South Indian Tour

Dear friends we would like to present you new tour that we just developed this winter.

It is very special because places we will be visiting are Holy and give different kind of benedictions according to person’s level of advancement.

We invite you personally with the idea of going together to South India, arriving to Chennai (capital of Tamil Nadu state) starting with Tirupati-Tirumala (Andra Pradesh state) and then going to Kanchipuram, Maha Bali Puram on the east coast and Sri Rangam Kshetra (biggest Temple in the world) in the middle of Tamil Nadu state, also if we have time we will visit Auroville village it is very beautiful tourist place.

The best time to go is end of January beginning of February, during this season weather is nice and mellow(not too hot not too cold).

We will be travelling on modern AC buses or jeeps; over all distance is around 650km.

First we go up north from Chennai to Tirupati-Tirumala, and then all the way down to Sri Rangam.

Chennai to Tirupati 150km

Chennai to Sri Rangam 340km

Kanchipuram and Maha Bali Puram are near to Chennai

Auroville village is half way from Chennai to Sri Rangam on the Bay of Bengal, there we can rest and probably take bath in the sea.

Roads in South India are much better than in the north and we hope that our common experience will be pleasant with many stories and mantra chanting on the way.

South Indian cuisine is one of the best in India it is hot and vegetarian with a lot of rice, coconut, idli, dosa, sambar, rasam etc.

We will spend 5 days in Tiripati-Tirumala this place is the abode of Lord Venkateshvara or otherwise named Sri Balaji (Incarnation of Vishnu).

Balaji is 2 meters high and gives benedictions to all the people who visit Him, it is explained that whoever gives donation to the Lord gets 1000 times more back in this very life time. This Temple draws millions of people and therefore considered busiest pilgrim center in the world. It is richest Temple in India. The most striking feature of Balaji’s dress is His diamond crown, which is said to be most precious single ornament in the world. The whole inner site of the Temple is plated with pure gold and silver. It is considered non different from Vaikuntha (spiritual world).

Another interesting Temple is Govindaraja swami Temple, dedicated to elder brother of Lord Balaji. It was constructed in 1130 AD by Saint Ramanujacharia.

Situated about 3 km at the foot of Tirumala Hills Sri Kapileshvara Mandir is the only Temple dedicated to Lord Siva in Tirupati. The sacred and beautiful water fall, Kapila Teertham or Alwar Teertham is located here.

Sri Venkateshvara zoological park is one of the best in India.

About 5 km from Tirupati Temple Sri Padmavati Devi (Goddess Laxmi) Temple is located. It is believed that visit to Tirupati Temple is rewarding only after paying homage to Sri Padmavati Temple. Here Vedic Brahmanas perform fire sacrifice as wedding ceremony for Balaji and Laxmi every day. Many people come to sit on that Yajna after being married. It is also very auspicious to attend this ceremony for those who want to marry in the future.

There are many other interesting places around Tirupati and we will try our best to visit them all. People in South India are very friendly, educated and devoted to their Lord.

We will stay in Chennai (capital of the state) 1 day it is modern city with a lot of Temples, Forts, Churches, beaches and parks.

On the way from Chennai to Maha Bali Puram located few very interesting places, one of them is Muttukadu 30km south of Chennai, it is handicraft village which is build in traditional 19^th century style. Produced here are sculptures, ceramics and glass objects.

Crocodile bank. There are over 5000 crocodiles in this wild life crocodile farm, here you can find the salt water crocodylus porosus,the world largest crocodile, which can grow to over 8m.Also here is the snake farm where snakes are milked to collect venom. This place is 15km north of Mamalapuram.

Then we will move to Kanchipuram one of the India’s seven sacred cities, and Maha Bali Puram with its beautiful shore Temple, and spend there at least 2 days.

Kanchipuram is known as the “Golden City of Temples” It is considered one of the seven main sacred cities of India. It has over one hundred temples now. Kanchipuram is believed to give eternal happiness to one who goes there. Ramanuja lived in Kanhcipuram during his youth, and Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu visited here 500 years ago. This place is known to be the best source of high quality hand-woven silk items.

Mamalapuram means “the town of Mamala, the great wrestler.”The previous name was Maha Bali Puram means “the town of great king Bali”, from whom Lord Vamana (Visnu) begged 3 paces of land. The Shore temple is located right next to the sea. Besides the famous Shore temple, there are 14 cave temple, 8 monolithic rathas and number of other smaller rock sculptures. Many of the monuments are floodlit at night. There is dance festival during January-February. Mamalapuram is one of the more visited places by foreign tourists in South India.

From There we will travel to Sri Rangam it is biggest and most beautiful Temple in all South India. 20 thousand priests reside there to offer their service to Ranganath Swami.

