My second visit to Ganagapur

[Dipika]

Digambra Digambra shri pada vallabha digambra

digambara digambara shri pada vallabha digambara

Bow to Shri Datta Sai.

ALLAH MALIK!

Sai baba let your holy lotus feet be our sole refuge.OMSAIRAM 

[Dipika]

Digambra Digambra shri pada vallabha digambra

digambara digambara shri pada vallabha digambara

Bow to Shri Datta Sai.

ALLAH MALIK!

Sai baba let your holy lotus feet be our sole refuge.OMSAIRAM 

[Dipika]

Digambra Digambra shri pada vallabha digambra

digambara digambara shri pada vallabha digambara

Bow to Shri Datta Sai.

ALLAH MALIK!

Sai baba let your holy lotus feet be our sole refuge.OMSAIRAM   

[Dipika]

Digambra Digambra shri pada vallabha digambra

digambara digambara shri pada vallabha digambara

Bow to Shri Datta Sai.

ALLAH MALIK!

Sai baba let your holy lotus feet be our sole refuge.OMSAIRAM

[Dipika]

Digambra Digambra shri pada vallabha digambra

digambara digambara shri pada vallabha digambara

Bow to Shri Datta Sai.

ALLAH MALIK!

Sai baba let your holy lotus feet be our sole refuge.OMSAIRAM

[Dipika]

Digambra Digambra shri pada vallabha digambra

digambara digambara shri pada vallabha digambara

Bow to Shri Datta Sai.

ALLAH MALIK!

Sai baba let your holy lotus feet be our sole refuge.OMSAIRAM

[Dipika]

SAIRAM
My second visit to Shri dattas abode
-------------------------------------

This was the second time i visited  ganagapur  -indeed a place which all sai devotees must visit in ones life time

I have been reading  Guru charithra from the last  many years
Even  before i could start worshipping sai .. we were worshipping dattatreya .. and that s an entirely differnt story ,,..

And as i read and read .. and was  reading it so often... that  i was having a very strong thirst from  within that i need to see ganagapur
go to this place ..........and  all of a sudden i never prepared but somehow  took my car and few friends ( as my family had not come to blore ) and left  to ganagapur

But when i was in my home town it never materialised as we all know that you visit a kshetra when the lord  god permits you and calls you

So it happened  around 18 months back  i had my first visit to ganagapur .. I should  say its heaven for guru bhaktas  its got its own charm as seen in the guru-charithra.. Simple .. and dates back to those days ..

Although not so crowded as shirdi and not that much in splendour .. its a simple village as such but a truly sanctified place
by Lord Datta ... and may not be so popular  except for karnataka , maharashtra and now people from andhra hve started  visiting ganagapur
One has to  see this place to feel it  .. I run short of words to describe it .. But let me try and write down something

We were four of us this time ..as i was the only one who went for the first time . this time my mother also accompanied me
but my brother could not make it

We ramped ourselves in a  qualis from bangalore to Gulbarga covering around  850 Kms ..  started at 10 in the morning on Saturday 13  August, and  touched ganagapur at 3 in the morning  .. the next day

We sang sai bhajans all our way and we were talking more and more about lord datta and Sai .. the other two people accompanied us were also
sai devotees .. and we felt sai was with us every moment - so we didnt feel the  tiredness of the   journey ..

In the middle of the  journey i drove for around 3 hours before we could touch ganagapur .. although it was pitch dark and my eyes droopy and the rest of the folks sleeping  i was  singing
Om Sai   Namo Namo
Shri Sai Namo Namo
Jai Jai  Sai Namo Namo
Sadguru  Sai Namo Namo And digambara digambara  shri pada vallabha digambara
Sai was with me taking us safely


in ganagapur the  kakad arathi starts at 3:15 and there is one noon arathi and one shej arathi


Once we  reached  we checked in a one of the pandiths lodge .. there are not many  accomodations available ..
just relaxed for a while.. then at around 5 .. we left to the sangam ( confluence of river bhima and amaraja)
for bath .. which is at around 3 kms from the   main temple

Due to heavy floods and rains in mumbai this area was also little affected and the silt  from the river was covering all the
steps leading to the sangam
We managed to go down and we could see  people were having a holy dip and due to the rains .. the water was more and muddy
SO we thought we shuould go a little  further and have  a dip and so then a small boat came and took the four of us in midst of the
sangam and the boatman ( no other than our Sai ) showed us a shallow place where we could comfortably stand and have a nice dip

( it is said in guru charithra  that a dip in the sangam removes all sins and is very holy and there is no accicental deaths  and i
 have experienced this myself  when  at the same  time my car had met with a crash and i didnt have s single speck of rash or hurt)

So after this we  went to the Audumbar tree ( A fig tree) ..( this is another holy place where Shri Narasimha Saraswathi did penance after his holy bath in sangam ) .. Taking pradashikana ( round )  this tree is considered very sacred and its a wish fullfiling tree
Lord datta is always  under this tree

here below this tree they have installed padukas and i had carried water from the sangam and did a abhishek to these holy padukas
and then we went rounds .. Here all around the audumber tree they have built some  lofts like structure and you would see people readng gurucharithra ( parayan) like we see in shirdi..

