Jammu - Himachal Yatra (Part 2)

Day 2 of our yatra was the longest & most eventful of all our yatras till date. So, please be patient & read through the long blog...

The morning started with a decent breakfast at the hotel. All food served in Katra town are vegetarian fare and have no onion & garlic in them. So, the food was satvic and we all enjoyed it. After breakfast, we were ready to ascend the mountain for the darshan. We had made prior arrangements & booked for the evening aarti darshan which was expected to start at 7 p.m. All the yatris in the group were of the age group 54-64. Hence, although some of us were prepared to walk up the 14 kms to have darshan of Devi, we were trying hard to get a helicopter ride for the journey up. 

Almost a month before the start of the yatra, the official site of the Shrine Board showed that no tickets were available due to rush. Then, we had made an attempt at getting helicopter tickets through the google search. This resulted in us getting trapped by a fraudster. We made the payment but soon realised it was fake and luckily managed to file FIR with the cyber crime unit and recover the amount.

Then we connected with our personal contacts and three different sources promised us to get the reservations. As the team size was large, it was proving to be a challenge. Two days before the yatra started, one source expressed inability to arrange reservations. Then we were left with two sources. On the day we landed at Jammu, source 1 managed to get us 7 reservations. The same evening the source 2 came back with 11 reservations. Four names were featuring on both lists.

In Jammu, due to security requirements, prepaid cell phone numbers do not work. Only post paid connections work. The helicopter reservation SMS messages from the Shrine Board reached only two of the yatris as other had prepaid numbers. We misunderstood the message and thought we need to immediately pay online. There was further confusion, due to the website not showing the names of the passengers. So, we ended up paying duplicate online for 4 passengers. On realising this, we stopped further payments and decided to go personally to book the tickets at the helipad.

On day 2, after breakfast, the hotel gave us a free drop to the helipad in their car. Once we reached there, we booked tickets for 14 of us based on the reservations of Source 2. Two from the team then went to the Shrine Board office to get refund of the duplicate payment made earlier. The officials were extremely helpful and responsive there. However, they could not give a refund as their rules do not permit it. Instead, they enabled reservation for the 15th yatri who was missed out earlier. Hence, we got one way ticket for all yatris to go up.

At the helicopter terminal

As we were hungry by this time, we had lunch in a small dhaba just outside the helipad. The food was simple and delicious. After that, we queued up for a short ride to the helipad. The ride from Katra to the mountain top took just 5 minutes. We went up in 4 batches. The last batch was delayed by nearly an hour due to bad weather. after that, it was a 3 kilometer walk (mostly downhill) to reach Bhavan - the building that has the main Shrine and other offices. 

The weather was cool on the mountain and it got cooler as the day came to an end. The air was crisp & clean. The atmosphere was festive with devotees chanting "Jai Mata Di" on their way to & from the shrine. We had a easy walk towards the shrine. On the way, we deposited our footwear, bags, phones etc. at a safe deposit locker. There are many large safe lockers available free for yatris. We are given a lock and key. We found an empty locker to keep our stuff and lock the same. We are allowed only money purse and any puja articles to be carried to the shrine.

We registered ourselves for the evening aarti darshan by producing our reservation print outs. Basis that, we were given entry tickets as well as prasad packets. Devotees having aarti ticket are allowed to keep personal belongings in a separate place near the entrance to the aarti hall. I managed to do my evening prayers in the open place nearby. As we had time, we managed to get a quick darshan through a VIP queue which took us only about 15 minutes. After that, we came back to the place where we had assembled for the aarti.

Enroute to Bhavan from helipad

There were approximately 100 people waiting for this darshan. At 7 p.m. we were taken to a hall and made to sit comfortable. Here we were witness to one of the best pujas one can get to see. The hall where we were seated faces the holy cave which was decorated in an huge entrance of gold. We were handed a booklet printed in Devnagari script which had a compilation of the different prayers that were to be chanted. The puja was led by a main priest who was chanting and another priest who was there to conduct the aarti. We participated in the prayers, the bhajans that followed and the aarti too which was broadcast live across Shraddha Channel, YouTube, Facebook etc. and witnessed remotely by thousands of devotees. The whole function went on for about a 90 minutes. 

After the aarti, we were allowed to have darshan of the Pindis (3 stones) representing the Devis Durga, Mahalakshmi & Saraswati at a nearby holy cave for which we had to walk through a cave which was covered in marble tiles on all sides. After this, we moved out to the main assembly area. On the way, we had some tea, collected our belongings and slowly trugged our way back. There is a custom of visiting Lord Bhairavnath temple after having darshan of Devi. We did not go there as the temple is situated at a height and none of us had the energy to do the climb. There is a winch service going up but that was closed by 7 p.m. even though the temple is open throughout the day.

We were told that there is a electric car service for part of the return journey (7 out of 14 Kms). The last service was at 10.30 p.m. Luckily, we managed to get tickets for all of us (Rs. 210 per person). The electric car service was fast. It took us only 25 minutes to cover the 7 kms. As the vehicle is very silent and there were many yatris going up & down on that road, our driver was frequently honking and creating a noise pollution.

After he dropped us, we had a long (2 hours plus) walk down to reach the plains. Even walking down is painful on the calf muscles, the knee joints, the ankles etc. We took frequent halts for rest. On the way, we had thunder, lightening and a drizzle that added to our woes. When we finally reached the plains, we dead tired & hungry too. Luckily, we got autorickshaws to drop us back to our hotel. When we finally hit the bed (without dinner), it was nearly 3 a.m.

