The Kumaon Diaries - Day 3 (Phase 2)

 Golu Devata Mandir, Ghorakhal, 12 pm

Golu Devta mandir in Ghorakal was the next destination. We took a narrow winding road up into the hill, passed the impressive Sainik School at Ghorakal, and came upon the mandir built into the side of the mountain and offering spectacular views of the valley below..

Views fromGolu Devata mandir, Ghorakal

 Golu Devata is considered the god of the Kumaon region (there are other temples, one near Almora). Vardha and I got off, looked over the parking lot, saw a beautiful valley with pine trees, and further to the right this lake - Bhimtal!

Vardha and the mountains

 The road offered some lovely possibilities and I clicked a few pictures of the road, of Vardha and the road.

And some more

The shops near the temple sold the usual stuff but what was interesting about it was that they were selling a lot of bells of all sizes. I did not understand this until I went up there - the temple has many bells hanging on it at various points - given by devotees. Researching later I found that the custom is that devotees offer bells, sacrifice animals and also write letters to the god to fulfil their wishes.

Meditating inside the temple

The climb up the stairs was quite scenic. We walked right into the temple premises, circled the main temple which had a low ceiling, offered some money and were given some prasad. There were other smaller temples around it too and we walked around. We sat in a quiet place and ate our prasad - a priest came and asked us where we were from - from our appearance surely. 

Road to nowhere -t or so it seems!

I saw the place where devotees wrote letters and pinned them up. I love the way these rites are followed, how it gives hope, how it transfers responsibility to something larger. I remember seeing this practice of writing letters at Puttaparthi and that time Sai Baba would collect a chosen few letters himself from those devotees. The others would feel devastated.

The bells of Golu Devata!

It was a nice, surprise visit. We took off and travelled the 13 km to Kainchi where the famous Neem Karoli Baba ashram was. This was also the place where Ranjan and party would meet us. Once again, we were early!

Neem Karoli Baba Ashram, Kainchi

This is the ashram most famous for its visitor in 1974 - Steve Jobs - and several others who visited it later. Then ofcourse, Jai Uttal, Krihsna Das, Ram Dass, Bhagwan Dass. The list of those who were influenced includes Mark Zuckerberg, Julia Roberts and I heard of MS Dhoni visiting it too.

Neem Karoli Baba Ashram, Kainchi

Born Lakshmi Naryan Sharma (1900-1973) Neem Karoli Baba has influenced many with his teachings, his Bhati yoga. Over a 100 temples are built in his honour. He is also known as chamatkari baba. To have so many devotees visit his ashram almost fifty years after his passing away speaks of something greater, some higher energy.

The entrance to the ashram

His face exudes a rare peace and wisdom. So does the place. There are no rituals, no nothing, just a lot of peace. 

Since Vardha and I reached the ashram earlier than the others we walked in. There are many monkeys and I realised later that the Baba was a bhakt of Hanuman ji, the monkey god. It is amazing how these things work. I remember seeing hundreds of monkeys near Hampi - the land of Kishkindha, of the monkey gods Vali and Sugriva. And Hanuman.

Suffused in some divine light

 We left our shoes outside the temple, hoping the monkeys would leave them alone and walked in. It was not too crowded and we could spend a lot of time at each stop - small mandirs and places where the Baba would sit and interact with devotees in his time.

Ranjan - the ashram in the backdrop

We sat outside and drew in the peace and energy and in a while Ranjan, Jitendra and Mr Naidu arrived. Jitendra is a huge devotee of Neem Karoli Baba and he took us to buy a couple of books on the Baba which was a good thing. I am looking forward to reading them. We sat there for a while and then moved on. I was glad to have had this experience - perhaps one of the best outcomes of this trip. There is something about the ashram.

The Malta - what a lovely fruit!

Out on the road we were treated to some delicious Malta shikanji - juice made of Malta fruit - I cannot even describe how tasty it was. If someone bottles it and sells it here I would drink it every day. I really savoured it and drank it for a long, long time. 

We got into our vehicles and took off towards Almora and onwards to Kausani where we were to spend the night in zero degree temperatures. But on the way, we were treated to some lovely khichdi from Jitendra's home. Again, one of the best meals of the trip for me. 

Partaking Jitendra's khichri - Ranjan, Jitendra, Vardha, Divan, Mohan and Mr Naidu

It was really, really tasty and after the khichdi, we polished off the pastries we had got from Sakley's, Nainital. Now we were set for the 80 km journey through the hills to Kausani. My mountain sickness had disappeared and I was looking forward to the trip. 

By now I finally realised that Mr Naidu and Jitendra were accompanying us through the trip and it was good to have them and Mohan who was driving the Bolero. The two vehicles wound their way towards Almora. The hills lost some of the vegetation and it surprised me because it was full of pines and deodhars not too far behind.  It was about 2 pm and the sun was balmy. I clicked pictures en route to Almora which is Ranjan's hometown - his father grew up here and they still own an old building there. We had heard so much about it from so many years and were looking forward to see it!