Ramanashrama and Tiruvannamalai - Nov 2019

When I left for India, I had completely different plans for traveling there. I didn't end up following them due to various reasons. And then the visit to Tiruvannamalai worked out. I was silently hoping to visit the ashram once and it worked out somehow. We went to Tiruvannamalai with an extension to Pondicherry. 

Tiruvannamalai or Thiruvannamalai is a small town in the state of Tamil Nadu. Its named after the Annamalai - Lord of the Mountains, Shiva. The Arunachala hill is considered sacred.  

Arunachaleshwara temple with the Arunachala in the background

This early morning view of the Arunachala hill from the temple was amazing. We were there just after the full moon so the moon was also visible in the background. 

The Temple Gopurams are tall. I love the carvings and the elaborate designs on them. The four gopurams on each side are like the 4 Dwarapaal. The eastern one is the tallest and is called Rajagopuram. 

The eastern gopuram - Rajagopuram, tallest and is 11 stories.

Nandi in the Temple

This big Nandi reminded me of my clay nandi. Having worked on the details myself, it was interesting to see how much details I noticed in this Nandi. 

Next to the Patala Lingam cave

This picture is interesting to me, I did not know I was being clicked from behind. 

This was taken while walking near the temple.

This is the most interesting part of visiting temples. There is just so much intricate art and carvings that you find in these hidden nooks and corners inside temple.

This one had so much detail. Having done some clay sculpting myself, I couldn't imagine the effort it might have taken to carve these on rock.

I had to literally bend down to take this one. Was hidden at the bottom corner of a temple mandapa base. This reminded me of the trip to Hampi few years back, when I got a good collection of these intricate stone carvings. They reflect the history very well.

Since it wasn't possible to find the name of each god figure I saw (names were written in Tamil), I am trying to find the references now. I think this is the personification of River Ganga as goddess on her vehicle Makara. The Makara is an imaginary animal form composed of a fish like body, elephant trunk, feet of lion, eyes of a monkey, ears of a pig and prominent teeth. It can be interpreted as a turbulent state of nature and the ornaments shown coming out of its mouth symbolize the pralaya and the Ganga may be having control over that to make it life giving. Anyways, if one can just take it as water god and do something to save water that would be enough. The symbolism in actually very interesting and leads to a profound understanding of reality than it just being an idol in some temple. 

The vaanar sena is always around in any Indian temple to feed and grow their family. This monkey took the coconut and the banana from someone and gave the banana to her kid. This reminds me of a hike to a hill in Karnataka several years back when a monkey took our cold drink bottle, opened the cap and drank in front of us :)

These pictures were taken randomly in the evening. I was just amazed to see the amount of work on these Gopurams. All I was thinking was how did they make these, did they build it somewhere else and got them here or the sculptors were sitting there to make these. The Gopurams are specific to South Indian Temple architecture so you won't see these in the North Indian temples which have an inverted beehive like structure called 'Shikhara' - mountain peak. 

This kind of completes the highlights of the Arunachaleshwara temple - dedicated to Shiva and is associated with the five elements - Pancha Maha Bhootas. Agni is the element that is worshiped here. Other Pancha Maha Bhoota Sthalams.

Arunachala Hill

We also did a modern (by car) Girivalam or giripradakshina - circumambulation of the Arunachala hill. It's a 14km stretch and people do it on foot. Usually around full moon. It was nice to see the hill from different sides. 

The other major part of the trip was the visit to Ramanashrama. In fact when I thought about the visit, the temple wasn't in my awareness. 

The tree that welcomes into the Ashram

Ramanashrama is very close to the temple. It's right on the main road and the gate feels like a school gate with an arch and board on top. 

It also rained in the evening and the peacock there was roaming around though didn't dance.

Samadhis of pets in the ashram

We sat in meditation and listened to the daily chants for a while. The bookworm inside me began crawling but the book store was closed at that time.   