Thus ended the long, eventful, memorable and tiring day 2 of the yatra.

Jammu - Himachal Yatra (Part 1)

The much awaited 9 day yatra to predominantly Devi Theerth Sthals finally arrived on a hot Sunday morning of 22nd May. This was the first time that we were going in a large group of 15 yatris and that too taking the same flight both ways ! We were 8 ladies and 7 men in this group. Each carried a cabin sized bag plus a handbag for the journey as decided earlier so that the luggage is manageable (a few managed to smuggle in an extra bag without anyone noticing).

We reached Mumbai airport early and had some time to spend at the lounge fortifying ourselves for the long journey of nearly 4 hours with a break at Delhi. We arrived at Jammu the city of temples by early afternoon. The weather was hot outside but bearable. We hired 3 Innovas to go to Katra where we were booked for 2 nights. On hindsight, we felt we should have spent the first night at Jammu and visited some of the famous temples there. Maybe next visit !

The taxi stand for Innova vehicles in situated outside the airport. It is a short 5 minute walk to reach the stand and book the vehicle at the special counter just outside the petrol pump there. It cost us Rs. 2150 per Innova for the ride of approx 50 kms.

The journey to our hotel in Katra (Rama Trident) took us about an hour from the Jammu airport. The roads were smooth with very low traffic. We were expecting some kind of high quality hotel, but it was a simple place with no major frills. The rooms were comfortable and the highlight, for some of our rooms, was the view of the holy Trikuta mountains on the background in which the holy shrine of Vaishno devi is located. 

Katra is a small town on the foothills of the Trikuta mountains. This town has come up predominantly to serve the huge rush of pilgrims who come visiting. All businesses are catering to the devotees be it hotels, restaurants, taxis, shops etc. We relaxed for a while at the hotel. Couple of our yatris chanted the Devi Mahatyam on the hotel lobby facing the direction of  shrine. Later we went to the nearby market for a stroll, some purchases of dry fruits etc. and a visit to a nearby small temple in the bus stand area.

We then had dinner at a newly opened restaurant (Vaishno Dhaba) where the food was ok but service was poor. As our group was large, it was natural for the waiter to be confused. We decided that henceforth we will sit 5 to a table and order separately so that there is some order. 

After this we returned to the hotel for sleep. We had scheduled the trip to Vaishno Devi temple the next day and we were hoping all will go well with the journey as well as the darshan. More about it in the next blog...

Divine Intervention - Part 3

This was yet another powerful experience of my life. This happened sometime 2001-02. I had travelled alone to Tirupati to be with my parents who had proceeded there earlier. 

I flew down to Chennai and then went to a bus terminus to catch a bus to Tirupati. After reaching there, I took another bus to reach the top of the holy hill. By the time I reached the hotel where my parents were staying, it was past 11 p.m.

We were booked for an early morning darshan of the Lord. Visitors to Tirumala will be familiar with the long wait time for getting the darshan. Visitors would also know that the actual darshan of the Lord of the Seven Hills is hardly a few seconds. There are plenty of crowd managers who literally push you out so that the others in the queue also get to see the Lord.

I had visited this temple many times before and have always missed observing the alankaram (decoration of the Lord) in the short time I had in front of the Lord. It was usually a brief darshan when the mind goes blank and the ears numb by the shouts of 'Govinda Govinda' by the devotees. The eyes too are unable to fix on the Lord due the other distractions.

This time I resolved that I will carefully observe the alankaram and come out and share this with my parents and family with whom I will talk about the darshan. 

As I walked towards the sanctum I found a tall (6 feet plus) security guy ahead of me and I had to put an effort to see the Lord. Within seconds we had come to the presence of the Lord and were on our way out. I started walking backwards and facing the Lord to see Him clearly.

Suddenly, the security guard pushed me with both hands saying "Go away". I got irritated as I was not standing but actually moving out only. Then again he pushed me with both hands.

I turned and headed towards the exit while my mind was saying to the Lord, "Why should I take so much effort to come here if I can't have a peaceful darshan?".

Within a nano second, the same security guard stopped me and said, "Have full darshan. Don't go.". He also spoke to the crowd managers and instructed them to not allow me to go till I was fully satisfied.

I was shocked, surprised and grateful to the Lord for immediately responding to my thoughts. Unfortunately, my eyes were filled with tears and I was choked and hence couldn't have the darshan. 

In a matter of seconds, the Lord conveyed to me that He listens to our thoughts and He loves to have us come for His darshan just as a parent would love it if his child visits him.

What more can I say about this divine Intervention? Even as I write this my eyes are filled with tears of gratitude & love.

Govinda Gooovinda !!

Divine Intervention - Part 2

It was in the year 1997 when we visited Vrindavan in Uttar Pradesh on a holiday cum pilgrimage. It was in early November during Diwali holidays. My son Surya had just celebrated his first birthday a few months earlier. 

At Vrindavan, we went to various temples before coming to Nidhivan. This is a 4-5 acres plot of land filled with shrubs & stunted trees compounded by high walls. In the middle of this place is a small temple where Lord Krishna is believed to visit every night and dance with the Gopis. People keep articles of new clothing, perfumes, make up etc. in the evening and find it used / disturbed by next morning. The gates of Nidhivan are closed by 6-6.30 p.m. and no visitors are allowed to remain inside during the night time. It is said that a few people who sneaked in during the time of the divine dance (Raas) lost their ability to speak or lost their mental balance.

