Acharya Mahashraman Ahimsa Yatra Nepal
Birgunj - Kathmandu - Biratnagar
- Nepal Entry
- Touring Birgunj to Hetauda
- Ascending from Hetauda to Kathmandu
- Camping in Kathmandu
- Descending from Kathmandu to Janakpur
- Cross border Tour - Janakpur to Biratnagar
Section 4: Camping in Kathmandu
4.3: Aftershocks and Uncertainties
Police Headquarters ground in Kathmandu. Mobile Hospital (the van in middle), managed by Terapanth Professional Forum, is in service of quake victims
26th April:
Acharya Mahashraman got up at 4 am in early morning as per daily routine and got busy with regular morning hours meditation and mantra chanting. People by now have got used to with tremors. A sever tremor was felt in the morning hours but H.H. pure aura was working as security shield for everyone. Seeing the possibility of spending the day at this Police Headquarters, the Police chief was formally requested as per Terapanth order guidelines.
Nuns visiting Acharya Mahashraman at H.H. camp
After the sunrise, Mukhya Niyojika Ji together with nun group came in presence of H.H. Just after some time, Chief of Nepal Police Mr. Upendrakant Ayaal visited H.H. He enquired about H.H. wellbeing and gave a brief report on the devastation caused by earthquake. He requested H.H. - “Please stay at my house. I’ll have the entire house vacated for you. Please inform me right away if there is any service needed from me. I’ll feel fortunate about it.” He came back once again after few minutes and again requested to shift to his house. Not only this, while a meeting was ongoing at Prime Minister Residence, he instructed the Superintendent of Police to visit H.H. and request to shift to his house. After a while, his wife also visited H.H. with same request.
Acharya Mahashraman with monks
India has shown good agility in helping Nepal to overcome this horrible situation. Planes of Indian Air Force reached Nepal mid night with rescue team and relief resources. Those planes were started to be seen on sky since morning. Quick response from India was highly appreciated by Nepal administration and citizen.
Around 8 am a meeting was organized in presence of H.H and participated by monks, nuns and camping management team to discuss next steps and camping of H.H. It was warmer today though cloudy occasionally during the day.
Furious Aftershock
A severe aftershock hit around 1 PM in noon hours that lasted for 45 seconds. This tremor was calculated to be at 6.9 in Richter scale. H.H. guided little monks, saying “There is Earthquake, there is catastrophe, don’t get scared but be cautious”.
Thousands of people beyond Jain community were present in the Police HQ ground for safety whereas Jains were mainly present for H.H. proximity. Volunteers were trying their best for smooth organization. Another meeting took place in Presence of H.H. around 3:30 PM in which it was decided to postpone the “Diksha” ceremony (initiation to monkhood) of Mumukshu Naman Bhansali scheduled on 28 April 2015. Today’s night stay is finalized to be at Police HQ premises.
Rounds of Rumors and Uncertainties
Rumors and uncertainties regarding the earthquake and weather are now taking their turn. Speculation of severe aftershocks, heavy rain, storms were on high. Network system in Nepal was badly hit by earthquake and this was causing difficulty for the right News to reach the people. Instead people were in speculation and uncertainties. In such situation, it was natural for the Terapanth followers located far away from H.H. to be very concerned about H.H. safety. As per guidance from H.H., latest updates were broadcasted twice a day (at 8 AM and 4 PM) through social media which turned out to be very useful. People from various places were requesting over e-mail and phones for H.H. moving out of Kathmandu.
Acharya Mahashraman with volunteers discussing next steps
Acharya Mahashraman listened to everyone but didn’t accept those. During one of the discussions, the President and Vice President of H.H. camping organization at Kathmandu requested H.H. not to leave Kathmandu right away. Atmosphere was full of fear and uncertainties but H.H, monks and nuns remained calm and fearless. Top Police officials paid frequent visits to H.H. to enquire on H.H. wellbeing.
RSS coordinator of North India wing Mr. Bajrang Lal Gupta requested Indian Embassy at Nepal for ensuring H.H. safety. Indian Ambassador at Nepal Mr. Ranjit Ray was in touch with volunteers and assured full cooperation.
Acharya Mahashraman at his camp under tin shed at Police Headquarters ground
Exchange of News
Mahashramani Sadhvi Pramukha Kanakprabha is camping in Birgunj, Nepal. Badly hit communication system is making it difficult to connect these two sides. H.H. received two letters from Mahashramani on evening today. Excerpt of this message:
Highly Reverent H.H.!
Every moment was getting difficult until we got the message from Kathmandu after the earthquake. Everyone was highly concerned and not able to get any message. We couldn’t do anything about it. We started getting the message in pieces and were little relieved. Thoughts of uncertainties and questions are assailing our minds regarding H.H. next steps and camping.
- Sadhvi Pramukha Kanakprabha
Excerpt of second message:
Situation at Birgunj
We had severe earthquake at Birgunj as well but fortunately we all nuns were in the hall. Follower Arvind Ji was outside and all of sudden he shouted - “everyone please come out”. Our legs started shaking and it got difficult to come out. We came out and started chanting Mantra. We sat out for a while and later moved to a bigger open area. We continued mantra chanting for long. We continued to feel tremors there as well. We came back to Terapanth Bhawan around 3:30 PM.
