So here goes…

A few days ago, a nice old gentleman who resided in my neighborhood, passed away. He was 95 (yes, ninety five). I have not personally been close to him, but we knew of each other, and were comfortable in affording each other space in our perceptible world. In other words, although we exchanged few words, we did nod sometimes when we passed each other, and our mind’s waves registered no dissonance.

When I got the information that he had passed on, I visited his house to pay my last respects to him, and convey my condolence to his family. There I spoke to his daughter. She told me that the man had lived a beautiful life. No illness worth recording. Did not suffer from Blood Pressure or Diabetes etc. No regimen of tablets. Did Yoga every day. Was always active, reading, writing. Went for his walks. He ate well till the end. Had a full meal the previous night. Had coffee that morning. She saw him sitting on his bed, checking his pulse, and asked him about it. And he told her he just felt like checking…. And even as he said these words, he gasped once or twice and then his breath stopped. His back leaned on the wall behind the bed. He passed away just like that. Conscious till the last moment. Sitting.  The kind of end that even Sanyasi-s pray for.

Ah yes, there is goodness in the world still.

Read on Twitter today about a good person, one of India’s great architects. About his retiring from service. The tweet read: “Man who changed the way of life in #Delhi, Metro Man Sreedharan, switches tracks, retires tomorrow ~ Legend of India“

We owe much to this good man. Lets wish him well in his retired life. I remember seeing an interview of his on TV some years ago, where he mentioned that he looked forward to his retired life, and that he would love to spend the time with his Bhagavad Gita and Vishnu Sahasranama. The North Indian TV anchor, a young lady, had surely no clue what Vishnu Sahasranama was, she pronounced it as Sahastra-nama.  Be that as it may. Best wishes to the good Mr Sridhar for his next Ashrama.

Today I was speaking with an ex-colleague of mine, who retired a month ago. He was a banker and an IT man, who worked in Bengaluru. For his retired life, he had purchased a flat in Sri Rangam. I called him today to wish him for the New Year, and asked him how his retired life was. He described his day for me… Here it is..

This is the month of Margazhi.

Morning 7-25 am to 8-45 am, he attends a talk on Tiruppaavai by Velukkudi Krishnan. I guess he gets some good Pongal too as viniyogam. These days the ‘pagal patthu’ festival is on in Sri Ranganatha temple. Ten days leading to Vaikunta Ekadasi. The Utsava idol of the Lord is adorned and taken in different Vahana. Araiyar Sevai is carried out. The celebration starts early morning every day and goes on till 4 pm or so. My friend spends 10 am to Noon there. Afternoon 4 to 5-30 pm, he again attends another talk by Velukkudi, on the glories of Sri Rangam as expressed by Azhwaars and Acharyas. After that he goes for a nice long walk, visits some temples, Kaattu Azhagiya Singar temple being one of them.  Evening 7 pm he goes for a talk by Sri Krishna Premi, who gives a discourse every day from 7 to 9 pm on Sri Ramanuja Caritram…

Thats his current routine.  Some evenings he goes to Sringeri Mutt to join the Vishnu Sahasranama Parayana, or Veda Sukta chanting.

He tells me that he is loving his new life. Everything that he needs is available in the neighborhood. The wholesale flower market is nearby. Quarter Kilo of fresh roses costs just ten rupees. And a lotus flower costs just eight annas.

His father, now in his eighties, is handing over the family Siva puja to him. He plans taking that over after Pongal.

Talking of the morning Tiruppaavai function, he tells me that hundreds of people attend the talk. And ever so many of them come in Pancakacam and Uttariyam, walking barefoot. They walk barefoot out of reverence for the land trodden by the great Azhwars. Such is the holiness of Sri Rangam.

Kaveri flows nearby. Tyagaraja music utsava is starting in a few days.

Life is good.

Its in Tamil, and I am giving a free English translation of that, below the original mail.

The mail is from Sri Muthuchamy, and one is indeed grateful to him for sharing this with all.

Here goes….

**

From: Adiyen A. Muthuchamy <muthuchamymt@gmail.com>
Date: 2011/10/11
Subject: அப்பைய தீக்ஷிதரும் ஐ ஐ டி மெட்ராசும்

ஸ்ரீ காத்யாயனி அம்பிகா சமேத ஸ்ரீ ஜலகண்டேஸ்வர ஸ்வாமி திருகோயில் ஐ ஐ டி மெட்ராஸ்.

In the previous post, we trekked past Mana village and visited Ganesha Gufa, Vyasa Gufa, Bheempul and Saraswati river. We walked the path of the Pandava brothers, and Draupadi. Continuing in the direction of the Pandava trail would have taken us on the route of their Mahaprasthaaa, their final journey. And we would have reached the most beautiful lake, Satopant Tal. From where is born the great river Alakananda. And beyond Satopant, we would have seen mighty mountains… Among them, the Swargarohini, where Yudhisttira went, along with a dog….

Coming back to Badrinath…

17th August evening saw us having Darshan again at the temple. There I met this Australian lady, who had happened to meet two days ago elsewhere in Badrinath. She had spotted me carrying a cloth bag with the name Ramanashramam written on it. And she had exclaimed, “Arunachala! Ramanashramam!” and we had broken Badrinath ice. Now, this evening, we met again at the temple. And we had a picture taken. She insisted that we sing “Arunachala Siva” together while the picture was taken. So here we are singing, ‘Arunachala Siva, Arunachala Siva, Arunachala Siva, Arunachala…”

*

18th August, 2011.

Morning 5 am, sees us all in the temple again. We attend the morning Abhisheka of Lord Badri Vishaal. Bhakti is palpable. What a darshan! Lord Badri Vishaal… Vishnu, sitting in Yoga Samaadhi… Timeless India!

Word has come that the blocked roads are opening up….

Around 10 am or so, we get into our cabs, and start off from Badrinath…

On the way, we pass the Kanchanganga brooke that had caused all the havoc a few days ago.

*

The waterfall is wider than it looks. Notice a man standing on the right… This super-stream had washed away the road… Some stones have been laid, and we gingerly ride across….

We stop at Hanumanchatti and pray to Hanuman for our safe journey down…

*

We reach Joshimutt and decide to halt. No other choice. Road ahead is blocked. Landslide. A group we had met in Badrinath, had left the previous day. They are stuck here too. We book into the same hotel as them… After lunch… Our drivers are getting fidgety. They want to leave. So we do….

And some miles ahead, we find this picture.

*

Notice the line of cars… All waiting… For the landslide to be cleared…

We drive on to go join the queue.

On the way we negotiate roads such as the one below.

