Swami Arunachalananda
Kavnai Kuti-Stray Notes
A few days after the Bhoomi-Pujan at the Kuti site, i visited it again with Uday, Umesh, Aai, and Dada. We went in Uday's car and
while returning had lunch at Om Sai Dhaba on the highway. Then almost a year later we all again visited Kavnai and by now the construction
work was almost over. During this visit, after reaching the kuti, i realized that i had forgotten to bring the keys of the door-lock!
so we were disappointed but father tried to open the sliding window by giving it some push and it opened! I entered inside and all
could see the rooms from inside. While returning to Nashik we had our lunch at 'Hari Om Dhaba' on the highway.
Some Pics: Family Visits
When the construction of the Kuti began in January 2018, i moved from Nashik to Ghoti (on Ramana Jayanti day). I had taken a rented
room in Ghoti (which though costed monthly rent of Rs 3000, was damp, ill-painted, very poorly lit, in congested bylane, near open gutter,
and with scarcity of water!). I used to go weekly twice of thrice to Kavnai site to oversee the Kuti construction. During the borewell
digging operation i had purchased coconut and sweets in anticipation of hitting water level but around 10 o'clock in night we had to stop
drilling as no water was seen even after going 300 feet deep. i distributed the sweets among workers and returned to Ghoti dissapointed.
On 17th Feb 2018 Sri Ramakrishna Tithi Puja was celebrated at the partially developed site. Later during March end i realised that the
construction team had duped me and left the job half done. I left the Ghoti room and came to half-constructed site with luggage on April 1st, 2018.
Temporary tube-light was fixed for my stay and drinking water was brought from Nandu Patil house. After few days i moved into the empty tin shed
of the workers. Prashant Deole coaxed some workers and brought them to site on his bike or in his car periodically to complete the construction somehow.
In June 2018 i went to Sri Ramanashramam for about a month as this was planned in febraury itself and i did not wish to cancel it. I
packed my luggage and moved it into Nandu Patil's house which was being built just next to the kuti (and its Bhoomi-Puja was done my
me on Sri Ramakrishna Tithi Puja!). After returning from Tiruvannamalai, i tried to stay in the Kuti but due to bad roof work,
found the terrace leaking! Also the surrounding area and approach road were unsutable for commuting on vehicle. Hence i had to
wait till September for returning to stay in kuti. In October-November when rains had stopped and i started staying there, i
had to unpack my stuff which was kept packed in damp weather for more than 3 months.
Stay after October 2018
From October 2018 i started staying at the Kavnai Kuti continuously; the pending electrical fitting and plumbing work was over within
a month or so. During Navaratri period Kushal arranged the painting of the kuti both from inside and outside; Mishra painter, who had
also done Durganagar painting work, did the kuti painting. After painting it took me few days to clean and re-arrange the kuti.
In mid-November Vinoth Kumar, my friend from Theni, visited Nashik; with him i visited Trymbakeshar, Shirdi, Aurangabad, Kavnai Kuti,
Ganeshpuri, Kanheri Caves etc. Almost all of December 2018 i stayed at the kuti and also privately observed Holy Mother Sri Sarada
Devi Puja in the kuti.
My friend from almora, Bhaskar Mj (Swami Bhajanananda) came to Nashik in January 2019 and stayed in the kuti for two months. During this period,
we celebrated 12th January National Youth day at Gonde village school and
once went to Trymbakeshwar; i had an accident in Nashik on bike (while returning with father from Rev Swami Bhaumanandaju Mj
'asthi-visarjan' at Ram-Kund) and hence stayed at Nashik for about a month; mine and father's right arm required a month to recover.
In Feb-end Sudhir Akarte from Amaravati came and i went with him and Bhaskar Mj to Rishikesh and then further with Bhaskar Mj to Sri
Ramanashramam. I returned to the kuti in April 2019 and stayed continuously there with occasional monthly visit to Nashik.
 12th January Function
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 At Gonde Village School |
Devdatta Kulkarni visited Nashik in May-end, we stayed for a day in the kuti and went to Ganeshpuri for a day. From Ganeshpuri i went to Dombiwili and stayed with Subodh-mama for a night. In June, Kushal arranged for thin chemical waterproofing of kuti roof for protection against roof-leak during monsoon season.
Once I went to Trimbakeshwar with Santaji Patil for his appointment with a doctor near Pegalwadi; i took this occasion to visit Ramakrishna Arogyashrama nearby run by Rajendra Mj (Swami Srikanthananda) and Vijay Mj; Vijay Mj had gone to Mumbai so met Rajendra Mj and had good discussion with him.
I had some fund balance given from Pankaj Naug (which he had sent for my visa processing for planned UK trip to his place, which did not materialise), with some more addition from Umesh, I utilised this to put metal sheets on top of kuti before i left to Tiruvannamalai for a month. Rains arrived on 10th June with full force and then it became Heavy Rains! this continued for more than a month almost unabated.
After returning from Tiruvannamalai i again stayed at Kavnai and once a month or so visited Nashik. During Navaratri, on Saptami and Ashtami day i went to Ganeshpuri, Vajreshwari and after few days Raju Karemore came to Nashik and Kavnai. Br Jnaneshwar Mj of Newase visited Nashik just after Diwali (end of October) and attended the 'Tapa-Sewa-Simaran' retreat alongwith father; after the retreat he came to Kavnai and we visited Kapildhara Tirth, Gajanan Mj temple, Sarvatirth Taked etc. On Diwali Bhai-Duj evening we attended for some time the Sri Sri Ravishankar satsang held at Tapovan.
