This Char Dham Yatra encompassed darshan and prayers in the four main Dhams (Hindu pilgrimage sites): Kedarnath, Badrinath, Yamunotri and Gangotri. Along with these, there were darshan in Haridwar and Uttarkashi as well.

On Oct 13^th, about 70 uniquely blessed devotees gathered in Haridwar from different parts of the world; Untied States, Singapore, India and Dubai. In the supremely auspicious presence of Swamiji, the devotees first sought blessings from Mother Ganga at Haridwar, by taking a dip in Her holy waters at Har ki Paudi and offering Aarti at the holy bank.

After gaining the Mother’s blessings, the pilgrims proceeded to Barkot, where they stayed overnight at a serene campsite, in tents. The next morning, the devotees trekked a glorious six kilometres to Yamunotri, and had the opportunity to bathe in Ma Yamuna’s sacred and auspicious hot springs (kunda), considered among the foremost of purifying rituals. Here the devotees also did puja and aarti at Yamunaji’s sacred Shila.

Having completed successfully the first leg of the yatra, the devotees trekked back down to Barkot, feeling blissfully enveloped in Ma Yamuna’s divine embrace, fulfilled and happy. By Swamiji’s grace, the weather showered its own unique blessings on the devotees, and the entire pilgrimage was a safe, pleasant and blissfully happy experience.

In the next leg of the yatra, we traveled with Swamiji to Uttarkashi, where the ancient Saumyakashi Vishwanath temple houses a Shivlinga that is said to be Svayambhu. This temple is of special significance in our Guru parampara; because Pujya Swami Tapovanji Maharaj and Pujya Gurudev Swami Chinmayananda visited there often and offered puja. Continuing this beautiful parampara, the pilgrims offered Rudri chanting and abhishek, under the loving guidance of Swamiji.

No pilgrimage to Uttarkashi can be complete without paying respects at the sacred Tapovan kutir, which Swamiji described as, “The Gomukh of Chinmaya Mission. Because from there came our Pujya Gurudev. A Mahatma like Tapovanji alone can make a Mahatma like Swami Chinmayanandaji.”

After Uttarkashi, the devotees headed to Gangotri. On the way, they were treated to a demonstration of the magic of Hanuman Chalisa, as a few boulders blocking the path were quickly cleared after chanting of the Chalisa.

Gangotri Yatra is often a difficult one, with many hurdles, due to which sometimes pilgrims have to turn back. The devotees with Swami Abhedanandaji were keenly aware that it was Pujya Gurudev’s pratap (glory) and Swamiji’s sankalpa shakti that this yatra has been undergoing so successfully. Immensely grateful, the pilgrims all took snaan (bath) in Ma Ganga’s waters, braving the icy temperature.

In the next leg of our yatra, we took a long 14-hour bus journey from Uttarkashi to Sitapur (the base for Kedarnath helicopter darshan). The next morning, devotees headed to the helipad from where choppers flew them in batches of five and six, to the most sacred Kedarnath temple which is a dream teerth of every Hindu to visit at least once in lifetime.

As the arrival at the temple was staggered, the batches of devotees were able to offer a prolonged abhishek to Bhagwan Kedarnath with various dravyas like ghee, bhasma, chandan and honey, in short, all the goodies that Lord Shiva likes. It was a very fulfilling darshan for each devotee, and everyone felt very palpably the Lord’s happiness upon them.

After this blissful darshan at Kedarnath, the devotees took another 12-hour bus ride to Badrinath, yet another very powerful teerth which attracts millions of devotees every year.

The pilgrims visited the Badrinath temple twice, in the morning and in the evening. In the morning, for Maha-abhishekam, when the head priest performs a very detailed three-hour-long puja of Badrinath Bhagwan, starting with waking Him up, bathing Him, offering various dravyas and then an elaborate and beautiful shringar. The devotees got to sit in the very sanctum, to witness this gorgeous puja. They felt like they were indeed with the Lord, at the Lord’s own home. Another opportunity in the evening allowed the devotees to witness the aarti, an impressive, grand spectacle.

There was also a short visit arranged to the nearby Mana village where everyone got to offer prayers at the originating point of Mother Saraswati, the famous Vyas Gufa and the Ganesh Gufa.

