Mt Abu Arbuda Devi |Exam at SVIM BRC|3/4

DAY 9 – TEST DAY & Mt Abu Arbuda Devi / Adhar Devi

In the evening I went to Arbuda Devi which has a temple in a cave. Arbuda Devi is also known as Adhar Devi. Fun fact : it was used to arrive upon the name AS mt Abu Arbuda devi was used to derive the name as Arbudanchal which was later changed to Mt Abu. But before that we had a very nerve wrecking exam. Every student is graded on for 50 marks which determines his grade for the course.

If you missed the first 8 days read about it here Day 1 to 6 , Day 7 & 8

10 marks Notes	Daily Diary & Lecture Notes
10 marks  Climbing	Rock Climbing Practical & Viva
10 marks Rappelling	Rappelling Practical & Viva
10 Marks Knots	Knots Practical & Viva
10 Marks Equipment	10 Marks : Identifying Equipment

Apart from these there are 10 Discretionary marks with the admin team. These can be added or removed from your total based on your overall performance in special cases.

• < 20    : C Grade
• 20-30 : B Grade
• 30 +    : A Grade

Today was the day when all these test were going to happen. I had slept late previous night to get my Daily diary completed & even in the morning just before fall in I was still working on my diary and lecture notes.

After the morning fall in , Half the course went for rock climbing basic field while the other half stayed back in the institute for the theory & vivas.

Within 10 minutes all my knots & equipment tests were done. And now I had to get ready for the rock-climbing & rappelling test at the basic field.

Bro Tip

All the questions & practicals are based on the things you were taught in the scope of 10 days. There is no question, no practical which you haven’t done before. So just practice at all the rock sessions properly & read all the notes you have made. That should suffice for an A grade.

At the basic field, I completed my rappelling & rock-climbing practicals & viva without any hiccups.

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After the tests was complete we gathered together for final moments at the wall. Our instructors got together for their instructor selfie.

With this tests this journey reached a new milestone. Only thing pending were the results which would be declared  the next day along with the felicitation ceremony.

WE were finally given free time in the afternoon till evening to roam around in the market & enjoy.

After being in captivity for almost 10 days finally we could eat whatever we want. I had samosa’s , pani puri, etc . Wanted to eat non veg  but being surrounded by vegetarians meant I would postpone it by one whole day.

After my tummy full me and Aditya headed to Adhra Devi to visit the famous temple ensconced in a cave atop a hill.

Enroute we reached this Brahamakumari Peace Park. The huge building as a very welcoming facade. I didnot go inside . But my freind say that they provide you a nice 30 minutes tour inside about the Brahmakumari ideology.

Arbuda Devi / Adhar Devi

Mt. Abu was earlier known as Arbudanchal named after Arbuda Devi. And this temple is locally famous as Adhar Devi mandir. We started walking from Nakki Lake to reach Peace park and then the first gate in about 15-20 minutes which is about 2 kms. I was excited to see the cave temple. I had heard many things that there was a huge cave.

From here there are about 400 stairs to reach the temple which located on a hill. The entrance has many shops selling local souvenirs, clothes ,toys etc.

We started the stairs with great enthusiasm to see why this temple is so revered amongst the locals.

The almost 400 stairs were too tough for elderly. We however were toughened over the 10 days of training and breezed past the stairs.

On reaching to the top was flabbergasted to see the ‘no camera’ sign. Did get this pic from the outside.

Inside the temple we have to crouch through a small opening of the cave. Inside the cave is a black stone idol of the Goddess adorned in colourful clothes and ornaments. The Goddess is supposed to be a source of Shakti . Taking this extra dose of energy we ventured further ahead to find another temple where photography was allowed.

Overall the cave temple might have a high value for very religious people. But i went there to experience a temple in a huge cave which i was sorry to find just a small cave. And think i would have been better off to do something more adventurous.

Nonetheless the stairs did provide our dose of adventure. Then we rushed to reach the assembly on time.

We had the last entertainment assembly that night & all hell broke loose. All the shyness was thrown out of window. A group of unknown faces had soldered emotions for life shedding blood ,tears & joy over the last 10 days. A huge happy family which most probably would never meet again had a one last hour to enjoy. There were planned dances, impromptu dances, skits, comedy stand ups , bad jokes, I tried singing ‘tanha dil’ with a bad throat  ….. overall an evening well spent.

DAY 10- FAREWELL

We had the farewell ceremony in the morning.  Everyone was looking dapper in jeans & t shirts. Girls were looking unrecognisable in layers of make up . I preferred to wear my trek clothes as they were my trusted ones.

I got an A band. The ceremony continued with everyone taking the mandatory selfies. Group picture followed.

Depressing Times:

The time after the ceremony was very depressing as most of the batch mates & instructors had their return journey planned immediately. I said my hurried good byes to many. Within hours of the ceremony the institute represented a horror movie location with empty rooms  & bylanes.

I have done so many treks but even today after a trek I feel nostalgic about the times we spent together.  This being a bigger one of 10 days left a heavy dent on my heart.

King of good times:

 I Was however lucky that 7 of us from a single room had there trains booked for the next day. Or as in my case no bookings. We had two more days to go around Mt. Abu.

We gave an application to admin to allow us to stay for that night & were off to visit Mt Abu’s famous places. But first we had to eat.

I ordered Fish fingers, Chicken Tandoori & Mutton Biryani. I ate like a monster. Heaven.

Next we visited Achalgarh, GuruShikhar, Nakki Lake at night, Redeemer. All about it in my next blog. Read it HERE

Day 1 to 6 | Day 7 & 8 | Exam Day | Roaming Around Mt. Abu

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