Jnaneshwar Mj Visit and Video: Sri Sri Satsang at Tapovan (29 October 2019)
In November Mr Rajwade of Ramakrishna Vivekananda Sewashrama Nashik requested a meeting with me, so in Mid-November i went to the Sewashrama one day and met him and other devotees. He wanted me to stay in the Sewashrama and look after its activities; the devotees also requested me to give talk on Holy Mother on Her Tithi Puja day. I agreed and prepared for the same at Kavnai but during another visit to them, i dicovered that they had changed the speaker without informing me! So on Holy Mother Tithi Puja day (18th December 2019) I read the write-up on Mother at Kavnai Kuti itself!
Later I went to Nashik as Balkrishna Mj (Swami Gaurikantanandaji Mj) of Rajkot was coming to Nashik (19th December evening). He had stayed at Durganagar during 2015 Kumbha-Mela and now wanted to see Kavnai Kuti. I received him at Ozar Airport and we stayed at Durganagar for couple of day. We went to Ram-Kunda, Kapaleshwar Temple, Kalaram Temple etc and also visited Mr Thorat home. Then we went to Kavnai and stayed in kuti for 2 days; we visited Sri Gajanan Mj temple at Kavnai, Kamakshi Devi temple, and had bath at Kapildhara Kund. From Kavnai we went to Trimbakeshwar and had darshan of the Jyotirlinga; also had bath at Kushavarta Kunda. From Trimbakeshwar we returned to Nashik and in the evening went to Mr Poddar residence. On 23rd evening the Swami boarded flight from Nashik Airport to Ahemadabad.
On 26th December evening i went to Dr Kulkarni's home to meet Niraj Mj of Trivendram Math; he was asked by Sutan Mj to meet me (Sutan Mj had visited Durganagar in 2015 Kumbh-Mela and Niraj Mj was his room-mate in Trivendram Math). We had dinner at Mr Kulkarni's place and I returned home while Niraj Mj went to catch train from Nashik-Road. (Balkrishna Mj Visit)
During this meet Dr Kulkarni requested me for an Marathi article on Swami Vivekananda to be published on 12 January (National Youth Day) in local Marathi daily 'Divya Marathi'; he also again asked me to give talk on Swamiji Tithi Puja! I reminded him of their change of plan in December and he apologised for the same. Returning to Kavnai, i prepared the article and sent him; it appeared in the daily on 12th January and i also gave the talk on Swamiji Tithi Puja (17 January 2020) which i had prepared at Kavnai.
More Pics: Stay from Oct 2018 onwards
After returning from Tiruvannamalai on 24th March 2020 morning, that day evening itself National Lockdown and closure of all flight services throughout India was announced by PM Modi due to Corona Virus scare! Staying home was compulsory! So stayed at Durganagar till April 3rd. On 3rd April i tried my luck and reached Ghoti without police obstruction, purchased grocery and vegetables and came to Kavnai Kuti. This was returning to kuti after more than two months. In April-May approach road was put in place connecting kuti building to main road. In June first week the work of West side Shed-erection and fixing metal sheets on upper hall was completed by Lahanu Bangar and Akil; in July metal staircase work along with fixing of flag-pole on top of kuti was done by Pradeep Kshirsagar. Swami Sarveshananda (Keshav Mj) visited Nashik, Kavnai during last week of September. Keshav Mj Visit
On 3rd February 2021, a day before Swami Vivekananda Tithi-Puja, i reached Tiruvannamalai and after spending a month and half there, started for Nashik from there on 16th March, a day after Sri Ramakrishna Tithi-Puja. On 9th April, i took first vaccination shot of Covishield at KTHM College, Nashik and on 10th April returned to Kavnai. Kushal had brought tiles from Nashik and kept in front of kuti. To fix those tiles, stones were laid and murum spread on top of it under the West-side shed; also the approach road was extended till back gate. Kushal brought cement pipes for rain water drainage, which were put under-ground at the back side of kuti. These measures proved useful during the heavy rains of July. From 15th Aug till 15th Sept i was again in Tiruvannamalai; returned to Kavnai only in the last week of September.
End of Kuti Phase
During Tiruvannamalai stay i had decided to go for sannyasa and returning Nashik, i had discussed the matter with family; hence now the process of selling Kavnai property and two-wheeler started. I informed to concerend individuals, friends, neighbours etc. Meanwhile Sudhir Mj, Adhyaksha of Advaita Ashrama called me from Mayavati and requestd to come to the ashrama for staying and sewa. I then decided to make a Power of Attorny document which will allow my father to sign all and any document in my absence. Kavnai Kuti MSEB bill issue which was languishing for more than two years was also reolved and i cleared the electricity bill by paying the due (of Rs 5K) to Mr Rane of MSEB Ghoti. The final departure day from Kavnai was now fixed and I asked Kushal to send tempo to move my packed bags and the big Thakur-Maa-Swamiji photo-frames. Furniture, many kitchen items, remaining material from construction phase etc. was either donated to locals of sold at very low price. On 23rd October, the tempo arrived in the evening and with the help of Nandu's father & the driver, i loaded the packed stuff into the tempo. Thus ended the Kavnai Kuti Phase!
----------- Om Tat Sat -----------
