Yes, definitely it looks very strange to believe, but you have no other choice rather to believe it after paying a visit to the pilgrimage shrine near Chotila village on the Pali-Jodhpur National Highway 65. It is well-known locally as the Om Banna Dham in memory of Om Singh Rathore, a folk deity.
A visit by chance: Our visit to the interesting place was just by chance as we had neither heard of nor had any intentions to pay a visit to the same. Our taxi driver Dharmendra Gogawat of Gogawat Tour & Travels, Jaipur took us to the place on his initiative where we saw an interesting spot flocked by devotees, men and women; young and old paying their tributes to the two-wheeler and the accident victim in whose memory the temple has come in place.
The bike keeps returning to the accident spot: According to Dharmendra Gogawat, Om Banna Thakur, a local sarpanch was riding his favourite 350 CC Royan Enfield motorcycle with the name board RNJ 7773, generally known as a Bullet on Barmer-Pali highway. Although it appeared to be gliding smoothly on the main road it deviated to hit a tree resulting in the sudden death of the rider while the vehicle fell into a ditch. This incident is said to have occurred on the night of 5th May 1998 and the next day the local police took the vehicle involved in the fatal accident to the police station. However, the very next day the bike was nowhere to be found in the premises of the police station. But the cops got a call informing them that the missing bullet had been traced back to the accident site!
Petrol tank emptied, bike chained: Left with no other choice a few constables reached the spot and towed it down to the police station. The incident was amusing to the police as well as they had brought the two-wheeler vehicle from the accident spot the previous day. They suspected some foul play beyond the sudden missing and appearance of the bike elsewhere and thought of a ploy by emptying the petrol tank and disconnecting the spark plug. It was also chained. But all such precautions went haywire as nothing made sense. Again the next day the bike was found missing but intact in the ditch of the accident.
The incident keeps repeating: This episode kept on repeating several times and all the attempts of the police to take back the bullet turned futile. Meanwhile, it is said that the late Om Banna Thakur appeared in the dream of his mother suggesting the construction of a memorial at the accident site. Once, this development spread across nearby areas it took no time for a memorial to come up at the accident site.
The tree becomes an altar in memory of Banna: Along with the memorial the tree to which the Royal Enfield hit also turned holy overnight. It transformed into an altar for the memory of Banna as people started putting bangles, scarves and threads to the branches apart from the life-sized images and idols. Most of the devotees thronging the place are found tying saffron or yellow coloured scarf to the branches.
Motorcycle becomes a deity: Perhaps Chotila village on the Pali-Jodhpur National Highway 65 is the only place in the world where a motorcycle is being worshipped. All passers-by make it a point to get down from their vehicles to pay obeisance to the new deities. Despite being a busy highway thousands of private vehicles, two-wheelers, camel carts, buses and trucks stop here for a while to visit the temple premises hoping for a safe journey. Many drivers are also found pouring a small amount of liquor on the tyres of the bike as a mark of their respect and offering.
-Manohar Yadavatti
Quite amusing 😄
ReplyDeleteTrue, I too I had heard about it. There are many such miracles beyond scientific explanation.
DeleteTrue, I had heard of it. There are such tbings
ReplyDelete