Swami Arunachalananda Puri   (Purvashrama [Pre-monastic] name: Mangesh Shrikant Buwa)

A Pilgrim's Journey

Every life is a journey in space and time against the backdrop of infinite Unknown.... each phase of it is like a stroke of color on canvas... bunch of memories....
...can't positively ascertain to be true or fading dream....
life has made me travel extensively... ...in US, from east coast Atlantic City to west coast San Francisco, from Niagara falls to Washington DC, from Chicago to Boston and in India, from Kedarnath to Kanyakumari, from Girnar to Munnar, from Tawang to Tringalwadi, from Kolhapur to Kamakhya...

Childhood, High School and Junior College (1975 - 1993):
Childhood @ Ozar Township (Nashik) - Till 10th Std. HAL High School (Marathi Medium), 11th & 12th in English Medium....
Quarter No. Type III-A-72 was our home.... though i was in Marathi medium, the neighbourhood was full of English medium friends... used to participate actively in yearly Ganesh Puja festivals, Holi celebrations, Christmas and New Year Eves, Cycling, Movies, Cricket matches etc. The Township, being exclusive colony of H.A.L. employees, was full of modern amenities - which were rare even in cities those days - like Lawn-Tennis court, Badmiton Hall, Gardens, Squash Court, Swimming Pool, Social Club equipped with Library, Table Tennis, Chess, TV, movies, regular social parties etc.
 Total Period Approx.: 18 Years
 Some Pics: Township Days

Engineering College (1993 - 1997):
At Govt. College of Engineering, Pune(C.O.E.P.) - stream: Mechanical Sandwich i.e. out of 4 yrs of college duration 1 yr in industry as trainee (with monthly stipend!) ...did that at Kirloskar Oil Engines Ltd. (KOEL). Hostel and College life with all its fun and drama was experienced during this period. Movies in Pune theatres and Trekks to nearby forts were frequent...visit to Nashik every semester before exams was the practice... campus interviews, coming of IT wave in India, friends opting for software industry, brother Uday's marriage, Umesh's departure to US, and KOEL project etc. were highlights of the last year in college (1996-97)...
 Total Period Approx.: 4 Years
 Some Pics: Pune College Days

First Job - Greaves Diesel Engine Unit (D.E.U.), Pune (1997 - 1999):
Worked in Quality Assurance department as Management Trainee; execution of small projects related to quality of Diesel Engine Crank-cases...
 Total Period Approx.: 1 Year 4 Months   ...  Colleagues at Q.A. Dept.

Appeared for C.E.T. Exam in order to get into M.B.A. ...got admission in PUMBA (Pune University M.B.A.); Left job and attended college few months of college, commuting from Sadashiv Peth to University campus on newly purchased Bajaj M-80...
...wished to enter Software field hence studied for C-DAC (Center for Development of Advanced Computing) Exam and though was confident of getting admission in C-DAC Pune... instead life gave me C-DAC Thane! ... left PUMBA for C-DAC Thane.

Into the Computing World (1999 - 2000):
C-DAC at Silverline Institute of Technology (Kolshet Road, Dhokali Naka, Thane) was six months packed of knowledge and fun... some of the hostel atmosphere (from college days) was lingering in the air at the training institute, as well as at the nearby flats in which we students stayed. I was ranked first in almost all subjects throughout!
 Some Pics: C-DAC Days
After completing 6 months C-DAC course ...got job in Silverline Technologies (Andheri and later Thane Campus); Interride Project...great team colleagues and fun trips to Arnala, Bhandardara, Matheran etc..
 Total Period Approx.: 2 Years
 Some Pics: Silverline Institute of Technology-Thane

