Trayambakeshwar and Rishikesh
January 2010

On 2nd January, Swami Satsangi and myself travelled to Trayambakeshwar. Trayam-bakeshwar is the place where Shiva is represented by three faces, that of Creator, Preserver and Destroyer. Thus he is called Tryambakeshwar, the three-faced Shiva.This Trayambakeshwar Shiva, who represents Brahma, Vishnu and Rudra, was the ishta deva of Sri Swamiji.

We conducted two powerful poojas at the temple - they were very calming, uplifting and peaceful. The feeling was one of benevolence and grace descending in a beautiful environment. The first pooja was conducted in the outer enclosure of the temple, and the second pooja inside the sanctum sanctorum where the lingam is. One could feel the peace, happiness and contentment emanating from the place.

Then we went to the goshala, cowshed, at Neel Parvat, Juna Akhara, where in 1989 Sri Swamiji had lived during Chaturmas and practised his sadhanas. That was the place where Rikhia was revealed to him. In the cowshed, a sannyasin had lit a deepak and placed a beautiful picture of Sri Swamiji. The whole place was kept up as if Sri Swamiji was living there.

On 5th January, we arrived in Rishikesh and went to Sivananda Ashram. We spent the evening in Swami Sivanandaji's kutir. It was a beautifully intense experience. As if Swami Sivananda was looking after everything, there was nothing to worry about, nothing to be concerned about. Swami Sivananda was watching over all of us.

At 5.30 in the morning of the 6th, a special pooja was conducted at Vishwanath Temple in Sivananda Ashram. A Shivalingam was installed by Swami Sivananda in this temple and he himself would perform the abhisheka there. Even Sri Swamiji had performed abhisheka there for six months as his duty. There, Swami Satsangi and I performed Rudrabhisheka. At 9.30, we came to the samadhi place of Swami Sivanandaji and performed guru paduka poojan, abhisheka of Swami Sivananda's khadau, wooden shoes.

Then there was a bhoj, mass feeding, in Rishikesh ashram for all the brahmacharis, swamis, residents, students and inmates. Everybody was given prasad on behalf of Sri Swamiji.

On the 6th, a bhoj was also given in Trayambakeshwar to about a thousand sannyasins from thirteen akharas represented in Nasik and the Panda Committee of the temple along with devotees from Mumbai, Nasik, Aurangabad, Pune and other places.

Rishikesh and Trayambakeshwar are deeply connected with Sri Swamiji's life. Rishikesh being the place of his guru where he had taken rebirth in the form of a sannyasin and Trayambakeshwar has the Shiva who guided Sri Swamiji every step of his life and who revealed to him the future.

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