We wanted to go visit the Virupaksha cave (Ramana Maharshi meditated there) and the Skandashrama. There are 2 ways to reach them. One way is from inside the ashram and other is close to the temple. The one inside ashram is longer. The one close to temple is 10-15 min but steep climb. We were a bit late but still went ahead through the shorter route but some folks who were coming back on the way told that its too steep and also that its probably late. 

The next day we took the way from the ashram. It wasn't too long. The way from the Skandashram to the Virupaksha cave is a path of downhill stairs. We decided not to take the same route back as it looked like getting on the road from the Virupaksha cave would take less time. It looked like we shouldn't have listened to the folks we met yesterday as it wasn't a bad climb for a pahadi. 

Way to Skandashrama and Virupaksha cave

Most people do the hike to the cave barefoot so the path was pretty much clean. There were a few yogi dogs and pigs on the way. 

Mid way you get this beautiful delight of the temple. The pictures are from my phone's camera so aren't doing the justice. 

Vaanar sena on the way 

Virupaksha Cave 

We sat in the cave for some time. There are 2 parts of the cave, the inner one probably the actual cave is a very small and dark chamber and probably accommodates 5-6 people. The outer one is likely built new and can accommodate more (say 10) people.

Monkey who couldn't meditate due to his monkey mind

While we were sitting outside the Virupaksha cave, one local person came and told us to go visit the Mango tree cave as well which was 10 mins climb down from there.

The well on the way to Mango tree cave

Mango tree cave where Maharshi lived

After this we started for Pondicherry. 

Until Next Time.....

Navratri-Dussehra

October 8, 2019

Navratri (नवरात्रि) has been a great festive occasion since childhood. ‘नव’ means nine, ‘रात्रि’ means night. It's a nine-day celebration followed by Dussehra. Various forms of the goddess are worshiped through the nine days. Though she is one, she is represented in many different forms - Durga, Lakshmi, Saraswati for some and then the other 9 forms of her for others. 

As a kid, the last day of Navratri had a huge significance for us, young girls. We will get called to almost every house in the neighborhood, seated in a row our feet were washed, then we were worshipped and fed and at the end given a gift, usually a 1 or 2 rupee coin and sometimes a pencil or handkerchief if we get lucky. The first few of those visits would be great, as one would be with an empty stomach. After that one had to exercise some negotiation skills so that the host doesn’t put extra halwa or puri in the plate before one could protect it with the shield of one's own hands. The women after 9 days of fasting were just looking to get the blessings of the goddess and make their tapas a success through us. The day of Dussehra use to be reserved to go out and see Ravana-Dahan. 

The Devi incarnated to kill the demons and Lord Rama fulfilled his mission long back but what is the significance of these festivals today? On the surface, it looks like the time devoted to the worship of goddesses. One might call it the worship of women or the feminine power. If one goes a level deeper it is the worship of the power of manifestation, the shakti (शक्ति). The word Shakti has its root in the Sanskrit root शक् (Shak) - to be able to do something. Shakti is the energy or the power that creates, nourishes, sustains us and works through us. She is worshiped as hunger, thirst or anything else you name it and she is there.

Dussehra is a good occasion to think about where we are feeding our ravanas. Have the ravana heads in the mind died? The Kama (Lust), Krodha (Anger), Lobha (Greed), Moha (Delusion), Mad (Pride), Matsarya (Jealousy) all sprout like the heads of Ravana through the Ego and the feeling of smallness underneath. The false identification with these lets these heads feel like they belong to us.

Recently at least 3 different people at different levels of affinity with me, acknowledged that they had a feeling of jealousy towards someone. I must say they have got the strength to accept tough emotions otherwise almost everyone has them at some time to varying degrees. How does one resolve them? 

Sage Patanjali mentions ‘Pratipaksha Bhavana’ in the Yoga Sutra of Patanjali. 

वितर्कबाधने प्रतिपक्षभावनम्

‘When one is disturbed by the conflicting thought, one should think of opposite thoughts.’

