We love traveling so much and at the drop of a hat we can
plan a trip and get out. At the same time many trips are planned to the
minutest detail too. During every trip within India , I was on the look out for a
place where one could just relax and get in touch with the inner self, and
where we could go again.
This continued for many years and at last this February
(2015) I found a serene place where I could sit and meditate peacefully. I
joked to my husband that we searched all over India , to finally find it in my
home state!
During our recent road trip to Kerala, my husband searched
for places of interest near Kasargod and he tumbled upon Nityananda Ashram.
Located
on a hillock in Kanhangad is the holy ashram built by Swami Nityananda.. A
place for relaxation, the place was part of a forest area and here Swami
Nityananda constructed 43 guhas (holy caves) in a mountain slope. These caves
are considered to be an engineering marvel even to this day and attract
thousands of people from all over the world.
Nityananda’s work on the Kanhangad fort started around 1927.
For more details, go to http://www.nityananda.us/stories5.htm
Nityananda attained Samadhi on August 8,
1961. His samadhi is located in Ganeshpuri at the Samadhi Mandir.
We reached there by about eleven in the morning and a person
described to us about the ashram and Swami Nityananda. He told me to go and
have a look at the meditation caves. I went inside, had a look and ran out to
tell my husband, ‘I want to sit inside there and meditate for at least an hour.’
We were told that the noon puja will start at 12.30. We
decided to have a look at the Guruvan, attend the puja, finish lunch and go in
for meditation. Guruvan is the place was Swami Nithyananda did Tapas
(meditation) inside a cave for several years. It is located around 5 km east of
Kanhangad town in Kasaragod district, Kerala, India, It is said that Swami had
once struck the rocky hills to form a holy stream and it has been flowing ever
since and is called the holy stream Papanasini Ganga. There we also saw the round table where Swami Nityananda sat
and spoke about future events to public that surprised everyone as it appeared
in the next day's newspaper.
On coming back it was puja time and then we had the Prasad lunch.
Then we entered the meditation cave and spent an hour in bliss. We were
informed that if we preferred to spend the night there, room was available. We
accepted the offer and went to have a look at the room. It was a big room with
two double beds, clean sheets and pillows and bath attached. After having the Prasad
dinner, we retired to the room, read the book about Swami Nityananda and slept
peacefully. At last I found a place where we can visit again to spend time in
meditation.
