It all just happened without planning, without extra clothes, without a proper destination in mind only togetherness and solitude to experience. Eight of us filled the sumo and set out to the Shringeri Mutt , 345 kms away from Bangalore. The journey surveying through the Western Ghat forests, one of the extreme bio diverse forests of the world. Passing through a forest with tress being your best friends is a travellers joi de vivre. I simply love to gaze at big huge tress, guessing their age in my mind, examining their area of growth, ogling at their shape and size and basking in their shade of love.
We stopped at midnight in the forest, a sight picked up by my sense receptors and entirely registered in my brain regions. There were patches where one could not see the sky, only stars twinkling their lights sent years back right into our consciousness.
The Shringeri Mutt is the first Mutt which Adi Shankaracharya established. Adi Shankaracharya was the great Guru, who had a profound influence on the growth of Hinduism through his non-dualistic philosophy. He advocated the greatness and importance of the great Hindu scriptures, the Vedas (most particularly on the Upanishads, also known as Vedanta), and gave new life to Hinduism. In thirty-two years of existence, He travelled the length and breadth of the country establishing righteousness. On his way to the Vishwanath temple in Kashi, he came upon an untouchable and his dog. When asked to move aside by Shankara’s disciples, the untouchable asked: “Do you wish that I move my soul, the atman and ever lasting, or this body made of clay?” The more one finds about Him, the more there is. More about Him in another post. He travelled to these forests and meditated here and one day he saw a snake giving its hood’s shade as protection to a pregnant frog from sun rays. The harmony, non-violence and the sense of love made Him start the first Mutt here.
The temple is the pillar of transcendental wisdom, arts, and vedas and is presided by Goddess Sharada Devi. Yagna’s, chantings reverberate the atmosphere of this ancient 8th century temple.
The other temple in the campus was built by the disciples of the10th Shankaracharya VidyaRanya. The temple has been built on top of the place of the Samadhi of the Guru. The Guru’s disciples were the Kings Hakka and Bukka, the founders of the great VijayNagar Empire. The Empire was the economic, cultural, political and spiritual superpower of the world. Historians have recorded that diamonds and rubies were sold by weight measure on the streets. An era depicting the power of amalgamating business with spirituality. Even the ruins of the city Humpi have been declared as world heritage sites by UNESCO.
The temple architecture depicts the horse at the bottom level, elephant over it, lions over it and then the rishis, representing, speed, strength, valor and yet peace. The levels get into depicting different asanas, gandharvas and the main panels showcase the stories of Purans. One circumambulation is a guided tour to the wealth of Hindu mythology.
The next stop was the river where we experienced first hand, the manifestation of love, harmony and fearlessness in nature. In the next post 🙂
bhaiya, thanks a ton for making my weekend unforgettable for life times.
this trip was something which I’ll always cherish about in my life..for all the Fun,Adventure,Knowledge,Dhayan and lots more we had:))
Its a place everybody should visit once(at least) in their life time.
Still ahven’t come out of hangover of the trip:P:P
Love,
Srikant
n im anxiously waiting for the next post…hope lots more snap n details to come out.
dearest rajesh,
your descriptions of any thing is so apt:))) that for a moment one start visualising !!!! and feeling ones presence there .great going !
i personally want to thank you for such exceptional posts , really proud to be an indian as we we have such rich culture and heritage ,people wants to visit so many countries, see we have such wonderful places to visit.
so keep exploring. and keep us informed as well. thanks
lots and lots of love shhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhe! u will catch up , clue (song).
midnight in forest…….how adventurous!!
nd exploring such old places is an experience in itself…
nd reading ur descriptive experience is not less thn
experiencing it urself….!!
wohh!! lots of experience…:-)
**a sight picked up by my sense receptors and entirely registered in my brain regions
Ah! Deja Vu Forever
JGD
gr8888888