Yamunotri:

A Bit about Yamunotri, situated at an altitude of 3,235 m above the sea level in the district of Uttarkashi. The source of River Yamuna lies about 1 km further ahead at the altitude of about 4,421 m. Yamunotri can be reached by a 13 km trek from Hanuman Chatti. Maharani Gularia of Jaipur constructed the temple of Goddess Yamuna in the 19th century AD. It was destroyed twice and was rebuilt. The temple remains closed from November to May because of heavy rainfall. There is a quite a few thermal springs in the vicinity of the temple, which flow into several pools. The most important of these springs is the Surya Kund. Divya Shilla is a rock pillar worshipped before entering the Yamunotri Temple

Yamunotri was our first mountain to climb so that we get close to the Yamunotri glacier however the temple is made that is close to the Glacier from which the Holy river originates and from yearsgenerations and Millions of Years has been flowing down through out the land and filling in to the ocean irrigating and cultivating the land across during its course. Little we knew when we saw it was a distance of 13 km we thought its just a plane walk on the plains through the jungle to get to the temple, Little we knew that it was 13km up hill cutting through the mountains at a height of 3,235 m above the sea level . The driver stopped us at a point from where it was just a walk .

We thought we could do it. Mom and Dad first thought we can take a mule ride however the mules were taller and getting on a horse was a bit not stable as it was steap and mom and dad were not comfortable getting on to the horse. We found the palaki or Palanquin were expensive and the driver had given us no information on how to get to the prepaid palakis , infact he had told us nothing about the journey all he would say is “Matha rati ki kripa se sabh kuch acha hi jayega.” The Godess will Help you through. Little we had known how tough the journey was going to be. We started walking and we kept walking and puffing and puffing mom and dad had it very difficult and we kept walking up hill mom now and then took her breaks and kept walking and i was wondering my mom and dad had actually taken a journey that is really going to be tough for both of them. But this energy and faith. its like your physical body may be giving up but the force of attraction is so strong that once u start walking there is no way u can stop it keeps attracting you and you keep walking taking your breaks but your mind will not let you give up. Like this calling that is so strong and there is no way u can let it go. We saw people of all ages walking and traveling we could not but to be amazed on what faith that drives them all and no mater which faith or religion you belong to you will still be attracted and pulled to wards this place where nature will humble you around these steps and beautiful mountains and the river flowing and gushing down and u can hear it Gushing which is like music to your ears.

However we were not use to walking and the tough steep terrain started to take its toil and we almost gave up at one point but we would pull each other towards the goal and remind each other we have to make it . However mom gave up we had almost reached the top however her legs could not take it anymore and she yelled in pain ” Sandy u Go take Daddy nd Go i don’t think i can make it beyond this point even if God wants me or may be i will stay here and [ray but i would be able to make it back alive if i walk any further." with her cry i had to move ahead and leave my mom behind luckily i had a Sherpa a Pittu boy who carries people of his back and there are allot fo brave men like these who do the journey 2tice in a day and ear their daily bread on Real SWEAT and Blood. I understood how a Sweat andBlood Money is made. Carrying people on their backs to the top of the mountain to make sure they were safe and sound. However i had to carry on and hoped mom regains her energy and calms down as it was not very safe for her to panic and build up her bloodpresure.I walked ahead and took daddy along we had a half a half a kilometer on more steep terrain and thought this is tougher and glad mommy took rest and stayed but at the same time disappointed that we could make it but mom was left behind, then i sit there no mood to take pictures was just gazing at this Huge mountain peak just below which the Yamunotri Temple is made. and the river flowing like a small thin stream as i was getting lost in the thoughts of the Massive View that’s when my Dad yelling "Saras" and i for a second thought my dad was hallucinating looking ant some other woman and thinking its his wife and i quickly ran to see and he was no hallucinations it was my mom walking towards us climbing the steps near the hot Springs. and this Old man holding my mother and making sure she reaches the place and gets to the temple. I had tiers rolling down my check ..it was some thing unbelievable and my Dads face was beaming with energy to see my mother. We were reunited .we prayed together and before it gets too late we had to walk down.

More like touch and go. Some thing i learn Chardham needs more than 10 days its more like staying at each dham one after the other and spending time at each place learning the place and gathering the vibe of the place. There are ashrams where you can stay but no guest houses so usually people try and do it in a day and then move on to the next shrine. We started our walk sown and though it was trichinous and he had already lost our leg to the numbness but our hearts were content of making it to the first one and more like an achievement of climbing up and reaching the peak of mount Everest. We had our hearts Wide open and revitalized Energy. We made it back down and thanked the people who helped us though the journey and got in to the cab tired and ready to go home have some dinner and get some sleep so that we make enough energy to the next journey and we had 3 more dhams as our next destinations.

