Chp 2: Introduction

     Thus it all started with a desire... as one desire leads to another… pretty soon all the desires quilted into an astonishingly beautiful, almost unachievable wish.. to visit the pilgrimages of this sacred land with our spiritual guide. Yes, this impossible dream, the coveted desire of any initiated devotee of God, did come true… only by the grace of the ever gracious Guru (The Supreme Lord, manifesting as our spiritual guide in our earthly sojourn to lead us back to the Supreme Abode).

     Once the consent was obtained, next came the final sieving of the destinations which is an equally insurmountable task. As mentioned before, the whole subcontinent of India is holy. It maynot be an exaggeration to state that there is not a single region in India that does not have a place of pilgrimage associated with it. So, given this unique opportunity which maynot be presented ever again, which places should we actually visit?  My husband, Tirthankar, had never been to South India and myself when I was only 12 years old. Except for KanyaKumari I did not remember anything. Time available from work was a month.

     We will be using the term “maharaj” throughout this narration. In Ramakrishna family, the swamis are addressed reverentially as “Maharaj”. The tradition started with the Ramakrishna Mission (RKM) first president, Swami Brahmanandaji Maharaj, being addressed as “Raja Maharaj” or simply “Maharaj”.

     Again, true to his role, Swami Dayatmananda (Head of Ramakrishna Vedanta Centre, UK) himself suggested the places we should visit, when we should visit, how we should visit, all the minutest of details. So maharaj being aware of our complete blissful ignorance, himself took upon the task to chart out the itinerary, make arrangements of our lodgings, sightseeing, salient things to cover and yes, even transportation..! All these details will be forthcoming. So, here is an all renouncing monk, a free soul, going for his own time in his beloved motherland to be with his friends and family (fellow monks), once every four years maybe and here he gladly takes upon himself to carry us “babies” along with him. Mothers carry diaper bags, strollers, car seats, toys and God knows what for their little ones when she travels. This is well accepted because babies are helpless. Here we two are middle-aged couple tagging along with a free soul… If this hassle is not compassion I do not know what is..!

     So, maharaj chose the month of March, 2012 for this journey and we would visit Vrindaban, Belur Math, Dakshineshwar, Kanyakumari, Madurai, Rameshwaram, Chennai, Kanchipuram, Coimbatore, Ooty, Mysore Ponnampet, Bangalore and Ulsoor.

     Since this was one of kind experience for us, we decided to share with all and the method chosen was: “Come and join us for a pilgrimage to India in company of Swami Dayatmanandaji Maharaj”…!!!!
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