Kanwashram then and now

Kanwashram then and now
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Dinesh Kukreti
Before saying anything on the ashram of Maharishi Kanva located on the banks of the Malini River in the Kedarkhand region, I consider it necessary to mention the letter of Dr. Hazari Prasad Dwivedi, which he wrote to the then Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh Hemwati Nandan Bahuguna on October 4, 1975  Was.  The letter was somewhat like - 'Respected Bahuguna ji, I went to see Kanwashram near Kotdwar on 24 October 1971.  I was accompanied by Pt. Banarsidas Chaturvedi, Naithanji and many other writers.  Very beautiful place.  With this is the connection of Kalidasa's "Abhigyanashakuntalam".  I went back to that place and got overwhelmed.  The banks of the Malini River are truly calm and captivating as Kalidas describes.  The path is fine, but due to the instability of the river flow in the middle, it is a bit bumpy, which reminds us of Kalidasa's newly-landscaped land.  This place is very little in the knowledge of the people, the tourist department can make good use of it.  I pray that you take note of this a little personally.  Later this place will prove to be very suitable for Kalidas ceremony.  ... I had many literary friends from Garhwal and Bijnor that day, all of whom showed deep affinity towards this ashram.  ... I am sure that after getting a little bit of devotion from your people, the people here will take this ceremony themselves enthusiastically.

Mitars (friends), a lot has changed in this four-decade span, but the circumstances of Kanwashram are more or less the same as Dwivedi had said in his letter.  Yes!  Then there was both possibility and thinking, whereas today there is an absolute lack of both.  Far from preserving the Kanwashram, we could not even preserve the ruins of the Malini civilization.  Seeing whom Dr. Sampurnanand had said, "What would have happened if Kanwashram had been in other countries." The greatness of Kanwashram is described in 'Skandhapurana', 'Mahabharata' and the world famous drama 'Shakuntala' by Mahakavi Kalidas.  From the religious point of view also, Kanwashram had the same importance till the time of Kalidas, which is that of Kedarnath and Badrinath.  It is mentioned in the Puranas, 'A wise man should go to Kanwashram in the holy region of Badrinath and go to Kedarnath after a ceremonial bath there, and after worshiping well in Kedarnath, he should visit Mangalakari Badri Vishal.  Despite this, there is evidence of some travelers going to Badrinath from Kanwashram via Vyasaghat (Vyaschatti) till the end of 19th century.

It will hardly be known to the present generation that Kanwashram has been the first university in the world, whose vice-chancellor was Maharishi Kanva.  Thousands of students were studying in this university, who were taught in Gurukul system.  In his book 'Ruins of Malini Civilization', Lalita Prasad Naithani, editor of the prestigious weekly paper Satyapatha of his era, writes, "Shakuntala and her son Bharat (after whom our country is named Bharatvarsha) were studied in this university."  It is also mentioned in Mahabharata that Kanvashram was a university, which had special arrangements for the education of Vedas and Vedanta.  Historian Dr. Madan Chandra Bhatt is of the opinion that the more famous Vedic University Kanwashram, from Taxila, Varanasi and Nalanda, fell in the 13th century.  Though this university continued to exist even after Maharishi Kanva, but when the movement of Buddhists against the Vedas intensified, it is estimated that Kanva University was also attacked.  It seems that then the Buddhists made Moradhwaja (located near Kotdwar) their center.  Cunningham, who was the Director General of the Archaeological Department of India, has also accepted this.

Dr. Bhatt writes, 'It is known from the awareness of sage Kanva prevalent in Kotdwar Bhabar that Maharishi Kanva did penance on Malan coast in Kotdwar forest in Satyuga and later started an ashram and started teaching Vedas and scriptures to his disciples right here.  .  While wandering in the Aranya for Samidha, Maharishi once found Shakuntala, the daughter of Brahmarshi Vishwamitra and Apsara Maneka, whom he made his adopted daughter.  Once Kanva went to Haridwar on the occasion of Uttarayani.  In his absence Chandravanshi King Dushyant of Hastinapur came to the ashram and went back to marry Gandharva with Shakuntala.  This marriage gave birth to Chakravarti Emperor Bharata, who after Dushyant was anointed at the throne of Hastinapur.  This saga of sage Kanva, sung in Garhwali Janboli in the villages of Bhabar, has a close resemblance to the plot described in the epic drama titled 'Mahabharata' composed by Krishnadvapayan Vyas and 'Abhigyanashakuntalam' composed by Mahakavi Kalidasa.  Keeping in mind the folk traditions of Kotdwar, on the left bank of the Malini River in Chowchighata, former Forest Minister Jagmohan Singh Negi laid the foundation stone of modern Kanwashram on the day of Vasant Panchami in 1956, on the orders of the then Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh, Dr. Sampurnanand.  Also, marble statues of Maharishi Kanva, Shakuntala, Bharata etc. were installed there.  From this day onwards, Basant Mela is being organized here every year on the occasion of Vasant Panchami.

Friends!  This is the only achievement we have in the name of Kanwashram in all these years.  Although there have been announcements of metamorphosis from time to time, but everyone had their own interests behind them, so nothing came out.  Sadly, even after the formation of Uttarakhand, the governments did not look in this direction.  Despite showing the dream of tourism state.  Otherwise what is the reason that even today Kanwashram is not in the tourist map of Uttarakhand.  ... and, except for the temporary capital Dehradun, people do not know about Kanwashram properly.