Gangotri :

Gangotri! Gangotri  is a town and a Nagar Panchayat (municipality) in Uttarkashi district in the state of Uttarakhand, India. It is a Hindu pilgrim town on the banks of the river Bhagirathi. It is on the Greater Himalayan Range, at a height of 3,042 m.The river is called Bhagirathi at the source and acquires the name Ganga from Devprayag onwards where it meets the Alaknanda. The origin of the holy river is at Gaumukh, set in the Gangotri Glacier, and is a 19 km trek from Gangotri. However reaching  Gangotri was a simple ride to the temple, however from yamunotri it was a 2 days drive , we halted a little further than Uttarkashi which is a little town in the Garhwal Himalayan range. The approach o the temple is simple and the car stopped rite out side the temple and it wasn’t difficult at all to get to the temple. We walked up in line and prayed at the shrine and past the shrine is the trek a 19km trek up to Goumukh or the Gangotri Glacier which was a treacherous trek which I intend to do the next time as this trip was more doing the temples with my parents.

We visited the temple and got down to the ghat to watch the river flow the river Bhagirathi was freezing cold and I dipped my finger in to feel the river and within a few seconds my finger went numb and Blue, the sun was blazing down at us and one wood wonder how can the water be so cold with the sun so sharp.

I dipped a bottle in to fill up water to take back and in the process I had frozen hand and took me a while to get back the hand in to senses while on the other side I see people of all ages taking a dip in the river , old women praying to the sun god and then taking a dip it was quite a sight, every year people from all walks of life take the chardham yatra and you get to see so many people from different parts of India each with their own story to Unite with the ONE..and you do not feel alone by any means and a Realization of Inner peace with faith and Unity Strikes you.. My parents and me had a comparatively peaceful darshan of gangotri and enjoyed every bit of it and went back to the cab and without wasting much time we had to return to Uttarkashi to do our Loon journey to Meet the Next and the Next and the toughest Kedarnath, the Adobe of Lord Shiva in the Gharwal Himalays. This was one magnetic place.. A Shrine I will never forget, now when I look back we hardly had any idea what we were getting to witness the next day. We stayed over night at the banks of river Bhagirathi and slept through the night while transported in cosmic space gathering energy in our physical forms to cover the highways and get through to the start point of Kedarnath.

Kedarnath:

The most remote of the four Char Dham sites, Kedarnath is located in the Himalayas, about 3584m above sea level near the head of river Mandakini, and is flanked by breathtaking snow-capped peaks.

Kedarnath is named in honor of King Kedar who ruled in the Satya Yuga. He had a daughter named Vrinda who was a partial incarnation of Goddess Lakshmi. She performed austerities for 60000 years. In honour of her, the land is named Vrindavan. However, Kedarnath and its temple exist from the Mahabharata Era when the Pandavas are supposed to have pleased Lord Shiva by doing penance there.

However ,there are 2 ways to reach Kedarnath: 1) By foot for a steep 14 km trek through a paved path (horses or palanquins are available for rent) from Gaurikund,

2) Through air travel. Recently government has started Pawan Hans Helicopter Service from Agastyamuni and Phata to Kedarnath. The fare is reasonable.

