trip to Gujrat

Myself , husband and my daughter went on a beautiful pilgrimage to Gujrat with our relatives on 26/11/2010 by indigo flight at 5pm but the flight was delayed and we reached ahmedabad around 9 pm. halted at hotel Resident , good hotel with decent rooms and good service. 

matrugaya

bindu sarovar

Day 2 left hotel by 12 seater Tempo Traveller at 6am to Sidhpur reached at 9am. Sidhpur is around 103 kms north of ahmedabad. in ancient period Sidhpur was known as Shristhal, where famous Bindu Sarovar lake lies. here Mathru shraddas are performed in the place called Mathru Gaya.They are performed at Kapilamuni Ashram, where 3 sacred water kunds: the Gyan Vapika, Alpa Sarovar and Bindu Sarovar are present. It is also said that Lord Parshuram performed ‘Matru Shraddh’ at the Bindu Sarovar and his temple is also created here for darshan (worship).
later we proceeded to  Ambaji which is 79 kms. 

Shri Arasuri Ambaji Mata  Temple is the origin of the Supreme Cosmic Power of the Universe.This Temple is one of the 51  famous Ancient Shakti Piths of goddess Parvati Devi. there is no idol of mataji here but only Shree visa yantra is placed. no one can see this yantra or photographed in the past or in future.  Just 5 km away from Ambaji Temple, The famous mountain of Gabbar is situated on the border of States of Gujarat and Rajasthan, at the altitude of about 480 meters, at about 1600 feet high from sea level,with 999 steps. and it is the original holy place of Mata Ambaji, where the piece of the heart of the dead body of Devi Sati fell at the top of this holy hill of Gabbar . ambaji mandir Bangles can be tied to pole by sumangalis for wellness of Soubhagya. hilltop ambaji mandir ropeway at gabbar hill Hilltop where akhand lamp is lighted at Gabbar hills. those who cannot climb steps they can go by ropeway which costs about 75 rupees per head to rhe hilltop. later left for Ahmedabad enroute we visited Jain temples which is 1200 years old with beautiful architecture and marble carvings. jain temple reached Ahmedabad by 8.30pm had buffet dinner at Hotel Fortune Landmark  organised by Aunt's family friend . Halt at Hotel Resident. next day i.e. on 28/11/2010 we visited to Sabarmati Ashram also known as Gandhiji Ashram located in Ashram Road at the bank of river Sabarmati in Ahmedabad.This ashram is now a national monument by the Government of India due to its significance in the Indian independence movement in the form of the Dandi March in 1930. charaka sabarmati river sabarmati ashram later left to Akshardham dedicated to Lord Swaminarayan . due to security reasons cameras, mobiles leather purses are not allowed inside therefore cold not take photos or videos there. monument is made of pink sandstone with serene enviroment.Harimandap is murti of Swaminarayan which is goldplated.there are vibhutimandap and prasadimandap also. there are exhibition halls where life and teachings of Swaminarayan are showed .  then left for our much awaited journey to SOMNATH. which is 450 kms from Ahmedabad approximately 9-10 hours journey. reached Veraval around midnight , halt at hotel Rajdhani which is average hotel with good staff.  29/11/2010 lefy for Somnath darshan early in the morning by 6.30 am as it was Monday and last Karthik somwar. we had good darshan and attended arathi as we first in queue, performed pooja, visited mool mandir. somnath temple is at the shore of Arabian sea in western india, in Prabhas patan nearby veraval in Gujrat. this is the first of tge Twelve Jyothirlingas.places to see in Somnath are somnath mandir, moolmandir Ahilyabai mandir, Bhalkathirth and several small temples. best season to visit are winters from october to March. our group in front of somnath mandir . somnath mandir bal gangeshwar Bhalka thirth Shri Krishna was fatally wounded by the arrow of a hunter  named Jara here while resting on a deerskin under a pipal tree. The poacher mistook the foot of the Lord as that of a deer and shot straight through it.  After being hit by the poacher Lord Shri Krishna made his journey at the holy confluence of the three rivers namely Hiran, Kapila and Saraswati. en route to Dwarka visited Porbander which is 130 kms approximately ,places of interest are  Gandhiji's Kirti Mandir, Sudama Mandir, Bharat Mandir.  kirtimandir Porbander to Dwarka is around 100 kms reached Dwarka by evening . had Darshan and arathi of Dwarkadeesh in evening . Dwarka is located on the western coast of Gujarat on the shore of the Arabian Sea. Dwarka is famous for the Dwarkadheesh temple (Jagat Mandir) on the bank of the Gomti River .Dwarka is one of seven most holy places for Hindus in India Adi Sankara had visited Dwarakdish Shrine and had established the Dwarka peeth.  The present temple was built in 16th century while the original temple was believed to have been built by Krishna's grandson, Vajranabha. The 5-storied temple is made of limestone and sand. A flag hoisted in the temple tower five times each day. There are two gateways - Swarga Dwar, where pilgrims enter, and Moksha Dwar, where pilgrims exit. From the temple one can view the Sangam (confluence) of River Gomati flowing towards the sea. In Dwaraka, there are also shrines for Vasudeva, Devaki, Balarama and Revati, Subhadra, Rukmini Devi, Jambavati Devi and Satyabhama Devi.There is a special temple for Rukmini Devi on the way to Bet Dwarka temple, which can be reached by boat. A similar deity of Lord Dwarakanath is also kept in Bet Dwaraka. The temple has many Shrines for Lakshmi Narayana, Trivikrama, Jambavati Devi, Satyabhama Devi and Rukmini Devi. halt at TORAN tourist bungalow with good amenities also serves gujrati thali with reasonable amount. 30/11/2010-  Proceeded to Bet dwarka in the Morning   Bet Dwarka is famous for its temples dedicated to Lord Krishna and is of great importance in the ancient Hindu tradition.The  religious capital is believed to have submerged under the sea after the Krishna left dwarka for vaikunth.  Rukmini mandir The story of this temple is that one day, Durvasa Muni was invited by Lord Krishna and his wife, Rukmini, for lunch. Durvas asks Lord Krishna and Rukmini to pull the chariot as he does not sit on horse rid chariots. Krishna and Rukmini obliges, On the way to palace for lunch Rukmini becomes thirsty and asked Krishna for help. Krishna then put his foot in the ground and the Ganges waters flowed from the earth while Rukmini was drinking the water, Durvasa sees and curses her to live apart from Lord Krishna, that there should be no sweet water in Dwarka . Rukmini mandir Gopi talav  is the pond where Lord Krishna met the gopis when they came to see him at Dwarka. The sacred clay from Gopi-talav  is known as gopi-candana and is used by devotees of Krishna to make the tilak marks on their bodies. It is 20km from Dwarka on the way to Bet Dwarka.  Gopi Talav then we proceeded to Nageshwar Jyothilinga. Nageshwar Temple or Nagnath Temple is located between  Dwarka and the Bet Dwarka Island on the coast of Saurashtra in Gujarat. This is one of the twelve Jyothirlingas. Nageshwar  we left Nageshwar around 3 pm to Ahmedabad via Rajkot. we stayed at Rajkot in Hotel Ravi, good hotel with all modern amenities.  1/12/2010-  Back to Bangalore from Ahmedabad by 5.30pm  indigo flight reached Bangalore at 7.30 pm.

