Sai Ram. I am sharing my experiences in the month of October 2008, when I visited Polavaram, Pithapuram etc., in the company of three friends.
8th October 2008
We (myself, my friend Paritala Gopi Krishna from ILO, New Delhi, Kotamraju Srinivas, a great Sai devotee and Gopi Krishna’s nephew – sorry for not remembering his name) left Hyderabad by APSRTC bus to Vijayawada. I went by public transport (City bus run by APSRTC) to Mahatma Gandhi Bus Station, Imlibun. It started raining and I had to walk a few yards in that rain. I got drenched but did not mind. The other three came by an auto and were getting late. The bus driver and conductor of the
Well, any way we were on our way and the nephew got a seat after all, and that too near us only because of a no-show by some one else. We stopped at some Dhaba (road side restaurant) near Suryapet. We did not fancy the food being served inside, esp. as all of us are strict vegetarians. We had some fruits and biscuits with us, which we shared. We reached
9th October 2008
He gave us tea and he also arranged for a taxi (cab) to take us on our travels. We had good breakfast in a tiffin center (a self-service breakfast centre) near his house and set off. We reached Polavaram and went to the house of a man, popularly called as Babu garu. He is a householder and has set up a sort of temple in the first floor of his house. It was 9th October and Vijayadasami as per the lunar calendar. There was a puja in his temple to Sri Lalitha / Durga, the Divine Mother. Then there was a mini homam followed by Purna Ahuti (Sacrificial offering to the Fire). I was not getting impressed by his looks or learning etc., but kept silent and was praying to my Guru Sai, whose idol was also there and of course, I paid my respects to the idols and photos of various Gods and Goddesses there (Dattatreya + Venkateswara in one idol, an interesting sight), Durga etc. Then suddenly, I sort of heard the inner voice (probably prompted by Guru) asking me to feel His presence every where and be open (stop being hyper critical). Immediately, I relaxed and then found that the man was quite sincere after all. I bowed to the Guru in him.
We were requested to take ‘Prasadam’ (lunch) and we accepted. I could not eat most of the items that they served because of my GERD, but could take some sweet, some dal (lentils) with rice and butter milk.
After lunch, we took his leave and left to Samalkot, where the
After that, we reached
10th October 2008
We were served nice coffee (Gopi Krishna does not take coffee, but the others including me took) and were served hot IDLI by the wonderful lady of the house (unfortunately I did not get her name). We had nice satsang with Sri Sasidhar for a couple of hours. We tool leave of them and started off for Pithapuram, which is a few miles away.
Once we reached Pithapuram, we visited the
We left Pithapuram and reached Annavaram, the famous abode of Sri Veera Venkata Satyanarayana Swamy, an aspect of Vishnu. Satya means Truth. Narayana and Vishnu refer to the all pervading eternal God, Who is Truth. It is a very famous
We left that place and drove back to
11th October 2008
Myself and the other friend Kotamraju Srinivas were debating and decided that we will finish breakfast and go to the Bus Station at
As we were returning, again a voice started in the mind (yes, you are thinking I am eccentric and you are right!). The Mother (Kanaka Durga, the presiding Deity of
So, we revised our plans and told Gopi Krishna that we were joining him. He too was very happy esp. when I told him about my experience (voices in the head). A friend of his brought a SUV and we went in that to the Ashram of Swamiji (Jnana Chaitanya ji) and picked him up. Together we went to the Siva Kshetram, a few kilometers further on the road to Amaravati. The land was also adjacent to the temple and we found the area very peaceful. We went to the temple and we found the vibrations very soothing and very powerful esp. in one particular place. We dropped the Swamiji at his Ashram and he asked us to have the darshan of Kanaka Durga and come back for lunch at his place. We returned to
Though there was heavy rush at the temple and our vehicles were not being allowed up the hill, we managed to go up in a vehicle kindly arranged by the temple administration thanks to a cousin of Gopi Krishna pulling a few strings (The Divine Mother was actually arranging all this as you will see in a while). When we went to the hill top, the temple was closed because the Hundi (offer boxes) were opened and the cash and coins etc. were being counted and recorded (the temple is administered by the endowments department and the money is properly accounted). So, we had to wait and as it was hot and humid, I was getting dehydrated due to excessive sweating and was getting weakened and was getting cramps. The Divine Mother knew of course my plight and kindly arranged for us to sit in a place under a fan and where Vedic Chants are carried out thus ensuring that we get proper rest and the vibrations will heal me.
After a few minutes, we got a wonderful darshan of the Goddess from very close distance and we were thrilled. I was really touched by the kindness of the Goddess. We came down the hill and took an auto and went to the ashram of Swamiji. A simple lunch was arranged and though I could not eat many of the items I had enough to fill my stomach. We took leave of the Swamiji and went to the house of Shri Appalaraju and took leave of his family members (he was having his siesta). We went to the railway station and were waiting the arrival of the train from
The train came and we boarded but did not find any empty seats in that bogie. Since the train is vestibuled, we started going into the next carriage through the train and in the third or fourth bogie, we did get seats! Thus the mother fulfilled Her mission. I was reminded of the experience of Paramahamsa Yogananda when he was young at Brindavan (read Autobiography of a Yogi by Shri Paramahamsa Yogananda).
Gopi Krishna and his nephew got down at
It was a very satisfying pilgrimage and I felt blessed that the Guru was with me and was guiding me. Sai Ram.