Vrindavan is full of monkeys that are fairly bold and do snatch away your bags, spectacles etc. Nidhivan also has a large number of monkeys roaming around freely. We were warned to remove spectacles and hide bags before entering this place. When we reached it was almost 5.30 p.m. and getting dark.

I was carrying my son in one hand and my wife was carrying his new spare clothes which was purchased for Diwali a few days earlier. My spectacles were in my pocket and in the fading light I could hardly see anything clearly.

It was at that time a monkey came near my wife and snatched the shorts of my son that she was carrying and jumped into the bushes. My elder brother, who was near her, chased the monkey only to find the monkey going deeper into the shrubs. Within no time the monkey had literally vanished. There was no way we could retrieve the shorts of my son.

We continued walking through the narrow pathway towards the temple inside Nidhivan. I just thought and prayed to Krishna and mentally said to Him, 'If you return my son's shorts, I will put some money in your Hundi'. It was a stupid thought and normally I never seek anything in my prayers but this came in my mind abruptly.

After we reached the temple in about 10 minutes or so, we stood before the small idol of Lord Krishna. 

Suddenly, a small boy of about 7-8 years of age came to us and said, "Is this yours?". In his hand he was carrying my son's shorts! We were wonder stuck as this boy had come directly to us although there were hundreds of visitors walking around at that time. We gratefully accepted it from him and the boy quickly moved away. The only mark in the shorts was a small tear indicating that either the monkey had bitten it or some thorn had pierced it.

The other members of my group were thinking we were lucky to have got the shorts back. Only I knew of my prayer and the instant response from the Lord. He proved it that He is always listening to our sincere prayers and fulfils it whenever He so chooses. I did put a small currency note in the Hundi of the temple by way of fulfilling my promise.

Such is the power of that place where Lord Krishna visits every evening even today.

Divine Intervention - Part 1

I recently read a story of a man who set out, as a young lad, from Chennai to Prayagraj to get 30 barrels of Ganga water from the Sangam (confluence of 3 rivers - Ganga, Yamuna & Saraswati) there and how he got divine help in this task.

This inspired me to write about divine experiences in my life and I start with this story of my travel in the year 1982. I was doing CA Articleship then and was stationed in the town of Solapur along with colleagues doing the audit of a textile mill.

The audit would go on for 3-4 weeks continuously and weekends were spent in the company guesthouse reading, listening to music etc. When we came to know that the Senior pontiff of Kancheepuram Shankara Mutt - His Holiness Jagadguru Shri Chandrasekhara Saraswati (HH) was camping in the neighbouring state of Karnataka, three of us decided to visit Him and pay our respects over a weekend.

Accordingly, one Friday evening we boarded a train at Solapur to proceed towards Shahbad where He was camping. The train reached Shahbad in the wee hours of Saturday morning. We got out of the station to find desolate deserted dark streets. We sat at the entrance of a small building waiting for dawn. At around 5 a.m. we were awakened by the sound of Aazan coming from the loudspeaker of the same building. Turns out it was a mosque and slowly people started trickling in for their morning prayers.

Once the light from the rising Sun came out, we proceeded to the bus stand to board a bus to the ACC factory where HH was camping. We got into the last seats of the bus and started exchanging notes with a gentleman who was seated besides us. He wanted to know who we are and where we were proceeding. We introduced ourselves and explained our mission to have darshan of HH.

This person, Shri A H Kulkarni (AHK), was a grocery wholesale merchant from Gulbarga on his rounds of collecting dues from his clients. He was keen to help us and at the next halt, he enquired about the whereabouts of HH from the locals there. He was told that HH had left the camp a couple of days ago and was in a different location.

So, he advised us to alight from the bus and accompanied us to our destination. As the new camp was in a remote village, we got into the back of a lorry which was going in that direction. There were many other villagers in the lorry with their sheep, bundles of vegetables etc. This is the typical mode of transport in remote countryside even today where connectivity is poor. 

After a couple of hours, we arrived at the destination. After confirming that HH was indeed there, AHK took us to a nearby river for a fresh bath. The water was just knee deep and flowing well. After a fresh bath, we changed into clean clothes and proceeded for darshan of the Saint. AKH was with us throughout and helping us in the process.

HH gave us darshan from within a small room in the school where they had camped. We explained that we were from Mumbai but had travelled from Solapur to have His darshan. He raised His hands in blessing and looked at us with benevolent eyes.

After this, all 3 of us along with AKH hitched a hike on a truck proceeding to Gulbarga. This time we sat in the cabin of the truck along with the driver and the cleaner. After reaching Gulbarga, AKH took us to his home and gave us snacks and tea before escorting us to the train station for our journey back to Solapur. We expressed our heartfelt gratitude to him for his kind help.

For a stranger to go out of the way to help three unknown youngsters in their journey is unthinkable. This could well have been one of the many leelas (divine plays) of His Holiness Sri Chandrasekhara Saraswati of Kanchi. When one sets out in life, there are many such divine help that one gets. One may call it luck or providence or karma, but the fact remains that faith & positive mindset coupled with effort from our side, is sure to lead to us towards success in unimaginable ways.

On hindsight, it was a divine help that we received that day which became an experience to cherish and remember always....

Vrindavan - Varanasi Yatra (Concluding Day)

The last day of our yatra started like any other day. It was Dwadashi day and breaking the fast (Paranai) is as important as the fasting itself. After morning ablutions and prayers, I stepped out while Lalitha & Skanda were still to get ready. I automatically started walking towards the Vishweshwar temple. On the way, I had a quick breakfast at a road side stall - it comprised of fresh idlis with chutney. Idlis were priced at Rs. 10 each and I had three.