US of A (2000 - 2002):
Days in Chicago... project at ClickCommerce (DownTown, Aon Center) and stay at Presidential Towers (10-12 blocks from workplace)... Chicago became my favorite place...(maybe because of its association with Swami Vivekananda)... Gautam Gurtoo, Sarvanan, Senthil, Praveen were room-mates ... love for Table Tennis made us purchase a full table and put it in the condo! ...used to play after coming from office. ...weekend movies and roaming in downtown, regular visit to Umesh's home in Des Plaines by Blue Line and Jefferson Park bus, Pallavi's birth.... Visit of parents to Umesh's place... Visit to Niagara Falls with Parents, Umesh, Anagha, and Pallavi ...visit to Sri Muktananda Ashrama at South Fallsburg, NY with father...
 Some Pics: Windy City
After more than a year in Chicago moved to another proejct at Verizon, Silver Spring, Maryland... stay at nearby appartments... Lincoln Memorial, US Capitol, White House etc. Shanmuga was my friend and co-worker at Verizon... used to take me to South Indian temples in the area... Project leads - Bob Haslet, Baljit ...COEP friends Gautam Chatur, Vikrant Aute were nearby ... movies with them... while leaving Verizon handed over the project work to my friend Ajay Khamkar, who moved from West Coast to Silver Spring.
 Some Pics: Near D.C.
Trips with Friends - COEP friends get-together at Atlantic City on East Coast and later Disneyland, Warner Studio West Coast...  Some Pics: East Coast and West Coast
 Total Period Approx.: 1 Year 8 Months

Back in Punyabhumi Bharata:
Return from US - July 2002... joined Surya Technologies, Pune as project lead ...worked from Aug 2002 till February 2003 at the Jangli Mj road office; .NET Technologies and Windows CE platform...
 Total Period Approx.: 6 Months
Left job to join Ramakrishna Math and Mission (March 2003)

The Ashramas:

  (1) Ramakrishna Math, Pune
  (2) Mission Office, Belur Math
  (3) Advaita Ashrama Mayavati
  (4) Gurudev Siddhapith
  (5) Vedaneri Theni
  (6) Ramakrishna Kutir Almora
  (7) Ramanashramam
  (8) Sivananda Ashrama Rishikesh
  (9) Other Ashramas

Back to Roots:
From 2012 - 2018 : In 2009 I had decided to move from Belur Apt. to old home at Durganagar, Nashik... so yearly few months stay was divided between Belur, Mayavati, and Nashik! Finally in early 2012, with the help of father, i moved my entire stuff - including M80 - from Belur to Durganagar...occasional trips to Mayavati, Belur, other pilgrim places continued intermittently but more stay was at Nashik.
 Total Period at Durganagar Nashik since 2009 (Approx.): 3 Years 8 Months
 Pics of various times at Durganagar: 6 Sept 2011  and 3 Oct 2013 and 29 June 2015   and Upper Room (4 Sept 2011 and 29 June 2015)   and 13 Nov 2015   and With Prakash-Deepak

On 15th August 2015 and 2018, I went to HAL High School (Marathi Medium) at Ozar Township with school friends for Alumni functions: School Reunion 15 August 2015   and School Reunion 18 August 2018

Also from 2012 yearly couple of months were spent at Gurudev Siddhapitha, Ganeshpuri till 2015....in 2015 six months course at Theni, Tamil Nadu was completed and around 2015 year-end i spent couple of months in a rented apartment at Ganeshpuri. In 2016, couple of months were spent at Mayavati and Almora ashramas... and in the year-end, Belur flat was successfully sold off. The funds proceeds of the flat sale were utilized in 2017-18 for Kavnai land purchase and Kuti construction.

Kavnai Kuti:
After i left Ramakrishna Math Pune in 2007, i had been on travelling spree for almost 10 years!...this included various pligrimages, travel to and from Mayavati, Belur etc. Even during 1997-2007 period i had travelled a lot...Pune, Thane, Chicago, Silver Spring, trips within US with friends etc. So i thought of stopping the travellings and staying at some remote place for Sadhana. For this i checked few pieces of land around Trymbakeshwar and Wani (and even around Ganeshpuri) but nothing materialised. My father had mentiond Kavnai in this connection though i was unaware of its location and importance, so when a land-agent mentioned a piece of land in Kavnai, i decided to have a look. After seeing the land and getting to know the religious importance of the place from the Kapildhara temple, i finalised and fixed the purchase that day evening itself (22.05.2017) in the compound of Kamakshi Devi shrine of the village. And thus started Kavnai Kuti Phase.

Sannyasa:
In the later half of 2021, my mind was getting firmed up for taking formal sannyasa. After returning from Tiruvannamalai (around mid-Sept), things started moving in rapid succession culminating in attaining formal monkhood on Mahashivaratri (1st March 2022). Details at Sannyasa.

Tiruvannamalai:
After sannyasa i started staying in Tiruvannamalai - the abode of Arunachala and a place close to my heart. Details at Tiruvannamalai.

----------- Om Tat Sat -----------