It is a powerful thought to get back to the self before the Ravana heads are superimposed on others and the ramas are perceived as the killers. The source and the triggers for the ravanas are inside but the outside object is falsely understood as the reason for it. In fact, almost every conflicting emotion finds its root in the false sense of smallness - अपूर्ण भावः. This Dussehra may you focus more on the पूर्ण Rama inside you!

Pitru Paksha

September 15, 2019

Grandfather's Shraddha

Have you watched the movie 'Coco'? It was a beautiful movie. You probably know the Dia De Los Muertos or the 'Day of the Dead' from that. But do you know what 'Pitru-Paksha' is? 

In Sanskrit, Pitru (पितृ) means ‘father’ and Paksh (पक्ष) means ‘fortnight’ or a period of roughly 2 weeks of the lunar calendar. In Hinduism, during Pitru-Paksha gratitude is expressed towards one's ancestors in the form of prayers and food offerings. The ritual is called पितृ श्राद्ध - that which is done with श्रद्धा (faith). I know less about the pauranik katha and the rituals but the contributions of those ancestors to our moral, intellectual and spiritual life are worth remembering. It is the time devoted to remembering those and their gifts to us. Many are on my mind right now. Among those my grandparents have been the eldest, I have been with 3 of them and only seen the picture of the other. 

Sometimes I notice many similarities in my habits and that of my grandparents’. It could be genetic or likely childhood influence. I particularly saw my paternal grandmother (‘amma’) as a very self-reliant person who won’t take help from anyone unless needed. I saw her taking care of all her things (including washing all clothes etc.) herself even at that age regardless of how much we tried to convince her not to. I saw her as a woman who had lived in a conservative society yet became open-minded when needed and would silently appreciate everyone around her. I see the same person in me now and then. 

Memories with my paternal grandfather are a bit weak (I was 8yr old when he left) but the habits have come down. I saw a few of his diaries of daily expense log records. I found myself doing the same many times just because it helped me resolve my internal world. At that time I didn’t think about him but I think it was coming from there. He was the one who somehow transferred the skills of sewing in our family that I felt it's customary to have a sewing machine at home. His bravery was such that when a snake bit him, he didn’t bother to disturb others and did the first aid himself in the darkness of the night. 

My maternal grandmother was a pillar of strength. I wrote this small poem as a tribute to her when she left 3 years ago.

वर्ष २०१६ मौनी अमावस्या को

ले लिया तुमने मौन अनंत 

आज तुम्हारे जाने पर 

ये मन है थोड़ा खिन्न 

शब्दों में ही लिखकर 

अब करे याद ये तुमको। 

थी गहन आवाज़ तुम्हारी कितनी 

सबको करती अनुशासित

सब सोचे था वो कड़कपन 

पर हमने देखा चिंता और प्यार। 

केश तुम्हारे थे काले कितने 

वृद्धावस्था ने भी घुटने टेके थे 

सारे नाती पोते भी करते थे 

मन ही मन में गर्व उन पर। 

पूजा पाठ में ध्यान था कितना 

करतीं सबके सुख की कामना 

कितनी भी कठिनाई आयीं 

पर हार कभी ना तुमने मानी।

इस जीवन में तुम अपने 

काम अनेक कर गयीं 

मुझको तो बड़े उपहार में 

माँ तुम मेरी दे गयीं।

पर अपने ही हंसालय से

तुम आज विदा क्यों ले गयीं?

Such is the legacy of these ancestors that I am not sure if we can ever compare to them. The little glimpse of them that I see in myself will forever be treasured!

Oornanabhi and the Samsara

August 8, 2019

One of the names for spider in Sanskrit is - Oornanabhi, ऊर्णनाभि:. The inspiration for this post comes from this beautiful little spider that I found in my apartment balcony one morning. My daily morning routine is to go out on the balcony and offer some water to the sun god who provides us the light to keep seeing clearly. As usual I went out on the balcony and as I was about to go around the big planter so I could turn eastward, I noticed this little creature and his creation all the way from the balcony railing to the plant - approximately 4 feet. It reminded me of many things and for some reason brought a smile on my face. I decided to not disturb it or remove the web. The first day I tried to take a picture, it ran away as I removed the other planter and then the next day managed to go close and capture.

