This anniversary took us far into Maharastra to bless us collect the grace of Lord Datta in different forms. On the very Day of the eve itself, we started our drive, (i.e; 25th of October,2013) towards the pious state. Our first break was at Hubli, siddharudha matt at lunch time. the temple and the samadhi mandir premises made us really feel blessed on that important day. Swami samadhi mandir made me recollect the samadhi mandir of Sri Gajanan maharaj in Shegaon, with a bust size statue on the samadhi. We spent considerable time there, had a look at the sansthan accommodation and left for further race. The sansthan provides a good facility to stay there in Hubli to spend some time there in parayana like sadhanas.
As it was just a half day of drive, my husband was keen in going further towards the destination, pune, and the excellent condition of the road encouraged him more. We crossed Belgaon, Kolhapur and finally won the race to reach home at 9.30PM. A warm welcome at Sreeram's cousin's place gave us great refreshment and to every one's surprise, sreeram showed no signs of tiredness even after 900 KM drive. He loves and enjoys it to that level.
Next day, we relaxed enough and went out to have the darshan of Dehu and Alandi located near by. Dehu is the place where Sant Tukaram went to Vaikuntham with his physical body. There lies a huge tree in that place which signifies this event every year. 3 days before the Holy festival, the tree and its branches and leaves move a lot as if there is great flow of wind, exactly during the same time when Sri Tukaram left in the vimana, i.e; in the afternoon. Many people flock to witness this miracle and god's presence even to date.
The other holy place Alandi is the place sanctified by the Sajiva samadhi Of Sant Sri Jnaneswar Maharaj. This is a huge temple complex and well maintained place. The life history of this saint is very interesting and sets example to show the power of God and his true followers.
We were back at home by evening and the remaining day passed in relaxation. Even the next day was filled with enjoyment with family, Sreeram's brother and sister.
On Monday morning, we set out for reaching the holy place Shiridi, at 7.30 and were there at the destination by afternoon 1. On the way there is an Asta vinayak kshetra Ranjangaon.
The last 20 KM of the route was a bit damaged part and the rest was fine. We checked into the rooms in Akhil Bharat Hotel, had meals, took a nap and went for darshan in the evening at 4PM. We booked this Darshan online earlier itself. but there was very less crowd and we were blessed to have a very peaceful darshan of Sainatha. Finishing the darshan of other holy parts of the village like Dwarakamayi, chavadi, lendi and other temples in the complex, we felt really happy for such a time after a long time. The following 2 days were also filled with similar happiness, spending time in Parayana, circumambulations, Aaratis and Darshan. The 2nd day we shifted into Sai Ashram, the sansthan accommodation which proved very good. There is a free bus for pick up and drop from the temple to this ashram as it is located 2 KM from the mandir. The 3rd day in Shiridi, 30th October, being the 75th birth day of Sri Ekkirala Bharadwaja Master, we had immense pleasure to be there in that place and prayed for the blessings of baba to uplift mankind in the form of such Mahatmas all the time. May he bless us too with the good samskaras to recognize them when they incarnate to grace us. God's grace even made us able to get the darshan of Sakori and Sri Sivanesan swami Samadhi while we were in Shiridi.
After finishing the afternoon Aarati and a darshan, we started back towards Pune, me with a very heavy heart. By 8 PM we were in Sreeram's sister's place. we had enough of rest there to proceed further the next day.
After breakfast, we were again in our chariot to go towards Sajjanghad, the holy place of Sri samartha ramadasa Swami. This was an awesome place which left us totally with joy. the Samadhi of sri samartha ramadasa swami along with his padukas presented to him by Lord Dattatreya can be seen at this mandir. the padukas of Sri Sridhara swami can also be visited here in another mandir in the same complex. the steps to reach this temple are not so steep and can easily be reached even by the elderly people. the atmosphere of the surroundings leaves us with a peaceful and serene mind. we felt lucky to be there exactly during lunch time and we were blessed with the prasadam served there.
then we continued further towards Audumber where Lord Sri Nrisimha saraswati placed His padukas. This is again a great place to be there on the bank of a river. By the time we reached there, it was dark, so we couldn't capture the surroundings to the fullest, but were so happy to be able to step there.
the next blessing was from Bhuvaneswari devi of Billavati, which was on the other side of the river in Audumber. we sat there for some time, read the chapter from Sri Guru charitra which mentioned the leela happened here in case of an ignorant Brahmin. We had to go further since we aimed to be Narsobawadi for that night.
