Tuesday, August 9, 2011

Kailash Yatra - Day 12 to Day 15

Day 12

The next day was the most memorable day of the trip! We all drove through part of the Parikrama path to Yama dwar.. where people would normally leave on foot and horses.



He said that this was where Markandeya meditated on Shiva and Shiva kicked Yama who tried to take his life away. He said anyone who died beyond this point (died naturally that is.. Not because of suicide or carelessness) would go directly to Kailash without Yama reaching him or her.

It was also the place where the llammas and others leave dead bodies to be eaten up by eagles. Apparently the eagles live hundreds of kilometers away (we never saw one on the trip) but get there in 5 mins the moment a body is placed there.

We then drove to Ashtapath which had the closest view of Kailash. Swami sat Majestically on the meadows and led an unclutching session. Everyone had amazing experiences.



And then he blessed each of us individually and each one did a Kailash Parikrama around him - Shiva himself in physical form! Earlier he told that he would teleport something unique to Kailash and then after a moment said he would teleport a Nagarathna gem. And within minutes one landed on Nithyadevi who was sitting right next to me. The gem was amazing! It was light purple and like nothing I have seen before!! Swami said there are very few of these - possibly just 3 or 4 - in the world! He also recharged our portable speakers that had clearly and unambiguously run out of power with just a slight tap of his stick and also fixed my digital camera that had stopped working for 2 days with just a touch!!!

Earlier we met another team planning on a Kailash Parikama who were so ill equipped for the trip. Swami asked our organizers to give them all help possible. and later announced that he would give every penny from this trip to setup life saving aid to pilgrims doing the Parikrama..

We drove back to Darchen all of us in a daze after 8 hours of sitting with the master that looked like just 2 hours or less.



Day 13

Next day we left Kailash to return to Katmandu as many people were finding the cold and altitude difficult to manage. We drive for long and stopped on a place a little before Saga. We had lunch with Swami and continued sitting and chatting and laughing with him through dinner! No one even stepped out for water or a bathroom break or even noticed the passing of time. Swami mentioned that the Guru is often called KalaHala or one who kills time. He answered so many questions. He described devotion as the sweetest path to the anihilation of the self. He talked about how the Same sthapathi took 7 lives to build the Meenakshi temple. And many deep things.

Day 14

Early morning we left for a 10+ hour drive to reach Zhangmu a town on the border. We were all eagerly awaiting our first good bath in days.. But were shocked to find at 8pm when we got there that the town had no power for 4 days and hence no water either!! Swami was joking with all of us in the lobby about all the things he was planning to do including shaving after 3 days. And suddenly he said that he would get power for the city!!! And sure enough at 10 or so the city had power restored after 4 days of outage!!!

Day 15


We left Zhangmu early to cross the border. The road after that was blocked by a landslide. So we had to walk for a half km stretch to get into busses waiting on the other side and are a couple of hours away from. Katmandu.



Location:Darchen - Zengmu - Katmandu

Kailash Yatra - Day 08 to Day 11

Kailash Yatra Day 08 to Day 11


Day 8: Just reached Nyalam in Tibet. The whole day was spent in traveling from Katmandu.

All of us waited for a couple of hours at the China border. And to add to the fun, it started to rain. Someone at the border asked Swami if he was a prince and he replied that he was a King!!

After crossing over the scenery just became indescribably majestic and beautiful. There is mystery and grandeur and beauty at every turnThere is mystery and grandeur and beauty at every turn. One can clearly see why Shiva chose this to be his home.. .



First view of Tibet




Just across the border

Day 09

Drove from Nyalam to the city of Saga..



Our fleet of cars




At the hotel at Saga

Day 10

Drove from Saga to Manasarovar. On the way we had a stop at Brahmaputra - the only river the flowed against the slope of the ground in many areas and hence had a male name.


Swami at Brahmaputra



Lunch on the way


And before that before the OM parvat where we could clearly see the letter OM in the snow. Swami said that this was where Devi did aksharabhyasam (initiation into letters) for Ganesha.


OM and the OM parvat

We then reached Manasarovar where Devi was born. The view of Kailash was blocked by clouds as we arrived. But this lifted in a matter of an hour after many weeks of rain as Swami asked Kailash for a darahan. All of us stood spell bound in the drizzle as the clouds started moving away. Swami stood in rapture and was a sight of lifetimes. For the first time in his life, as he later said, a tear of joy flowed down his cheek. He said that the vision he saw was so majestic and beyond words. He saw consciousness and creation in one gigantic whirl of dance, beauty, grandeur...He said that the blessing of the divine vision would go to all of us.



Day 11




View of Kailash from Manasarovar

Beautiful night sky at Manasarovar with millions of stars. It was raining a little and cold. Yet the tents were comfortable. The next day the skies were so clear and we could see the south face of Kailash so clearly. Swami gave us a Dakshinamurthy pose in front of the mountain. He also showed us the pyramid shaped Mandada mountain which he said was the real place where Muruga went to after the fight with Ganesha over the Mango and got enlightened. Palani was a replica of this.



Mandada Mountain

The previous night at a place called Saga, Swami had a Satsang where he talked about each of us dropping one strong Samskara. He described the difference between a craving and a Samskara and helped people find out what their core Samskara was.




Later we left the Manasarovar camp for another spot with the east side view of Kailash where Swami led an amazing ceremony of doing tarpanam.. And where we all dropped on deep Samkara as we took a dip in the ice cold water and Swami blessed each of us with a nothing-is-barred boon and an individual photo with him, Kailash and Manasarovar.



Dhakshinamurthy at Manasarovar



Typical Photoshoot

We then drove around the lake on a beautiful road to Kailash base camp at Darchen. We passed through a lake called Rakshasthal where Devi killed the demons Chanda and Munda and put their bodies in. All the while the weather was great and the skies were clear and the views of Kailash were terrific. Something not seen for the last week or more. In fact at Manasarovar we met a group of people who had comeback from the Parikama where they ran into a hailstorm and one lady and many horses died and many sustained serious injuries.. Because of that and some "insider news" from within the mountain, we decided to not do the Parikrama but spend time together at the foot of Kailash.



Kailash, Manasarovar, Shiva


Location:Nyalam - Saga - Manasarovar - Darchen

Monday, August 1, 2011

Kailash Yatra Day 7

Morning started with another Photoshoot against the backdrop of the hills and valleys around the hotel.




Here is an attempt at capturing a 360 deg panorama of the hotel





Later in the day we went to this Neelkat Vishnu temple with an amazing amazing huge statue of a reclining Vishnu. Apparently the statue was made of a stone from Rama's bridge and used to float in the water till Aurangzeb damaged it.




In the afternoon Swami gave us a bunch of special poses for the "Gazing at Nithyananda" Facebook group. Now renamed "Divya Dharshan Dhyan - 3D". Check it out!

DDD group








Location:Katmandu