So how does a spider build the web? Spiders are known to be born with the intelligence of building their webs. Spiders have glands in their abdomen that produce silk protein. It can produce different types of these silk proteins that then solidify to become silk strands. Some strands are sticky which are used to form the bridge that form the strong foundation for the web. Sticky strands also help trap the insects as food. The threads are known to be stronger than steel threads. The spider uses other non-sticky strands in the web to move around without getting stuck in its own web while it weaves. It also uses the web to protect its eggs as well as for transporting itself from one point to another like a zipline. Spider can feel the vibrations when an insect lands on the web. Spiders also consume their own web to save the cost of regenerating the silk proteins again as they renovate or replace the web frequently.

A verse from Mundaka Upanishad illustrates the similarity between the spider web creation and the samsara creation:

यथोर्णनाभिः सृजते गृह्णते च यथा पृथिव्यामोषधयः संभवन्ति ।

यथा सतः पुरुषात्केशलोमानि तथाऽक्षरात्संभवतीह विश्वम् ॥

(As the spider creates and absorbs back the web, as the medicinal plants grow on earth, as the hair grow out of humans, so does the universe comes from the Imperishable.)

There is so much more to talk about the above but that is for another time. To create anything, one needs some intelligence and then some material. For example, this post was created using some intelligence and some material in the form of words. This is how Ishwara’s (ईश्वर) creation - the macrocosm, is understood. ईश्वर used intelligence as well as material to create the world. The creation is described similar to the spider web creation where the intelligence and the material are from a single source. It has the power to absorb the creation as well. Interestingly the same dance of creation happens within us - the microcosm. Our body cells die every day and new cells are born. Our thoughts and perceptions change every single day. Our dreams are another such example. They take birth using our own intelligence and the material is also some combination of our own memories or events we experienced in our waking state. We too have the power to come out of our dreams by simply waking up. We remain the same and everything else outside of that changes. Essentially the microcosm and the macrocosm are one. Should one be seeing themselves in a better light than they already do? Just like one sees ईश्वर?

Hrishikesh - Jan 2019

Jan 6 - Jan 13, 2019

The motivation behind this week long trip was to take a vacation in between my India vacation, do Yoga and Meditation and be close to the roots. I am not sure when the exact thought of going to Rishikesh came to my mind but it wasn't all of a sudden. I have been practicing Yoga philosophy for several years and it doesn't fail to amaze me how rich our scriptures and philosophies are or may be I should say how rich human beings really are since the philosophies mention nothing but the reality of human nature and its ultimate truth. This trip felt like the experience was custom made for me by someone! I didn't really do much planning other than booking my flight ticket. Throughout my time in Rishikesh I felt like I wasn't actually the doer, the planner, the thinker.

Going to write this post in terms of various experiences rather than day to day life there. Everyday had a bit of routine and then some that wasn't routine. Apart from the everyday yoga, meditation, lecture, I would get time between 10:30am - 12pm and then 1pm - 3pm. I made use of that time to visit other Ashrams and lectures. Waking up to the chants of mantras and wrapping up the day with the Ganga aarti was a unique experience in itself. This place definitely has a lot of positive and divine energy and a part of it can easily be felt in the people around. The ashrams, the sadhana of the great Yogis who lived here, the Ganga ji, the holy mantras, the hills around all contribute to it. 

The Ganga Aarti at Parmarth Ashram

I arrived Sunday and after having lunch, I decided to go see the town a little bit and then experience the Ganga aarti at the Parmarth Niketan Ashram in the evening. I started walking towards the Lakshman Jhula to see the Trayambakeshwar mandir. I had to walk all the small lanes to get to the Lakshman Jhula. I stopped by couple of book shops as well. The temple has a place for many different gods. I went upto 2nd or 3rd floor and then came back. 

