My tour to Polavaram, Annavaram etc.

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.

 

8^th 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 Vijayawada bus were gracious enough to wait since they also knew the problems of Hyderabad traffic and esp. since the seats were already reserved. The nephew of Gopi Krishna, an young man who is in his final year of engineering degree did not have a reservation. But the friendly conductor and driver agreed to let him board if he is willing to adjust and sit somewhere and if needed, behind the driver’s seat (on full payment of course). It was a peak season for travels because of the many holidays for Vijayadasami (Dusserah).

 

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 Vijayawada around midnight and took an auto to go to the house of Shri Appalaraju, a friend of Gopi Krishna. He gave us reed mats to spread out and sleep on the second floor of his house. The stair case was very narrow and it was difficult to negotiate. But we had a good sleep and in the morning finished our ablutions.

 

9^th 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 9^th 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 temple of Kumara Arama (Siva), one of the Pancha Aramas (5 main Siva temples) of Andhra Pradesh is located. It is a rather old temple and we had good darshan. We then proceeded to Drakshaaramam and had darshan of Siva and Manikeshwari there. Drakshaaramam is famous as a Siva Aramam and also as a Shaktisthal or Shakti Peetham, one of the 18 main temples of Goddess Sati.

 

After that, we reached Kakinada, were met at a Restaurant by Shri Raju a friend of Gopi Krishna and after dinner were provided with accommodation for the night in his house. We also met Sri Sasidhar, a technocrat who gave up his job in the IT sector and who studied Sanskrit and Vedas etc. and who agreed to meet us at Sri Raju’s house. We also met another friend and his wife who were friends of Gopi Krishna in Delhi and who now settled down in Kakinada.

 

10^th 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 temple of Kukkuteswara Swamy (Siva), Puruhootika Devi (Shakti) and Dattatreya (the Combined aspect of Brahma, Vishnu and Siva). We also went to the new temple for Dattatreya, Who took birth as Sripada Sri Vallabha in Pithapuram a few hundreds of years earlier. Near that temple, we met Sri Nirgun Baba (Gopal Baba), a holy man whom Gopi Krishna wanted to meet. We spent a few minutes there. We could not visit the Kunti Madhava Swamy Temple and another Datta temple built by the devotees of Sri Ganapathi Satchidananda Swamy of Mysore Datta Peetham in Pithapuram.

 

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 temple of Andhra Pradesh and there was heavy crowd. Thanks to an acquaintance of Gopi Krishna, we got VIP darshan and could come out in quick time. I was feeling a little guilty at this VIP treatment since many other devotees were waiting for hours, but that is God’s will. I too used to wait like that in some temples at other times. We also visited the temple of Siva, Sri Rama etc. in the same complex.

 

We left that place and drove back to Vijayawada and reached the city by evening. Another friend of Gopi Krishna was waiting for him and we (myself, Gopi Krishna and that man) went to his house to visit his ailing wife. Spent some time there and we (Gopi Krishna and myself) returned to the house of Sri Appalaraju.

 

11^th 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 Vijayawada as our attempts to get train reservations did not succeed due to the holiday rush. Gopikrishna and his nephew were to get down at Warangal and hence decided to take their chances in the Inter City Express between Guntur and Secunderabad in the evening. My friend Gopi Krishna had some other work – he had to meet a Swamiji  of Bihar School of Yoga, Vijayawada branch and then inspect a land for sale along with him and a few friends with the future plans of setting up an Ashram in future. He also wanted to visit a Siva temple and the Kanaka Durga temple, which is of course the main temple of Vijayawada (Vijaya Watika). We (myself and Srinivas) were in a dilemma since we were worried about the prospect of standing in the crowded train till Secunderabad. We decided, albeit reluctantly to take leave of Gopi Krishna in the morning itself and go to the Bus Station, where the prospects of our getting a bus were much better. Thinking all these things, we went to have our breakfast. Now the whole drama or fun started.

 

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 Vijayawada) was asking me: Having come this far, will you go without seeing me? And the voice was insistent and I was reduced to tears at the love of the Divine Mother. I composed myself and asked my friend Srinivas whether he had any urgent work at Secunderabad / Hyderabad (twin cities) and if not, whether we can go even late in the night so that we will reach Hyderabad in the morning of next day at the latest. He agreed since he did not have any such urgent mission at Hyderabad that evening.

 

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 Vijayawada and got down at the Prakasam Barrage as the owner of that vehicle had urgent personal work.

 

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 Guntur. As already mentioned, there is no reservation and we have to take our chances. The platform was heavily crowded and we were wondering whether we will be able to board the train, let along get seats. However, after the temple visit, my faith in the Mother was renewed so much that I made a bold statement that the same Mother who gave us such a wonderful darshan in that crowd will also ensure that we get seats in the crowded train!

 

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 Warangal and myself and Srinivas reached Secunderabad / Hyderabad safely. We parted at the railway station with the happy experiences.

 

It was a very satisfying pilgrimage and I felt blessed that the Guru was with me and was guiding me. Sai Ram.