Banares is The land of Shiva. And in this month of shravan with a solar eclipse on its way, you can see shades of saffron everywhere. Like how there are maternity leaves, these bhaktas called kavadiya’s from all across the country have submitted a Faith leave, traveling barefoot from Allahabad, collecting the sacred waters of the ganges at the holy sangam, offering and prostrating at the feet of the Lord Vishwanath in Banares. They are strong, full of devotion, very colorful and loud. With the chants of Bol-Bhum, Banares was glittering with their presence, the muddy ganges as always in her magical flow and mystical waters were filled with these devout devotees of Lord Shiva echoing love and gratitude.
The city is not very welcoming to these men in saffron but businesses are flourishing and all hotels are booked. What I liked about them is their unity in small groups, chanting filled with fervor and love overflowing. How I wished I had a camera while traveling so that you could picture what I mean 🙂
The course was a blast! Lots of enthusiastic guys and girls filled up to empty themselves from the clutches of the past and boulders of the future. It happened. As always.
My daily activities were totally governed by the electricity and I had tuned myself physically, mentally and emotionally to the presence of darkness 🙂 Sab maya hai!!
The last day of the course concluded at a beautiful farmhouse of rohit and though the tennis court was very inviting, I did what I am supposed to do. Teach. And then we cruised for lunch at the Taj Ganges. I loved the pizza and it was raining olive oil. Yummy. The char-grilled vegetables transformed my mind set. The east indies crepe was luscious with extra cheese. The al-dente pasta was showered with extra parmesan cheese got me back to my nature. The lasagna was not worth indulging, overfilled with raw French beans which took away all of its softness. The desserts were shouting blueberry cheese cake and just in time I saw the red mark next to it. How I wish there were no chickens, and no eggs, then all these desirable cakes would have turned vegetarian. So much for a meal. Yes, I involved myself totally and then dragged myself to the station to land in Bhopal. It was sleep, sleep, sleep all the way and it feels great to be back with all of you. So if you are a fervent disciple of Lord Shiva this is the time to visit banares and invoke innocence and love and feel proud about the faith India transmits. Catch it!
Next post for sure on the DSN.
wow!Good to hear from you. we just concluded part1 with Vikram bhaiyya.wl b celebrating this evening.meanwhile vikhroli is waking up to sri si yoga, part1,navchetna, patanjali knowledge session, homa and gurupuja weekly satsang as guided by vikram bhaiyya ,whichwill culminate into a wonderful DSN course with you. wl b informing allas soon as venue is fixed.
🙂
Too Good! I am missing BHU so much.. At the time of Shivratri Banaras is at its very Best.. I remember the talk that you gave on Shivratri couple of years back..
In an Ocean of Milk, lies a wish granting Tree.
Under the Tree, lies a Hut of Wisdom.
Inside the Hut, on a couch of Innocence.. SHIVA sits…
Raudra Roop bhi.. Bholenath bhi.. 🙂
Last Saturday we had a complete Blissful evening with GuruPooja by lovely Aban Aunty and rocking Satsang, with Lalit in full form. Lots of people came for the first time, thoroughly loved the house.
Me and Amit have started blogging, let me know how is it…
A&B is gonna be the NEW craze.. Amit is going for TTC 2morrow..
Lots more to tell U (as usual.. ;))
Love,
JGD!
A total dekho of the Benaras city! Your language makes everything so crystal clear to us. U can actually give a picturesque view of the entire happynings. An apt titile of the blog.
Taj Ganges ! Ho…. Hum….(not So… hum..)
Jgd Bhaiya
The Art Of Living has waken up the faith and devotion in my heart that I always had for the divine and had lost for sometime. Thanks to Guruji(at least on net, he won’t return that word back to me!). Thanks to you for being Guruji’s first messenger in my life.
Love
Meghana
I never realised Benaras is so beautiful, people appreciate this so much may be I have been seeing all this since childhood.
Love,
Jai Guru Dev.