Two Trips to India in 2019

Two short trips were taken to India in the year 2019. This article, albeit late, is posted so that the beautiful pictures and associated events are recorded and shared. The first trip was taken in April 2019 with only myself, my wife Srimathy and my daughter Sapna who  joined us from her semester study abroad program from Italy. Son Ajay could not take time off from work.

The April 2019 trip started off with miraculous experiences right from the air transit in Frankfurt, Germany, wherein standing at a coffee shop line, I bumped into a stranger Sri Balasubramaniam who is a businessman from Chennai, India, and we started talking about Dasa Mahavidyas, my love for Them, etc. He ended up taking me to a Swamiji, Sri Narayana Teertha Swamigal, in Chennai, who gave me Moola Mantra Upadesham for Sri Tara Devi ! Sri Balasubramaniam’s photo is below:

Sri Narayana Teertha Swamigal’s photo is below:

Brother-in-law Sri Kishore and my father-in-law Sri Krshna met us and took us to Anichchampaalayam where we had darshan of Sri Keshava Teertha Swamigal’s Brindaavanam. He was the Guru of Sri Raghavendra Swamigal. There we had darshan of Gyaani Sri Krishnarav Swamigal, who “hears” answers to devotees’ questions directly from Sri Keshava Teertha Swamy Himself and conveys to the devotees. Below is a photo of the Brindavanam with Srimathy in the foreground .

Below is a photo of Sri Krishnarav Swamigal.



As though this nectar was not enough, Kishore took us to Oonjaloor, where the real adhistaanam of Sri Seshadri Swamigal is there. What a peaceful place that was ! Below is a photo of the adhistaanam of Sri Seshadri Swamigal and a photo of myself with the old gentleman who is the caretaker of the place.

 To add to the beauty, we ended up in Kancheepuram, where Sri Bhuvananadar Swamy, who conducts the daily Poojas for Sri Kamakshi Amman at the famous Sri Kamakshi Amman Temple in Kancheepuram gave both me and my wife Moola Mantra Upadesham of Ganapathy and Bala Tripura Sundari and gave me the Navakshari Mantra Upadesham of Sri Chandika Devi !!! We were in cloud nine ! Below is a photo of our Guru Sri Bhuvananada Swamy.

Amidst all this, there was some business to be conducted in Coimbatore and we took care of it. And I had to get some significant dental work done ( 3 extractions and 7 dental implants in ONE sitting !). The dental work was done at Dentistree opposite SIET College in Chennai and the Implantalogist was Dr. Deepa Lakshmi. She said “Amongst all the patients I have had you were the most cooperative; you did not even move a bit !” And I said, “Doc, as you were doing your task, I was doing japa of The Great Gayatri Mantram !” Such is the POWER of the Gayatri Mantram ! Below is a photo of Dr. Deepa Lakshmi, Dr. Anupama, Myself, Srimathy and my daughter Sapna, after the procedure.

And now for the super short trip to India taken in November 2019:

This time it was only Srimathy and myself that could go. Ajay had to be working and Sapna had college. This time also, significant dental work had to be done in the sense of 3 root-canals in one sitting, mold-development for subsequent cap and crowns (10 of them !) The procedure went nicely; again, it was 4 hours long in one sitting and two additional visits – The Great Gayatri Mantram came to the rescue again !! It is never failing !

Some business had to be conducted in Coimbatore, which went off well. We were ordered by Sri Krishnarav from the last trip to offer our salutations to Sri SivaKaamaSundari Devi and so we visited Her Abode in Thirukaameshwaram which is near Musiri near Trichy. Below is a photo of that temple.

And we visited Sri Varadaraja Perumal temple in Kancheepuram, a photo of which is below.

The pinnacle joy of our trip was the visit to Panappalli Maariamman Devi Temple in Panappalli, near Coimbatore. I have been wanting to get Her Darshan for two years now. Somehow, our driver Gopi discovered the route ! It is in the hills of Western Ghats and there is no pathway – no roads – not even walkways ! One has to trek by foot and finally there SHE IS in HER magnificent Glory !! You know, there is no formal temple there ….. just a shed in the high hills. There Sri Selvi Amma who gets Maariamman Devi’s powers speaks to us in our language so we can understand. The entire area is populated very sparsely by aboriginal tribal folks – so simple they live – nice !! A close-up photo of Sri Maariamman Devi from Panappalli is at the top of this post ! Below are two short video clips just a few seconds long.