We had decided we do the primitive way, we hired 2 palakis one for mom and one for daddy and I first thought of walking up however took a pony ride . For a change I had a chance to get on a horse called gauri  and ride up to the Kedarnath shrine. So I got on to my horse and followed my parents while they were taken on the pallaki by four boys per pallaki each it was really heartening to see these boys slowly but easily climb up the mountain stretch and earn their daily bread more like service to humanity. I was humbled by them . as we kept getting closer the scene was simply breadth taking with the valley below while the river flows and inch by inch we were inching closer to the Huge gia gantic Snow caps of Kedarnath. We finally reached after a walk come ride of 3 hours. as soon as daddy and mom got off the palaki we had to walk 1 km to get to the temple and we noticed there was a huge line of people waiting in the queue and at the same time I noticed daddy started feeling the lack of oxygen in the air and mom briskly walked to towards the temple and I stayed back with daddy and got him close to the temple where I started noticing my father was breathing slowly and was loosing focus.. and mountain sickness that started to get to dad, I immediately saw a doctor on site and managed to perchance a portable oxygen cylinder and pumped a large doe of O2 into dads mouth through the cylinder and walked up to mom who was waiting in the queue and pumped some Oxygen and as I was walking going past people in the line on the other side I see the Agori babas sitting there and watching people go by with their make shift tents and a small fire puja place with their body covered with ash I was was totally tempted to stop by and take a few pictures however I had bigger things to take care.. I had my parents who were loosing breadth and did not want to neglect them and had to hold on to the feeling however an eye contact with this old baba sitting in his meditation posture with hardly any cloth on his body and his hair Jatayu (HAIR)spread over 10 feet and his BIG Red yes with his stoned look pierced right through my eyes and HIT my soul and this immediate transfer of energy and frequency to tune in, which I even today tune in to when ever I travel back in to thoughts. Immediately decided to do my Maha Kumbh Mela  in Hardwar in 2010 where I will witness more babas connecting with people around and cleansing and transferring energies. OM Namah Shivaya was the chant all around the temple. Kedarnath is a majestic sight, standing in the middle of a wide plateau surrounded by lofty snow covered peaks. The present temple, built in the 8th century by Adi Shankaracharya,stands adjacent to the site of an earlier temple built by the Pandavas.

As we entered the  inner walls of the assembly hall are decorated with figures of various deities and scenes from mythology. Outside the temple door a large statue of the Nandi Bull stands as guard.  We finally managed to get to the temple with dad and mom while the weather started to get bad and this huge shower of Hail hitting us hard like a test for all those people around waiting outside shivering in the cold and hail almost piercing through our skins. As soon as we got inside the temple. This Rush of energy through our spines and Warmth becoming more prominent and almost at one point it was boiling hot inside the temple. Om Om Echoing inside the pyramid shaped temple and there we see a Rock structure small but covered with flowers Ghee and people pouring water over it and every body touching it to absorbed the Energy and as mom and dad were praying and while I was observing it and wondering a Rock with no shape is this what I trekked and almost lost my parents to mountain sickness is this what we all have been attracted to ? and suddenly I feel a push in the crowd and my four head touches the rock and I felt this surge of  energy almost like a LSD Trip Flash for a second or two and I was actually Buzzing.. Immediately the Ego kicked in and then we realized the crowd was getting heavy and we had got our darshan and tuned in to a New frequency a Higher frequency and we had to head out as the weather was getting bad and was snowing ..now. we walked up to the palaki and I hired a new Horse this time named Hera.  We got our self some chai(tea) and also the boys who were carrying the plaki warmed up with Joy and Love we set out to our journey downwards.

The Horse was pretty fast in getting me down , in the process I missed my parents in the crowd and though we had not planned our meeting point I presumed they would wait for me down and I would join them. However I got back down and it was getting dark by then and I could not spot them , I walked searched all over the place trying to look for them and no sign of them , unlike the city there were no cellular towers there hence no signal and I was unable to reach them and felt we are so dependant on cell phones these days and that forget the most important things like deciding where to meet and to get there as we take it for granted if we are not there they will still find us through a phone call, telepathy did not work as I was loosing all the faith I had developed in the temple and for a bit it all was turning out to be a night mare in the dark surrounded by a huge crowd and my parents missing.. I did not want to loose my cool , all sorts of thoughts started to slowly creep in to my brain , imagine loosing my parents at such a place , what kind of guilt will I live the rest of my life with. Then all of a sudden I see a cab honking behind me and its my parents who got picked up by the driver as they walked up all the way to the driver since they could not find me. I was fuming and calmed down immediately with a sigh of relief. Faith Restored.. in the Dev Bhoomi.. 

This was one Crazy experience.. that balanced me out   OM NAHMAH SHIVAYA. We got back to the room ate a sumptuous meal and got in to bed to wake up the next morning and start our Journey towards Badrinath.

Badrinath :

Badrinath is situated at an elevation of 3133 mts. above sea level, guarded on either side by the two mountain ranges known as NAR & NARAYAN, with the towering NEEL KANTH PEAK providing a splendid back-drop. This revered spot was once carpeted with wild berries, which gage it the name "Badri Van" meaning forest of berries.

