creating this entire experience a stupendous one as well as to the entire group who was so friendly, enthusiastic and supportive. Also, loved the individual and group conversations. Certainly, looking forward to more and more lovely times ahead.

Got to now ponder over challenging the next fear. Until then, Kind regards & Namaste!

Couple of Video links:

https://youtu.be/kqpbS-FR-1w?si=QFwJZVPIbyiLIpAc

https://youtu.be/VTRcGrUep88?si=y01C4eYkCaaoXely