*

And we join the queue.

*

Down below, the Alakananda thunders on….

*

If you peer at the picture, you will notice a ropeway with a trolley, above the river… Gives a perspective of the size of the river…

We have to wait for a few hours… We can go neither forward, nor back… For we see hills slide down, behind us… In fact, my cab tries to go back to Joshimutt and we get caught in a mudslide. Karma. And with great difficulty, with the help of a another cab driver, we somehow get the car out of the slime. And in the process, we get all soiled up, our shoes coated with layers of slime….

Back to the roadblock… I spot a group of yatrees. An elderly Sarddaarji, in traditional dress, is photographing the landslide, using his iPad. Jai Ho Steve!

*

Below, a three second video clip of the above scene…

*

Late afternoon, the road is cleared…. And we go across….

Somewhere along the way, evening time, we see this beautiful scene….

*

And around 9 pm or so, we reach Karnaprayag…. What a day… We check into a hotel… Nice rooms, with a view of the river… Hotel, picture below… Hot dinner and we sign off for the night.

*

We leave Karnaprayag before sunrise.

The river looks heavenly….

Somewhere along the way, we go past this interesting looking eatery, that is named as ‘Two Eyes Restaurant’. You can see why.

*

We stop at another eatery for some Parantha breakfast. We can see the roads ahead, and there is a huge landslide ….

*

We join the queue of waiting vehicles….

We have to wait for hours…. Well past lunch time before it is cleared….

We cross Rudraprayag….

Here are a couple of pictures of Rudraprayag confluence, taken by a friend of mine, a few days ago…

Rudraprayag is where Mandakini river merges with Alakananda…

Here is a long shot…

*

And below is a closer look at the confluence. The blue river is Alakananda… If you focus on the confluence, you will see a saffron clad Sanyasi, hands aloft, praying… Timeless India… Click on the picture and see…

*

So there we are at the fourth of the five prayags..

The five Prayags are:

Vishnu Prayag: Near Mana. Where Saraswati merges with Alakananda.
Nanda Prayag: Where Nandakini merges with Alakananda
Karna Prayag: Where Pindar merges with Alakananda
Rudraprayag: Where Mandakini merges with Alakananda
and
Devaprayag (Deoprayag): Where Alakananda and Bhageerathi merge, and become  Ganga…

Late afternoon, we are going alongside the Alakananda, driving towards Deoprayag… The clouds have lifted… But light is playing hide and seek… Mountain magic..

We feast our eyes…. Here’s a view…

*

Around 5 pm or so, we arrive at Deoprayag… The most holy confluence of Alakananda and Bhageerathi.

The river coming from left is Bhageerathi. The one coming up-down and joining Bhageerati is Alakananda.

*

At the confluence, from Bhageerati, a long flight of steps leads up to a temple. You can see the temple tower above. That is the Raghunath temple. Temple of Lord Rama. My father has been there many times. Under the directions of Kanchi Paramacharya, he had been involved in doing service to the Lord here. While I would have loved to stop and have darshan, I have to let that pass this time, and make do with Gopura Darshan… Here’s a closer picture of the temple.. The Gopura (shikhara) is shaped like a lotus bud… I am told that, by tradition, Telugu speaking priests offer Pooja in this temple… Its been so for hundreds of years… The wonder that is India… One India….

*

After Deoprayag, we have to halt once more… A massive landslide….

Late evening the road is cleared… And we motor down…. Go past Shivapuri… I remember that my brother’s and nephew’s ashes were immersed here… In the Ganga…

As we go past a turn to Vasishta Guha… I need to come here sometime…

And around 8:30 pm or so, we reach Rishikesh…

Its taken us almost forty hours from Badrinath… What should have taken maybe seven or eight hours…

After dinner, we bid goodbye to our cabs. They have been with us all the way from Kathgodam till here… And the Innova is still having the leak in the fuel tank. Temporarily sealed by soap and such.. Still holding…

We hire a tempo traveller, and set of for New Delhi….

Its been a fascinating journey….

As we come to the end of this series of posts on Himalayatra. I leave you with a picture and a poem.

The picture first…

Of Badrinath at night… The temple, lit up…

*

And the poem, now…

And the context is this…. All through the Himalayatra, there has been the mighty presence of holy rivers…. And coming down from Badrinath, along with Alakananda, and finally going down with Ganga… The mind is at such peace… One feels wholly cleansed… As I type this, I remember a poem that I wrote when I was in school, that started with the line : “India, my motherland, the land of might rivers…”

But that’s not the poem I was referring to.

It’s a  Sanksrit shloka, that I came across in a book about the most holy  sage, Udiya Baba…

नराकारं भजन्त्येके निराकारं तथापरे |

Some people worship God as having form, and others as formless. Whereas we, who are roasted by the heat of worldliness… We worship God who is in the form of water… We worship Ganga…

Jai Gange!

Hail the Himalaya!

Om Nama Sivaaya! Om Namo Naaraayanaaya!

Thank you my dear sister Meena. You were like a river in our life. And you went and merged into a greater river. That of God….Where your brother and mine, Nat, merged. Where your nephew and mine, Ishoo merged… Where your father and mine, merged…

Whenever we see any river, we know its you. All of you. The life force, that is India.

Om!

                 ***Concluded***

]]> http://gkamesh.wordpress.com/2011/11/02/himalayatra-%e2%80%93-call-of-the-mountain-%e2%80%93-part-10/feed/ 5 gjk 1Ozzie 2Kanchanganga 3Hanumanchatti 4queue 5slush 6queue 7alakananda 8ipad 10whatascene 11hotel 12a 12landslide 13a-rudraprayag 13b-rudraprayag 13whatascene 14devaprayag 15devaprayag Lastpic http://gkamesh.wordpress.com/2011/10/22/himalayatra-%e2%80%93-call-of-the-mountain-%e2%80%93-part-9/ http://gkamesh.wordpress.com/2011/10/22/himalayatra-%e2%80%93-call-of-the-mountain-%e2%80%93-part-9/#comments Sat, 22 Oct 2011 15:37:59 +0000 gkamesh http://gkamesh.wordpress.com/?p=1949 ]]> तेषां तु गच्छतां शीघ्रं सर्वेषां योगधर्मिणां
याज्ञसेनी भ्रष्टयोगा निपपात महीतले ||

They (the Pandavas and Draupadi), observing the way of Yoga, were walking fast, and suddenly, Yaajnaseni (Draupadi), fell from Yoga, and fell down onto the earth.