The main deity is Lord Ranganath, or Visnu, reclining on Sesa Naga. This temple is the foremost of the 8 self manifested shrines of Lord Visnu (Swayam Vyakta Kshetras). It is also considered the most important of the 108 main Visnu temples (Divya Desams). Sri Ramanuja made Sri Rangam his headquarters. Sri Caitanya, Sri Vallabhaacarya and the Dalai Lama visited this temple. This is largest temple in India it covers 2.5 sq km. After Tirupati this is second most visited Vaisnava temple in South India. Ramanuja sits in the Samadhi in his shrine here and you can see his actual body after more than 800 years.

Indian Himalaya, following great yogis!

This tour is very special as we went to it several times over the last 8 years and all the participants were very happy with it. My own experience is that going to Himalayas is an adventure that also brings all the people in the group closely together. In modern society it is rarely found when different persons can share deep experience together, and many of us actually looking for this kind of association. Please join and you will never forget what happened to you. Success is guaranteed.

New Delhi (India's capital) - 2 days

New Delhi is the capital of modern India, during Mahabharata times it was named Hastinapura, city of the elephants. Since 5.000 years many things changed, but still we can see whatever is left from great empire and culture. We will visit few places including Red Ford, India’s Gate, Jama Masjit (biggest Musk in India), Lotus Temple, Laxmi Narayana  Mandir and famous Swami Narayana Akshardham Temple.

Rishikesh (Holy Place on the bank of Ganga) - 3+2 days on the way back from mountains.

Rishi means holy man, so naturally Rishikesh means abode of the holy people. This ancient city mentioned in the Vedas as best place for meditation and yoga, and much yoga studious is there with monks living on the bank of the Ganga. We will meet interesting people and perform Ganga Puja. Every morning we will invite you for yoga and meditation sessions. There are many holy places to visit and we will travel around to the mountains and caves of the ascetics.

 Another very interesting feature of this place is rafting, after this experience you will remember Rishikesh and Ganga for the rest of your life. In Rishikesh markets are best in India for gems, chanting Rudraksha and Tulasi beads, Yantras, meditation music etc. In this holy city alcohol and meat are prohibited and the whole atmosphere is very pure and inspiring. On our way back we will stay in Rishikesh again to meditate on what happened to us and go deep into this experience, also we will relax after travel and tracking.

Devaprayag-Rudraprayag - 1 day

Prayag is special place where two or more holy rivers flow together. Deva Prayag is the confluence of the Baghirati and Alakananda rivers. It is 90km from Rishikesh and 610m above sea level. It is second most important confluence in India after Allahabad. In Treta Yuga Lord Rama and Laxmana performed Yajna (sacrifice) here to atone for killing Ravana who was a Brahmin by birth. Rudra Prayag is where Mandakini from Kedarnatha meets Alakananda. There is large temple of Rudranath (Siva) here. Nearby is the place where Narada Muni is said to have performed austerities. At this point river is very forceful and moves quickly. We will visit both places on our way up to Badrinath, and most probably spent one night in Rudraprayag to get used to the mountain climate.

 Joshimath (1.845m above sea level) - 1 day

When Badrinath closes during the winter, the priests from Badrinath temple come to Joshimath and continue worship at the Narasimha Temple. There is Vasudeva temple, dedicated to Lord Krishna. Adi Sankarachariya meditated here under Kalpavriksha tree and attained Samadhi 1.200 year ago. Narasimha mandir is very special. Deity of Lord Narasimha is self manifested from a shalagrama sila. He is 25cm high and remarkable detailed sitting in the lotus position. The left wrist of Narasimha is incredibly thin and gets thinner every day. It is said when Kali Yuga overtakes the world, the wrist will break and mountains Jaya  and Vijaya  will (near Vishnu Prayag) will collapse and block the present way to Badrinath. This temple is over 1.200 years old.

Badrinath (Eternal abode of Lord Vishnu) - 3 days

Badarik Ashram another name for Badrinath (3.100m above sea level), is the abode of Nara Narayana sages and is a great place of pilgrimage. According to Srimad Bahagavatam even 5.000 years ago this holy place was visited by such holy person as Uddhava and even at that time the place was known to be very old. Badrinath is a very important place of pilgrimage and very dear to Lord Krisna. Badri is the name of the Ilandai tree, which is very dear to Maha-Laxmi.  Badrinath is also called ‘”Narada Kshetram” since Narada Muni attained liberation here in five days. Gautama Rishi, Kapila, and Kashyapa are said to have come here, and Shankaracharya established temple here  some 1.225 years ago; Ramanujacharya visited 955 years ago and Madhavacharya visited twice about 735 years ago. Badrinath is on the small plateau between Narayana Parbat and the Alakananda River.

