Swami Arunachalananda
Yatras From 2008 - 2011
January 2008
In December 2007, mother had come to Belur apartment with Umesh, Anagha, Pallavi. We had darshan of Thakur-Maa-Swamiji leelasthanas
in Belur and Kolkata. Later we hired car and also went to Kamarpukur and Jairambati. After Umesh and family left, in
the month of January 2008, I went to Gangasagar with mother around 14th January - the Makar Sankranti Mela time there. The place wore
a look of Kumbha-Mela with crowd everywhere. During daytime, after having our bath at the holy confluence and when we were tired by
walking in crowd, by the grace of Thakur, we wandered into local Ramakrishna Math where we got our lunch! We were exhausted with
fatigue during the whole day due to travelling in crowded buses, boats, taxies etc. Later in the month we also went to science
city and at Rony's Maa home in Kolkata.
Some Pics: Jayrambati Kamarpukur Visit (Dec 2007)
February 2008
In January end I came from Belur to Nashik and made a quick trip to Pune, staying at Umesh's place. After coming to Nashik from Pune,
I attended the function at Kalakshtra (11th Feb) where senior swamis from Ramakrishna Maths across Maharashtra had come. During the
function took signature of Rev Sw Bhaumananadaji Mj on the letter of introduction - for stay in RKM ashramas - to be used in our
(myself and father) Kerala-TN trip which was to start immediately on the next day of the function.
On 12th February morning we boarded Mangla Exp from Nashik road railway station; went directly to Vyasa Tapovanam at Waddkancheri,
Kerala and after staying couple of days there in the beautiful ashrama, went to Ramakishna Ashrama, Thrissur. Stayed in the ashrama
for couple of days; visited the famous Shiva temple in town with a swami from ashrama. Later we went to the famous Guruvayoor Temple;
the temple architecture style in Kerala is significantly different from Tamil Nadu. Then we went to Ramakrishna Math Kaladi -
the birthplace of Sri Shankaracharya; visited Shankaracharya Math and other famous temples; RKM guest house was just on banks of
Purna River; met few visiting brahmacharis of Chinmaya Mission. From there we went to Ramakrishna Mission Vidyashala Coimbatore
by train; it had huge campus consisting of various colleges which we saw with the help of a guide and jeep provided by the President Mj;
also visited the Math center in town. While father stayed in ashrama guest house, I made a quick trip to Ramakrishna Math Ooty
by the toy train through beautiful mountains. From Coimbatore we went to Ramakrishna Ashrama, Salem and then to Sri Ramanashamam,
Thiruvannamalai - stayed three days in guest house across the street and performed inner Girivalam. From Ramanashramam we
came to Ramakrishna Math Bangalore, Bull Temple road; saw Mother's Rock, Main temple and Shiva temple behind the ashrama,
Bull temple etc. From Bangalore to Ramakrishna Ashrama Belgaum - stayed for couple of days, saw the places where
Swami Vivekananda had stayed. From Belgaum to Pune and from Pune to Belur.
March 2008
From Belur started for Mayavati in March; on route went to Ramakrishna Ashrama, Allahabad;
visited Prayang Sangam with Sneh Mj; went by train to Vindhyavasini temple. From Allahabad went to Varanasi, stayed at
the Ramakrishna Sewashrama; met Keshav Mj of Pune who was returning after Sannyasa from Haridwar and Dr Satish Gawli; had darshan of
temples, ghats, Ganga, Thakur-Maa sanctified houses etc.; visited Sarnath with Vilas Mj and other monks. From there went to Agra
and saw Taj Mahal; then went to Vrindaban via Mathura (saw the Krishna temple in Mathura). In Vrindavan stayed at Ramakrishna Mission;
had darshan of temples, groves, Yamuna, Thakur-Maa sanctified houses, Katyayani temple etc.; did Gokul-Barsana-Govardhan by bus-tour.
Then went to Ramakrishna Ashrama Delhi; at Delhi went to the beautiful Akshardham temple and enjoyed its lighted fountain show,
exhibitions, IMAX movie etc. From Delhi went to Mayavati via Ramakrishna Kutir Almora. At Almora met Br Harshwardhan Mj; walked
with him to Kasar Devi, Golu Devta temple, house where Sister Nivedita stayed, college where Swamiji gave lecture, place where Raja Mj
and Hari Mj did tapasya, etc. and almost entire Almora, all the while discussing Vedanta! Later that year he came to Belur flat and
we went to Kolkata Thakur-Maa-Swamiji leelasthanas, Kamarpukur and Jairambati. From Almora, I went to Mayavati via Ghat route.