We are all fine and safe in Birgunj. Missing H.H. direct presence.
- Sadhvi Pramukha Kanakprabha
Upon getting message from Sadhvi Pramukha, special care was taken to ensure the broadcasted messages reached Sadhvi Pramukha Ji quickly.
Another meeting was organized in presence of H.H. at 5 PM to discuss next steps. Devotion of followers was remarkable. Without caring much for themselves, they were helping organizing all the required support for monk and nun group. Hundreds of followers were on forefront. They were only concerned about H.H., monks and nuns and not caring much about their own health and family. It is a pride to have such a follower community.
Night with Rain and Cold
Severity of the tremors has come down by the night hours and also the duration between the tremors have increased. Forecasts, warnings, rumors were still ongoing but monks and nuns remained calm and fearless. The tin shed where H.H. is camping had a pile of iron pipes which was hurting many people if they were not cautious. H.H. frequently cautioned people about it. Little monks were cautioning everyone. It started raining around 8 PM in night that continued till 10 PM. It increased the cold. Monks continued to take turns to remain awake during night near H.H.
27th April
54th Birthday of Acharya Mahashraman. Four fold religious order wanted to greet H.H. but there was no celebration today. H.H. had appealed people for using this day for spiritual well wises for earthquake victims.
Nepal Police Chief Mr. Upendrakant Ayaal meeting Acharya Mahashraman
Acharya Shree took a walk around Police HQ premises after sunrise. Nepal Police Chief Mr. Upendrakant Ayaal met H.H. during these moments. Weather was good with some brightness. Frequency of aftershock tremors have come down very much. People were little relieved because of this.
Around 9 AM in morning a meeting was organized in presence of H.H. It was decided that H.H will move to Mr. Motilal Duggar’s residence around sunset in the evening today. Rest of the camping in Kathmandu is also planned to happen there. Mr Duggar informed that his house is quake proof and can bear earthquake of 8.5 in Richter scale without any impact. Nun group camping is planned at their erstwhile campsite, which is at Mr. Jyoti Bengani’s house.
Acharya Mahashraman taking walk at Police Headquarters ground (photo
Many senior Police officials kept visiting H.H. Police chief, though having very tight busy schedule, frequently visited H.H. like a devotee. He visited again in the afternoon and mentioned - “Acharya Shree! your presence here gives strength to me. We are happy to find you among us during this difficult time.” DIG Mr. S B Pal and Mr. Navraj Silva also visited H.H. Famous singer of Nepal Buddhist nun Aani Choing Drolma and Mr. Ganesh Thapa who is Nepal parliament member and also President of Football association visited H.H. in the afternoon.
Mobile Hospital treating earthquake victims. This facility is managed by Terapanth Professional Forum
Terapanth Community at service of Earthquake victims
Rescue and relief operation in Nepal are ongoing at war level. Many countries are helping Nepal. Quick response and full support of India is appreciated by everyone. Terapanth community is also participating actively in this.
Mobile RO plant, run by Terapanth Mahasabha, providing drinking water to victims
Mobile RO plant that accompanies Ahimsa Yatra and sponsored by Terapanth Mahasabha is being used by Police Dept. Police is providing clean drinking water through it to the people. Another vehicle, sponsored by Mr. Hukum Chand, is used for supplying drinking water to victims.
Mobile Hospital and volunteers helping victims
The Mobile Hospital, managed by Terapanth Professional Forum, is fully busy in treating injured people. Hundreds of people are benefited from this. Local Terapanth Sabha organized blood donation. Ahimsa Yatra volunteers helped in distributing food to victims. Terapanth Mahasabha has dispatched relief material in big quantity from India for Kathmandu.
Acharya Mahashraman moving to Duggar family residence
Shifting from Police Headquarters to Duggar residence
Acharya Mahashraman left the Police HQ premises right after the sunset in the evening. Hundreds of followers accompanied H.H. After a walk of around 300 meters, H.H. arrived at the residence of Mr. Motilal Duggar family. H.H. formally took approval of Mrs. Saroj Motilal Duggar for staying at their house. Duggar family is native of Bikaner, Rajasthan, India. The house looked safe as there was not even a crack despite a severe earthquake.
The severity and frequency of tremors have come down. As per local newspaper - tremors of severity more than 4 in Richter scale occurred 36 times in 12 hours during Saturday, 38 times in 24 hours on Sunday and 13 times in 24 hours on Monday. Tremors below 4 in Richter scale have strike more than 500 times.
Chief Minister of Rajasthan Mrs. Vasundhara Raje tried to get in touch with some of the followers over phone but those followers were not reachable over phone due to their presence near H.H. in quake torn Kathmandu. Mrs. Raje asked the bureaucratic team from Rajasthan which has come to Nepal to help earthquake victims, to visit Acharya Mahashraman. The team including Chief Secretary of Ministry of Rural development Mr. Srimat Pandey, Additional Vice-Commissioner of Police Mr. Umesh Mishra and Joint Secretary of Road development authority Mr. Ujjwal Rathore visited H.H. in the evening.