This shloka of Mahabharata occurs in Mahaprasthanaparva – the great journey of the Pandavas, when they renounce all worldliness, and set off on foot, to the world beyond… They start off from Hastinapura, and first go east, all the way to the eastern ocean of India. Then they walk South and go all the way to Rameshwaram… Then they set of along the west coast, and go right up to Dwaraka… and then going North west.. They reach the foothills of Himalaya… And they start the great climb… And then high up, at one place, Draupadi falls off the path, and is the first one to pass on from this earthly life…

Legend has it, that this happened in the region of Bheem Pul… and that is where  we are headed to, from Vyasa Gufa….

*

From Vyasa Gufa, the way is downhill.. And so we are at ease as we walk along….

This is the view of the mountain… What a glorious sight… Click on the picture for a large size view…

*

Here’s another view… Some of the Mana village folks working…

*

We walk on… And a short time later, we sight the Bheem Pul region…

*

Notice the bridge in the picture above… Thats Bheem Pul… Legend has it that when the Pandavas came here during that great final-journey, they found Saraswati river cutting the mountain, and thundering across… To cross it at this point would have been too dangerous… And to find a place to cross it would mean walking a long way downstream, and Draupadi was not up to it… So Bheemasena, picked up a huge rock and placed it across the river… So that Draupadi could cross…

The bridge you see above is across the Saraswati river. The bridge-of-bheema, renovated over time…

As we near the bridge, we spot a cave… An ash smeared Sadhu is staying here…. Its cold… He’s unconcerned about that…

*

We go near the bridge…

And we see the Saraswati river as it gushes down the mountain… This is the source of the river…

*

Notice the river picture above… And notice the rock in the middle… A twin-rock embrace, making a bridge of sorts.. At first I thought this was the Bheem Pul…

Later, I read a signboard that said otherwise… The current pucca bridge is built on the original rock of Bheema.

Here’s a picture of the actual Bheema rock from the other side.. Arrow pointing the rock

*

On the other side of the bridge is a temple… A Saraswati temple…

*

Its a little temple with an idol of Saraswati Devi… The Goddess of  the River… The River of Knowledge… The Goddess of Knowledge… A priest gives us Abhisheka water… Water of Saraswati river, he tells us… We bow to the Goddess… And so from Badrinath, we have completed the circle of bows…. Narayana, Nara at Badrinath… Vyasa at Vyasa Gufa… And Saraswati here… Perhaps we should have first come here and then should have gone to Vyasa Gufa to follow the sequence of the Mahabharata verse…

नारायणं नमस्कृत्य नरं चैव नरोत्तमम् |
देवीं सरस्वतीं व्यासं ततो जयमुदीरयेत् ||

Bowing to Narayana (Krishna), to the greatest of men Nara (Arjuna), to Goddess Saraswati, and to Vyasa, let Mahabharata be told thereafter.

**

Up on the hillside beyond the bridge, one sees a few small structures… A local person tells me that that’s the shrine of Draupadi… To mark her departure to the great beyond…

*

The Draupadi temple (low, white) can be seen near a tree cluster in the right end of the picture above. half way up…

We leave the bridge and walk down to the village Mana….

On the way at a shop we find some flowers.. A very special flower…  Said to bloom just one night in a year, in the plains… Grows more in the Himalaya heights… The flower of Brahma, that grows from the navel of Vishnu… A real rare flower… The Brahma Kamal, the state flower of Uttarakhand…

Here it is… Not sure if it is the real thing… Lets say it is… Whatever…. A flower in the mountain…

*

We walk on to the waiting cars, looking at the Saraswati river, as it flows down the mountain, for its meeting with Alakananda, at Keshav Prayag…

Signing off from this post with a nice video clip…

Of the Saraswati river,  near Bheem pul… Put up the speakers… (Click on the four arrows on the bottom right to maximize and see on full screen)

** To be concluded **

Bowing to Narayana (Krishna), to the greatest of men Nara (Arjuna), to Goddess Saraswati, and to Vyasa, let Mahabharata be told thereafter.

**

17/Aug/2011…. Today, we walk the path of the Pandavas.

Welcome to Mana (pronounced mANA माणा) village .

*

“Jai Ghanyaal! Welcome” proclaims the arch sign at the entry to  Mana, which is a few kms from Badrinath.

Mana is also known as Manibhadrapuri, and is  named after the Yaksha Chief Manibhadra… All this is ancient Yakhsa land, the land of Kubera…

Its morning time, and the sky is clear today… Or now, I should say… For weather can change in  minutes…

A steep road ahead of us… A mountain man from here, asks if any of us would like to be carried in a basket…

*

A broken sign board, gives us Mahabharata directions… To Bheem pul, Ganesha Gufa, Vyas Gufa, Satopant, Mucukund Gufq…. Soota feels like a bird in the sky…

*

Walking up the yaksha path, we soon arrive at Ganesha Gufa.

A signboard outside says that this is the cave where Ganesha wrote down the Mahabharata as dictated by the great sage Vyasa.

A portico leads to the cave… Its dark inside… Its time for some silent contemplation of Vyasa… And of Ganesha, who said “Om!”, when he accepted the request to take down Vyasa’s dictation….

*

We climb 0n… One of our co-yatris has twisted her ankle badly… So, very reluctantly, she agrees to be carried in a porter-basket…. The climb is arduous all right…

*

We pass by the houses of the local people. Mana village has people of Bhotiya community. Mana is the last village of India before the Tibetan border. The Bhotiya (also known as Marcha) community folks live here during the summer months and (I am given to understand) go down to a place near the district headquarters near Gopeshwar during the winter months… They are experts in weaving and knitting wool, and it is people of this village who have the traditional right to prepare the woolen blanket for Lord Badri Vishaal. They alone can weave that woolen blanket, known as Ghrt Kambal, which is soaked  in clarified butter and wrapped around the holy idol of Lord Badrinath… What a lovely community… Picture below, shows  a lady of that community standing in the courtyard of her house.. And yes, she’s knitting wool…

*

We walk on…

We come across a tea shop, whose sign board has a poignant message…. “India’s last tea shop”

*

Walking past that we arrive at Vyasa Gufa…

*

This is the cave of Vyasa… It is here that he is said to have composed many a Purana…

You can see that the outer rockface of the cave looks like thin slabs resting on top of one another… “Vyasa Poti” says a sign on that rockface. They symbolize the palm leaves that would have been used for writing the epic compositions of Vyasa…

Outside the cave entrance, a signboard….

