Day Trip to Dehu

Incredible to be at Janeshwar’s temple and samadhi shrine. I stood there and said to myself..”I am really in India”..hundreds of people there going for darshan at the shrine. We arrived after a long van ride and were escorted through a back door down into a cave where the entrance of the shrine was. We had to duck our heads as we entered through silver archways up to the spot where Janeshwar meditated.. the story went that he meditated there for a few hundred years under a tree  by slowing his breath.. he lived so long meditating then took samadhi there..( that’s the story I heard).. so we were literally under this tree in a cave underground.. people were pushing like in a subway to get in.. the guards however allow you to come in one by one to have darshan.. it is profound to feel the energy so strong and to be touched in the heart by someone’s practices from sooo long ago. We then walked around the tree three times as custom. I felt a washing away in my heart, a clearing, a sweetness when i left..

AND was also glad my shoes were still there!!

Then off to Tukaram Maharaj’s shrine and temple in Pandupur, thirty miles away. The sun was a bright orange, going down slowly as the day was coming to twilight. We arrived in Pandupur .. where krishna and the Gopis once lived.. I was elated to be walking the streets there.. nothing has changed.. the buildings were untouched.. many broken down but their character was magnificent. We prayed at the Pandupur temple then went to Tukarams house-  a poet saint who was very ridiculed and unaccepted for his devotional songs. The story goes his songs were thrown in to the river and the next day he found them all on the riverbanks dried up and saved..No one could destroy his love..

We all had darshan at his shrine . The attendant whose eyes were shining so brightly ushered me in to take pictures. I continue to experience this feeling of oneness as I visit these places and recognize we are all the same in the heart..Dressed in different colors and robes and jobs, the heart longs for itself in every body.

I’m in awe at the beauty of the garland stands all over the streets, the flowers, kumkum, necklaces, and herbs people purchase for offerings.One student pointed out that the color of the sky looked like Krishna’s skin that beautiful blue as nighttime came.

In the van ride home we listened to Tukarams abhanga.. devotional song which I happen to have on my i phone.. thanks to my  dear husband for downloading it beforehand!!

I was glad to return back safely for some kitchari and khadi.. what a memorable day.. it literally felt like going back in time. Still ponder how people actually live in the conditions we saw.

Happy to take a shower and drink clean water!!