Dundi Ganapathi

I first had the darshan of Dundi Ganapathi, followed by Annapoorna Mata and then went inside the VIshweshwar temple. It was about 8 a.m. and there were very few devotees present in the temple at that time. There were hardly 5-6 devotees in the queue - separate queues at each of the four doorways. I had a nice darshan and then rushed out to a nearby shop to buy some pooja articles - milk mixed with water, a garland, Bilwa leaves, vibhooti and some sweets. I went back to the temple and made my offerings to the Lord. They had installed a bronze container into which one can pour the milk etc. and it flows directly on the Lingam. We can also throw the garland / Bilwa leaves on the Lord from the doorway or give it to the priest to place it on the Lingam. I had 5-6 darshans to my hearts content and returned to my hotel.

As Lalitha & Skanda were ready by then, I told them about the easy darshan and they also wanted to avail it. So, we went back to the temple. The crowd had increased by now but still we got our darshan after a short wait of about 5 minutes. After multiple darshans, we went around the temple and saw all the new deities installed - Badrinarayan, Satyanarayan & Mahalakshmi, Ma Annapoorna, Ma Ganga and Hanuman ji. We also had darshan of the pracheen (ancient Nandi) which is facing the mosque where the original Jyotirlingam was situated. We then visited the Mata Annapoorna and the Vishalakshi temples. 

 Vishweshwar Temple, Kashi

After this, we returned back to the hotel and checked out of the room before leaving for our brunch at around 11.30 a.m. at a restaurant called Keshari. The food was very good and the service quite fast. After this, we came back to the hotel where we had booked a car to take us to the airport. Luckily, tas he car was available at the hotel entrance we did not have to use the cycle rickshaw to get to it. The ride to the airport and the subsequent flight back to Mumbai were uneventful. We reached home by 8 p.m. and were happy to have successfully completed a short but fruitful yatra. 

Kashi is a place where one needs to plan for a 4-5 days stay to be able to cover all the main temples leisurely. Also, there is so much to see in the nearby areas that one should plan for another 4-5 days for that. We hope we could do all this in our next yatra. If anyone needs any clarification about Kashi yatra, feel free to reach out and I will try to assist / connect you with people who can assist you.

Thanks for reading this blog !

Vrindavan - Varanasi Yatra (Part 4)

We woke up early in the cold winter morning at Kashi on 28/01/22. It was Ekadashi and my wife & I were fasting the whole day. We had asked Avneesh, our guide, to come by 8 a.m. as we had a lot of temples to cover in the morning.

By 8.15 a.m. we were on our way walking through the narrow gullies of Kashi. It was cold (about 13 degrees Celsius) but we didnt feel it as we had come from a colder place - Vrindavan. Most shops were closed at that hour and there were very few people in the streets. Our first halt was at the Pita Maheshwar temple followed by the Shitala Mata temple. These are like the father & mother of Kashi whose blessings we took before visiting other temples.

The next was Chandreshwar temple - the place where Chandra (moon) had come to do tapas and get rid of a curse given by his father-in-law (Daksha Prajapati) due to playing favourite with one wife Rohini and neglecting all his other 26 wives. He was cursed to suffer from a wasting disease and disappear forever. Lord Shiva appeared before Chandra, pleased with his tapas, and diluted the curse by giving Chandra 15 days of waxing after 15 days of waning. Lord Shiva also gave Chandra a special place adorning His hair as an ornament.

Chandra established the Chandreshwar Ling and created a well called (Chandra Khoop) which is ever filled with sweet fresh water to be used to Shiva Abhishek. It is believed that this existed even before Ganga River was brought down from the Heaven by Bhagirath. The well is over 50 feet deep and the water fresh & pure. One can see ones shadow inside the well by peeping inside. The shadow appears as if it is placed on the full moon as the light from the top appears in a circular moon shape on the water.

There is a Siddheshwari Devi also in this temple who grants Siddhi powers to ascetics who do tapas here. The temple is managed by a Maharashtrian family for several generations. Shri Dinesh Drone, the caretaker of the temple, who also stays in the same premises, kindly narrated the legend of the temple and gave us the water from the well to pour on the Chandreshwar Linga. We also drank that holy water and carried back some of it with us.

Body of Lord Shiva

Next we visited the Atma Veereshwar temple which is believed to be the soul of Lord Shiva. Various Lingas of Kashi are said to represent several Angas (body parts) of Lord Shiva. Please see the picture for more information. As per Kashi Khand, any person who performs pooja here gets the benefit of worshiping 3 crore Lingas and gets happiness, prosperity & success in all his endeavours. In this temple, we also had darshan of Veerabhadra (who manifested from the hair of Lord Shiva who was enraged on hearing of Sati's death) and Ma Katyayani. 

Our next temple was the Buddeshwar temple established by Mercury after doing tapas in Kashi. Nearby was the Mangaleshwar temple established by Mars. We couldn't go inside as the temple was locked but had darshan from outside. Along with this Lingam, we had darshan of Mitra Vinayak (one of the 56 Vinayak of Kashi). Close by, we had darshan of Brihaspateshwar which was the result of the tapas undertaken by Jupiter in Kashi. Near this was the Vasukeshwar Lingam which had the Linga established by Rahu & Ketu.