*

The board has the opening verse of Mahabharata, quoted in the beginning of this blog post… It also has two verses from Chapter 7 of first Skanda of Srimad Bhagavatam… The two verses convey that Vyasa had his Ashrama on the western bank of Saraswati river, at Shamyaapraasa, a place conducive to penance by Rshis. There, surrounded by Badri (berry) trees, sat Vyasa, and focused his mind (contemplating the supreme transcendent reality)… A para below, in Hindi, says that it was in this cave that Vyasa compiled the Vadas into four parts, wrote seventeen Puranas, invoked Ganesha for writing Mahabharata, and then at end, seeking peace of mind had written Bhagavata,

Lets see now what the Mahabharata says about the place of composition of Mahabharata,

पुण्यः हिमवते पादे मध्ये गिरिगुहालये

विशोध्य देहं धर्मात्मा दर्भसंस्तरमाश्रितः

शुचिः सनियमो व्यासः शान्तात्मा तपसि स्थितः

भारतस्येतिहासस्य धर्मेणान्वीक्ष्य तां गतिम्

प्रविश्य योगं ज्ञानेन सोऽपश्यत् सर्वमन्ततः

“An the feet of Himalaya, halfway up, in a holy cave, Dharmaatma Vyaasa, after cleansing his body, spread a mat of Dharbha grass and sat on it, and in proper manner became immersed in meditation. Entering union with the self (yoga dhyaanena), with the vision of Dharma, he beheld the whole happening of Mahabharata, from beginning to end”.

We are at that cave. Soota is at his temple.

*

We enter the cave.

In the dark we can make out an idol of Vyasa. And some pictures and other little idols. A young priest is sitting there. He ushers us to sit, and then gives a small discourse.

We offer prayers and come out…

Outside, Soota sits on one side, and gives a small pravacana… Vyasa Gufa is a most holy temple for him, and he has to offer his worship by relating something from Mahabharata. So he speaks of some part from Udyoga parva…

After enjoying the ambiance, the group moves on from Vyasa gufa…

Welcome to Himalaya!

**

Its a nice hotel we are in…. The Sarovar hotel…

On one of the mountains opposite the hotel, we spot a red colored dwelling high up, halfway up one of the tall mountains. Considering that Badrinath is at a height of over 10,000 feet, the red dwelling is probably a few thousand feet higher… Zooming with my lil camera, here’s a hazy picture…

We ask one of the hotel boys what that place is.

He tells us a Baba stays there. “There?” we ask, incredulously. “Yes… The Baba stays there the whole year around. Once in a while he comes down to Badrinath for a bath in Alakananda, and then goes back…”..  Welcome to Devabhoomi!

Morning sees us doing whatever we can to organize a rescue… Our co-yatris eventually get rescued by lunch time….

But in the meanwhile, the four of us who are safe in Badrinath, go for our first darshan of the holy temple, and the Lord…

The temple is on the right bank of the river Alakananda. One has to cross a foot bridge from the town side, go across Alakananda, to the temple complex…

Here is a view of the temple…. The temple stands between Nara and Narayana mountains…

The  mountain seen above, behind the temple is the Narayana mountain…

Nara and Narayana, who are but twin aspects of Vishnu, performed tremendous penance here. Absorbed in Nirvikalpa Samadhi, Badrinath was their abode…. The temple of Badrinath has the main idol of Badri Narayana, showing Narayana in Y0gasana, absorbed in meditation… On the left are two idols of Nara and Narayana…

It was Nara and Narayana who came as Arjuna and Krishna, to rescue the mother earth from its massive burden of oppressive human population… And so happened the great war of Mahabharata…. The mighty epic has many a reference to Badrinath… Known also as Vishala, the Lord here is referred to as Badri Vishaal too…. Jai Badri Vishaal! Hail Nara and Narayana!

Opposite the temple is the Nara mountain…

*

Here’s a closer picture of Badrinath temple…

And a side view…

*

Badrinath is cut off from the rest of the world today… Due to the rains and the landslides… So throng of devotees is not so much…. And we have a very relaxed and nice darshan of the Lord….

Here is a view of Alakananda river, on whose banks is the great temple…

*

Lets bring this picture to life, shall we…

Here’s a lil video clip… Of Alakananda, as it thunders down this mountainside, next to the holy temple of Badri Vishal.

*

After darshan of Lord Badri Narayana, we walk down the steps towards the river, and visit the residence of Shri Raawal, the chief priest of Badrinath temple. We are ushered into a nice hall, where Shri Raawal meets with devotees…. We wait for a short while in this room…

There is a statue of Adi Shankaracharya in a glass case, in the centre above.

Adi Shankaracharya, who walked the length and breadth of the country, established the Badrinath temple, and appointed Namboodri priests from Kerala to be the chief priests here, and this tradition carries on to this day. The Rawal who is chosen to be the chief priest would be a Brahmachari and only he can offer personal worship to the idol of Badri Narayana…

We have an audience with the Rawal…

A very nice, soft spoken gentleman.. My co-yatris are from Kerala, and they strike a good rapport with him straightaway, and we tell Shri Raawal about our other co-yatris who are caught in the mountain. Raawalji calls up a few people and assures us that help would be on its way…. And it is… He is kind enough to see to our accommodation at Neelkant Guest house…

Its raining again…. From Shri Raawal’s place steps lead down to the river….

*

Down below, next to the river, on the left is the Tapta Kund… Hot water spring… A bathing place has been constructed there, and one can see the steam from the hot springs…

*

Very near the Taptakund is a rock, marked as Narada Shila – where Devarshi Narada is said to have performed Tapasya. Next to this rock is the Narada Kund, from where Adi Shankaracharya is said to have recovered the idol of Badri Narayana, and then established the temple…

*

After our Darshan, we get back to the hotel. We are four of us. Rajesh, JK, Mini and I. Rajesh and JK leave for the rescue mission. Mini has not eaten since yesterday afternoon… Waiting for the others to come across safely…. Which they do by around 1 pm… They go directly to Neelkant guest house… Mini and I check out of Sarovar… And meet with the whole team in one of the bazaars, as they are busy buying windsheeters, sweaters, caps and jackets…. We then have a good meal… Get to Neelkant guest house for a short break and are back in the evening for Darshan of Badrinath, and more audience with Shri Raawal…

Signing off this post with a picture of Badrinath temple that evening…

Click on it, and see it full-screen…

**

** To be continued **

It had rained the whole night… And there was no sign of the rain letting even now… Out co-yatris were out in the cold…. Trapped in the mountain road… They had had no food… And they were ill equipped to bear the cold… Thanks to cell phone communication, we could be in touch with them… But we did not want to tax the phone much, for fear that the battery may run out, and where would they charge the phone…

We called the authorities, we called every one who we thought could help… A few local folks came with a long step ladder that could stand like an isosceles triangle, and they said they could put it across the road breach and help the folks climb across… They tried… Except the local rescuer was nearly washed away himself… That attempt came to naught… We managed to talk to different Government bodies…

While the Government moved slowly and surely, we had our first Darshan of Badrinath…. The temple…

We had a wonderful Darshan…

And then we met Sri Rawal, the chief priest, who promised us all help in the rescue… He called the authorities too… Finally, sometime around lunch time, our folks were rescued… They came across in trucks… The cars could not come…

So, how was it for the folks who were out in the cold? Here’s a first person account, from Smt Leela Ravindran, one of the senior Yatris of our group. She was in the Yatra, accompanied by her son and daughter in law, who had come from Australia…

Here’s what Smt Leela writes….

