| 7th October 09 : In and around Haridwar |
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Haridwar literally translates to "Gateway to Hari" or "Gateway to God." The presiding deity here is Lord Vishnu, also called Hari. The sacred Chardham Yatra traditionally begins from here. Haridwar, and its sister city, Rishikesh, are in the foothills of the Himalayas. Chardham translates as "Four Dhams" or "Four Holy Places." These are the most sacred places in the Indian tradition: Yamunotri, Gangotri, Kedarnath and Badrinath. These are the places that all of us will be visiting in the next three weeks, except that our journeys will be deeper. Earlier, we came to know that the holy Ganga river is not flowing in Haridwar, that it has been diverted, because of some engineering works being carried out in the river in preparation for the 2011 Kumbha Mela. The implication of this is that the Ganga Arati (offering of fire to the Ganga) is not being carried out with the full ceremony. Normally, the Ganga Arati at Haridwar, which is done every day just after sunset, is a spectacle to watch. Seven priests wave big lighted lamps in circles and offer it to the Ganga Mother. Several thousands of people watch it, and they let go lighted candles in the water along with flowers. This symbolizes the surrendering of ones intentions to the Divine. Swamiji and Amma had been eagerly anticipating this Haridwar Ganga Arati for the last several weeks. They are carrying the prayers and intentions of several people, they wanted to put in floats of flowers and lighted candles in the Ganga on behalf of people. They would be offering prayers on behalf of everyone in all the sacred places, but were particularly looking forward for the start in Haridwar. There was a little bit of disappointment that they would not be able to do so in Haridwar. Amma said that we should take the disappointment in stride, saying that the river within, the Ganga within, should flow well, and when the inner world changes collectively, the outer world will reflect that.  We started the day by visiting Doodhadhari Ashram -- Doodhadhari means where milk is always flowing. This is a temple dedicated to Lord Rama. At the entrance is a beautiful sculpture of the Sun God majestically riding his chariot drawn by several horses. The inside of the temple is very serene. Swamiji and Amma had printed out the prayers and intentions of all the people who sent their prayers. They asked the priest to place this at the feet of Lord Rama and prayed for the manifestation of these intentions. This would be the practice in pretty much every temple we would visit. There were a group of sadhus visiting the temple. Swamiji and Amma had a good conversation with them, with Amalananda acting as the translator. One of the sadhus, who appeared as a very evolved soul, recognized without us saying so, that Amma and Swamiji were a manifestation of the Divine Mother. He gave a lot of useful information about which places to visit, and he showered his blessings on all of us. The Jain Mandir, very close by, is a beautiful temple for Lord Mahaveera. The energies there naturally made us all sit in silent meditation, allowed us to go deep inside.  Later we visited the Sapta Rishi Ghat (or the banks of the Seven Saints). On the way to that we saw the sculpture of the five Pandavas and their wife Draupadi, from the Mahabharata epic, taking sanyasa (renounciation) after having vanquished and won all the earthly kingdoms. Close to it was the Bharat Mata temple, constructed recently in 1983. It is more a tourist place than a spiritual retreat. Swamiji and Amma prefer to visit places where there is more spiritual energy, so we all went next to Chandi Devi temple. It is located up on a hill, and we take the cable car to reach the temple. The energies in the temple are very high, we were all happy to have visited the Divine Mother.Later that evening we all went to the bazaar near Hari-ki-Pauri, where the Ganga Arati is traditionally held. Walking around these bazaars near the temples in India is a treat to the eyes and ears, with all the vibrant colors and sounds. They can also get very crowded. We walked around for quite some time, buying things necessary for the remaining of the yatra. By the time we were all finished, it was quite late, and we were glad to go to bed.
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This morning we had a small satsang in Swamiji and Amma's room. Amma shared beautifully why the seven of us are here together on this yatra. She explained that we were all chosen to be doing this yatra together. But the choice, the choosing, did not come from above. It is the individual being, the individual soul that chooses to ascend to higher levels of consciousness. Swamiji and Amma explained how Mahavatar Babaji has been vividly coming into their realms of consciousness at various levels, in the form of dreams, in physical forms of different types, in astral visits, and guiding them to come on this yatra. They are being shown places to visit during this yatra, places that are not normally on the tourist circuit, places that are a bit deeper. Amma shared a beautiful story of how they had a ten-year-old child stay with them for a month, five years back. Recently when they were praying to Mahavatar Babaji, he said to them that he was with them physically several years back. Something connected within Swamiji and Amma, they readily found the picture of this boy, who had an uncanny resemblance to a picture of Babaji, drawn by someone who had an astral visit from Babaji. What a blessing it was for all of us to hear these deep experiences.
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