BADRINATH TEMPLE: Dedicated to lord Vishnu, the temple of Shri Badrinathji is 15 mts. In height built in the form of a cone with a small cupola of a bull and spire. Legend dates the temple prior to the Vedic age. Badrinath has a very ancient history. It dates from the Vedic period. It is a common belief that many of the Vedic hymns and the major portions of the Upanishads were sung first in this spot known as Badarikashrama. It is a place where countless sages and seers have done penance.  No other spiritual place in India is called “ashrama” - a sanctuary for spiritual seekers. The whole land between Nandaprayag and Satopant is known as the Badri Vishal Kshetra.

The great sages, Nara and Narayana are said to be practicing tapasya here even to this day. The Mahabharata mentions that these sages took a human birth as Krishna and Arjuna for the benefit of mankind. The Mahabharata also mentions that Krishna visited Arjuna in Badarikashrama and lived with him for a considerable period of time during their exile. The sage Vyasa also visited this spot. In fact the cave dedicated to him is close to the temple and this is where he is supposed to have written the Mahabharata with Ganesha as his scribe. It is in this cave that he collected the Vedas and divided them into four parts which he taught to four of his chief disciples. Many sages like Vasishta and Kanwa went there to meditate.  The temple is situated on the right bank of the river Alakananda which is another name for Ganga. The idol of the Lord here is a saligrama (type of stone) seated naturally in padmasana (lotus pose).

This is the only idol of Vishnu in this yogic pose. Here he sits alone in splendid isolation without his consort and is immersed in his own atmic bliss. According to eminent historians, the temple had existed well before the period of the Mahabharata. With the advent of Buddhism, the territory surrounding this sacred place came under the influence of the Buddhists. Some zealots destroyed this ancient temple and threw the idol into the Alakananda River. It was Adi Shankaracharya, the founder of the Advaita Vedanta school of philosophy, who discovered the image in the Alakananda from the pool known as Narad Kund and installed it in the Garud Gupha near the hot water spring known as Tapta Kund. It remained here for about seven centuries. Then at the insistence of the great Vaishnava saint called Varadarajacharya, the then ruler of Garhwal made a temple at the spot where the present temple stands and had the idol installed therein. For more on Badrinath visit : http://www.vanamaliashram.org/Badrinath.html

We Reached Badrinath Dham at 7pm it was night and Cold allready and we found our room it was freezing cold we got to a small room and it was really chilly outside mom and dad changed and i got ready wore some warm clothing and mom and dad were discussing on having dinner and taking the early morning darshan , however i though early morning wil be even colder and the temple closes at 8pm we sill had about 40 mins in hand and it was worth a try to get a darshan of the Great Badri Vishal we all had herd so much about.

we walked past all the market place and through the crowd , bought flowers and stood in the line the line was loong however it was moving steadily mom started to panic and was thinking whether the temple will close as we were getting closer..

However i assured we shall still get in ..and as we approached the crowd started to clear and we got in side the sacred shrine and welcomed by Bright colors painted on the temple walls and immediate this Sharp and High Vibration of Bliss that Loard Vishnu generates with his fragrance Hit us me mom and Dad were mesmerized by the Energy and the Vibe the whole temple gave US .. JAI HO BadriVishal..People were chanting. We Three Gave in and we Chanted Jai Ho ...Badrivishal Maharaj Ki ...JAI HO.. We had finally made it.. it was Nirvana .. Absolute Nirvana After going through all the treacherous path of trekking to get to the first three Dhams and almost loosing my parents ..in Kedarnath this was almost like cake walk Badrinath was BLISS....MOKSHA!! like people had told us.. We Had Made it ! We got back to the room after diner and a strole in the market place.. the cold had almost disappeared we were beaming with joy on our faces. Love and Bliss. Got my Parents tucked in bed. and Off i went to explore the Night Sky under the Full Moon night with Neelkath parvath looking down upon us

Neelkanth is a complete portrayal of natural hill heaven which is located bordering the mountain ranges of Nar-Narayan.It towers to a height of 21,650 feet. This was acclaimed to be the virgin queen of the central Himalayas and defied seven attempts by famous mountaineers from all over the world to conquer it.

Sir Edmund Hillary was a member of the New Zealand team which failed. At last a school teacher from Rajasthan called O.P. Sharma, who was a great devotee of the Lord, accompanied by two Sherpa (Nepalese  mountain tribe), succeeded  in conquering it. This peak has been described as the most beautiful, the most difficult and most elusive peak in the central Himalayas. It is a perfect cone and is visible only in the early morning when it is dramatically lit up by the morning sun which spotlights it.  That night i experienced some thing beyond my understanding..