On 21st Oct, the concluding day of this divine Char Dham Yatra, a valedictory function was held, where the devotees expressed their feeling of overwhelming gratitude and fulfilment. The pilgrims took this chance to thank Pujya Swamiji from the bottom of their hearts and expressed their fortune to be able to be a part of such an incredible spiritual experience. They also thanked all the staff, including the cooks, drivers and others for their tireless service during the entire yatra.

Swamiji then distributed prasad to everybody, and it was with a heavy heart that devotees realised that it was time to go their separate ways. They took home with them however, the immense and indescribable joy of having spent so much time with the Lord, in Pujya Swamiji’s most sacred presence, and all are praying that the Lord will call them back to His feet again someday soon.

Such pilgrimages are divinely unique, arduous and very rare to accomplish, and only a saint like Pujya Swamiji can make this possible and usher us into the divine lap of the Lord.

To view the pictures from the Char Dham Yatra, please click here

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The yatra started from Kathmandu where all the delegates assembled at the 7 star hotel – Crown Plaza Soaltee. The tentative darshan of Pashupatinathji, the next day, was preponed to the 27th August itself as the festival ‘Hartalikateej’ (a celebrative ritual performed by the wives for the long lives of their husbands) fell the next day and the Nepalese women were supposed to crowd the temple premises. The evening arati at Pashupatinath ji was witnessed by all the delegates and they could all feel the blessings gushing down from the Margabandhu, the Lord Himself for the challenging yatra.

The 28th August had a misty and rainy morning and the delegates became quite apprehensive about going to fly to see the Mount Everest and other famous peaks. They were divided in 4 lots and as the small flights headed towards ‘sagarmattha’ (Everest in Nepalese) the clouds cleared the way to show the world’s highest peak – standing in its full glory!! The other mountain peaks like Lhotse, Gaurishankar were some of the other grand crests noticed as a bonus!!

The next day i.e. on 29th August 2014 all the delegates were ready with their duffel bags packed to leave on a campaign considered most difficult due to the thin air, the high altitudes and minimal facilities. The bridge to Kodari border had been washed away by intensive rains making a helicopter ride the need of the time. Hence all the delegates were transferred to Kodari border in choppers from where they crossed the friendship bridge to enter into China governed Tibet. The passports were stamped and the delegates seated themselves in their respective buses to head towards the next stop, Nyalam which was situated at 12300 ft above sea level.

At Nyalam the stay was planned so that the delegates could spend 2 nights to acclimatize with the sudden altitude difference. With the grace of Lord Shiva nobody met with a problem and the campers soulfully left for the next destination ‘Saga’ on the 31st of August which is at 4300 m above sea level. Here Brahmaputra river could be seen gushing with its natural calmness.
On the 1st September the campers reached the divine lake Mansarovar and had the first glimpse of the holy mountain, Lord’s abode – Kailash. It was a breathtaking sight as only a small portion of it was visible through the clouds that enveloped it all around. But Swamiji said that the campers should not lose their patience as the Lord is getting ready to meet all the delegates and will give darshan from the Mansarovarlake. And that was a fact! When everyone reached mansarovar lake to take a dip in its holy waters, the Lord in the form of Kailash gave beautiful darshan to His devotees. One whole day was dedicated at mansarovar wherein PujyaSwamiji performed Rudrabhishek of the Lord 11 times with 11 kinds of dravyas to thank the benevolent Lord for his grace and blessings. After a fulfilling day a sumptuous meal was awaiting and then the campers packed their bagpacks for the three days of ardousparikrama of mount Kailash!

On 2nd September they all left from Mansarovar to the base of the Kailash Mountain. It is called Yama-dwar. It is believed that one should cross the Yama dwar to take the blessings of Lord of death because the whole of Kailash region is beyond death. All the delegates got their ponies and porters here to be with them throughout the three days.

The parikrama started and the delegates reached Dirapuk(4860 m) in the evening when the sun still shown bright. After the hot soup and delicious pakodas the delegates were rejuvenated. Sumptuous meal was served and everyone slept off for getting up early the next day for the toughest portion of the whole yatra.