Begin-post

A lifetime experience at Deva Bhoomi (Badrinath)

 By Leela Ravindran

 Badrinath Yatra has been an unfulfilled dream which I have been longing for years but my love for the lord grew immensely and I was not able to hold my emotions any longer. Day by day I became impatient and my heart poured with emotions to be at the lotus feet of Lord Narayanan. My thoughts pondered continuously of the lord and I wondered how joyous it would be to have a glimpse of the divine. I was extremely happy just as Akruran’s was joyous on his journey to meet Lord Krishna. Years of sacrifice to the lord have finally bore fruit and I became eager to experience the divine shakti. The thought of his presence created extreme bliss in my heart which I cannot explain in words.

Our Yatra commenced from Dwarahat at 5:30am and initially there were no issues to reach Badrinath in 5.5 hours. As our journey continued we collided with several obstructions which caused slight delays to reach our destination. Due to landsides and heavy rain the curvy roads to Badrinath became life threatening for us all. The rocks fell continuously which disrupted our journey but with God’s grace it was cleared in a reasonable time frame for the Yatra to continue. The Vishudi Prayanam group continually remained optimistic and ensured everyone was motivated by singing Sai Bhajans, chanting Rudram and discussing their spiritual experiences. Heavy rain continued through out the day and the condition of the roads worsened. The drivers feared the safety of their passengers and were being extremely cautious.

Only 1 km to go before our arrival at Badrinath and I was not able to contain my excitement. I continued my prayers to the lord and suddenly our vehicle was caught by a rock while crossing the Kunchnjanga waterfall. The force of the waterfall continually pushed more rocks towards our vehicle and I was able to clearly hear the flow of the water coming down from the mountains which created fear in my heart. The driver was not able to move the vehicle as the front wheel was severely trapped in the mud. Ajay, Balaji, Shalu, VB and me were still in the vehicle and continually chanted the Rudram for everyone’s safety. To assist in moving the vehicle Ajay & Balaji went to the rescue by walking through the force of the Kunchnjanga waterfall. The temperature of the water dropped to zero degree Celsius and our savior, Sudheer, opened the car door and requested VB, Shalu and me to leave the car immediately. Sudheer bravely assisted me & Shalu through the force of the Kunchnjanga waterfall to ensure our safety and my heartfelt gratitude to Lord Narayan for giving us the strength and courage to face this ordeal. This experience has given an opportunity for the Rudrapreetam family to unite as one and prove the humanity which God has created on Earth. Possibly this could have been an opportunity created by Lord Naryanan which has touched my soul immensely and I am extremely grateful for providing this implausible experience.

The vehicle continued to drench in water and thanks to Rajesh, JK & Kamesh the rescue team had arrived. The force of the water was tremendously strong so the rescue team assessed the situation. Unfortunately due to the extreme weather conditions it was not possible to for the rescue team to allow further vehicles to pass through the Kunchnjanga waterfall until morning hence the journey was at a halt for the night. The hours of darkness was vigorous and the trees were swaying drastically due to the strong winds. Ajay, Shalu and Suresh were sleeping well but due to the intense weather conditions and improper heating I was finding it difficult to get sleep. I was extremely lonely and felt as if I were in a deserted island but did not loose hope. I continued my prayers to Lord Narayan and maybe he was testing my faith. Throughout the night my thoughts were with Shri Badrinath Ji and possibly I had to burn my previous karma’s before entering the heavenly world. I bowed my head to the lord and requested him “To give me strength to face this torment with courage”. The morning had finally arrived and after an impeccable night I hoped to arrive safe at Badrinath soon.

My prayers were finally answered and a truck arrived to assist in taking us past the Kunchnjanga waterfall. Swami has kindly sent his messenger to take me home. I was amazed at the size of the truck and feared on how I will enter. Through some force I managed to enter the truck and could not help but notice the dark red eyes of the messenger (Truck driver). He immediately greeted me & requested to sit next to him. I felt as though we were longterm friends and he was humbly waiting an eternity to meet me. I still remember his words “Sister, Do not panic. Jai Hanuman Ji” and we started our journey smoothly. To our surprise the next morning the road was non existent due to the heavy rains and clearly Hanuman ji has escorted the Rudrapreetam family pass the Kunchnjanga waterfall. Due to the extreme cold conditions in Badrinath it was a must to wear warm clothing. My lovely slippers kindly assisted me in extreme conditions throughout the journey and I was extremely upset as it was lost in Kunchnjanga waterfall due to the force. I considered this as though my previous karmas were burnt and a new life waits ahead for me.

We arrived at our hotel in Badrinath and I was extremely tired due to the unforeseen circumstances the previous night. I hoped for the morning to arrive soon and after a good nights rest, the wait for finally over. The Rudrapreetam family arrived at Badrinath temple for the darshan of Lord Naryana which was exceptionally fulfilling. We did our heartfelt prayers to Badrinath ji and recited Vishnu sarasanaam sincerely. By the grace of God we were blessed to be part of the Archana in the temple and the joy in my heart brought tears which I was not able to control. With blurry eyes I saw the Statue of Lord Narayan and I bowed my head with full devotion. To my surprise a garland fell over my neck and I was extremely happy. I felt as though Lord Narayan had made this garland especially for me. All my worries and pain had vanished instantly and I was relieved that my prayers were answered.

**end-post**

                                                         ** To be continued **

Also happened to be the day of Gayatri Japa… So the drive from Kathgodam to Dwarahat was accompanied by the mind’s rosary… Made the trip up the Himalaya even more special…

Our original plan was to drive down to Kathgodam the next day, take the night train to Hardwar, reaching there during the wee hours of 16th August… Visit Vasishta Guha, near Rishikesh…. Take the night train in 16th and return to New Delhi… That was the plan….

