21 march , bharata yatra 2008. we reached bellari at 7 am the next day. last 20 hours we have been driving. of course there was a chai stop. but it was a straight drive. we stayed in jindal steel factory guest house. the road to the factory was horrible. that is the reason why […]

20 march, bharata yatra 2008 after the mangalore brahmasthanam installation we started off to hyderabad at about 11 a.m. the landscapes of western ghats are beautiful. its a lovely sight of waves of mountains one after the other. its really beautiful. on either side plantations of betel nut, pepper, cardamom and coffee. as amma pass […]

16 feb, bharata yatra 2008, enroute bangalore to mangalore the yatra from bangalore to mangalore was beautiful and tiresome. about 30 kilometers, the road was very bad, but afterwards, the road became smooth and nice. on either side of the road were coffee plantations, beetel-nut and pepper crops. i never knew karnataka has so much […]

Mangalore is a large city in the state of Karnataka along the coast of the Arabian Sea.   It’s cleaner than most cities I’ve seen in India and more developed.   The buildings are taller and the architecture is more western or european.    The program site is on the grounds of Amma’s Vidyalayam which opened 9 years […]

Our bus was the first to reach the train station.   There were already a few other pilgrims there who had elected to take rickshaws because they had heavy luggage.   We had about an hour before our trains would arrive. Soon the other buses came.   Brahmacharis, Brahmacharinis, Ammamars, and Achans descended carrying suitcases and boxes of […]

In the days before the Mangalore Brahmastanam, the question that pretty much everyone in Amritapuri was asking each other was ‘are you going to Mangalore?’  Indeed, when word quickly spread that there was an inexpensive overnight train from Kayankulam station (about 7km from Amritapuri) to Mangalore, people started making plans.   Train tickets were booked, hotel […]

18 Feb, Bharata Yatra 2008, Mangalore Kalasha Sthapana & Prana Pratistha The auspicious time for the Kalasha Sthapana was approaching and the excitement that always precedes this holy event was palpable. It is such a blessing to be present when a great Mahatma infuses life into a sacred murthi that people can hardly contain their […]

17 feb, bharata yatra 2008, mangalore we reached mangalore. i know there is a lot missing in between. i have nice stories to tell you. what to do? the dust and the cold disturbing me. but still i try to cover the events. if i wait, then you will miss the celebration of tomorrow. so […]

Talassery, 10-11 February 2008, During a recent tour stop in Talassery a friend was walking back from the ocean to the Amrita school where we were being housed.  As she approached the gates of the school she noticed a frog merrily hopping across the road, seemingly care-free and in not particular hurry.  Certainly it seemed […]