Pleasant and Peaceful Pilgrimage

We had a well planned pilgrimage trip to India and most fortunately everything worked as planned -- along with many pleasant surprise. Myself, my wife and the 3 boys Arjun (13), Trinith and Tushar (11year old twins), we first flew into Mumbai via Frankfurt and reached mumbai on the 21st july morning 2:00AM. Thanks to our relatives in Mumbai after a few hours of rest we covered the 3 very important temples in Mumbai (Sidhi Vinayakar, Mahalakshmi and Mumbai Devi) the very first day. On the 2nd day we caught up with a few relatives and had a pleasant dinner outing. On the 23rd we left for Pune (in a brand new Toyota Inova - similar to the US Sienna - which had a DVD player - hence the kids could enjoy a few movies during the road trips). The mumbai-pune expressway was fantastic especially since we had grand views of several hundred water falls, including the big one at Lonawala. After a visit with a specialist doctor we returned on Saturday -- stopping in all the scenic view areas. Sunday the 26th we enjoyed mumbai in a horse driven cart (Hotel Taj, India Gate, etc.). Monday early morning we left for Shirdhi Baba temple and headed to Shani Shinganapur first and on Tuesday we had the blessings to attend Kakada harthi for Baba (which was the main purpose of this trip to India). Wednesday 27th AM we left for the New Bangalore airport (where Bhaskar -- 20+ year Dad's Chauffer - was waiting with another new Inova). Straight from Bangalore to Parthi in NH7, and lovely darshans until Friday AM. Friday afternoon we reached HH Sri Sri Ravi Shankar's Ashram in Kanakapura Road. When my wife and the 3 boys had left to see their grand mom, I stayed back for a very pleasant Sathsang with Gurudev!! Thanks to folks in the B'lore Ashram all 5 of us got to meet Gurudev and get his grace and blessings on Saturday (this was my highlight in this entire trip). I also had the chance to shop for a bunch of CD's, DVD's and Books from the AOL shop (Including Ashtavakara Gita). Surprisingly another AOL member from the DC area was also visiting Bangalore then (Prabhu) and he mentioned Gurudev's planned program (temple tour). That weekend we reached Chennai to see my Grand mom and family (plus my parents) and on Monday we did a trip to Kancheepuram. One evening a fantastic program by Sri Vittal Das at Chennai. Relaxed for a few days (and caught up with friends) before the trip back to DC via Frankfurt (the boys are still in India). Only after this trip did I learn about the significance of the pancha bootham shiva temples in South India. It was indeed one memorable, pleasant and peaceful pilgrimage (20 day trip).

Jai Guru DEV