But the ‘Icchaa Shakti’ of Himalaya had other ideas…

On the way back from Babaji’s cave, a thought presented itself to our group… Why not go to Badrinath from here? And that thought became word. And that word flew from lip to lip and crystallized into an intent…

End of day – August 14th… Returned to Ashram… Meditation….Had a light dinner…

My cell phones have decided to take a vacation too… I try every trick I can… No luck… Radio silence… The other folks phones are ok… Just mine has decided to rebel… Chalo, this too is ok….

**

15/August/2011….

Morning 5 am or so…

We are ready to leave… Drive to Badrinath…

The cab drivers have assured us that it will be a five hour drive. Maybe six. Not an issue… So the idea is to reach Badrinath by say 10 or 11 am… Have darshan… Leave Badrinath in the afternoon or maybe next day, and go down to Rishikesh. Sounds good. Sounds great, in fact….

So we are off… Three cars… Two taveras and one innova…. A brief halt at Dwarahat market for some tea…. And then off we go…

The weather is not so good…

*

Persistent drizzle…. Pitter-patter, pitter-patter, all along, everywhere…

Whats the distance from Dwarahat to Badrinath? Data stretches with the mountain… One says 100 km. Another says 250 km… Whatever the distance, the drivers say that they can do it in five hours or maybe six…

But its raining… And misty… The roads are not at their best… We encounter many a broken stretch… Our drivers are used to this… They maneuver the  vehicles across breaches and brooks… The going is slow…

A bridge on a river….The Ramganga river…

*

Tara, the driver in my car, talks of some places in the vicinity, or on the way…. Masi… Pandukhol… Pandukhol is another place associated with the Pandavas. No getting away from them anywhere in the mountain…

Its the 15th of August 2011… Anniversary of India’s independence day…

At many a place we see school kids… Marching on the mountain roads, on the way to school, to participate in the Independence day functions…

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Bright, young, patriotic kids… Walking in the rain… Celebrating the birth of their motherland ….

The rain is stepping up….

*

Some three hours or so into the journey, we stop at a restaurant, for some breakfast… The place is called Gairsain… Saliyana bend, Gairsain…

And the restaurant -

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Hot Aloo Parathas, some dahee, and pickle…

All is good…

Fast broken, energized, we drive on… A short respite from rain… Some lovely mountain views…

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River view and river sounds, play hide and seek as we drive along… The Ramganga river originates somewhere nearby… It flows along into Corbett National Park… It is the lifeline of an ecosystem the includes  a great variety of fishes, animals and birds… Flows down the Kumaon hills, and in the plains, goes joins the Ganga…

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The mist and the mountain paint such beautiful scenes….

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The mountain also shows us the rough side….

A landslide…

Somewhere now, one of the cars, the Innova takes a hit. Stepping out, one notices that the fuel tank is leaking. The car has a low suspension, and some rock hits the fuel tank below. Jugaad to the rescue… The drivers use some soap and such to temporarily seal the hole… We drive on…

We have long overshot the planned time…

Some fifty kms or so from Gairsain…Time is around 10 am … And we are crossing Simli, some 8 kms or so from Karnaprayag… Karnaprayag is the confluence of two great rivers – the Pindari and the Alakananda… Picture below… Pindari… Pilgrims can be seen, down below, by the river…

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A lovely suspension bridge…

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Karnaprayag is one of the PanchaPrayag – the five holy river confluences in the Himalaya… The five are Vishnu Prayag, Nandaprayag, Karnaprayag, Rudraprayag and Devaprayag… All five along the path of the Alakananda river, that goes on assimilating other rivers… Till it reaches Devaprayag, where Alakandanda meets Bhaageerathi and thereon, is known as Ganga.

Karnaprayag is named after the Mahabharata hero Karna… He is said to have performed Tapasya here. There is a temple of Karna near the confluence of Pindari and Alakananda, here…

As we cross Karnaprayag, we start noticing many Sikh pilgrims… Many of them wearing saffron turbans…  On motorcycles, cars… Some walking up the mountain… All in great joy… What a spirit! They are on the way to or back from Hemkunt Sahib, the great pilgrimage site devoted to Guru Gobind Singhji.

We drive on, past Nandaprayag… and then on to Chamoli, the capital of the district of the same name… Badrinath is in Chamoli district…

A signboard says: Badrinath – 94 kms, Joshimath – 50 kms, Kedarnath – 130 kms…

Driving on, we pass Pipalkoti and many a brook and waterfall…

*

Waterfalls, yes… Also, landfalls…

*

The going is slow. Although we have had no stoppages yet, the roads have taken a beating… Eroded by rains and shredded by rocks and stones that have rolled on to the roads… We pass an accident site…. A tourist van lies on its side… And then we see the amazing sight of people pushing the van back to position (the pictures you may have seen in Part 1 of this blog series).

Time is around 1 pm…

Up in the distance, across a few bends in the mountain, we see a row of cars…. Stationary… Waiting for a landslide to be cleared…

*

Our cab driver decides to stop at a row of shops on the way… With a view of the distant queue. Wait and watch… The car radio sings:

ज़िंदगी के सफ़र में गुज़र जाते हैं जो मकाम

वो फिर नहीं आते, वो फिर नहीं आते

The name of the place is Helong…

We stretch our limbs…. Hunger beckons… And we locate a restaurant…

And have some proper chow… Roti, daal, sabji, dahi etc … Eating our fill… Up to the gills…

A bridge nearby shows the way to Badrinath…

*

Joshimath is just 13 kms from here… But is far away in terms of time…. For the road remains blocked… Today is Sunday. Moreover, it is the Independence Day… Government Holiday either way…. The rescue machinery in the mountain will be slow, at best… We just have to wait… However long it takes…

A river thunders down the mountain and under the bridge…Maybe Alakananda, or a tributary…

A video break… Pump up the volumes..

Rains have started in right earnest…Past 3 pm… A landmover has gone past us… There is hope…An hour and a half gone.. Waiting…

We join the queue.

*

Around 4 pm or so… Rain is heavy… Looks like the roadblocks have been cleared… A sudden mood of enthusiasm relays itself down the caravan of cars… And then we start…. Slow and  steady….

We come face to face with slush that was a road… The landmover is parked on the left…

*

Here is a better view of the slush that we gingerly make our way through…

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Even a seasoned driver like Tara is nervous… He is all alert as he makes his way forward… The little picture of Hanuman on the windshield gives us hope and courage…

*

The rains are coming down nice and steady… Evening has set in…

We reach Joshimath to find the gate to Badrinath closed, and a long line of cars waiting… The gates are open only till 4 pm, after which no vehicles are allowed up… Its past 4 pm now, but we are given to understand that the gate may open  one more time today… Some forty five minutes or so into the wait, the gate is opened… And we make our way to the last lap of this journey today… 44 kms to Badrinath….