Lakshman Jhula from Temple

From here I walked through the market and checked a few shops. Everything was priced much higher and I did not see a point buying anything there. To my surprise, the hair oil (made in the khadi bhandar, rishikesh!) that we just bought a day before from another place outside Rishikesh had a higher MRP in Rishikesh market stores. I continued towards the Ram Jhula walking by the side of the Ganga. There were different kind of tourists all around - the foreigners who come with the hope to learn what yoga is, the other category of foreigners who come to just get a 100 hour YTT (Yoga Teachers Training) certificate and start making money, the young Indians who love to take pictures in different poses, the religious people who wanted to do ritualistic puja.

Before stopping at the Parmarth Niketan for the evening aarti, I stopped by the ashrams on the way, had tea and then at the Gita press and bought some books. By the time I reached Parmarth, it was drizzling a bit, the monkey family was jumping around the ashram and the ashram folks were shooing them away. People around were waiting to get to the aarti place. I spent some time inside the Parmarth Ashram and then came back out to be there for the aarti. Since this wasn't the peak season, it wasn't hard to get a nice spot on the stairs near the Ganga ji.

The sky before the aarti looked as if it was also preparing for it. The sun was setting and the clouds floating around to get themselves highlighted.

The aarti starts with the young kids from the ashram gurukul coming out and then chanting the Shiva mahima strotam before the aarti. Then hanuman chalisa and the ganga aarti followed by bhajans.

The shiva was standing tall behind the aarti. During the floods few years back the water came up to the head of shiva. After the aarti experience I walked back to the ashram via the Ram Jhula. It was quite cold to walk with the cold winds around.

Parmarth Niketan shining across Ram Jhula

The Ganga Bank Kids

I had to meet a friend (friend's friend) for lunch outside and I was waiting downstairs by the Ganga ghat enjoying the Ganga ji in the warm afternoon. When I was walking back, three kids came running to me with flowers' basket in their hands. These kids were selling flowers for aarti at the Ganga ghat in Rishikesh. I had a conversation with them. I asked them if they go to school and the girl said they go to 'sarkari' school and were having winter vacations. I asked them who buys flowers in the afternoon and they said 'angrejni'. They thought I was an 'angrejni' sitting there so they all ran to me. I told them that I am not an angrejni (I told them see I speak your language and also live up in the hills and the tall boy said pointing to the hill on the right, 'there?'). When I asked if they give the money to their parents, the girl smiled and said '5 rupee ki cheezi kha lete Hain'. The smile in the picture is after I asked them to smile a bit.

The Nirvana experience

Nirvana is the restaurant's name where a local friend took for lunch. I was hoping to eat at a small road side eatery to have the same old experience that we have been used to since childhood but then I didn't resist this. The place was nice inside and we could sit with our shoes off in the typical paalthi style. While we were eating some local flute player came outside and started playing the tune of 'bedu pako....' making the experience complete with the chai and momos.

This friend teaches Yoga at an expensive resort in Rishikesh. He was talking about how the rich people who come to visit the resort from all over the world, get surprised when they come to know the philosophy behind yoga. For them yoga is mainly just poses to make their body flexible. He also mentioned that he stayed at the Bihar School of Yoga (BSY) for 2 years and I couldn't stop telling him how I have been hooked to reading their Yoga magazines that are available online. These magazines kept me busy during the 16 hours flight from SFO to Delhi. While we were coming back, I mentioned that I was checking out few books from the BSY that I want to buy but found that the local book shops are charging more than amazon. He said he has a complementary copy of one of the books that I wanted and thought that he has found the right recipient for that since he didn't want to give it to just anyone. How could I say no! He gave me this book along with a few hard copies of the Yoga magazines and the yogi cloth! I felt nothing but grateful for his thoughtfulness.

