My Chaar Dhaam Pilgrimage

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My Chaar Dhaam Pilgrimage

 

 

The group that went on the pilgrimage was1. Sri Prasanna Kumar - from Hyderabad2. Sri Raghava Rao - from Hyderabad3. Sri Gopi Krishna - from Delhi

4. Sri Anjayya - from Karim Nagar, AP5. Sri Radha Krishna - from Karim Nagar, AP6. Br. Hari Sharanam - from Vrindavan7. Sri Gokulmuthu - from Bangalore

 

The aim of the pilgrimage was to visit the Chaar Dhaam and otherinteresting people and places enroute - mainly sadhus and ashrams.The group was very devoted. They chanted Vishnusahasranaamam atleastonce everyday. They did japa and sang bhajans whenever possible.We left Delhi at night on 04 June 2006.05 June 2006, MondayWe reached Kailash Ashram, Rishikesh in the morning. We had darshan ofSwami Medhananda Puri. He made coffee for us. As the next day wasGanga Dusshera, we were adviced to go to Gangotri first. The usualChaar Dhaam trip is to visit Yamunotri first and then go toGangotri. We planned to visit Gangotri first to wish Her"Happy Birthday".We left Rishikesh to Uttarkashi. We reached Sivananda Ashram, Ganeshpuri,UttarKashi in the evening. We had dinner and participated in the eveningBhajans. The rooms were very good a nd the hospitality was excellent.We had a nice sleep.06 June 2006, TuesdayWe started from Uttarkashi towards Gangotri. On the way, we sawa mountain with snow on the top. By coincidence, the shape of thewhite snow seen from the van looked like the letter OM. The devoteeswere thrilled.We took bath in the hot spring at Ganganani.We reached Gangotri in the midst of a major traffic jam. We were 2kmfrom the Gangotri temple. We decided to get down and walk. No soonerthan we had walked half a kilometer, when suddenly we saw a familiarperson coming towards us. It was Sri Sri Ravishankar. We bowed downto him and made pranams. He greeted us with a smile and quickly wenton his way. We were standing wondering at our good fortune.We went further and we found a very old lady accompanied by two otherladies slightly younger to her, trying hard to walk towards Gangotriwith her heavy bag, etc. We took the bag from her and helped her tothe temple holding her hand. We felt blessed to be able to help themat the holy place.We offered prayers at the banks of Ganga at Gangotri. We had darshanat the temple and started back to Uttarkashi.

 

We reached Uttarkashi at nightfall. We had dinner at the ashram andwent to sleep.07 June 2006, WednesdayWe got up early in the morning and went to the banks of Ganga. Thedevotees chanted Vishnusahasranaam. The sun rise from behind themountains, the sound of Ganga flowing mixed with the melodiouschanting of Vishnusahasranaam was enchanting.It was the day of Nirjala Ekadasi. As we are not used to it, wewere served some snacks at the ashram. We had satsangh withSwami Premanandaji Maharaj. Raghavji asked the Swamiji to give usa message. Swamiji said "Be thankful to the Lord for whateverthat happens in life. It is by His will and judgement that thingshappen. Don't complaint against or reject His will." He took someannaprasad of Puri Jagannathji and gave to Radhakrishnanji. Heasked Radhakrishnanji to eat it. He ate it. Swamiji said, "See,t oday is Ekadasi. But he did not think, 'Why is Swamiji doing afoolish thing? Today is Ekadasi and still he is asking me toeat rice. I will not eat it.' He thought, 'Swamiji knows todayis Ekadasi. Still he is asking me to eat this. So it must be fineto eat it.' This should be your attitude. You should rely on thejudgement of God.He also said that it is the Lord who has become everything in theworld. Learn to see the Lord everywhere. At the same time, useyour intelligence also. He told the story of the Elephant God andthe Mahout God.We took leave of the Swamiji and went towards Yamunotri. We reachedHanuman Chatti at night.

 

08 June 2006, ThursdayWe started in the morning. We went upto Janaki Chatti by a localjeep and started trekking to Yamunotri. The village houses wereinteresting. The horses, the palkis, etc were a new experience.The trek was steep. It was compensated by the beautiful scenery.We were in no hurry. We reached Yamunotri. The water in theriver was cold. Some of us took a dip while others just sprinkledthe water on the head. We took bath in the hot spring water.There was a Hanuman and Rama temple near the Yamunotri temple.Thanks to Hari Sharanam Maharaj, our afternoon prasad was arrangedin the temple. After prasad, the devotees chanted Vishnusahasranaamoutside the temple. Then we started trekking down. We reached Hanuman Chatti in the evening and stayed there for the night.

 

09 June 2006, FridayIn the morning, we started the long drive towards Kedarnath. Thedevotees chanted Vishnusahasranaam and sang some bhajans in the van.On the way, the spring in the van got broken and we had to spend afew hours at Barkot to get it repaired.

When the van got fixed, we continued our journey. We reachedShrinagar (Uttaranchal) by night fall. We stayed there in thenight. As this falls on the way to Hemakund Sahib, there were alot of Sikh pilgrims in Shrinagar and on the roads.10 June 2006, SaturdayWe started towards Kedarnath. We stopped at Guptakashi. We wentto Sri Srividhya Dhaam. It is a residential patashala and acharitable rest house for sadhus and sadhaks. We left our luggagethere.We went to the place where a friend of Gopiji - Sri Ramamoorthyji- is leading a secluded life. There is a shiva temple where Nalahad worshipped. There is a place where Nala did tapas. We alsosaw the samadhi of Damayanti from a distance. There were rice andpotato fields all round. There were rows of mountains one behindthe other in all directions. The place was very beautiful.Sri Ramamoorthyji showed us Bhoj Patra. It is the bark of a treeand is like paper. It is used to write sacred texts. He alsogave some Kedarnath prasad.

 

We reached Gauri Kund at the base of Kedarnath before noon. Wetook bath in the hot spring and started trekking up. The placewas very crowded. Horses and palkis were plying in the serviceof pilgrims who could not or did not want to trek by foot. Weheard there were more than 20,000 horses in service there. Thereis helicopter service also. The trek is not as steep as Yamunotri,but it is twice as long. It started raining as we neared theKedarnath temple. We reached the top in the night. We took aroom and slept