The next day 3rd September, the delegates left on their respective ponies for the Dolma pass (5200 m) which is the highest point of the Kailash trek. Throughout the trek Mount Kailash can be seen on the right with a long spur which joins the eastern ridge. This is the top of the edge of the glacial valley from which the Lhachu (Divine River) flows. The walk brings us to one of the highest point along the path Dolma pass. At the pass is a large boulder depicting Tara festooned with prayer flags. Here, Tibetans leave a memento of themselves, such as a tooth, lock of hair or personal photo. On descending the pathway, the valley below has the gaurikund finally taking the delegates to their destination Zuthulpuk.

The next day on 4th September, it was an easy walk of 10 km down to Chongdo from where the transports took the delegates to Dongpa. From Dongpa the delegates reached to Saga for an overnight stay and then back to Nyalam. The campers then reached Kodari Border from Nyalam to re-board the choppers to fly them across to Kathmandu.

The entire team of Kailash Treks with its team of Sherpas made their presence visible with their affectionate service and cheerfulness. A Valedictory Session was held on the 7th of September wherein certificates and mementos of the divine Yatra were distributed by Pujya Swamiji to the delegates. The very adored Br. Abhijit Chaitanya expressed his gratitude on behalf of the delegates of South Africa at the feet of the Lord and Shri Sadguru in his inspiring and humble speech for having such an opportunity to accomplish such a celestial spiritual journey. Mr. Shiv Iyer, devotee of Chinmaya Mission Singapore with whose industrious and dedicated efforts this yatra was organised and met success acknowledged the endeavour of every individual from the stone to the pillar through his beautiful and profound array of words.
Finally Swamiji adorned the entire experience with His divine words saying that there may have been many reasons when we might have felt low in our lives but the Lord through this Yatra had again given us one more reason to be grateful and happy for the rest of our lives.

On the 10th of August everybody left for their respective destinations with their individual lifetime achievement awards commemorated by the Lord of Lord Himself!

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It was a journey of a lifetime. For many, this was their most cherished dream come true. And for others, it was like living a dream with their eyes open. It was a divine confluence of 69 enthused devotees from 5 countries – South Africa, Singapore, USA, Doha and India who gathered in Kathmandu under the gracious presence of Swami Abhedanandaji (Resident Acharyaof CM South Africa) on 15 June, to embark on the much awaited Kailash Mansarovar Yatra. For all the devotees, this was the first time in their lives, and Swamiji had been building up their divine anticipation through successive months of Gyna Yagnas on the glories of Lord Shiva.