The roads are very difficult to ride… Broken by rains… We drive ever so slowly….

Going past Vishnuprayag, Govindghat, we reach Hanuman Chatti, a shrine of Hanuman… Some 18 kms or so before Badrinath… The Sun is going down. The roads are bad… The rains are steady…. The mountain is a sight to see…. At one point we could see scores of waterfalls across the mountainscape. Looked like Sahasradhara – a thousand springs.. What a sight!

Night sets in… We come to a halt at a place where there has been a rockfall. Some folks go and do their best to make some path, by removing some of the rocks… It is icy cold out there. We are not equipped with woolens.. Its brrrr ccKoldd. Somehow, we cut a way through…

And the just a few kms short of Badrinath, we encounter a sight….

A stream in flood  is thundering down the mountain and cutting across the road…. The road is broken….A van ahead of us makes its way slowly across. Our group is in three cars.. We are first, in a Tavera. Behind us is an Innova. And then another Tavera.

Our turn now….

Tara is like a tiger creeping up upon a prey. All attention… He maneuvers the vehicle like a rock climber, and some hard engine howls, some tyre slips and heaves, and suddenly we are across. Jai Bajrang Bali!

And then, our second car.. The Innova starts…. Gets into the waters… And gets stuck…. No can move….. Its night time…. Car is stuck…  What are we to do…

We, in the first car, decide to go ahead to try and get some help… Its raining hard…. Asking here and there, we manage to make it to a Police station… Rajesh and I walk in… We explain our predicament…. We tell them about the place where the car is stuck…The cops are asking us why on earth did we have to come during the monsoon time…  They tell us that the breach where our car is caught is notorious. Kanchanganga canal, they say… From Kanchanganga glacier….”Baraf… Glacier kaa paani… Ice, ice…Last year, same day, August 15th, the waters swept away a car along with the occupants … We have it on video, would you like to see?”, they ask…

But they are helpful…. They get hold of some stout ropes, get their jeep, and then we take our car and we go towards the breach… A side of the mountain is on the move…. Rocks are falling… And its raining hard…  Our cars cannot make it to the breach… The cops leg it… With a megaphone they announce to all those who are stuck to return to HanumanChatti…. We find our car abandoned in the watercourse. The occupants have gone…. Some phone calls later.. The driver comes…  A bus is also in the waiting line… The bus driver is requested to help pull the car out…. He refuses… Then the trade talks begin and an agreement is reached…. The ropes come into use… And the Innova is pulled out, backwards… The car is out of danger now… But they cannot cross over to this side… The fuel tank is leaking too… They cannot go back to Hanuman chatti because there are landslides behind as well….

That means our two cars and their passengers, and twenty or so other cars, are all stuck out there on a cold mountain road….

Nine of our Yatri group, four of them women, would have to spend the night in the mountain… Our group has no wool. They have not brought any food either… Its raining like only a Himalayan monsoon can… And its ice cold….

The police, their work done, leave….

We too leave for Badrinath and check into the first good hotel we see…. We manage to eat some dinner…Time is past 10 pm… Our drivers had promised to bring us to Badrinath by 10 am. They were off by just twelve hours. Hail Himalaya!

We have no option but to to wait till the morrow for helping our friends…

Meanwhile, we pray to the Lord of Badri, to keep them safe… May Nara and Narayana protect them…

** To be continued**

Glory to Mahavatara Babaji!

On this Guruvaara day, let us in this blog set out for the mountain cave of Babaji…

A month ago, almost to the date…

14 August, 2011.

We are at Dwarahat… Dwarahat literally means Gateway to Heaven… And we were, at the end of the last blog post, at the Gateway of the Yogoda Satsangha Ashrama, at Dwarahat…

Entering, we find a beautiful abode…

*

The manager of the Asrama is a very helpful and dynamic man… He takes care of everything… We have some Chai… We are given accommodation…. The menfolk in a few rooms, behind the meditation hall… The ladies in another part of the Ashrama…. The rooms are nice… A shrine in front of our rooms houses the pictures of the Masters….

*

The four bigger pictures… Clockwise from top – Babaji,  Swami Yukteshwar Giri (disciple of Lahiri Mahasaya), Swami Yogananda (disciple of Yukteshwar Giri) and Lahiri Mahasaya (disciple of Babaji), …

Time is around 11 am… We are ready to go…

The manager tells us that the previous day, a group had left for the cave at 10 am. And had returned around 4 pm… And that it had rained only during their return journey, and so they were lucky that they could make it to the cave in good weather … Weather is unpredictable…Today, in case there is a heavy downpour, the outing would have to be given up. given the terrain.

It looks like it may rain…The manager has arranged for a local boy to guide us to the cave of Babaji…. Food has been packed for lunch…. We shall be driving to a certain point, from where we have to walk the rest of the way….

Our driving destination is the region of Dunagiri… To a place called Kukuchina…

Chalo then!

A view, on the way….

We reach Kukuchina, and get off…

There are some shops… A walking path to the left leads to Pandukholi, a place where Pandava princes stayed… Caves… And a mountaintop temple…

And the trek to the right leads to Babaji’s cave… We are on our way…

*

The drizzle persists…

The path gets soggy….

*

Soon, though, the drizzle stops….

And we enjoy a treat, of some great views…

*

So, here we are, on our way to Babaji’s cave…

Swami Yogananda’s book “Autobiography of a Yogi”, relates a fascinating episode, of how Lahiri Mahasaya met with Babaji … How Babaji engineered Lahiri Mahasaya’s posting to Ranikhet… And then mysteriously drew him to this place… And took him to the cave…. Made him realize his connection to that cave, of his previous life… How Babaji materialized a palace in the mountain, where he initiated Lahiri Mahasaya into Kriya Yoga….

Its a most amazing st0ry… If you haven’t read the book, you can read about this episode by clicking here…. Do read it… It is wondrous…

Talking of wonders, my co-Yatris are a wonder themselves…  As we shall see….

Lets come back to the mountain path…

*

Up until now, the path is not arduous…. Pretty light in terms of inclines…

A very-very short video clip….

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The waters of the stream that flows down the hill are so crystal clear, that it you can hardly make out the stream in the picture….