November 2008
In November 2008, I decided to do Narmada Parikrama without carrying any money. Started from Howrah with Br. Sunil, on way received
'donation bhiksha' from Dakshineshwar Aai which was utilised on tickets till Amarkantak. At Amarkantak, stayed in local Ramakrishna
Ashrama where Santosh Mj of Ramakrishna Mission gave further 'donation bhiksha' to perform Narmada Puja in temple; with Sunil did
that puja and after saying good-bye to Sunil, started the parikrama on a sunny afternoon. Walking close to the river, through wooded &
green patches and at some places climbing down small hills - on the way observing Kapildhara, Dudhdhara falls - reached in the evening
at a small kutia in forest. There was an old man there who offered shelter and said night khichari can be cooked by lighting
fire and with available rice, daal etc. I did that, ate the khichari and went to bed. The rumbling of rats in the hut made sleep
almost impossible. Next morning saying goodbye to the old man proceeded further; at noon reached a farmer's house where food bhiksha
and rest was offered and accepted. Started the walk again and by night reached another small village where another farmer arranged for
night stay and food. Next morning started the parikrama again; as per parikrama rule, greetings in the form of saying 'Narmade Har' &
'Om Namaha Shivaya' to anyone who came across were offered. At some places in thick forest, the path was lost but by the grace of God
soon someone appeared on the scene and helped. After about two days, I realised that this type of sadhana was not my temperament and
decided to abort the parikrama and return back to Belur; reached the highway and asking for ride from two-wheelers, four-wheelers
reached nearest town - Dindori. Here I requested a lodge owner to give me room and food for couple of days while I arrange for
money to pay him and get my return ticket. With his phone called Umesh and asked to send cash through courier; it took few days to
arrive but the money was looted through the packet on route and it arrived empty! Again asked Umesh to bank transfer the money in
lodge owner's bank account; this worked. Paid the lodge bill, stayed a night in another cheap makeshift lodge, in the morning boarded
a bus to Raipur and from there by train reached Howrah. Thus ended the little adventure of Narmada Parikrama!!
Feb-March 2009
In Feb 2009 I visited Pune and stayed with Umesh; during this stay also attended Pallavi's school function and had lot of fun
(Pics: Pallavi School Function)
Br Harshwardhan Mj - whom I had met at Almora in March 2008 and who had come to my Belur appt. later that year was offering his sewa
at Ramakrishna Ashrama Vadodara. He had gone there after I had requested my friend Ritesh Mj to take him for sewa. Before going to
Belur in March 2009, I made a small trip to Vadodara ashrama; met Br Harshwardhan Mj, Ritesh Mj and a young brahmachari Pratik Mj.
We enjoyed our time discussing various topics and playing badminton. With Ritesh Mj and Harshvardhan Mj I went to Nareshwar on
Narmada banks; had the darshan of Rangavadhoot Mj Samadhi shrine. Then from there we went to another nearby private Ramakrishna ashrama
and had lunch and rest there. From there Ritesh Mj returned to Vadodara while myself and Harshwardhan Mj went to Garudeshwar;
stayed in the guest house of the temple trust on the banks of Narmada. The place was serene and vibrant with spiritual atmosphere as
the Samadhi shrine of Swami Vasudevananda Saraswati of Datta sampradaya was nearby. We then returned to Vadodara.
April 2009
In March 2009, Pankaj Nag and myself decided to visit Tawang monastery in Arunachal Pradesh; to enter the state in-line permit was
required, which I procured by applying at the State office in Kolkata. In first week of April went to Guwahati by train and then by
bus went to Tezpur. Met Pankaj here and stayed in a hotel for night; next day morning we boarded a crowded Sumo going to Tawang.
The journey was long one (almost the whole day) and passing through great mountains of Himalaya. Beautiful sights were all around
but due to hill roads, cramped sitting arrangements in the jeep, and increasing cold & rains, the journey was tiring. At one point
we passed through Sela Pass (about 14000 ft above sea level) which was completely covered with snow and I was not carrying any
warm clothes or shoes! Pankaj gave one sweater and socks.