The yatra commenced in Kathmandu where devotees performed puja and had unforgettable darshan in Pashupatinath and Budhneelkanth temples, followed by an aerial tour of Mt. Everest and nearby Himalayan peaks. Everyone reveled in Pujya Swamiji’ssatsang and bhajans by classical singer Tripti Watwet hat uplifted everybody’s spirits yearning for darshan of Lord Kailashpati. After two days in Kathmandu, the group embarked on the Yatra. Crossing over the Friendship Bridge bordering Nepal and Tibet, the group arrived in Nyalam and stayed over two nights for acclimatization. Driving through the scenic Himalayan ranges and stopping by occasionally to marvel at the breathtaking sights, the devotees finally arrived in SaGa on the banks of river Brahmaputra. Swamiji once again showered everyone with soul stirring satsangs on the glories of Lord Shiva, as devotees waited with bated breath for the darshan of Mount Kailash. The long wait and anticipation ended when finally everyone arrived in Chu Gompa, and stayed overnight at the banks of Lake Mansarovar and had an indescribable darshan of the South Face of Mt.Kailash which is commonly referred as “Dakshinamurti” – the form of Lord Shiva which is worshipped as Jagadguru! Devotees took dip bath in the icy waters of Mansarovar and soothed themselves to the core. Everyone picked Shiva-Lingas from Mansarovar and felt immensely fulfilled. But much more was in store, as the next day was the auspicious “Pradosha” when Swamiji led everyone to the banks of Mansarovar, and devotees performed 11 times Rudrabhishekam of Lord Shiva with the holy waters from Mansarovar, facing Mt. Kailash. Everyone had brought their personal altar with them, and today they felt most fortunate as nothing could have been greater than offering puja to Lord Shiva with Mansarovar waters at the feet of Kailash. Feeling immensely grateful and fulfilled, everyone drove down to the final destination of Darchen from where the holy parikrama (circumambulation) of Mt. Kailash was commenced. Lord Shiva welcomed everyone with clear skies and a bright sun that shone above our heads as if in warm welcome. On the holy Poornima night, everyone completed the first day of parikrama and came closest to Mt.Kailash – as we all had crystal clear darshan of the North face of Mt.Kailash. Devotees stayed their all evening, and overnight witnessing the full moon rise to the top of Mt.Kailash, as if Lord Shiva had adorned the moon on His head to become Chandrashekhara. Everyone woke up to witness the golden face of Lord Shiva as the first rays of the morning sun shone bright on the snow capped Kailash. Walking back from the parikrama, devotees kept gazing at the various faces of Kailash in awe, as several forms of Lord Ganesha, Mother Parvati, Lord Hanumanji and other deities kept surfacing on the mountains. It was sheer grace and compassion of Lord Shiva that made the Yatra possible without a single impediment, and four days of clear skies and bright sun that seemed to be a miraculous set-up just for us, in the midst of calamities in Kedarnath. The devotees returned to Kathmandu as PujyaSwamiji put RudrakshaMalas around everyone’s necks as Prasad, and his final address during the valedictory function made everyone’s eyes welled with tears of joy, gratitude, fulfillment and humility. Swamiji’s final words still ring in everyone’s ears – “ Whenever you feel sad or small or less fortunate about anything in life, close your eyes and remember only four things: the first darshan of Mt.Kailash, the dip bath in Mansarovar Lake, the Rudrabhishek puja of Kailash on Pradosh, and the close-up darshan of North face of Kailash. All your feeling of smallness will immediately vanish.”As devotees left for their respective homes, only one thought kept recurring in everyone’s mind – when would we back here again!

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In the most picturesque and scenic settings of the Bali island of Indonesia, surrounded by lush green paddy fields of Ubud village, a blessed group of 50 delegates spent 5 days of unforgettable time in the divine company of Swami Abhedanandaji. This was a unique and first-ever international camp of sorts, which was organized by Chinmaya Mission South Africa to support the fund raising activities for construction of Chinmaya Shivam Temple & Ashram expansion project in Durban.

Organized from 8 to 12 August, delegates from different countries including Kenya, USA, Singapore, India, Dubai and South Africa attended this wonderful spiritual retreat wherein Swami Abhedananda delivered soul-stirring talks on Kishkindhakand of Sri Ramcharitmanas. Swamiji’s talks were soaked in the depth of knowledge and nectar of devotion, as he unraveled the different types of “Sharanagati” (surrender) characterized in devotees such as Shri Hanumanji, Sugreev and Vaali. Swamiji elaborated on how the power of surrender is directly proportional to one’s ability to allow the Lord to become the doer and enjoyer in our lives. Having no sankalpa or insistence on situations, or towards people and objects around us, when one allows the Lord to take over the reins of one’s life, then such a person’s life naturally becomes extremely conducive, people and things around become favourable, and the person discovers unending peace and unconditional happiness.

During the mornings, Swamiji conducted meditation sessions in the midst of the pristine natural surroundings, after which everyone enjoyed reveling in the bliss and quietude as they traversed alone through the paddy fields and witnessed the beauty of sunrise everyday. Every evening, the group went out sight-seeing to enjoy the much-talked about Balinese temples, ancient architectures and traditional monuments. This included visits to Tanah-Lot temple, Tirtha-Empul (believed to be a point of appearance of 3 rivers – Ganga, Jamuna and Saraswati), Ubud Palace and a visit to the traditional art market in Ubud downtown area.

Sri Krishna Janmashtami coincided during the camp, and the resort was completely pulsating with Janmashtami celebrations as everyone was dressed in traditional attire and danced to the tunes of festive music while one of the small infants from the group was dressed up as Baby Krishna. Swami Abhedanandaji then led everyone to perform Vishnu Sahasranama Archana and Puja, which finally culminated in a wonderful satsang on the glories of the Lord. The last day of the retreat was memorably concluded with a photo-recap session reminiscing all the wonderful moments spent over five days, and with everyone thanking Pujya Swamiji for the elevating experience that he bestowed upon all through his loving presence and inspiring satsangs. The camp was organised successfully with active assistance from members of Chinmaya Mission Singapore, particularly Jay Ganapthy and Shiv Iyer. On behalf of Chinmaya Mission South Africa, the Trustee and camp-coordinator Pavan Maharaj expressed his heartfelt appreciation to them.