I was watching the mountain under the full moon night the mountain almost looked like resembling a sage in pennnance meditating also to my knowledge i herd the Vyasa Gufa was right there in the mountain.. The Great Sage Veda Vyasa who wrote the Vedas had meditated in a cave in the neelkath mountain and during the day the mountain resembled the face of Ganesh.. and to complete it Lord Ganesh had written the Vedas while Sage Veda Vyas Dictated it .. This was truly an experience to experience.. Jaio Ho BADRI VISHAL!

Jai HO.. Even while im writing this article I can feel i'm in midst of the  Gharwal Ranges , the Himalayas .A Wave of  Bliss even while nerating and sharing this experience..

Thank you for stopping by..

Love and Light Always..

- Sandeep

This was one tour I was a bit apprehensive about, my parents especially mom wanted to see the Ganga and witness the arathi at Haridwar, a place where the whole town comes to a standstill and exactly sharp 7pm the daily evening arathi of the river Ganga is performed and has been performed like this for many,many generations now. Mom and Dad wanted to visit the place, at first i thought i would book their tickets and plan it out for them ,and if possible book one of those 10 day Char Dham yatras and that way they can cover the Char Dham (4 sacred places of the Himalays)yatra as well and would be a nice pilgrimage for my parents.

As the days approached, I was checking with allot of travel agents and to my surprise they all seemed so hectic and seemed quite a responsibility just to send them off alone . Later I started thinking it was an opportunity of a life time especially the thought of the Mountains. and the wind ..and the fact of being with ONE with all the 5 elements of nature, I could not resist and agreed my self in taking them to the Char Dham Yatra.

A Little Bit About Char Dham Yatra(“four abodes”) :Char Dham yatra(“four abodes”) is considered very tough and difficult in India. This yatra covers Badrinath, Kedarnath, Gangotri, and Yamunotri in the Himalayan range of Mountains. In spite of this, most of the Indians want to perform this yatra at least once in their life. You need to prepare yourself thoroughly for this yatra in advance as otherwise it will turn out to be very tiresome and tedious yatra and may lead to serious sickness during or after the yatra. Basically I was getting my parents in to a Tough holiday and my self in to a Journey of a life time. Because what i was about to witness was something i would have never even imagined….

To visually prepare them i took my parents to the Movie : MYSTIC INDIA, which had a story of a young Yogi Neelkath who covers the same path and the Char dham and later heads to kailash , mansarovar.. MORE on Mystic India Visit Psycadelic Adventures.

This showed us glimpses of an experience that would be even bigger than any IMAX screen in this world. a experience that was Larger than Life , Way beyond Imagination..Profounded ..and Humbled. we Prepared to start our journey…

Day1 : Arrival at DELHI :We landed at the Delhi airport at about 11AM, Hot and sweaty but still love the energy Delhi has to offer , unlike other Huge metropolitans it truly is the Heart of India. Open to all Embrace them all in its own way . Got off the Flight and took a cab to the station , we had our train to Haridwar, Got in to the train in our own chair cars, my mind was absolutely blank no expectations from the trip what so ever we had no pre bookings. Just one Faith to visit the Char Dhams ..Take a Dip in the Holy ganges and experience the mountains. all i did was plug in my music and Explore the nature of synchronicity and let Shiva dance me through the journey of Cosmos.

At 8pm we had reached hardiwar and it was cold in the air, a little humid, a quite town but lots of people every where, as soon as we got off the train there was this old man who came up to me and said “SaHib Khan jana Hai..?”- Sir , where would you like ot go.. I Smiled and Said ” jana Tho Charon Dham hai, Phil hal hame koie Hotel room lekar chaliye” and then he rattled off that we have come at the rite time as until yesterday there were heavy rains and Monday when we start our Journey it will be good as all the Highways would have been cleared. That sounded nice and he assured us good luck for your journey.

A little about Haridwar :Haridwar, literally means ‘The gateway to the Gods’. It’s the place where the river Ganga descends to the plain. A Gateway to the four pilgrimage of Uttarakhand. A major
Shaktipeeth from time immemorial, the place is believed to have both sanctified by the powerful trinity of Hindu mythology – Brahma, Vishnu and Mahesh. This is why the place has been a ever-refreshing mystic venue for the purification of the mind, body and soul.