12 jyothirlingams of india

Jyothirlingams are the shrines worshipped to Lord Shiva. there are 12 jyothirlingams according to puranas each shrine having some story of lord shiva linked with that particular place.
12 jyorhitlingams are


1.Somnath in Gujrat
2.Mahakaleshwar in Ujjain
3.Mallikarjuna in Srisailam
4.Omkareshwar in Madhyapradesh
5.Vaidyanath in Parli (Jharkand)
6.Bhimashankar in Pune
7.Nageshwar in Dwarka
8.Ramalingeshwar in Rameshwaram
9.Vishwanath in Kashi (Varnasi)
10.Triambakeshwar in Nasik
11.Grushneshwar in Aurangabad
12. Kedarehwar in Kedar
Dwadasa Jyothirlinga stotra is a prayer composed by Adiguru Sri Shankaracharya addressing to Lord Shiva.
 sloka is as follows


Sourashtre somanthan cha srishaile mallikarjunam
ujjainam mahakalam omkaramamaleshwaram 
parliam vaidyanatham cha dakinayam bhimashankaram
sethubandethu ramesham nagesham darukavane
varanasanthu visvesham triambakam gauthami tathe
himalayathu kedaram grushnesam cha shivalaye
ethani jyothirlingani sayam prathaha patenarah
saptha janma krutham papam smaranena vinshyanthi


it is said that persons who are unable to visit these places recite this sloka every morning and evening all his sins are vanished is blessed by Lord Shiva.