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Swami Abhedananda brought all the campers from across the seas to Sidhabari, the most cherished abode of our Pujya Gurudev, so that even they could experience the divinity in the ambience here, and revel in the beautiful camp text – Sri Guru Geeta.

Swamiji shared as to how the spiritual texts start revealing themselves to those who have Supreme Devotion for the Lord and the Guru equally. He said that one who surrenders to the Altar, gets all the powers of the Altar. The knowledge flows automatically. This is called anugraha. When it is said that one should serve the feet of the Teacher, it indicates the ideal on which the Teacher stands. The Guru is the amplifier of the Lord’s words. Every bit spoken by Swamiji was a live demonstration of his unfathomable and silent guru bhakti for Pujya Gurudev and Pujya Guruji.

The campers also visited CORD and Kapil Muni’s Ashram in the evenings. The next destination in the yatra was Ma Vaishno Devi Temple – one of the oldest temples in India. From Vaishnodevi, all devotees travelled to Haridwar and spent a day visiting some of the very prominent pilgrimage spots like “Maya Devi” temple and “Daksheshwar Mahadev” temple. Campers also visited Har-ki-Pauri and had a dip bath in the holy Ganga, before witnessing the most spectacular Ganga Aarti.

After a night stay in Haridwar, devotees left for their next destination – Rudra Prayag, where Swamiji took everyone to have darshan of the old temple of Lord Rudra, wherein it is believed that Sage Narada did Tapas. The same holy place witnesses the confluence of the two great rivers – Alaknanda (coming from Badrinath) and Mandakini (coming from Kedarnath). After a fulfilling darshan in Redra-prayag, devotees moved forwards for the darshan of Lord Shiva at the holy Jyotirlinga pilgrimage of Kedarnath. Upon reaching Kedarnath, the campers were welcomed by snow-capped Himalayan peaks and nature’s pristine glory, which was a breath-taking sight to witness. Lord Kedarnath in the form of a Shiva-linga which resembles the hump of a bull, is in full splendour here, and devotees were able to perform a very fulfilling Abhishek with their own hands, in the dead of night at 1:30 a.m. The next day devotees had darshan at Sri Adi Shankaracharya’s Samadhi, and also a few other prominent temples and “Kunds” in and around Kedarnath temple.

After a night stay at Rudraprayag, campers reach the pious Badrinath Dham next day and attended the evening Vishnu Sahasranam Archana in the sanctum sanctorum with Pujya Swamiji. The next morning, a ritualistic and complete Abhishekam of the Lord was performed on behalf of all the campers by Swami Abhedanandaji, which was a divine experienced to be witnessed. Thereafter, devotees went for darshan of some important pilgrimage sites like the Saraswati river, “Vyas Gufa” and “Ganesh Gufa” – the caves where Bhagwan Veda Vyasa and Lord Ganesha wrote the great epic Mahabharat.

Next morning, the delegates reached Haridwar and on the way covered important sites like Devprayag and Rishikesh. The last lap of the Yatra was at the holy Vrindavan where the group visited important places like Kaliyamardan Ghaat (where The Lord danced on the serpant Kaliya to teach him a lesson), Cheerharan Ghaat, Gokul, bank of Jamunaji, Raman Reti etc. In the evening they had a fulfilling darshan of the phool bangala (temple decorated with scented flowers) at Bankey Behariji.

The nest morning in spite of all the tiredness and heat, all visited Nidhi Van, Sewa Kunj and Madan Mohan Temples. After lunch it was time to leave for Delhi, from where the South Africa delegates along with Swamiji would take their flight to Pune (Kolwan). The Durban campers were lucky to be Pujya Guruji for a weeklong camp in Vibhuti where they celebrated Pujya Guruji’s 60th Birthday.