The Kumbha Mela, happening once every 12 years and the Ardha Kumbha Mela (Coming once every six years) are big draws. So we got to the room close to Har-Ki-Paudi, Har-Ki-Paudi is a famous Ghat on the banks of the Ganges in Haridwar . This revered place is the major landmark of the holy city of Haridwar. Literally, “Har” means “Lord Shiva”, “ki” means “of” and “paudi” means “steps” to gether means “Steps of Lord Shiva” . Lord Shiva and Lord Vishnu are believed to have visited the Brahmakund in Har ki Paudi in the Vedic times.

There is a large footprint said to belong to Lord Vishnu on a stone wall. We got ur selves our Dinner and tucked away in our beds and I Shut my eyes closed awaiting our next day plans of Ganga Snan(Dip in the Ganges).

Woke up at 6am and Got to the Ganga Ghat. It was blue skies and it was my first experience of the Gang Roaring and Gushing down in full spate. It is said the Ganga at haridwar is it its Full of  vigor and flows Down in Full Spate and furry and it was Cold when i took my Dip , Shivering Cold, even after considering that it had already traveled quite a distance through the mountains…

I Could feel the Essence of the Vibrations coming through the Gushing river and the Himalayan Winds. It was such a wonderful site to see people of all ages takes a dip in the cold Freezing river. from infants to age old women. After the Dip we head out ate some lunch , and went around the market took pictures of people , babas..all just so colorful and mystifying. Walked up to the big queue trying to get to the top of the Hill in Haridwar where we have a Shakthi peth(energy Centre)

Mansa Devi  the Goddess Of Energy which churns all this Creative energy in to material existence. Which combines with Shiva to manifest it self into SHIVA SHAKTHI.. We are all energy beings and our material goal of life is to meet our creative energies and create and manifest in Harmony. It was great learning just watching people in the crowd getting to the temple on top of this Big hill. After absorbing the energy we came down and by the time the whole journey of getting to the temple and back was a bit exhausting we walked back to the room and as i was walking back saw a few travel agents who help you book a cab that will take you around the Char Dham and back to Haridwar. We had a bit of a time constraint as we had to do the journey in 9 days rather than 10 days as normally it is all done , however i told the guy we will finish the journey in 9 days as we have our Flights booked.

He agreed and said it will be all taken care. Paid him the advance amount and came back to the room and we packed up for the night and got back to our beds after dinner Little we knew what we were heading towards and underestimated the treks and the walks that were involved in carrying out this Yatra. We close our eyes as we hear the Ganga in a distance vibrating as it flowed down the Ghat.

Next Day Morning we woke up early and the Driver arrived at 7am and picked up our luggage. This was a Short bout Well built man. Who looked like Dharmendar.(Bollywood Actor). I received no vibration good or bad from him. He was a calm man in his mind .We gathered the Blessings of the Land of Haridwar and we set off to our first Destination Yamunotri.

Part 2

Significance of Ganesh Chaturthi:

The day on which the Ganesh frequencies reached Earth for the first time, Lord Ganesh was born , fourth day (chaturthi)of the bright fortnight of the lunar month of Magh. Since then, an association between Ganesh and chaturthi was established.

Ganesh Chaturthi

The frequencies of Ganesh reach the Earth on the fourth day chaturthi of every fortnight of the Hindu lunar month. This implies that on that date, a greater quantity of frequencies of Ganesh can reach the earth.Chaturthi means the turiyavastha, a state beyond the states of waking (jagruti), dream (svapna) and deep sleep (sushupti). This itself is the target of a seeker.The fourth day (chaturthi) of the bright fortnight of each  lunar month is called Vinayaki and that of the dark fortnight is called Sankashti.

Vinayaki :

Goddess Vinayaki or Ganeshani, also known as Gajanani, Ganeshari or Vigneshwari, is the feminineform of Lord Ganesh. GoddessVinayaki is the idol worshipped in Tamil Nadu.GoddessVinayaki or Ganeshani is considered as a form of Shakti rather a Yogini Devata.In Suchindram, a feminine Ganesha in Sukhasana pose is worshipped.In Tibet, the feminineGanesh form is worshipped as Gajanani.Some Puranas and ancient scriptures mentioned the female Shakti of Ganapati as Vainayaki or Ganeshini.Several Puranas referred Ganeshani or Vinayaki as one of the Yogini Shaktis. But the worship of Ganeshini is very less known in ancient rituals and pujas.