Sankata Harani Bhavani temple

Then, we visited the Sankata Kashta Harani Bhavani temple which was fairly crowded as it was a Friday - an important day to visit Devi temples. As the name suggests, people pray to this Devi to be rid of problems. Within the same temple, we had darshan of Sankata Harana Vinayak Maharaj. Next was the Vindyachala Vasini temple, a representative of the Shakti Peeth which is situated some distance away from Kashi. Visiting this temple is believed to be equal to visiting the Shakti Peeth temple. Next was the Mayyar Mata temple representing the famous temple of Madhya Pradesh.

Then we visited two Jyotirlinga - Nageshwar & Someshwar which are believed to give the same and more benefits as visiting the original temples at Gujarat.

We also visited the Gabhasteshwar temple which has the Linga established by Sun God. There is also a small idol of Mayukh Aditya (Sun God) in the temple. Within this temple is the Mangala Gouri Mata temple (which gets crowded on Tuesdays) and the Mangala Vinayak - the bestower of all auspiciousness.

Bindu Madhava Deity

We continued walking through the gullies briskly (pace set by Avneesh) and reached the Bindu Madhav temple situated at the Panchganga ghat. This is one of the temples dedicated to Lord Vishnu. It is one of the most important temples in Kashi (the other two being Vishweshwar temple and the Kal Bairav) and a visit to Kashi is not complete without visiting all three temples. This idol manifested as a result of the tapas of Rishi Agni Bindu with whom Lord Vishnu was pleased. The Lord appears as Bindu Madhav in Kashi, Veni Madhav in Prayag, Sethu Madhav in Rameshwaram, Kunti Madhav in Pitapuram near Kakinada and as Sundar Madhav at Thiruvananthapuram. These places are also known as the Panch Madhav Kshetras. Bindu Madhav is very pleasing & bewitching to look at and fills the devotee with peace & bliss by a mere darshan. The original temple was destroyed by the Moghuls and is situated a little distance away as a Mosque. The original idol was preserved by the priests by immersing it in the Ganga for several years before it became safe to restore it. There is a large Salagram at the feet of the Lord. The current temple was established by the Marathas - God bless the Marathas for their valour and protecting our Dharma from the Moghul invaders..

We then walked through the gullies to reach Dandapani Bhairav temple. There are 36 Bhairav temples in Kashi of which 8 are very important - the most important being the Kal Bhairav which was our next halt. The silver faced idol of Kal Bhairav who is seated on his vahana (vehicle), a dog and is holding a trident. Only the face of the icon decorated (with garlands) is visible to the visitors through the doorway. Rest of the icon is covered with a piece of cloth. On the rear door of the temple, there is an icon of Kshetrapal Bhairav, another aspect of Bhairava. We spent some time worshipping the guardian deity of Kashi and thanking Him for smooth yatra and seeking His grace to visit again in the near future. We also got a black band put on our wrists for protection from hurdles & evil forces.

Kriti Vasaseshwar Lingam inside Mosque

We then visited the newly built Kirti Vaaseshwar temple. The original temple & Lingam were destroyed by the Moghuls and a mosque constructed in its place. This Lingam was formed after Lord Shiva destroyed Gajasura who was in the form of an elephant and causing destruction to the world. Before dying, Gajasura thanked the Lord for giving moksha to him and prayed that his skin adorns the Lord always. Shiva accepted this request and also created a Ling from the Asura's body. Lord Shiva further declared that whoever prays or recites the Sri Rudram at this spot will get the benefit equal to chanting the Sri Rudram seven crore times. This Linga is said to represent the Head of Lord Shiva in Kashi. We had darshan of Kirti Vaaseshwar & poured water on the Lingam. We then also visited the mosque, which is situated a little distance away, and prayed at the original site of the temple also. There is a replacement Lingam placed there and devotees are allowed free access to worship.

We then visited the Mrityunjay Mandir and prayed to the Lord to give long life to all His devotees. There is a Dhanvantri Khoop (well) in that temple which is believed to be installed by Lord Dhanvantri. We also drank some water from this well.

After all these darshan, we were still not satiated and wanted to visit more temples and see more Lingams. It is believed that there are more than 1.25 crore Lingams in Kashi and one lifetime is not sufficient to see all of them. Each temple has one or more main Lingams and many more Lingams all over. We were surrounded by Lingams all over in Kashi. Physically we were exhausted with all the walking around - it is believed that with every step one takes in the gullies of Kashi while visiting the various temples, one is destroying one's sins and accumulating virtues. So, we decided to stop the temple tour and walk back to our hotel for some rest. My son had his lunch in the same restaurant where we had dinner the previous day.

In the afternoon, we hired a motorised boat to take a tour and see all the famous ghats of Kashi. We were only three of us in a boat that could easily accommodate 25+ people. The weather was pleasant at first but started getting cold as we went into the river. It was a leisurely trip seeing the ghats from the waters - Ganga is so clean & pure thanks to the efforts of the government & the people. We could see bodies being cremated at the Harishchandra & Manikarnika ghats, while other ghats were pristine & well maintained.

After seeing the ghats of Kashi, the boatman stopped the motor and let the boat drift in the waters. The tide & the wind were moving us gently. There were several people flying kites in the city and we could see some kite fights in the sky. Suddenly, our boatman (a young lad of 17) saw a cut kite flying in our direction and caught the string. He started flying the kite from our boat. After some time, I took over and flew the kite after a gap of nearly 45 years. After a little while, I got an opportunity to have a kite fight with another kite. To my delight & surprise, we won and managed to cut the string of our opponent. A little later, this feat was repeated by my boatman with another opponent.