Taking handfuls of Himalaya water, to gulp…. Goodness of life…

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I wonder if this stream is the Gogash (Gagas) river, spoken of by Lahiri Mahasaya… Or one of its tributaries…

Some half an hour into the walk, the going becomes slightly tough… Helpful signs have been put up, pointing the way to the cave…

*

The path now becomes narrow, steep, and zig-zag… Soota huffs and puffs, and halts and resumes… No-can-remember to click camera… Just walk… Halt when breathless… Walk… Halt… Walk….

We are in Dunagiri – a.k.a, Dronagiri…

Does that ring a bell?

पतितं वानरानीकं द्रष्ट्वा रामोऽतिदु:खितः| उवाच मारुतिं शीघ्रं गत्वा  क्षीरमहोदधिम्||
तत्र द्रोणगिरिर्नाम दिव्यौषधिसमुद्भव:| तंमानाय द्रुतं गत्वा सञ्जीवय महामते ||

Ah yes… Dronagiri is the hill where Hanuman came… To get divine herbs (Sanjivani) during the battle of Lanka… When first Meghanada mounted his deadly attack and then again later when Lakshmana lay near dead, hit by the Shakti missile of Ravana… It was to Dronagiri that Hanuman came….

This mountain has many an ancient, holy, association…

The Mahabharata acharya Drona did Tapasya here… The river Gagas here, is named after Rshi Garga, who lived here… As did Vyasa’s sage son Sukha… You can know more about Dunagiri by clicking here….

Dronagiri rises to over 20000 feet. We are at the lower reaches of mighty mountain… Around 7000 feet or so and making our way up…

An hour and a half or so into the trek, we reach a dwelling… The Babaji Smrti Bhavan…. A large meditation hall… Some rooms… Some people say that this was the place where Babaji materialized the dazzling palace for Lahiri Mahasaya’s initiation…

*

And then, after a brief halt at Smriti Bhavan, we up and go…

And then quite suddenly, we are there….

At Babaji’s cave…

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Most of us are so breathless, that we just plonk ourselves on the platform outside the cave….

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Silence….

Gathering one’s breath…. Just being…. Watching….

Shall we step into the cave?

Here we are…

A little stone altar inside… An alcove behind…

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The alcove is a nice place to sit…..

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I mentioned about my co-Yatris… That they were extraordinary folks…

Have a look….

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Here they are, in better light….

They have all been initiated into Siva Upasana… They have brought their Siva sphatika linga, each of them… They have brought all items needed for worship… And here, in the holy cave of Mahavatara Babaji, they offer worship to the great God Siva…

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The ochre that they wear is a part of their Upasana tradition…. For the Siva Pooja…

They have all brought their meditation mats….

As they do the Puja, some of us chant the Sri Rudram…. Milk and other abhisheka being offered to Lord Siva… Perhaps we chanted the Camakam too…

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Oh they are amazing all right… A set of them had left Bengaluru on 13th… That day, at 3 am or so, they did Ganesha Homa…. The flames rose high… Like a pillar of fire… And the photo of Sai that was on worship…. That had Vibhooti materialized on it…. They showed me the pictures of the homa fire, and that of the Vibhooti…. Very special….

A “different” group all right.. All regular guys…. Like any of us… Except that they have all chosen to walk the path… The path of Sai….

Here are the worshippers,  happy, after the Pooja….

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Now, lets commence the trek down…

Picture this… A mountain flower… That some earlier visitor has placed on the hillside just outside the cave of Babaji…

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We are all ravenously hungry…. We halt at Smrti Bhavan and have our lunch… Poori and aloo sabji… Absolutely delicious….

That done, we start….

The walk down is a breeze….

And the views, spectacular…

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One more view….

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A hillside halt for Chai…

Sometime around 6 pm or so we are back at the Ashrama….

This is a picture of the shrine-spire in the Ashrama…

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And now, as we come to the end of this post, one more video… A short one… Of some rivers in the mountain… Dont remember where… But I took the clip when a nice Bhajan was being played…. So step up the volume… Watch the waters… Catch that ambiance…

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*** To be continued ***

So where are we headed to?

We are making our way to a place called Dwarahat in the district of Almora. One of my blog readers asked for a map… So here it is… The yellow block-arrows shows, roughly, the route we took…. We started from Kathgodam, and are headed to Dwarahat, and then on to a special place in Dunagiri (a.k.a Dronagiri)…

Right now, we are past Bhowali, and in the map above, we are somewhere in the lower part of the curved block-arrow and climbing upwards.

Leaving Kainchi behind, we drive on… The stream accompanies the road, and now broadens…. At a certain point, Tara, our driver, points out a rock to me, and says “Frog rock” in Hindi… Here it is…

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Driving on, we weave our way through some very beautiful mountain  terrain. How can one even begin to convey the allure of this landscape?

Pictures is best I can do, and so here are a few of them….

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Click on the pictures, to get a bigger ‘see’….

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Another one…

Kosi river, says Tara….

***

Ranikhet is another thirty kms or so….

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We pass through Ranikhet….  A propah old British military outpost… Large army dwellings, broad roads, pretty trees, an inviting club….

Somewhere along the mountain path, we sight some foxes, as they do us…

Thirty kms from Ranikhet lies our first destination of the day, Dwarahat…

Dwarahat is an ancient place of pilgrimage…Known as ‘Uttari Dwaraka” (The northern Dwaraka), the little town, Dwarahat was visited as a part of Teerth Yatra when pilgrims would go to Badrinath from Hardwar and come to Dwarahat on their return journey. Historically, one of the important seats of Katyuri dynasty of Kings (7th to 12th century AD), Dwarahat has a cluster of over fifty temples built during that period, and is considered Khajuraho of Kumaon.  For a town that has a current population of around 2500 people, thats a lot of temples!

We are headed to Dwarahat, because we plan to stay at a special Ashrama there and then visit a special cave in the hills of Dunagiri. Which cave, you ask? Its the cave of Mahavatara Babaji…. Yes!

My introduction to the great sage Mahavatara Babaji was nearly thirty years ago, when I first read the book  ”Autobiography of a Yogi”, by Paramahamsa Yogananda.   What a book! Babaji was the Parameshti guru of Swami Yogananda (Babaji -> Lahiri Mahasaya -> Swami Yukytagiri -> Swami Yogananda). Recently, I also happened to read the book “Purana Purusha – Yogiraj Sri Shama Churn Lahiree”, a biography of Lahiri Mahasaya, the great disciple of Babaji… And now, here we were, on the trail of the Masters!

Sometime around 11 am or so, we reached Dwarahat.

Driving past the market, a km or two further down, we came to the Asrama….

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A kind notice at the gate welcomes us to this spiritual retreat…

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Entrez? Shall we!

Next post : The trek to Mahavatara Babji’s cave…..