Throughout the trip the chantings of Hanuman Chalisa and bhajans kept the landslides at bay and kept clearing the mysterious and curvy mountainous course. It was only the grace of Pujya Gurudev and Pujya Guruji acting through Swami Abhedananda that made the whole yatra so comfortable and enjoyable. The campers thanked him profusely and requested him to keep showering his grace on all of them throughout. Swamiji also in turn, thanked all the people involved in organising the camp so well and also remembered Pujya Gurudev and Pujya Guruji gratefully.

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After reaching the venue on 16th evening, everyone gathered at the seminar hall for the inauguration of the retreat. Swami Abhedanandaji together with Mr. Pravin Haripersad (Chairman, Committee of Chinmaya Mission Durban) and Mr. Jai Bhagawan Din (Committee member) inaugurated the camp by lighting lamps before the photo of Sri Gurudev and Lord Rama. After the opening prayer, Swamiji lovingly welcomed all the participants to the retreat and began with the discourse on Shri Ramcharitmanas. Swamiji’s unique life enhancing approach in explaining the ancient Hindu text left everyone enchanted with an inner craving for more.

During meal times devotees sat and ate in the peaceful vibrations of chanting of chapter 15 of the Bhagavat Geeta. After dinner, devotees sat with Swamiji on the lush lawn under a starlit sky for soothing bajans and kirtans. Mornings started with guided meditation through which Swamiji taught to still the mind and get into contact with the eternal peace of the Divine within our own hearts. The afternoons went by in an inter-active session on the topic, “What is the importance of spirituality in our lives” conducted by Mr. Vimal Singh.

Swamiji’s captivating talks on Shri Ramcharitmanas transformed the entire atmosphere of the holiday resort into a spiritual sanctuary. Devotees were enthralled with Swamiji’s dynamic yet easy to grasp explanation of the Ramcharitmanas which enlightened on the relevance of values enshrined in the Scriptures and how to utilise them in the modern times. The theme of the camp was “Think rightly, Enjoy wisely” This was brought very beautifully by Swamiji in his discourses. The different aspects of Ramji’s character were discussed and how His behavior was with his parents, his guru and the common village people. The smile on his face never wavered even when he heard that he was to be banished to the forest for 14 years. His character was described in great detail, the way he walked, talked, ate and how his interactions were amongst people and surroundings. This provided a clear example of how we should strive to be in our own lives.

The differences between love and attachment were elaborated and the talks equipped the listeners to on how to make good decisions and how to tackle the various situations that we come across in our daily lives. Swamiji described the Pushp Vatika prasang in detail and emphasized on how one should intellectually, mentally, spiritually and emotionally prepare for puja. The talks provided useful information on how to develop better, closer and more fulfilling relations. Swamiji stressed on the sacred duty to uphold the high spiritual ideals set out by Sri Ramji and Mother Sita. The discourses inspired each one to take complete refuge in the Divine Name.

In the evening time, there was a question and answer session which helped devotees to get some clarity on many issues. There was also a presentation of Hindvani Radio. Most people enjoyed a pleasant evening walk with Swamiji before retiring to their rooms. The camp delegates also enjoyed a cultural programme which included music, dance and drama. A thought provoking play called “Manthara Prasang 2009” was rendered by senior devotees above the age of sixty.

The camp concluded on a high vibrational note at the closing ceremony on Sunday 18 January. Swamiji in all humility paid respects and thanks to Sri Gurudev and Pujya Guruji for giving us this divine platform of Chinmaya Mission to develop our seekerhood. The camp delegates expressed their hearfelt gratitude to Swamiji for his mentally inspiring discourses. Devotees then bid farewell to Drakensville, each one spiritually charged to dash ahead in the year 2009!

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For a majority of South Africans, who had never seen the shores of India ever since their ancestors left India more than 150 years ago; this Yatra with Swamiji back to India was a great milestone in their lives. Places like Gomukh, Kedarnath and Badrinath, where one can feel God’s presence in the most pristine and tangible form, made everyone feel profusely indebted to Swamiji.