Towards 6 p.m., we went to Dashaswamedh ghat to witness the Ganga Aarti. It was lovely to see boats from all over converging at this spot - some were row boats while a few were motorised. Each boat were tied to each other with ropes to ensure that we did not drift. Usually, this aarti is done by 7 guys simultaneously and is quite a spectacle to watch. However, due to the pandemic, this has been scaled down and only one guy does the aarti and the time is also curtailed to about 20 minutes.

After the Aarti, we got dropped back to the shore and walked back to the hotel. On the way, we stopped at a restaurant for my son to have a quick snack in lieu of dinner. As it was still early, we decided to visit the Sankat Mochan Hanuman temple & the Durga temple. We hired a Tum Tum to go there. The actual distance was only 3 kms but it seemed longer as some of the roads were blocked and we had to take a detour. After a good darshan at both temples, we came back tired & exhausted to our hotel.

Thus ended day 4 of our yatra.

Vrindavan - Varanasi Yatra (Part 3)

On Day 3, we woke up by dawn and were packed & ready to leave Vrindavan by 8 a.m. after the morning rituals. We were in Vrindavan for only about a day and half which was very insufficient to  cover all the things to do here. One needs a minimum stay of a week here to justify the visit. There were many important spots we missed due to paucity of time - like the birthplace of Shri Krishna at Mathura for example. We hoped to come again soon and stay longer.

On 27th morning we had called for a car to pick us from Vrindavan and drop us at Delhi airport. Due to an error on my part, I thought our flight was at 2.45 p.m while it was in fact at 1.20 p.m. The driver came promptly at 9.20 a.m. and as we left at 9.30 a.m., I checked Google Maps to find out estimated time of arrival at Delhi Airport. It indicated a travel time of 3 hours to cover the distance of 170 kms. It was then I realised my mistake and told the driver that we need to reach by noon latest to catch our flight.

He asked me to ignore Google and relax while he took care of the driving. He drove very fast without ever crossing speed limit of 100 kmph as his car was fitted with a GPS device and his owner would be alerted if the speed exceeded it. During the next 2.5 hours I witnessed his superb driving, navigation etc. without use of any online tools. He saved about 15 minutes of time on the highway. At Gurgaon, as the traffic was slow moving (virtually crawling), he took a longer route from inside the city and saved some additional 15 minutes of driving time. We reached at 12 p.m. sharp and I was very relieved. I gave him a good tip for his help .

Our hotel - Shree Ganesha Palace

We reached Varanasi (Kashi) safely & booked an Ola car to reach our hotel. Unfortunately, as our hotel was located in the heart of the city, motorised vehicles are not allowed there during 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. So, we got dropped off about a k.m. from our destination. The proverbial last mile was covered using 2 cycle rickshaws. That was an experience in itself - virtually going at snails pace amidst heavy traffic and crowds on the streets.

After freshening up, we met a local contact at Varanasi. He is Shri Venkatraman, a retired senior banker and a long time resident of Varanasi. He & his wife have written several books on Varanasi for the benefit of devotees & tourists giving details of the holy city and its landmarks etc. They also pro bono assist and support Yatris who come to Varanasi. He was kind enough to connect us to a local guide to take us around. Along with our guide, Avneesh, we started on our temple darshan spree immediately. 

Cycle Rickshaw

After walking through the lanes (Gullies) of Kashi, we first had darshan of Dundi Ganapati. Kashi has a total of 56 such important & auspicious Ganapati and we saw only about 6 of the Ganapatis of Kashi. It is believed that darshan of Dundi Ganapati is the correct way of starting Kashi yatra.

After this, we visited the famous Annapoorna Devi temple which is adjacent to the main temple of Kashi. It was not very crowded and we had a good darshan and could chant Her stotram leisurely. We also went around in the temple and had darshan of the other deities like Devi Saraswati, BadraKali, Satyanarayan etc. within the temple.

Annaporna Devi

Next, we went to Vishalakshi temple which is a Shakti Peeth. It is a favourite destination of South Indian devotees who believe that the three Devis (Madurai Meenakshi, Kanchi Kamakshi & Kashi Vishalakshi) are closely interconnected and are but three forms of the same Devi. In this temple, the Swayambu (self formed) idol is just behind the main Deity. 

Then, we visited the Shukreshwar temple which was formed after Lord Shukra (Venus) did tapas here in Kashi and was blessed by a darshan of the Lord. Kashi has a linga associated with each of the 9 planets (Navagraha) and also has a linga representing each Jyotirlinga. In fact, a visit to Kashi is equivalent to visiting all the Jyotirlinga spread across Bharat Varsha. The main city of Kashi is located surrounded by the Jyotirlings and with Lord Vishweshwar in the centre. As per Kashi Khand within Skanda Puraan, staying three nights in Kashi city and praying to Lord Vishweshwar is sure way to get moksha by anyone.

way 

Vishalakshi Devi at Kashi

After this, we booked special darshan tickets for the Sapta Rishi Abhishek and Aarti, as advised by Shri Venkatraman, which is conducted at 7 p.m. every day in the main temple. We then entered the main Vishweshwar temple of Kashi. There was tight security check before entry and mobile phones / cameras are not allowed inside.

Once inside, we were wonder struck at the transformation of this temple. When we visited some 8 years ago, the temple used to be a narrow structure with no space for movement or proper prayers. Now, it a majestic, clean and beautiful temple. As we were early, we were asked to wait. I used the time to perform my evening prayers in the temple itself. 

At 7 p.m , we went near the sanctum and found that there was already a crowd of devotees at the four doorways of the temple waiting to witness the Saptarishi Abhishek. Somehow, we managed to squeeze in and go a standing space with clear vision of the Lord. This abhishek cum Pooja is done by seven Brahmins representing the seven Rishis who used to pray here ages ago.