Some Pics: Tezpur to Tawang in Jeep
When we reached Tawang town, it was almost dark and heavily raining; we searched for available rooms in hotels and finally secured
one. Next day morning we could see the beautiful town of Tawang and surrounding mountains; also was seen in mountains the Tawang
monastery.
Some Pics: Tawang Town
Later we visited Tawang monastery and observed all the beautiful paintings, structures, statues, rotating rosary wheels, musical
instruments, monks of all ages etc. (Pics: Tawang Monastery)
We also visited the War Memorial in Tawang. (Pics: War Memorial)
While returning back we decided to avoid the troublesome and lengthy road route and hence booked tickets for Tawang - Guwahati Helicopter
service (Pics: At Helipad)! The Helicopter ride was comfortable
and we could see the mountain ranges, monasteries, country of Bhutan from up above (Pics: Helicopter Ride).
The journey was for about an hour.
In Guwahati we had some spare time, so we went to the famous Kamakhya temple (Pics: Kamakhya Temple)
October 2009
In October 2009 my father had come to my Belur apartment and we decided to go to the nearest Jyotirlinga town of Deoghar. It was
a short 2-3 days trip, we went by train and stayed in a small hotel; visited the local Ramakrishna Mission and the famous Jyotirlinga
temple which was crowded with Kawariyans. The place was so crowded and chaotic that we did not push ourselves in the crowd for
darshan inside the temple but rather bowed down to Shiva from outside and came back. The pedha prasad which we had purchased near
the temple was probably stale and caused dysentery when we came back to Belur!
February 2010
Naimisharanya Parikrama
May 2010
While staying at Advaita Ashrama Mayavati in April-May 2010, Dr Jnaneshwar of Vidarbha - who was offering sewa at Mayavati Charitable
Hospital - asked me to accompany him and Jagannath (a staff member of the hospital) for the auspicious bath at the ongoing Kumbha Mela
of Haridwar. I agreed and we started by road to Haridwar; after travelling continuously for about 20 hours of so (due to the long
route and traffic jams caused by lakhs of pilgrims) we reached the spot and took the holy dip. Being Kumbha Mela, the place was full
of pilgrims, there was crowd everywhere. We observed the shahi snan procession of the sadhus. In the crowd I was pick pocketed; since
my wallet contained bank ATM card, I called father in Nashik and asked him to go to the bank branch and cancel my card; also went
online at a cyber-café and wrote mail to the bank. Without any rest we decided to return back to Mayavati; went to the railway
station which was jam-packed, people were literally sitting on any patch of space available - on foot-bridge, on platforms, benches,
parked train wagons, even on railway tracks! We waited for about 7-8 hours; being deprived of rest and sleep for more than 30-35 hours
continuously, we were fatigued. Around midnight a train arrived and everyone rushed to get inside; it was such a horrible situation
that I felt some people might just die due to suffocation and the crowd pressure. We being young were able to secure sitting place in
the railway but many were just stacked and cramped in the crowd; I literally lifted an old woman to give her some sitting space next
to me. The train did not start for another couple of hours! Due to exhaustion, heat, crowd, and delay every sensation was numb and the
situation was surreal. Finally we arrived at Bareilly in the morning and from there took buses to reach the ashrama. After reaching
ashrama I took couple of days of rest to get over the fatigue and exhaustion!
July 2011
During Mayavati ashrama stay in summer of 2011, I enjoyed the company of Br. Rahul Mj there; we used to discuss various subjects and
also went once to Almora ashrama and Syahi Devi Hill. In July he came to Durganagar with his mother. We visited Trymbakeshwar, Wani
and Nashik temples.
Some Pics: Trymbakeshwar visit and
Some Pics: Wani visit
Also later in July I went to Raigadh fort with father, mother, Umesh, Anagha, Pallavi, Chandudada. We hired car from Pune and enjoyed
the journey through green ghats and valleys. It was raining on the fort with picturesque greenery all around. We used the newly
installed ropeway facility. While returning we stopped for a night at Samarth Ramdas Math, Shivthar Ghal.
Some Pics: Raigadh visit
Sometime during this period i visited my birthplace Ozar Township with father;
we drove on my M-80 and it was a walk down the memory-lane! Also one evening Prakash and Deepak Barve came to Durganagar and we
had good time discussing old childhood memories; later i visited with them to some places of interest in and around Nashik.
Next : Yatras 2012-2015
----------- Om Tat Sat -----------