The Chai Vale ji at the Ram Jhula

After the lunch we head out for another chai but at a road side chai shop on Ram Jhula. I really liked the chai as it had good amount of ginger and sugar. I also liked the way he would give the chai and take the money - with a sense of seva, putting his one hand on his heart. I had their chai multiple times. A few days I went in the afternoon to have the wonderful ginger chai. This chai uncle (he was may be in his 50-60s) would bow down with one hand on his heart while offering tea. His humility as well as the wonderful tea touched me.

The Dayananda Ashram visit

I visited the dayananda ashram before lunch at 11am. It took me 20-30 min by walk. I skipped the lunch and thought I will just eat at the Gurudwara in between. I visited the museum at the Gurudwara as I could not find the main hall. The structures inside the museums (depicting murders from the time of division) did not make me feel good so I just skipped finding the main guru hall and continued my walk to the ashram. I was keeping an eye on eating places so that I can stop by one of them while returning from the ashram. The thought of buying some sweet also came to my mind but then I put a check on my sweet desire. Reached the ashram at around 11:45am. Saw the Adi Shankaracharya temple and swami ji's samadhi. The bookshop was closed so while I was coming out, the guard asked did you have food? I told him that I am not staying here so I am not sure if I can have lunch here. He said go inside and just tell the manager, he should be ok. So I went and asked the manager if I can eat here today. He welcomingly said yes. There was still half hour left before the lunch hour so I just decided to go down at the ghat behind and sit by the Ganga. The next funny thing that happens - I see that they are serving jalebi during lunch. It felt like all the secret wishes were being fulfilled silently.

The Ghat boy

This was at the Ganga ghat behind the Dayananda ashram during my first visit to the ashram. This boy started asking me to buy flowers - 'didi didi fool le lo na'. I didn't want to buy flowers so I just started having conversation with him. My typical question - do you go to school and why are you selling flowers. He gave me his typical answer - 'School jata hun, chuttiyan ho rahi hain'. I almost bought the flowers but then he didn't have matchbox to light the diya in it. So I told him that he should sing a song or aarti or his school prayer. He said 'didi yaad nahin'. I scolded him for not remembering the school prayer. He said 'didi yaad thi par gaanv jake aane ke Baad bhool Gaya'. I asked him to smile in the picture and he gave the victory V :) After I came back, I was thinking if the boy was even a hindu that I was asking him to sing an aarti? Mind has its ways of projecting and making assumptions!

The Kailash Ashram visit

I want to be frank that I had a bit of fear inside before going there as I was told that this ashram is only for sanyasis. I wasn't sure how I will be treated - will I be chided and sent back as a visitor? :-) I received a very warm treatment. Kailash Ashram is one of the oldest Ashrams in Rishikesh. You can feel that from the structure as well. I was told that Kailash Ashram has some lectures in the afternoon so I walked to also check out their bookstore but the store was closed when I went. I talked with the care taker person. He asked around about the discourses going and told that there is one at 3pm so I should come at that time to also check the bookstore. There is a distinct peace in all these ashrams so I just walked around a bit, saw Ganga ji from far and came back. Revisited again at 3pm and listened to a discourse on Vivekchudamani then checked the bookstore. While I was heading out the care taking person saw me and asked if I could get the books. I said yes and thanked him for all the info he got for me. He then said 'chai pee aapne? chai pee ke jao'. How can a pahadi say no to chai! I went to get chai. One of the amazing ginger chai in total pahadi style (with extra sugar). I sat outside and sipped tea with the ashram folks and thanked the care taking person in my thoughts. He wasn't the first one to show the same small town hospitality that I have not felt in years. While coming back I asked him to take a picture for me. He was watering the plants while listening to some video lectures (computer it seems, that he was doing for some exam).