SOMNATH

This temple is situated in Gujrat . somnath also calles prabhas kshetra is near veraval. this is one of the 12 jyothirlingas of our country. somnath temple is on the seashore. According to puranas this temple was built by Moon out of gold and then rebuilt by Ravana in silver and then by Krishna in Wood, then by Bhimdev in stone.
Moon God  constructed the temple after Lord Shiva cured him of his illness. This illness was caused by his father-in-law Daksha Prajapati's curse. Daksha cursed him to wane as he was attracted with only Rohini and was neglecting the other 26 wives, all 26 of whom were the daughters of Daksha Prajapati. It is said that Brahma advised him to build the temple in honor of Shiva.
Aurangzeb  destroyed the temple first and later renovated by maharani Ahalyabai .river saraswathi enters the sea here. most recently this temple was renovated by Sardar Vallabhai Patel in the year 1947 when he visited this place.
places to be visited near somnath is bhalka thirth , where a hunter shot  arrow at Lord Krishna's toe mistaking it as parrot and Lord ended his avatara here near pipal tree.

 nearby is a cave where Balarama, elder brother of Lord Krishna entered cave .

srichakra pooja at home

we performed Aslesha homa pooja and  srichakra pooja at home on 11/07/2010. it was a great evening to all of us.Sri Narasimha achar of Mangalore performed this for us.

vishwa shanthi ashrama bangalore

Vishwa Shanthi Ashram is located around 25 kms from Bangalore on Tumkur Road near Nelamangala Town.This was established by Sant Sadguru Keshavdas in 1982 to spread the teachings of the Gita and Bhakthi Yoga also to have peace across the globe. You can also find the tallest statue of Vijaya Vittala (36 feet), an incarnation of Lord Vishnu.

another attraction in this place is vishwaroopa darshan idol of lord vishnu Inside the temple all verses of Bhagavad Gita is written on black granite plate in Hindi, English and kannada. Below is a Gayathri devi temple. One can offer archana or puja here. it is very soothing and calm place to do one's japa or meditation.There is gitopadesham chariot  outside gita mandir, seven sea goddess,(ganga, yamuna, saraswathi, godavari,sindhu,narmada and  cauvery) devi durga ,lord anjaneya, lord Ganapathi, lord shiva, lord dattatreya ashtalakshmi, and the navagrahas in this premises . you can also find samadhi mandir of our guruji Sant keshavadasji.  

SONDA

Sonda is small village in the Sirsi taluk of Uttara Kannada district situated at a distance of around 450km from Bangalore and about 20km from Sirsi. It has three prominent Mutts: the Swarnavalli Mutt, the Vadiraj Mutt and theJain Mutt. Hundreds of pilgrims visit mostly through out the year

Places around Sonda,
Madhukeshwara Temple, Banavasi

Banavasi. which was once the capital of Kadamba rulers is situated at around 20km from Sirsi.The 9th Century Madhukeshwara temple of Banavasi is dedicated to Shiva. It is a big temple .There is a beautiful bull (Nandi) in front of Shiva but it appears to be watching Parvathi who is present in the adjoining temple.

Sahasralinga, Sonda

Sahasralinga, is approachable from Hulgol, on Sirsi-Yellapur road at around 15km from Sirsi.
Sonda Kote
Muttinakere Venkataramana Temple

Muttinakere is a small lake in Vaja Gadde area of Sonda.Near this lake is a small beautiful Venkataramana temple built in Vijayanagara style. 

Hunasehonda Venkataramana Temple
Shivagange Waterfall
sirsi marikamba temple

Vadiraj mutt, alight a few steps down near trivikrama temple is the mutt. bhootaraja temple is found here. Rolling of coconuts at bhootaraja temple is a tradition here, few people says it is our attendance to bhootaraja. men are supposed to take of their shirts and vests. there is a small pond in the temple premises. one has to take bath in the pond  then do parikrama in the wet clothes, all his desires will be fulfilled. 

Tapovana

Tapovana,is about 5 kms from the Mutt  and is on the banks of the river Shalmala.This is  the place where Sri Vadiraja Swamy used to sit down for his daily meditation. It was here  Sri Vadiraja Swamy used to meditate Lord Hayagriva with a plate of “Hayagriva Maddi”on his head.It is said that Lord used to come in the form of horse and eat the food offered to him by  Sri Vadiraja Swamy.