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At the confluence of the Trishuli and Tadi rivers, the picturesque town of Devighat in Nuwakot district was once a thriving pilgrimage town, but the scene has changed since the August 26 flood. The quiet expanse is now filled with sand and silt, but the simple act of devotion continues amid these ruins.
Devotees have begun returning to the very place where the temples once stood. They have placed holy stones, known as Shila, at the exact spots where the temples and other shrines once stood, offering flowers, incense and prayers to the goddess whose physical home the river erased. The Jalapa Devi Temple used to be our centre of faith and worship. The flood has now swept away the physical structure of the temple. It has been our tradition to come here and worship, and we are continuing it with the same faith and devotion with which we came here to perform the rituals, be it on the riverbank here at Devighat, Gita Neupane, one of the devotees, told ANI after performing the rituals. Devighats transformation is stark. The catastrophic flash flood on August 26, triggered by a massive ice-and-rock collapse high in the Himalayas near the Nepal-China border, surged down the Bhotekoshi and Trishuli river systems. The gushing ice, water and debris buried or swept away homes, shops, bridges and sacred structures across Devighat. With the fortnight-long festival of Dashain being celebrated nationwide, devotees have also thronged the riverbed to pay obeisance to the gods. This market town is named after the goddess herself. Devi-Ghat carries religious significance, while its ties to the final days of King Prithvi Narayan Shah, the founder of modern Nepal, who died and was cremated nearby, add historical significance. About eight weeks after the flood, the landscape remains a wasteland of sand, silt and scattered stones. Yet faith has not been washed away with the structures. A few days back, the devotees came over and consecrated the god here. The feeling is the same as before the flood and in the current scenario after paying obeisance to the god. We cannot locate where the remains of the temple are now, but the devotees have installed their faith at the same location where the temple once stood. There is no difference in the feeling of achievement and fulfilment after performing the rituals then and now, another devotee, Shanti Pandey, told ANI. For now, the stones keep the rhythm of worship going. In a place where the river brought both livelihood and sudden destruction, they declare that the goddess has not left Devighat, even if her temple has. (ANI)
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