Then we went to a place where you woul see the  Manohar padukad  another temple and the Ashwatha tree .. WE find neem trees also here
Here i did a pad puja and then we left to the  main temple of  datattreya
Its called Nirgun Mutt where you would see the Nirguna padukas of Narasimha Saraswathi
This is all as described in the  Guru charithra ..
The main temple is a small one .. and  there is a small opening frmo which you could see the deitys face
And the nirguna padukas are inside within a  gold case and none is allowed to touch them
they will be  kept for darshan frm morning 8 to afternoon some time
SO then we had darshan and performed rudhrabhisheka
And then we were allowed to offer saffron and  scented oil and offer flowers to the nirgun padukas
We are not allowd to touch as the padukas would be inside  .. and we just give it and the pandith would put it
and  give us the prasad that what s put in these padukas

And then we also could offer abhishek to the aatma linga kept inside

After all this was the noon arathi .. and we had to go for madhukari ( begging alms ) and we also offered food ..
This is a very important  act in the pooja and people just rush to get madukari ..
We also went with the  bhiksha patra  to 5 houses nearby and  got the food offered  by them  ( reminded me of SAI baba going for his rounds in Shirdi)

There is a big Ashwatha ( Peepal ) tree in front of the  temple which is  considered as kalpavrishka (the celestial tree) can fulfill all your wishes.) . By gods grace I was able to complete 108 pradakshinas ( rounds )  here ..   This reminded me of  going 108 rounds around the neem tree in gurusthan in shirdi ..

And as the temple would close after 2 we thought we should leave to akkalkot which is around 70 kms from here
So we have had prasad in the common dining   hall and left to akkalkot - there we have had darshan of Swami Samarth
Took  blessings  and we came back to  ganagapur  by 6:45 and again we lft for the palki ( palanquin) pooja .. we did that
what i observed here was .. after the palki pooja the palki  would be taken for 3 rounds around the temple and
we were all asked to fall flat on our stomach and they would  carry the palki over and above us .. That was nice
After that i went around the palki and  finished with shej arathi

The  next day again i left as early as 4 to mandir again .. read gurucharithra  took prasad and then we went to  lord shiva temple
Called kalleshwar temple its around 1 km from here
this temple is considered as equivalent to Gokarna ( that we read in  guru charithra)


Gangapur is believed to be the abode of Lord Dattatreya. There is a holy hillock of Vibhuti (holy ash) from which devotees pick up the sacred ash as Prasad to take home. This hillock has not been depleted, even though devotees have been taking away sacred ash for centuries.
this ash hill is called  "Bhasma Dangur"


We left  to blore on Monday  15 aug at 10 and reached blore at 5 as we has to break our journey  for lunch , dinner ......


As said of ganagapur ..... lord Datta says  "I will seek my noon alms in this village and accept your loving devotional services. My living presence will be experienced by anyone who bathes in the Sangam (confluence of holy rivers), worships the Holy peepal tree and takes darshan of my 'pudukas' (sacred foot-wear) here. "
 
"The Master can be seen even today by the virtuous and the devout. Only the unrighteous cannot experience his living presence. Taking his daily dip at the holy Sangam, he ever abides there. In fact, he has been blessing devotees with his divine acts (leelas) on countless occasions. The aspirations of those who worship him there with true love will be fulfilled. Indeed, the Lord is ever present with those who incessantly adore him. The miraculous experiences of such will ever remain hidden in their own hearts. He is the granter of prayers!"


Feels  divine to visit these holy places .. should  say baba has blessed me  in his own ways .. last year before calling to shirdi
Baba made me visit Kolhapur and Narasobawadi .. ( all these are places of Lord datta )  this is situated on river krishna
Its called Pancha Ganga Sagar, which is the confluence of the five holy rivers, Siva, Bhadra, Kumbhi, Bhagwati and Saraswati, where they all meet and merge in the Krishna river

When Lord said "I am leaving my Padukas here. I will be ever present where my Padukas are worshipped. Whatever wishes to be prayed for, offering worship to the Padukas, they will be granted and fulfilled  "


Even Lord Dattatreya asks Goddess Lakshmi to give Him alms everyday at noon when He would come to Kolhapura after wandering in places around Sahyadri mount range to bless people and after taking bath in Gaya and Prayaga. Even today Dattatreya goes to Kolhapura to receive 'Bhiksha' from the hands of Mahalakshmi.


Sai leelas are beyond intellect !!!

As told  by All saints and lord himself "Consider yourself blessed, if you secure the blessings of a Guru. "

So we are all blessed to  have Sadguru Sai baba with US  !! What else do we need !!


Although there is much more to explain and write ..  i put a stop .

SAIRAM

Bow to Sri Sai - Raksha Karo Deva !!!

SAIRAM

Bow to Sri Sai - Raksha Karo Deva !!!

[SS91]

[youtube=425,350]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zbKkbKnmYYU[/youtube]
Digambra Digambra Shri Pada Vallabha Digambra
Digambra Digambra Shri Pada Vallabha Digambra