Triambakeswar

Triambakeswar or Trimbakeswar is about thirty kilometers from Nashik. About half-an-hour by car from Nashik, this is a place that every Hindu wishes to visit.

Source : Internet

Tri means three, and eshvar means Lord. So, you have the linga that represents the greart triumvirate of the Hindu pantheon—Brahma, Vishnu and Siva.

Source : Internet

One of the twelve Jyothirlingas, Triambakeswar draws a huge crowd every day, no matter what season or which part of the year.

Having the darshan of the Lord here, went back to Mumbai to catch the flight next morning to Chennai.

Panchavati

From Shingnapur we came back to Nashik. It was a hectic day but not tiring. Sleep came without being called.

Tomorrow we would be moving to Panchavati. Not a long way, but an important destination to us.

Panchavati reminds us of childhood memories of Ramayana. It was here that Lord Rama with Sita and Lakshman stayed while at Dandakaranya. It was here that Lakshman had cut the nose off the ogress Surpanaka.

Today it is a big town on the bank of the Godavari. Most of the religious places have become tourist spots. Religion has become, of late, a serious affair to many people. The influence of the age of Aquarius?

The temples of Mahadev, and of Kalaram were crowded. Only the person who knows what to look for, will be benefitted. Other just mumble some prayers, and get lost in the crowd.

  It is in the Mahadev temple that you find the linga that Lord Ram worshipped.

Sita Gunpha is a small cave—a cave where Sita had hid. The five banyan trees—panchavati—had surrounded this Gunpha.

Source : Internet

Source : Internet

Kalaram temple is not that old, however. It houses black idols of Lord Ram and Lord Hanuma. Hence the term Kala—black. It was built by Sardar Rangarao Odhekar.

Source :Internet

Goddess Godavari

The place still retains the ancient spiritual flavour. It is a matter of faith. And faith is part of one’s being.

Shani Shingnapur

I do not know why people fear Saturn. He is my favourite demi-god. He is your fate, the personification of all your actions, actions done in various incarnations. He is your other self. 

Maybe, that is the reason why people fear Saturn. Meeting your otherside.

Cabbies shout themselves hoarse beckoning you to what they would say: Shani Shingapore!

Shani Shingnapur is seventy kilometres from Shirdi--74 kilometres to be precise. About a half and a half an hour drive from Shirdi.

It is a nice drive, pleasant because the day I went, it was a cloudy day in summer, and there was a cool breeze now and then. It is rural Maharashtra all the way, with the hardworking simple village folks going about their days' job.

Photo : Internet

   The soil is red, and the roadsides are littered with 'fresh   sugancane-juice vendors. Every now and then we woulds stop for a cup of tea or a glass of 'ghannaras' or sugarcane juice.

    The temple of Shani is well-kept. The god is truly at  work here--clean, sparse and austere. One thing that struck me was that the houses, hotels, rooms and inns had no doors. No one locked his or her house; nor had he or she kept it closed.

 Shani here is a rock of five feet. There is a trident by his side, and a Nandi on the south side.

I stood there for some time, offering oil and seasame grains, and thought for a moment, a god that spared no one, not even the incarnations of god such as Rama or Krishna.

Remember, when you meet Shani, be humble. He drags those who do not surrender to him. Surrender, and see what good he does to you.

When Baba calls!

Source : Internet

Devotees of Shirdi Sai Baba know that unless Baba calls one cannot go to Shirdi.
The call came to me all  of a sudden in the form of my uncle who one day said: Vijay, pack up, we are leaving for Shirdi.

The flight to Mumbai, like any other flight in India, was uneventful and boring. We are not even offered coffee on board. And sitting for two-and a-half an hours was in my opinion 'a criminal' waste of time.

I thought of Baba. A simple man, a mad fakir, a man of God who had only a couple of 'annas' in his tumbler when he died. Today, I was on my to the samadhi of that 'mad fakir'.

To a man of this world, to a man who is a stranger to Baba and his ways, Shirdi is a tourist spot. People are there everywhere, choc-o-bloc. The roads overflow with human traffic, guest houses are full, and hotels are busy 24/7 serving plain and tasteless food.

To a man chosen by Baba, the air is tense. You do not know when he would appear, in what form. Something is in the air, and in a subtle form, you do not see today's Shirdi, but the village where Baba begged and lived, surrounded by simple folks from rural Maharashtra.

It is not just the Samadhi mandir that attracts people like me. When I go Lendi Bagh, I see the well whose  bitter and brackish water Baba made sweet by sprinkling flowers. In Shama's house, I see the old school master welcoming me. In Lakshmi Bai Shinde's house, I look at the nine coins that Baba gave to this great soul. If you have the eyes, the place is rich with associations of Baba.

I visited all these places with a simple prayer in my heart--Baba, make my life meaningful.