Nainital Town is a beautiful lake resort that nestles amongst seven hills in a lush green valley full of wild flowers and evergreen trees, at a height of 1938 metres. A Britisher by the name of Lord Barren was so enamored by it that he sold off his sugar business and came and built a home here in 1841. In time a town came up here and it was a favorite haunt of the British for as long as they were in India, until 1947. The surrounding area called the district of Nainital is just as beautiful and is dotted with lakes. Nainital is also spiritually very vibrant. The town itself has a temple of an ancient Goddess and the surrounding district is populated with the ashrams and abodes of several holy men. More about the Goddess and one of the well known holy personalities that appeared in this district has been described in this blog.
S ome of the earliest mentions of divine Nanda and Sunanda are found in ancient Sanskrit texts. It cannot be confirmed if these references have any connection with more recent worship of these goddesses in Kumaon region but they deserve mention for the probable origin of these glorious goddesses. The Bhāgavata Purāna also known as Śrīmad Bhāgavatam, is one of the Puranic texts of Sanskrit literature. It includes many stories well known in Vedic tradition. The text credits Veda Vyasa, the revered ancient sage, with its authorship. Here is a verse from this text, “ Also, Srutadeva, Uddhava and others, Nanda, Sunanda and other leaders of liberated souls who are constant companions of the Lord ” Canto 1 Chapter 14 According to this verse, Nanda and Sunanda are close to the eternal lord with the same position as the highest of Angels of the Lord and amongst the leaders of liberated souls that are constantly engaged in serving God. A story in chapter 12 of the s...
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