Last Updated on January 10, 2025 by Swami Satyananda Saraswati
The morning came quicker than expected, and we all awoke, showered, and performed our individual sadhana.
It was an unusually quiet morning, as if everyone’s heart was dampened with the realization that the time had come to say goodbye to Mother India, and to embrace our long journey home.
Srini and Ramya’s altar glowed with the color of sindur this morning, and Shree Maa looked like a beautiful Goddess as She performed her final puja.
After breakfast, we began to pack.
There was so much to do, so much to organize prior to getting on the plane, but I cleverly managed to steal a few minutes of Swamiji’s time.
During these precious moments with Swamiji, I asked him to share, from his perspective, what he thought were the major highlights and overall accomplishments of the 2014 Tour of India.
We invite you to relive these treasured moments with us, and hope you enjoy them as much as we did:
Rishikesh:We performed Kali Puja and Diwali Mahayajna on the banks of the Ganga in Rishikesh, shared teachings with devotees from Northern India and Bangladesh, and chanted various Sanskrit scriptures daily with disciples under trees and in temples where we love to visit. We also performed Griha Pravesh Puja at Swami Ramkripaluji’s new apartment.
Vrindavan:We visited the Katyayani Peeth, where the priest allowed Shree Maa to bless us with a tilak from the sindur offered to the Goddess, we chanted the Vishnu Sahashranam at the famous Banke Bihari Mandir, and we danced like Gopis under the moonlight at the Kunjavan forest.
Digboi:We traveled to Digboi and met with Shree Maa’s childhood friends and family, interviewed her past teachers, met a pujari who knew her as a child, who said her singing is the same today as it was 45 years ago, when he knew her as a youngster.
We sang in the temples where she used to worship, performed pujas in the homes of her old friends, and visited her grade school, college, and places she used to frequent while she was in her formative years.
Mumbai:We visited Mumbai, where we met with family and friends from the south, made many new friends, and met physically with devotees who only knew us through the Internet. We taught pujas and recited scriptures with devotees old and new, consecrated a new temple outside of Mumbai, and visited a village in the interior of Maharashtra.
Tryambakeshwar:We performed Puja and Path daily in Tryambakeshwar, taught sanskrit and met with devotees for satsangha from around the Nashik area, performed a nine day Ram Katha which inspired Shree Maa to dance, sang the Rudrastadhyayi and performed Puja in the main Shiva Temple, and performed the Sundar Kanda in the village.
We also met with sadhus in the area and conducted meetings to further our project to establish an ashram in the area.
Nilgiri Hills:We met with devotees in Coimbatore and Ooty near the Nilgiri Hills, performed Puja and Path daily wherever we went, performed the Shiva Puja and Chandi Path in the Sai Baba Temple of Yetapalli, and chanted the Guru Gita in the Shiva Temple of Ooty.
Bengaluru & Mysore:We met with Rishi in the Chandramouleshwar Temple of Mysore, enjoyed satsangha with Srini and Ramya on the campus of the Indian Institute of Management in Bangalore, addressed the faculty and students of the University, and conducted daily Sanskrit chanting along with devotees.
Though we accomplished a lot during our two month journey through India, there was part of the tour that actually got diverted. We failed to reach Uttarkashi, where we had hoped to perform worship in a familiar environment. Instead we visited Vrindavan, which was equally spectacular. Uttarkashi will be added to our next itinerary, along with the several other invitations that we received along the way.
The 2014 Tour allowed Shree Maa and Swamiji to teach, to inspire, to worship, and to move devotees closer to God. They touched the hearts and minds of devotees from all over India, making their investment of time and energy a huge success.
Our special thanks to everyone who empowered us to share along the way, and to all of our divine hosts who so graciously extended their time, their homes, and their resources to make this yatra possible.
We thank you from the bottom of our hearts.
Pranam!