The early morning Sivanand ashram visit

This was a special 5am visit to Sivananda Ashram. 5-6am was spent in meditation and some mantra chanting by the swami jis there. It was pitch dark and I later realized that I was sitting in the men's section for meditation :-) There weren't that many people so it didn't make much difference. Nobody bothered about it. Later at 6am, went to the Vishwanath temple where the pujari ji was doing shiv abhishek. It was interesting to see. It was like giving bath to a small kid - he applied, haldi, oil, chandan and we were given the opportunity to do the abhishek with milk and banana mash. Later it was given bath and then adorned with the bhasm tilak and the white cloth. Then the Vasuki nag was placed. Later the aarti was done with damru and ghanta. I spent half an hour in the Vishnu Sahasranama chanting and then came back in time for breakfast.

The Dayananda Ashram revisited

This was my second visit to the ashram. I wanted to visit the book shop. I figured that there is a nice walkway along side the Ganga - Asthapath. So far I was going to ashrams through the main road which had lot of traffic. On the right side of the ghat in between there was a wall with a number of shlokas written. It took me 20 min to get to the ashram by walk. I took a book with me and sat in the ashram for couple of hours as the book store was only suppose to open at 3:15pm. The guard asked me if I would like to have the kheer which they had during lunch. I went to the kitchen and had 2 cups of kheer. At 3:15pm I was hanging in front of the bookstore so that I can quickly buy any books and then head back to be at the yoga class in the ashram on time. Unfortunately the person responsible for the bookstore was late so I was offered to have tea. I went and had a glass of tea and then bought a couple of books later before walking back.

The Neelkanth Mahadev

There was only 1 day remaining in my trip. The yoga teacher asked if I visited the Neelkanth Mahadev temple during our conversation. I wasn't aware of it but then thought since I have a day, I can try to visit it. So I went outside and asked around to figure out where to get a taxi from in the morning. I was told by a chai vala downstairs that I can find the taxis there early morning. I slept with the thought of heading out 5:45am next morning. I head out at 5:50am but did not find any taxis downstairs, after asking around I figured that going to the taxi stand on the other side of Ram Jhula is the only option. So I walked across Ram Jhula and asked someone where the taxi stand is. Since there weren't that many people going to neelkanth, we will have to wait till the shared taxi fills. After some wait there were 5 people in all so we could take one taxi. It takes a 45min to 1hr taxi ride to get to Neelkanth Mahadev. I was gladly offered the front passenger seat by the other 4 stranger young men I was pooling the taxi with. The way to Neelkanth was very scenic. There wasn't any crowd at the temple so we could easily get the shivling darshan and do jalabhishek. I was back by 10-10:30am.

The Bharat Mandir

Today was the last full day I had. I came back from Neelkanth mandir before noon so I had half day to myself. After lunch I went to see the Bharat Mandir in the market area. I had to take an auto to get there and then a little bit of walk through the market area towards the Ganga. The temple wasn't crowded so I spent some time there. Note that the Bharat here is not the same as Rama's brother bharat. Do read the shlokas and their meaning in the pictures below.

The Triveni Ghat aarti

After Bharat mandir, I took the Astha path towards Triveni ghat. My final destination for the aarti that evening. I reached around 4:30pm. Bhajans before the aarti started at 5pm. Aarti was scheduled to start at 5:45pm. This aarti experience was a bit different than the one at Parmarth but both were unique in their own way. There were bhajans after the aarti and the local folks were dancing with the bhajans. 

Epilogue

I went to my roots as a human, indian, pahadi and more.... After coming back home, I was telling my father about how one should go back to their roots (what ever one considers) more often as it constantly reminds you of your own uniqueness. Something that one often takes for granted and realizes and honors only after living far away from it all. These 7 days also made me constantly feel the uniqueness of the humans, the place, the people around and part of it which I have in me.

I bought a lot of books from Rishikesh. Knowledge is power supreme! (our college motto). Lastly I want to say 'गंगा तो नहीं नहाई लेकिन बहती गंगा में हाथ जरुर धो लिये' .... literally. I did not bring the Ganga ji (Ganga Jal) with me but I managed to keep enough from those 7 days within me that hopefully it will last at least for the full year.

May the light in me see the light in you and vice versa.

Until next time ........