The Pooja & abhishek is conducted along with a strange chanting which we had never heard before. Upon enquiry, I was told that the chanting itself is a closely guarded secret and very few know what it is. Abhishek with various articles like Ganga water, milk, curds, honey, curds etc. was followed by offering of flowers & Bilva leaves. Then alankar with various garlands was done and a silver covering of Nagas was offered. More garlands were added and then a crown was placed on top. The main linga was no longer visible. After this Dhoopam, Deepam and Neivediyam were offered. This was followed by camphor Aarti accompanied by the chanting in high tempo along with beating of drums & the Damaroo.

Saptarishi Aarti at Kashi

The whole pooja lasted a little over an hour. After this, the people with special darshan ticket were allowed inside the sanctum for a few seconds and we were allowed to touch the deity (Lingam). This was a thrilling moment and we were blessed to get this opportunity. I understand that this is the only time these days to get Sparsh darshan of the Lord - at other times, we are only allowed darshan from the doorway.

After this exhilarating experience of witnessing the Saptarishi Abhishek and Aarti and the Sparsh darshan of Lord Vishweshwar of Kashi, we left the temple premises. We had dinner at a local restaurant and returned back to our hotel to sleep the night. Thus ended Day 3 of our yatra.

Vrindavan - Varanasi Yatra (Part 2)

On day 2 (26th January, 2022), we woke up by 6 a.m. and after our morning ablutions, left the hotel by 8a.m. for a Brindavan Parikrama (circumambulation). Many devotees do this 10 k.m. parikrama dotted with important temples by foot. Depending on one’s health condition, this parikrama can be completed within a couple of hours without visiting the temples. We decided to take a Tum Tum (an electric rickshaw which can take up to 4 passengers in a slightly tight fashion). He agreed to take us around for Rs. 400 and wait while we visited the main temples and had darshan. The driver warned us to take care of our spectacles and mobile phones which seem to be the favourite of the monkeys in Vrindavan to snatch and scamper away.

We started with visiting a Sri Ram temple at the beginning of the parikrama. The priest blessed us for the parikrama and gave us theerth(holy water) prasad as well as freshly cut fruits that had been offered to the Lord. After a quick darshan, we moved along the route. We could see many devotees walking, some barefoot on the path. It was cold (about 11 degrees centigrade) and the morning breeze was making it even cooler. Our next halt was the Kaliya temple – legend has it that the famous Kaliya dance was performed by Lord Krishna at this spot. There is a small temple to mark this and there were very few visitors here.

Moving on, we visited the beautiful Madan Mohan temple, which is at a height and in a beautiful structure. We had to climb about 60 steps to reach this temple. Besides the beautiful deity, the temple also gives a beautiful view of Vrindavan from that height. There were hardly any devotees at this temple giving us a peaceful darshan of the Lord. After some time, we climbed down and took the Tum Tum for the next temple.

Soon, we came upon the famous Banke Bihari temple of Vrindavan. We had to walk a couple of hundred meters inside from the road to come to the temple. It was very crowded as always and there was a queue of people waiting for darshan. We took the help of a priest to get quick entry (tip to Security Rs. 500) and found a huge crowd inside the temple. The unique feature of this temple is that they keep drawing a curtain to cover the Lord every few minutes and open it after a short lapse of time. Lord Krishna is a black idol here and very charming and pleasing to the eye. We couldn’t go near the Lord and had to be content to view from about 35-40 feet. Devotees frequently shouted "Banke Bihari Lal ki Jai" adding to the festive atmosphere. The temple was decorated with orange, white and green balloons to mark the Republic Day of India.

After this, we went to a nearby shop in one of the small lanes in the market and had our breakfast of tasty hot Bedmi Puri with a hot spicy potato bhaji washed down with Lassi. Puri Bhaji was served in a small leaf container and tasted very good in the morning cold weather. 

Then we walked back to the Tum Tum to resume our Parikrama. This part of the parikrama is along the banks of the Yamuna River. We stopped at a suitable spot to have a symbolic sprinkling of the holy water on ourselves. The river was not appearing very clean here. There were a few boats here colourfully decorated and willing to take yatris into the river for a small fee. It seems that the water is cleaner in the middle of the river and people prefer to do their prayers there.

Further down the route, we visited the beautiful Radha Madan Mohan temple (where the deity is believed to have come from Radha’s feet) and the Shyam Sundar temple before we came to Nidhi Van. This is a mini forest of shrubs covering an area of approx. 3 acres which is full of monkeys. Fortunately, the pathway for human beings is mostly fully covered with a cane fencing which prevents the monkeys from coming close to us. This is the place where Lord Krishna had His famous Rasa Krida with the Gopis and, it is believed that He still comes every night for this even today. There are small temples inside this compound. There are also many Samadhis of devotees in this place. At a particular temple, items like perfume, nail polish, lipsticks, dresses etc. are placed in the evening for the use of the Rasa Krida and in the morning, there are signs of the items having been used.

After this, we visited the Radha Ramana temple and saw the Lord Jagganatha temple built in Puri style from outside. Then, we visited the Uma Shakti Peeth temple before returning to the Sri Rama temple from where we started. This completed the Parikrama. There are several hundreds of temples & ashrams along the way but due to paucity of time, we could only visit a few of them. One needs to plan for a week’s stay in Vrindavan to visit all the temples at leisure.

