Swamiji asked me, Cidatmananda, to write about the beautiful experience of walking through a South Indian subtropical forest to a small Shiva temple on top of a hill. This quaint temple is located just outside of Ooty, in the Nilgiri Hills. This adventure made a deep impression on me, with both its scenic beauty and […]

From Mumbai we came to Coimbatore, in the state of Tamil Nadu in the far south of India. Coimbatore would be a temporary stopping point for us on our way to the Nilgiri hills, just an hour or so away. The place where we stopped in Coimbatore was the home of Vasant and her family, […]

We would be in Mumbai for a few days before traveling to Coimbatore, located in the state of Tamil Nadu, in the far south of India. When we were previously in Mumbai a devotee named Pradeepta had invited us to visit his home. Shree Maa and Swamiji accepted the invitation and after our return from […]

When our stay in Sahapur was complete, we made our way to Nashik. It would again be a short stay, arriving around noon and departing the next day.

From Assam, we returned to New Delhi. We arrived in the night, and had a flight to Mumbai in the morning. We were now leaving from North India and going progressively southward. Our initial stay in Mumbai was also just a short pit stop, arriving midday and leaving before noon the day after. However, that […]

We returned from Uttarkashi to New Delhi for the celebration of Kali Puja and Diwali. Diwali is the festival of lights, commemorating the return of Ram to Ayodhya. The night before the festival of lights, we worship Kali, the remover of darkness. In the worship of the Nava Durgas (the nine relievers of difficulties), Kala […]

Birthday celebrations are special, but could it be more special than getting the opportunity to do a padya puja to Shree Maa, cutting the cake with the Devi Mandir family, having Swamiji chant mantras, and receiving the Divine Mother’s blessing all at once? I don’t think it could get any better than this!! My name […]