 The Nara and Narayana peaks tower over Badrinath. The Temple is full of the ancient stone carvings. The murti of Lord Badrinath is self manifested from a 2/3m high black shalagrama shila. The canopy over the Deities is covered with a sheet of pure gold. Lord Badrinarayan is said to have been installed by Shankaracharya, who recovered the Deities from Narada kund. Lord Badrinath is sitting meditating in the padmasana (lotus yogic posture). Near the temple are number of ponds with hot sulfur water. Pilgrims bath in the water before going to the temple. Mana is 4km northwest of Badrinath, near the Tibet border. This is where Vyasadeva’s cave is located, nearby Ganesha’s cave. There are rocks here that look like layers of paper and are said to represent his works of writing the Vadas. Vyasadeva narrated these works and Ganesha wrote them down, under the condition that Vyasadeva would not stop reciting. To get to Mana is easy climb. Nilakanth peak (6.596m) is to the left of Narayana Parvat and we will go up as much as possible.

 Kedaranath (Eternal abode of Lord Siva) - 2 days

Kedarnath is on the bank of Mandakini River between Gangotri and Badrinath, alt. 3.583m. Over 100.000 pilgrims come here every year; it is believed that Shankaracharya passed away here about 820 AD. Kadeshvar Siva is the presiding deity. It was built by Pandavas to atone for their sins procured during the Kurukshetra war. Pandavas decided to ask Lord Siva for his blessings.

They first went to Varanasi, but Siva fled to Uttarakhand and lived there incognito. Pandavas found him there and Lord Siva turned into a bull. Bhima recognized his disguise and grabbed the bull by the tail. The bull slowly sank into the ground. And Lord Siva then appeared before them on account of their great determination. Lord Siva instructed them to worship the remaining hump of the bull “panda form”. A Temple was constructed and worship has been going on ever since.



 

Little History

First time we went to India it was winter 1995, I remember as if it happened just yesterday, and please let me explain why.

Then we lived in Israel and one very “friendly” travel agent found “good” deal for us, it was not only very expensive but uncomfortable as well, but we knew nothing about travel and embraced this opportunity. I was 22 and newly married, my wife was 19. Our trip started in Tel Aviv then we flew to Paris, there we had to change airport(going from Israel to India we did not take any winter cloth, thinking that we do not need them)and were frozen because part of the transfer was getting outside and walking for some time.

From Paris we went to Bombay it was Air India flight, from geography you all know that Israel located in the Middle East, and France is right in the middle of Europe, in this way we traveled for many hours basically going away from our destination and then going back, but we did not mind. Arrival in Bombay was something special, all I can remember is a very weird smell in the airport and huge fans running full speed with a noise,I could hardly hear myself talking. Somehow we found our way to domestic airport and boarded our next flight to New Delhi, India’s glorious capital. It took another 2 hours and when we finally came to luggage claim zone, we could not find our bags. At this moment my wife got nervous breakdown, and started screaming on all the airport workers, but they remained cool most probably because they understood no English. Somehow we filled luggage lost papers and left to take rest in the near airport Hotel.  We had no intention to stay in Delhi and wanted immediately to leave for Vrindavan, but it was not possible and we had to wait for our luggage to arrive, so we waited and waited but nothing was happening so we left anyway, and then only after 3 days I had to come back to get our bags.

And this was only the beginning!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

To make long story short, we spent 3 month travelling in India by train, bus and taxi. I spoke no English but our money and hand language helped me a lot. We found Indians very friendly and open, but always asking for ‘baksheesh”, just because you had another color of skin, and if we would not give it to them they did not mind, later I figured out that they ask “just in case” meaning they try and if nothing happens they are still happy to help you.

At one point after travelling on the train over 36 hours my wife got so sick that she had to lay down for 5 days with heavy fever, and I was running around trying to find a doctor. Basically we were sick half of the time, mostly with diarrhea, cough and fever.

Dear reader now you wonder why I tell you this entire story if my intention is to invite you to travel with us to India? For a simple reason, to get pleasant experience of this most ancient country and culture you do need proper guidance!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I have learned my way by mistakes, pain and austerities. Later one of my tutors explained to me the same simple truth. Spiritual guidance is most important in every sphere of life. This is the reason behind this project.

WE LOVE INDIA AND WE WISH TO SHARE THIS LOVE WITH ALL OF YOU!

I went to India more than 20 times since then.  Since September 2009 we moved to Mayapur to reside permanently. We visited many Holy places all over the continent, including Badrinath in the north, Dvarka in the west and Jagannatha Puri in the east. In February 2003 we went with a group of friends for 2 month, and everyone in the group liked it very much. Later we developed the idea of inviting people to India to give them something they were unable to experience anywhere else. India is so special, because of the Vedic culture, yoga, mantra meditation, kirtan, temple worship etc.

I often meet young people from Tel Aviv who aregoing to visit Goa, and we would always discuss why someone from one sea coast would go to another sea coast with the same kind of climate just try to enjoy the same kind of party, drugs and sex. It is so primitive, but most of the people do that anyway. With our spiritual oriented travel we try to offer another vision to our clients. Away from big industrial cities, going to real India in the village, mountains, holy rivers, temples, meeting real Indians in their homes without TV, and churning butter from yogurt by hands as they did hundreds and thousands of years ago.

This and more you can experience without waiting too long, just come and join us!

With best wishes Jagadisa and Julaga.