At our request, the Tum Tum driver, at an extra cost, agreed to take us to Gopeshwar temple (Shiva who came as a Gopi to participate in the Rasa Krida) and stayed back in Vrindavan as Gopeshwar. We also went to the Sri Ranganatha temple built in South Indian style and managed by Tamizh priests. This is one of the largest temples in North India and a visit to Vrindavan is not completed without coming here. This temple is dedicated to Goda Devi (Andal) who was an ardent devotee of the Lord and had composed several songs by immersing Her thoughts & mind as a Gopi Herself.  We were lucky to get Pongal prasadam which had just been offered to the Lord as Bhog – it was very tasty and satvik.

From here, our driver took us to a Kanch (Mirror) temple which is a new temple and is like a museum depicting various Leelas & incidents in the life of Lord Krishna. After this we came back to our hotel for lunch and a short rest.

In the afternoon, we hired a car to go to nearby places of interest. We left at 4 p.m. and our first halt was at Nanda gaon (village). This is place where Lord Krishna spent about 9 years of His life under the care of His foster parents – Nanda and Yashoda. The drive to this place took about an hour from Vrindavan passing through small interior roads with open fields on both sides. After reaching this place, we had to climb a flight of steps (approx. 120 steps) up a small hillock leading to the large house of Nanda Baba. This has now been converted into a temple. The number of visitors were very few and we could have a leisurely darshan of the entire family (Nanda Baba, Yashoda Ma, Krishna & Balaram and Radha). The local priests who manage the temple told us the story of Krishna’s childhood spent in the carefree company of cowherd friends and basking in the love of the entire village. From the terrace of the building which looked like a mini fortress, we could see the entire are surrounding the village as well as the various temples & water bodies in the area.

After this, we came back to the car which was parked on the roadside. Here, we had a cup of tea and left for our next destination. We reached Barsana, the childhood place of Radha Rani the eternal beloved of Lord Krishna. To reach the temple, one can either walk up a flight of steps (approx. 250) or take the help of motorcycle (Rs. 50 per person). We walked up. This temple is also very beautiful and situated on the top of a hillock. There was a lot of people here – all coming to have darshan of Lord Krishna with His favorite Gopi, Radha. After spending some time here, we came back to our car and proceeded to our last stop. 

We were keen to have a darshan of Govardhan, the hill that Lord Krishna lifted in his little finger and held it up for seven days to protect the villagers from the deluge of rain that poured incessantly. Devotees do a parikrama of this holy Hill which is 21 kms long throughout the year and especially in the month of Oct-Nov. We had a darshan of Govardhan and also visited a nearby temple which depicts the Lord with the Hill held up on His little finger.

Bu this time, it was nearly 6. 45 p.m. We started on our journey back to Vrindavan. We reached in time for a light dinner and retired by 9.30 p.m. for an early sleep. Thus ended day 2 of our yatra.

Vrindavan - Varanasi Yatra (Part 1)

On 25^th January 2022, three of us (my son, wife & me) left for a small yatra. We were already in Delhi for some other work, and we thought we will use the opportunity to visit couple of places in North India. Our first destination was Vrindavan, the place where Lord Krishna spent 9+ years of His life and left behind many memories for us to revisit and relish.

We had hired a taxi to go from Delhi. Due to last minute refusal by our driver, stating government restrictions, we had to change the vehicle from a Sedan to a SUV. The SUV picked us up from our hotel at Delhi at approx. 1.30 p.m. and we were on our way. Vrindavan is only about 3 hours away from Delhi. The first leg of the journey took us through Gurgaon, Haryana. The road was in poor condition and there was a lot of traffic / dust / smoke which was bothersome.

After about an hour or so, we came to clear roads, and we could progress rapidly. We halted at a roadside hotel for lunch / snacks. There were hardly any patrons there. We had parathas, dal, raita followed by hot tea. The service and  quality of food were very good. We reached Vrindavan by about 4.30 p.m. and had to travel through narrow lanes to reach our destination as some roads were having restricted entry. Our hotel MVT Guest House is just behind the ISKCON temple, and we were delighted to find a spacious room with triple bed, heater etc.

After resting awhile and freshening up, we went to 2 temples. First Sri Krishna Balaram temple run by ISKCON. It was crowded and the vibration from the chanting & singing of Mahamantra were very good. We had a leisurely darshan of the deities and spent some time absorbing the positive vibes of the temple. There were three main sanctum in the temple. One which has Lord Krishna & Lord Balaram, one which has Lord Shyamsundar and Radha, and one which has Sri Gaura Nitai Prabhu. There is also an altar for Sri Prabhupada, the founder of ISKCON movement, who was instrumental in creating this temple. The temple also has a Goshala. we had their hot Kichadi prasadam which is distributed throughout the time the temple is open. There are some shops in the complex selling different articles including food, but we did not do any shopping.

After this, we went to a nearby Prem Mandir, which is a new temple built & maintained by Jagadguru Kripalu Parishat, a not-for-profit charitable Trust. They are in a 55-acre campus about a kilometer away from the ISKCON temple. Here, the main deities are Radha Krishna and Sita Ram. Radha Krishna are located on the ground level and Sita Ram on the first level directly above Radha Krishna. The temple is built by using a lot of marble and the architecture, murals, idols etc. are well made. It looks more like a museum than a temple but worth a visit. There are plenty of photo opportunities here.

After this, as it was getting very cold, we returned to our hotel and had early dinner and retired early. As the room had a heater, it was comfortable, and we had a good sleep. Thus ended the first day of our yatra.