"When the flower blooms, the bees come uninvited. "
~ Ramakrishna

Pilgrim Trails

Temples

Tarapitha - the Seat of Tantra ~ Subhasish Chakraborty
Tarapitha is a supremely sacred Tantik place of pilgrimage. It is not only one of the 51 Shakti Pithas but also a Mahapitha. Read More...

A Sacred Space - Dhyanalingam ~ Shobha Vishwanath
The Dhyanalingam is regarded as a Guru with an energy of tremendous proportions. Here the transformation of an individual from the limited to the resplendent can happen in an instant. Read More...

Dhavalagiri - Wonder, Awe and Beauty ~ Binu Jose Philip
Dhavalagiri was to be a stopover on the way to the grand destination of Konark. About an hours journey from Bhubaneshwar you can see the unassuming, quiet and unadorned place: a shrine, a temple on top of a hill, or call it a mini-mountain. Read More...

Kolnapaku - Sapphire God of Kolnapaku ~ Y. Radhika
Wouldn't you go back to a place where people tell you God sees you, God is you, God is everywhere, in the green fields, in the horse, in the bus that takes you back. Read More...

Where Yogis Tread

In Search of Siddhashram ~ Gautam Dhar
Some places remain silent and unnoticed, as destined by Providence. I strongly believe that one can only get to these places when the divine call comes. No map or planning will lead you there. Such has been my experience. Read More...

Mahagufa of Paharpani ~ Romola Butalia
The Editor, India Travelogue and writer and teacher of Yoga and Vedic Sciences, writes about one of the ancient sacred Himalayan mahagufas she visits regularly during her Himalayan retreats. Read More...

Panch Kedar Yatra

Panch Kedar: Kalpeshwar ~ Romola Butalia
It is believed that Lord Shiva's matted tresses, visible on the rock face that curves overhead to form the cave, were all that were glimpsed of him when he was eluding the Pandavas who sought his darshan to gain forgiveness for killing their kin in the epic battle of the Mahabharat. Read More...

Panch Kedar Act 2: Rudranath ~ Romola Butalia
When I came to the bugyals, meadows of beauty and summer flowering, I had already crossed the bridges of childhood, and overcome the darkness of anxiety and fear of being alone in forests with only nature and wild animals. The peeping flowers, the freshness of green grass, the clarity of high altitudes, the remoteness of the interior Himalayas had seeped into my being. Read More...

Rudranath - Face of Shiva ~ Biswarup Mukherjee
An orthopaedic surgeon, takes time off to follow the Panch Kedar trail. Read More...

Panch Kedar Madhyamaheshwar: Reaching Shiva's Navel ~ Pinaki Das
It was the Himalayas yet again. Something about the Garhwal region of the Himalayas draws me to its unspoiled and almost mystical environs time and again. Read More...

Char Dham

Haridwar to Badrinath ~ Romola Butalia
I could hear the river below and from my window I had a spectacular view of the sangam of the Alaknanda originating from Badrinath, and the Mandakini originating from Kedarnath. Read More...

Kedarnath Yatra ~ Biswarup Mukherjee
I am deeply aware of the sense of serenity and wonder when I leave the temple after the evening arati, only to return to Kedarnath a few months later, and to undertake the Panch Kedar Yatra, 2 years later. Read More...

Gaumukh - The Pilgrim's Trail ~ Romola Butalia
I do not know whether it was the trekker's delight of high places, the oft-repeated retreat to the hills and forests to rejuvenate the spirit lost in the mire of daily living, or the source of the Ganges that we sought. Read More...

A Pilgrimage to Gangotri - Gaumukh - Tapovan ~ Sumanta Roy Chowdhury
This was my third attempt to trek in the Gangotri region. The previous two attempts found me on different paths, reaching destinations in the Himalayas that are beautiful in their own right but possibly missing the spiritual content of a pilgrimage. Read More...

High Altitude Gaumukh-Badrinath ~ Omkar Krishna Mazumdar
At the very pinnacle of trekking, this is an incredible Kalindi Khal crossing by a trekking legend, the 76 year old Omkar Nath Mazumdar. Across 6 of the toughest glaciers, amidst the peaks of the mighty Garhwal Himalayas.
Read More...