Before embarking on the Char Dham yatra, over 31 delegates from South Africa along with Swami Abhedananda arrived on 29th June from Johannesburg to Mumbai and took a chartered bus to visit Chinmaya Vibhooti and seek the blessings of Pujya Guruji Swami Tejomayanandaji. The devotees stayed over for a day in Chinmaya Vibhooti and celebrated Guruji’s birthday on 30th June. Guruji conducted a special meeting with all the devotees from South Africa and congratulated them for coming to India on this great yatra. Subsequently the group left for New Delhi to embark on the yatra, where another 34 delegates from Singapore, Middle-East and India joined the group.

After witnessing the spectacular Ganga Aarti at Har-ki-Pauri of Haridwar, the devotees left for Uttarkashi where they witnessed the divine ashram of Swami Tapovanji Maharaj. In the lap of Mother Ganga and under the securing grace of Swami Tapovanji, the devotees attended beautiful discourses of Swami Abhedanandaji on topics like “Aranya Kand” (Shri Ramcharitmanas), “Uddhav Geet” (Srimad Bhagwatam) and most interesting “Prashnottara Ratna Malika” (a text by Adi Shankaracharya) – which was a never-heard subject but most liked by everyone, as it covered fundamentals of right thinking and right living, presented by Shankaracharyaji in a question-answer form. Morning meditation classes followed by four sessions of discourses during the day were sufficient to make everyone feel elevated in the nectarine bliss of the scriptures that was being communicated by Swamiji with unmatched clarity and depth. The devotees also performed Pujya Gurudev’s “Paduka Puja” on one of the days, and also conducted “Samashti Sadhu Bhiksha” for around 80 sadhus and sanyasis at the ashram. After spending six days in Uttarkashi, the delegates left for Yamunotri, followed by Gangotri and trek upto Gomukh – the source of mother Ganga. The devotees felt greatly blessed to have wonderful darshan in Yamunotri and Gangotri temples, and also to see the huge glacier of Gomukh from where Mother Ganga originates. After Gomukh darshan, the delegates returned to Gangotri and then left for Kedarnath where a special Abhishek Puja was organized for all the delegates. From Kedarnath, the group returned to Rudraprayag where everyone had wonderful darshan of “Koteshwar Mahadev” temple. The next day all devotees left for Badrinath where again devotees were blessed to get a special darshan of the Lord. Everyone witnessed the “Shodashopachar Puja – Abhishek – Alankar” sitting right in front of the eternal idol of Lord Badri Narayan. Since it was Guru Poornima also on the same day, all devotees with Swami Abhedananda ji visited “Vyas Gufa” and “Ganesh Gufa”, and also had darshan of “Saraswati River” and “Bheem Pul”. After the blissful darshan in Badrinath, the devotees felt most fulfilled for having completed the Char Dham Yatra by the Lord’s grace. In the evening, devotees performed Gurudev’s paduka puja and chanted bhajans and hymns, followed by a talk by Swamiji on the occasion of Guru Poornima.

On the last day of the camp, all devotees got together for a valedictory function in which Swamiji blessed and congratulated everyone for having completed the entire yatra successfully. Swamiji recommended everyone to dedicate their life in serving Pujya Gurudev and the Mission in whichever capacity they can render their services. The devotees also thanked Swamiji plentifully for undertaking this tough task of bringing so many of us to visit these divine pilgrimages, for taking such loving care of everyone, and for giving us the wealth of the scriptures in such a generous manner. Everyone left for their respective destinations with fulfilled mind with a beautiful urge to serve Pujya Gurudev and His divine Mission!

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The hearing of beautiful discourses transported us in the realm of saintliness and devotion. An hour of bhajans and cultural programmes filled the day with intense spiritual programme. Thus this retreat was a resounding success in binding us all as one Chinmaya Family and filled us with new vigour to be joyous and to serve the Mission.

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Swamiji’s guided meditation sessions and inspiring talks on Shri Ramcharitmanas filled every delegate with an unforgettable experience of the supreme bliss. Swamiji also devoted special sessions to highlight the grand vision of Pujya Gurudev, and reinforced the purpose of our association with the Mission. Swamiji stressed on the need for unconditional love and spirit of service in every mission member. With his lovable and warm approach, he brought all the delegates close to each other and also inspired them to become ideal sewaks of Pujya Gurudev.

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