Heaven in the Mountains

A group of thirty SRSG Gurukulam students and faculty went on an outing into the Himalayan mountains on the 18th of March. It was a long awaited picnic and the weather was sunny and warm, making the trip more enjoyable. We started the trip with the chanting of Mahamritunjaya mantra. The bus journey of around four hours from Rishikesh to the Chandra Badni temple was filled with joy, laughter and snacks. This was the first trip of this kind for me; going into the mountains with such a big group. A little hike of half an hour brought us to the temple of the Goddess, Chandra Badni.

The moment I climbed the terrace of the temple and looked around, a thought flashed through me – this is the heaven on earth. I was surrounded by high majestic Himalayas for as far as the eye could see, snow peaks shining like they were wearing diamond necklaces.  We all soon went to the temple and did our prayers and offered prasad.  I could feel the serene presence of spiritual energy in the temple. The place invited me to sit in meditation for some time. We clicked group photos there.

From Chandra Badni we went to Devprayag where two rivers, Alaknanda and Bhagirathi, merge to form the Ganges river. The Alaknanda was quiet and the Bhagirathi flowed like a whirwind. The rivers had different colors. A lot of us bathed and played around in the Ganga water and shivered in the fresh air. Here we also visited the Raghunath temple, an ancient temple of Lord Rama.
We returned back to the Ashram at around 7:00pm. Although I was a little tired I came back with beautiful impressions, memories and blessing of the the Gods of the Heaven.

-submitted by Rahul (gurukulam student)

Two Streams United

Devprayag is one of the holy places of India. In ancient times sages, saints and other scholars stayed there and did great penances. Devprayag (ed: a prayag is a confluence of two rivers) is mentioned in the Pauranic scriptures as a simile for the unity of the two breaths flowing in the human body. The Bhagirathi River, coming from Gomukha, and the Alaknanda River, from Badrinatha, unite with each other at this place and flow as a single stream (the Ganges); as in the body Ida from left and Pingala from right unite at the eyebrow center and flow as a single stream, Sushumna.

Submitted by Chandramani (gurukulam sanskrit teacher)