Sankashti :

The day marked as Sankashti appears every month in the Hindu calendar.People fast throughout the day and eat in the evening after the moonrise. Most people understand Sankashti as a ritual to please Lord Ganesh so that He removes all the hurdles and crisis (Sankat) that one faces in life.This is the mundane point of view. There are 360 different frequencies that are emitted from the core of the earth. These surround the body and thus slow down the body processes. This is a ’sankat’. In the dark fortnight of the Hindu lunar month, these 360 frequencies are more active. This obstructs the flow of energy in the nadis (channels) in the body. Sankashti is performed to overcome this crisis. Lord Ganesh controls these 360 frequencies. Hence by His worship one is released from the bondage of these frequencies.

Ganesha’s form…

“There comes a time when we heed a certain call
When the world must come together as one….
We are the world, we are the children
We are the ones who make a brighter day
So lets start giving…..
Its true well makes a better day
Just you and me…!! “

Like they say , Great people or great lives are only realized after they are gone…

Rest in Peace! U Will Always Live On for Ever and a Day!

This time I wanted a day ride…coz out of the tight schedule I wanted to take time out for a ride.. That’s when i saw on the Internet about Bidar , and it was only about 146km and a good option to ride .. and come back on the same day.. That’s when i decided i had to get on this road no matter what, over the weekend. But I was still very tentative… called  Ram , told him wake me up early in the morning so that we could start early and make the most of the day …Well i slept late ..and by the time i woke up it was 8 in the morning….Got up and thought..ok! may be we will scrap the ride..and rather sleep coz i was really tired from all the erratic working hours during the week… and thought i should catch up with some more sleep instead..

Tried to go back to sleep…but couldn’t and the fact of being on
the Highway was really tempting me..woke up ..with a Jolt..!!! Got ready and got to ram’s place to pick him up at 9am . I know we were late but it really didn’t matter much, we headed straight to the highway, on my way i realized the bike was struggling…and all of a sudden stopped and wouldn’t budge, we got off the bike to realize smoke coming off the rear tier and rubber burning… allot of things running through my head at that moment… thought it could have been a piston snap..or some thing els..just didn’t know what to do..besides we were 40km away from the city…then thought may be it was the brakes that got jammed for some reason..immediately loosened the brakes..and started the bike again..and moved slowly and realized it was getting better and then ..there was no stopping…

We took a new route to sangareddy which was through a village and it was so much fun..stopping over at a lake..interacting with the villagers..all of a sudden i forgot from where we were coming..the chaos was all left behind…. and we stopped by every where to play with our respective shutterbugs..and then reached zaheerabad around 1pm.. and stopped by near a level crossing , where there was a Corn seller ..we grabbed our Mukka butta’s and sat on the railway tracks to eat them , realized there was a train speeding up at us..got off the tracks and took some snaps..and then got on ..and reached Bidar at 2pm…and headed straight to the gurudwara..It was so peaceful there..and we were on time for the langar. ate 3 parathas and some rajma dal..it was really the best meal i have had after a long time ..felt so much satisfying after a long ride!!!After the Awesome meal it was time for some sight seeing…so we head straight ot the fort..on the way to the Fort was the ancient Islamic university..called the Madarasa..it was so majestic the pain on the monument was still so prominent..and gives u a sense of what it would have looked like during those times..we both were imagining the whole city how it would have been like during those times..while we went through the Huge gates of the fort to enter the older part of the bidar town.. we Finlay got to the for…it was all ruins..all around us..the best part was we saw students studying thr sitting in those old ruin buildings..must be so peaceful and such a good feeling during the evening hours.. We went ballistic with our shutter bugs clicking pictures in all angles..and every thing we saw was a potential subject ready to take them as precious moments back home…we felt like we concurred the Bidar Fort…and we were the kings for the day !!!
Its an awesome feeling especially when you ride like there is no destination..like vagabonds…i really like the lines ” Where Ever I Lay My Head is HOME !” ….
We went on to the Tower where there was this Huge Cannon..Big enough to make an adult sit in there and Blow him away…It was so Huge…i wonder how they managed to put it up there…