Badri to Satopanth: The Silent Ascetic ~ Chinmoy Chakrabarti
Trekking ten hours a day for two days over the most difficult and dangerous terrain, they reached the silence of Satopanth Tal to be greeted with tea in cocunut shells. Read More...

Sacred Cities

Vrindavan ~ Tarini Awatramani
Vindavan is home to thousands of temples and is infinite in its legends. It is a place where people, monkeys, peacocks, parrots and pigs, however large a nuisance each might be, have an equal right to exist as per the laws of karma. Read More...

Varanasi: Kashi Vishwanatha Gange ~ Romola Butalia
The Editor of India Travelogue vists the ancient city of Kashi, also known as Benares or Varanasi, and writes her impressions of this eternal city. Read More...

Rishikesh - Memories Left Behind ~ Romola Butalia
Allowing her unbidden memories of Rishikesh to surface, Romola Butalia then treads quietly on. Read More...

Haridwar - River of Time ~ Romola Butalia
What power draws me to the Ganga at Haridwar? I have already paid my debt of having once ignored it. Why does it beckon me still? What living has to be surrendered there that still belongs to me? Read More...

Kailash Yatra

Legends of Kailash ~ Rajiv Butalia
There are mountains which are just mountains and there are mountains with personality. A mountain with the ability to influence others is recognised as a vehicle of cosmic power and we call it a sacred mountain. Read More...

Kailash Mansarovar Yatra ~ Sumanta Roy Chowdhury
Our group of 30 people left Delhi in the early hours of 29th July1996, spending the first night in Kumaon Mandal Vikas Nigam's (KMVN) tourist bungalow at Almora. Read More...

Jyotirlingam

Temple & Legends of Kedar ~ Biswarup Mukherjee
At Kedar the Shiva linga is shaped like a bull's hump. Following Bhima's example devotees offer worship by trying to grab the deity with both hands. This is possibly the foremost among the Swayambhu Jyotirlingas, which are natural and not man-made. Read More...

Vishweshwar at Varanasi ~ Romola Butalia
The temple of Vishwanath houses one of the 12 sacred Jyotir Lingas. The temple of Annapurna represents the Shakti peeth at Kashi, where Sati's left hand is said to have fallen. Read More...

Bhima Shankaram Jyotir Lingam ~ Romola Butalia
The thick veil of mist and the surrounding dynamic mountains in the dense unpopulated forests of the Bhimashankar Wild Life Sanctuary, are deeply reminiscent of some of the well-hidden regions of the Himalayas where worshippers of Shiva seek his darshan. Read More...

Nagesham Daruka Vane ~ Romola Butalia
The place merits mention in the Manas Khand of Skanda Purana. It is believed that Lord Shiva himself had done tapasya here for untold years and consequently all the gods and goddesses have done tapasya here, making it a place of powerful divine energies. Read More...

Kumbha Mela

Legends of Kumbha ~ Romola Butalia
A Kumbha procession defies description - it must be experienced to be known. It is heralded by the conjunction of planets at an auspicious time and place, and it is the convergence of a spiritual energy that has it's own compelling power. Read More...

Sadhu-Sanyasins at the Kumbha ~ Romola Butalia
Adi Shankaracharya classified the Adwaitvadi Sannyasins into ten groups : Giri, Puri, Bharti, Tirtha, Wan, Aranya, Parwat, Ashram, Sagar and Saraswati. This organisation is known as Dashnami Sangh. Read More...

Guide to Kumbha ~ Romola Butalia
Romola Butalia, Editor, India Travelogue, outlines the practical difficulties of attending a Kumbha Festival, and provides an insiders' perspective to a planned visit. Read More...

Simhastha at Ujjain, 2004 ~ Romola Butalia
Ujjain, on the banks of the sacred Shipra river, is in the state of Madhya Pradesh, in central India. Here, the Simhastha is celebrated every 12 years. This is also the centre of Hindu timekeeping. Read More...

Countdown to the Kumbh at Ujjain, 2004 ~ Romola Butalia
A first-person account from behind the scenes as the administration geared up and the sadhu-sannyasins set up camps for the greatest spiritual congregation on earth. Read More...

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Editor: Romola Butalia       (c) India Travelogue. All rights reserved.