"The whole world is looking for miracles, Every day it is dying to see miracles, But can there be any miracle , More challenging, more illumining , And more fulfilling , Than to see and feel the infinite Beauty , Of my Beloved Supreme , Inside this tinier than the tiniest , Gratitude-heart of mine?"
I wish to write a lot about Pune! From the serene beaches nearby Konkan to the beautiful hill tops of Mahabaleshwar, Panchgani, Lonavla, Khandala --- to the "Great Wall of Pune - Shaniwar Wada -- but this time want to limit it to one experience I had during last Saturday. Of course, this can be very well expressed in a short DP without using the review space but I am struck with an eerie prejudice that in a consumer site, only reviews will get noticed! So, with due apology to anyone who clicked this space to explore more about Pune, let me limit my scribbling to the "Levitating Stone of Shivapur"
My drive was towards the southern side of Pune in Bangalore highway insearch of the sacrophagus of a sufi saint Quamar Ali Durvesh in Shivapur. After crossing the Katraj Ghat, from the highway before the Khed - Shivapur Toll Gate I took a drive to right side. There was a fee of Rs.10/- to enter into the village (something similar I have seen in Panchgani also). In two minutes, I have reached Shivapur Darga. Got some garland and went inside the mosque. With my limited understanding of how to pray in Darga - I opted to bend down and keep my head near the tomb and prayed "Loka Samastha Sukhino Bhavantu". Tanna Didi reminded me to pray for Subhash’s father which I did. Sonia also reminded me to include her in the prayer. I prayed for all MSians, near and dear ones and ofcourse for the entire world. (Women were not allowed inside the mosque)
I stepped out and have seen the round stone having weight of around 70 KG being kept inside the square shaped area. Quamar Ali told his brothers before his death - "
"If eleven men place their right index fingers under the stone and then jointly call my name, I will cause it to rise higher than their heads. Otherwise, neither singly nor together will they be able to move it more than two feet off the ground. Let it be a symbol, a reminder of my message that spiritual power is greater than brute strength. As Allah the Merciful, has loved you, so should you love all men of every caste and creed. For we are all brothers on the same journey. Think of this when you call my name and raise the stone."
I have only my dad as another man in my group. We need nine more. I tried to mobilise some more people but one guy disappointed me "Aaj pura mathar log hai - nahi hoga!" (Only old people are there, it wont happen). But suddenly another group came in and told it has got nothing to do with age of the people. We need to have nine men, thats all. One energetic gentleman mobilised a few. He took the lead and asked all of us to place our index finger on the top of the stone. He counted and confirmed there are eleven fingers. Now, we have to keep our index finger on the ground and touch the stone in such a way that we can lift the stone with our index finger. Now, we have to say loudly "Quamar Ali Durvesh" and lift the stone --- we did so and the 70 KG stone went up and I could not feel the weight and there was no vibration or any other feeling.
But my Dad got a cold feet and he tried to support the stone using his other hand also. All of a sudden the stone fell down towards his chest and he stepped back with out which it would have hurt him. Some of them advised "You should have strong faith. Otherwise it wont work. Dont use any support. Just your index finger and call the saint"
We tried for the second time and this time the stone went up above our head and fell down! Unbelievable!
What if we try with 13? We tried - to our surprise the stone came up to my knees only and fell down!
Eleven men, chant the saints name, use your index finger - with out which the system wont work! I took the photographs and videos. Due to space constraint, I cannot upload the same in MS.
Why this happens?
Is that because of any mysterious forces? Faith, mind-power, energy distribution, bio-currents, magnetism, sound vibrations, gestalt effect? To the Indian mind, however, the answer is simple and always the same, "It is the spirit of the saint which makes the rocks rise and even I would love to believe so. Where ever our logic stop working, it is better to rely on the supreme power. To distrust is a stressful act. But to believe is easy. Unless it does not harm any one and only preaches about love, care and affection - why to go after explanations!
In one word - this place amazed me a lot. A must visit place for all those visit Pune.
If any one my friends have been to any such places where in your logic could not explain the action, please do share for the sake of all! It’s a small life – I want to experience everything. Don’t you?
~Courtesy - Experience sharing by Margaret Deefholts that aroused my interest to explore this place and even venture into some experimentation.