By then it was getting late and almost time for sundown ..and it started drizzling..so we quickly packed up our cameras..in the bag..and went to a fuel station filled up some fuel and started to head back home ..this time ram was riding the bike …and we sped past every thing and all that we had in our mind was to head back while were getting to zaheerabad..ram got a call from his friends asking him to join them at 10 downing street and he asked me if i was game i said off course..wouldn’t be a better way to end a ride with a drink So we Headed and Hit the Highway….at an average of 90 and 100kmph!!!! It was an easy ride..and this time after sangaready we wanted to take the same village road to avoid traffic ..but that was a bad idea coz the roads weren’t the best and it was already dark..and wouldn’t be safe..so we went back to NH9.. and By the time we reached it was 10 and we stopped straight at 10 downing street the club..and got in with slush all over us..at least i was worst dressed for a Saturday club night….quickly went to the washroom and cleaned off..but well couldn’t do much for torn dirty jeans..and a T’shirt filled with dirt..but still managed to get in .. and a few drinks down..neither of us cared about our clothes ,what a way to end the day with an awesome ride some Good pulsating music…by midnight we packed up from there and headed straight home..I dropped off ram..and went home and crashed in bed… being in bed so so comfortable..and peaceful… and i slept like i didn’t know what had hit me..!!!!!Woke up fresh the next day…and realized i still had the same dirty clothes on..from last night

I spoke to Ram my only friend since 2nd class, dont know how i managed NOT to loose contact with him though..But anyway , we just descided a daybefore…besides i had enough of the Hyderabad summers and had to Get away and Reclaim my life……I belive you can Only feel Freedom on two wheels with the Wind on your face…Especialy whn you own a T’bird , i’m shure u know what i mean by Living your wild side..!!

A day before i had planned got some Oil for the gearbox and the Oil sump..filled e’m up and always had a feeling of insecurity coz my bike needed a service , the engine had a slugish feeling , but when i have to Hit the road i really have to….Woke up @ 5am on the 8th June 07 got ready and went over to Rams place to pick him up ..he had got a few cans of Red bull. I knew we wud need some to beat the stress..

Filled up the Tank with Gas and Hit the Road @ 7 ….

It was a smooth ride until i realised after about 70 odd km i had oil all over me..my typres ..oil..oil.. every whr.. Stoped by to check and it was the connecting pipe from the oil sump…so quickly cut out the part that was leaking and fixed the other end to it checked for any air locks in the pipe , but luckily none ….HIT the road agagin and then on it was No stoping …we were hitting a steady speeed of 90 and 100 kmph..Wind on my Face and i had forgotten all my Problems ..my mind was blank …absolutely no thoughts no strings pulling out of my head..it was Just the wind talking ……N’ the weather was Brilliant…at about 12 pm..we stoped over at dindi near the dam and had some idlis to eat and later within no time Hit the ghat road..no body on the road except for a few ferocious monkeys looking to grab any eatables that they could find..1:30pm we were at srisailam..the only disapoint ment , no water the gates to the dam were closed as well ….But the ride was wat we had relished..we got to the Hotel later then had a fullfilling Lunch..We visited the main temple – the Brahmarambha Mallikarjuna Swamy temple.Then Hit the sack. and didnt knw wat hit me , by the time i woke up it was 10:30…so our plan to start back early was all over….finished our lunch and by the time we started our journey back it was 3..and on our way down the ghat road Ram wanted to go boating , i cudnt say no But had to give in and more over the clouds were starting to gather up and look mean and i knew it was going to be a tough ride in Bad wether …But thn I was living for the moment and Went Jumped in to the river.. We went rite in to the river stream on our round boats …it was fun the overcast and the winds were pushing our boats and gently mother nature was rowing us to the shore.. Besides it was a good idea to stop by at patal ganga..as they like to call it .. then we started our journey back to hyderabad it was 5:30…. and on our way it was thrilling the winds were blowing us of the road..and thunder in the skyes..and at one time i thought we were lucky coz the tree beside us was struck by that high Jolt of Lightning and fell down to the ground..

It started to poor down like cats and Dogs…Brilliant i never thought it wud be my frst showers of Monsoon in the middle of No where…we had to stop by coz the weather had got’n really bad..but it was’nt for Loong and started to roll again.

Glad there wasnt much trafic on the road ..and didnt have to dodge the volvos and the truks at night and after a Loong Tough Slushy ride we finaly entered Hyderabad at 10:30 and were back to civilization and saw motorists trying to over take each other though array roots and cut across the road like they did have a care in the world….thats when it thought ..Wer back to Our Hyderabad.. later stoped by at paradise andate two biryanis each.. We were Famished !!! It was a great feeling ….A Feeling When a MAN GETS Exactly What he Desires…WOW….Its Bin a while

Since i had that Feeling..

later droped off ram at his place and got home by 1 am ..It was one hell of a ride …not to mention i was still Buzz’ng , took me a while to get over the long ride..

Cheers N’ Ride Safe…

Sandeep