Narsobawadi was sanctified by the pious penance of Sri Nrisimha saraswati for 12 years and is one of the very important Datta Kshetras. This is a temple on the bank of River Krishna which unites with pancha Ganga. we were lucky to get the temple accommodation just by the side of the temple so that we were able to take a dip in the river the next morning. The magic of lord worked in the way that it was the day of Guru dwadasi, the day when sri pada sri vallabha's avatara leela finished. So there was a celebration of Palanquin festival at 2 o'clock in the night. but, as we were on drive all the day, we couldn't afford to wake up at that time.
we woke up early at 4 in the morning and after taking a dip in the river and having Darshan of the nirguna padukas , we spent our time in parayana and circumambulations. the temple surroundings consist of samadhis of other mahatmas too which was mentioned in detail in Dattavatara mahatyam written by Sri Ekkirala Bharadwaja Master. I can't describe how happy I was to finish the tour in such a way. then we proceeded further towards Bangalore. on the way we had the darshan of Sri Maha laxmi in Kolhapur and even had a small tea break in Karad at my friend's place.
Thus the tour came to an end with 2 hearts immersed in total joy, recollecting the greatness of the places covered. we are always indebted to God for giving us such a great opportunity. the joy of the fruit can't be described.
Next day, we relaxed enough and went out to have the darshan of Dehu and Alandi located near by. Dehu is the place where Sant Tukaram went to Vaikuntham with his physical body. There lies a huge tree in that place which signifies this event every year. 3 days before the Holy festival, the tree and its branches and leaves move a lot as if there is great flow of wind, exactly during the same time when Sri Tukaram left in the vimana, i.e; in the afternoon. Many people flock to witness this miracle and god's presence even to date.
We were back at home by evening and the remaining day passed in relaxation. Even the next day was filled with enjoyment with family, Sreeram's brother and sister.
On Monday morning, we set out for reaching the holy place Shiridi, at 7.30 and were there at the destination by afternoon 1. On the way there is an Asta vinayak kshetra Ranjangaon.
After finishing the afternoon Aarati and a darshan, we started back towards Pune, me with a very heavy heart. By 8 PM we were in Sreeram's sister's place. we had enough of rest there to proceed further the next day.
After breakfast, we were again in our chariot to go towards Sajjanghad, the holy place of Sri samartha ramadasa Swami. This was an awesome place which left us totally with joy. the Samadhi of sri samartha ramadasa swami along with his padukas presented to him by Lord Dattatreya can be seen at this mandir. the padukas of Sri Sridhara swami can also be visited here in another mandir in the same complex. the steps to reach this temple are not so steep and can easily be reached even by the elderly people. the atmosphere of the surroundings leaves us with a peaceful and serene mind. we felt lucky to be there exactly during lunch time and we were blessed with the prasadam served there.
Narsobawadi was sanctified by the pious penance of Sri Nrisimha saraswati for 12 years and is one of the very important Datta Kshetras. This is a temple on the bank of River Krishna which unites with pancha Ganga. we were lucky to get the temple accommodation just by the side of the temple so that we were able to take a dip in the river the next morning. The magic of lord worked in the way that it was the day of Guru dwadasi, the day when sri pada sri vallabha's avatara leela finished. So there was a celebration of Palanquin festival at 2 o'clock in the night. but, as we were on drive all the day, we couldn't afford to wake up at that time.
we woke up early at 4 in the morning and after taking a dip in the river and having Darshan of the nirguna padukas , we spent our time in parayana and circumambulations. the temple surroundings consist of samadhis of other mahatmas too which was mentioned in detail in Dattavatara mahatyam written by Sri Ekkirala Bharadwaja Master. I can't describe how happy I was to finish the tour in such a way. then we proceeded further towards Bangalore. on the way we had the darshan of Sri Maha laxmi in Kolhapur and even had a small tea break in Karad at my friend's place.
Thus the tour came to an end with 2 hearts immersed in total joy, recollecting the greatness of the places covered. we are always indebted to God for giving us such a great opportunity. the joy of the fruit can't be described.
