25. “Bootha Ganas” of Ice Mountains

Karimukha walked along the right bank of Euphrates and crossed the mountains. In the north there was the Black sea. That was connected by a strait with the Mediterranean sea. Crossing the strait, Karimukha entered the continent of Europe.

Their first destination was Greece, in the southern part of Europe along Mediterranean shore. The coastline was corrugated, with many strips of land protruding into the water. There were several islands too. Olympia was a mountain peak and the country was mountainous. There were small valleys of olive trees. There were fields in which wheat and cotton were cultivated. The civilization was known in the name of the king MINOS of legendary period. They understood that this was the first known civilization in Europe. There was a palace of the Menoan king. That palace was of gigantic dimensions. There were 1300 rooms. They saw magnificent paintings on the walls. There were earthernware jars of a man’s height in which olive oil, wine and grains were stocked. The jar was called PITHOS. The society functioned with well framed laws. Sea trade prospered. Within the palace premises, production centres and godowns were located. Around the palace people lived. There were temples. Those locations were prone to frequent earth quakes, it was said.

There was an island called Crete in the south, wherefrom it is said the menoan civilization emerged. Like the Mahishasura of our legends there was a demon in that island with the face of the bull and human body. Theseus the king of Athens, killed him.

Italy was another country next to Greece protruding in the sea. They reached that country in the sea route. They showed interest in painting and sculpture. APPOLO (Sun) MARS (War God) VENUS (Goddess of love) are the Greek gods of legends. They also worshipped them. Hundreds of islands were in the sea. There was a famous city called VENICE in those islands. In the western coast, there was another city called Napoli, by the side of which in an island there was a volcano called Vesuvius. The Greek god HERCULES constructed the city called Herculeum. That was near the volcano.

They travelled towards north in the country there was a mountain chain in the north which had snow capped peaks. Though the height of the peaks were not as much as Himalayas. However, since they were in cold regions their peaks were always snow clad.

Gothard Peaks were at the centre. The snow in the peaks melted and came down and collected in large lakes. From those lakes emerged rivers like the RHINE and RHONE. Rhone flowed towards Mediterranean sea. Rhine flowed to the north sea. The mountain chain ran from the east to west. In that enchanting hilly country rivers and streams were criss crossing and lakes were abundant. From the Peaks the glaciers were slowly moving down. The people inhabiting the land were called Celts.

In those peaks there were three peaks that looked like the trident In Hindu mythology (Mummoorthys – Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva of the Hindu gods). They flew on Garuda on those peaks. One peak, called the Monk looked like a Shiva Linga. Another two peaks called Jungfrau and Eiger peaks were on either side of the Monk, representing Vishnu and Brahma! Like white soft cotton, snow was raining on those peaks. In between the peaks giant ice blocks (glaciers) were slowly moving down, melting in the sun rays.

The Bootha Ganas (Lord Shiva’s guards) came out from behind the icy peaks seeing Krishna and Balarama landing in the ice. On recognizing Vishnu and Adishesha their joy knew no bounds. Nandideva (Lord Shiva’s vehicle) brought his Mridangam and kept rhythm. Naradha promptly appeared with his Veena (an Indian musical instrument) and started singing. The Bootha Ganas danced around Krishna and Balarama. There was the intermittent sound of ice blocks falling, which sounded like thunder.