And this post concludes with Sri Panappalli Maariamman Devi with the garland we took and offered Her!

Sri Panappalli Maariamman Devi Namo Namaha !

Vacation to India Dec 2018

 

A very brief vacation was taken to India in the last week of December 2018. This time we wanted to experience the Sacred Narmada River in the state of Madhya Pradesh in central India. We landed in Chennai on December 24; the very next day flew into the city of Indore in Madhya Pradesh. Our first trip was to the ancient city of Ujjain. Below is a photo on the way.

Upon reaching Ujjain, the first stop was the Sandipani Maharishi Ashram, where Sri Krishna had received educational instruction from Sandipani Maharishi. It was SO calm and peaceful – words cannot describe. Next was the Maha Kaleshwar Jyotir Lingam. There are 12 Jyotir Lingams in India. This is one. The crowd was overwhelming; the sight was phenomenal ! Following is a photo:

The next stop was the temple of Sri Hara Siddhi Devi Temple just down from the above temple. This is a Shakti Peetam of the Goddess ( there are 51 such consecrated places in India ). It felt very energizing inside. Following is a photo:

Following is a family photo outside the temple of Mahakaleshwar in Ujjain; from left to right are daughter Sapna, wife Srimathy, son Ajay and extreme right Adiyen.

Then returned back to the hotel. Next day went the other direction to Omkareshwar. It was a very winding roadway going over steep mountains – quite scary at times. Needless to say, when one faces such huge potential problems, one always thinks of Shani Bhagawan ( represented by Saturn ); accordingly, on the way was an apt Shani Bhagawan Temple. Our driver insisted we stop here and pray to Shani Bhagawan to ensure our trip is safe. We did so. Following is a photo just outside the temple:

In the photo from left to right: Adiyen, Srimathy, Sapna and Ajay. Then the very next stop was to visit the Sacred Narmada River. Took a bath in the Narmada; did tarpanams to the ancestors and performed Sandhyavandanam. View of the Narmada from far away is at the top of this post. Following is a photo:
 

Next was the visit to Omkareshwar Jyotir Lingam Temple. Following is a photo of the post of lamps outside the temple.

On the way out, Srimathy fed some food to a lovely cow in Omkareshwar – photo below:

 

And then we flew down back to South India. Stopped at our Kula Deivam ( Family Deity ) Sri Kalyana Venkata Ramana Swamy temple in Karur, Tamil Nadu. Thence to Sri SadaShiva Brahmendra Swamy Adhistaanam at Nerur; thence to Vangali Amman Temple at our ancestral village Vangal; thence to Sri Varadaraja Perumal Temple in the same village.

Stopped at Sri Vennaimalai Sabareesan Siddhashramam on the outskirts of Karur to see 90 year old Sri Pandurangaswamy blessed by Sri Karuvoorar Siddhar. Photo below:

Thence to Narasimhar Temple in Namakkal; thence to Anjaneya Temple in the same place; thence to Sri Kamakshi Amman Temple in Kancheepuram; thence to Sri Kanchi Kamakoti Peetam Madam where the Great Sri Maha Periyava’s Adhistaanam is.

Next was the full day spent on visiting with Men of great spiritual accomplishments; These are Great Souls blessed by the Great Saints and Sanyaasis: the first photo below is of Sri Brahmasri Ganesan and His Consort in Tiruvallooor which was about an hour and a half from our rental place of stay:

Second, below is Sri Lakshmi Narayanan, a big business magnet in Chromepet. He is a highly blessed  ardent Sri Sivan Sar Disciple.

And below is Sri Dr. Veezhinathan, retired Sanskrit Professor and Head of the Department at the Madras Sanskrit College; He is a Divine Soul blessed by Sri Kanchi Maha Periyava !

Next is a photo of Adiyen with Broadway Bus Stand Siddhar in the Broadway Bus Stand in Chennai. He can be located near Shop 23. He maintains silence; that silence is all penetrating!

What a great vacation !!

Salutations to All the Divinities !!!