some stories of Paonta Sahib in Himachal

Paonta Sahib is situated on the bank of the river Yamuna. A Gurudwara is dedicated to the tenth sikh guru,  Guru Gobind Sigh, who spent five years here.


The name of the city is derived from Paonta meaning "foot", either because Guru Gobind Singh set foot on this place or, according to an alternate story, he lost an ornament which he wore on his foot called "Paonta" while bathing in the Yamuna river.




Legend surrounds the ruins of the old capital of the Raja Sirmouri Tal, not very far from Paonta Sahib. The palace was destroyed by the curse of a court dancer when the Raja went back on his word of giving half of his kingdom to the dancer in case she crossed a narrow gorge on a rope. 


This she did but the wily Raja then offered her the entire kingdom if she could dance her way back. She started back but as she was half way across, he cut the rope hurling the helpless girl into the stream. 


Floods followed which swept away the city, the Raja and the royal house, as a result of dancer's curse. 


Vishawkarma temple and few other Hindu temples are also located in Paonta Sahib. 

another story of why yamuna has darker water than ganga

Yamuna is visualized as a mournful, melancholy, dark goddess riding a turtle quite, totally unlike her bubbly and cheerful sister Ganga whose waters are white and who rides a dolphin. She is the embodiment of Radha, pining for her lost beloved.

It is said that when Indraprastha was built Yamuna did not flow by its side. She forced her way towards the city after an unfortunate encounter with Balarama.

Krishna’s brother Balarama, who was paying a visit to the area long after Krishna had moved to Dwarka, felt like bathing in the river. But he was too drunk and too tired to walk to the river. He ordered Yamuna to come to her. She refused. Enraged, Balarama, raised his plough and dragged the river-goddess towards him.

According to a folk version Balarama dragged Yamuna by the hair and had his way with her. Her struggles gave rise to the many bends of the river around Delhi. The story according to some anthropologists is suggestive of canal irrigation by the Surasena tribe. Balarama with his plough was their god of agriculture while Krishna with his cows was their god of animal husbandry; together they were the gods of the primary economic activities of a civilization that according to archaeologists thrived as early as 600 BC.

After being dragged to Indraprastha, Yamuna begged Krishna to make her his wife. Without him, no one cared for her. Nobody respected her. As Kalindi, she became one of Krishna’s eight principal wives. But he left her to flow in Vraj while he ruled far away in the island city of Dwarka. Still she waits for him. Hoping that Dwarka-pati, the Mathura-Nagar-Pati, will come back to Gokul. She hopes for the magic of the moonlight. The romance of the flute. The secret dance of Radha and the milkmaids. It is said that no man may join this dance. Shiva wanted to join it. Arjuna wanted to join it. Yamuna asked them to bathe in her, shed their masculinity, become women and dance with Krishna accepting them, as she did, as their supreme lord.

(courtesy:http://devdutt.com/by-the-banks-of-the-yamuna)

Story of why yamuna's water is darker than that of ganga.

Story 1

After losing his first consort Sati who killed herself by jumping in the fire-pit of the priest-king Daksha, Shiva lost all interest in worldly life. He held his wife’s corpse and wandered aimlessly in the world until Vishnu cut the corpse into tiny pieces.
To rid himself of the sorrow, the gods requested Shiva to bathe in the river Yamuna. His sorrow scorched the river black.

Annexure

Later Shiva took another consort, Parvati, princess of the mountains. Once a demon called Raktabija terrorized the world. Every drop of his blood gave rise to his clone making it impossible for the gods to kill him. To help the gods, Parvati drank every drop of Raktabija’s blood. The blood darkened Parvati’s skin and she became known as Kali, the dark one. This form so terrified Shiva that he looked away. To regain his interest, the goddess bathed in the Yamuna and emerged as Gauri, the radiant one. Yamuna let the dark colour percolate in her being. Yamuna has thus been associated with accepting the sorrows and pollutions of the world. That is why her mood is always forlorn.

(courtesy :http://devdutt.com)

water of yamuna and its sister ganga

There are manu tales as to why Yamuna’s water are darker in contrast with the clear waters of her sister, the river Ganga.




 
 
 
 
     
(pic courtesy:http://media-cdn.tripadvisor.com/media/photo-s/01/1f/07/fc/ganga-view-rishikesh.jpg)

how the Bandarpoonch peaks got their name

It is said after Hanuman set afire the city of Lanka, he buried his burning tail in the Himalayan snow to put out the flames.

The snow melted to give rise to Yamuna.

That is the why the peak next to Yamotri, the source of the Yamuna in the Himalayas, is known as Bandarpoonch or monkey’s tail. The ash made Yamuna’s waters dark.