A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami describes the process of chanting the Maha Mantra as follows: Krishna consciousness is not an artificial imposition on the mind; this consciousness is the original energy of the living entity.… As such anyone can take part in the chanting without any previous qualification.
A documentary on the Glories of Govardhan Hill by Bhakti Caitanya Swami
The Vedic scriptures proclaim that the glories of Lord Krishna are unlimited and eternal and no one is able to reach the end of them. In the same way, who can fully describe the splendid glories of Sri Giriraja-Govardhana, the best servant of the Lord and at the same time non-different from the Lord Himself? To protect his dear vrajavasis from Indras wrath, Sri Krishna held the Hill on the small finger of His divine hand for seven days. The area of Govardhan is full of wonderful forests, lakes, caves, waterfalls, jeweled paths, platforms and pavilions. Lords most intimate pastimes places — Sri Radha-kunda and Sri Syama-kunda are located at the foot of the Hill. The Vaishnava acharyas and saints left us a great treasure of scriptures, describing the wonderful pastimes, which are going on eternally in the shade of Giriraja. Here are but a few drops of this nectar.
The holy place known as Mathura is spiritually superior to Vaikuntha, the transcendental world, because the Lord appeared there. Superior to Mathura-Puri is the transcendental forest of Vrndavana because of Krsnas rasa-lila pastimes. And superior to the forest of Vrndavana is Govardhana Hill, for it was raised by the divine hand of Sri Krsna and was the site of His various loving pastimes. And, above all, the superexcellent Sri Radha-kunda stands supreme, for it is overflooded with the ambrosial nectarean prema of the Lord of Gokula, Sri Krsna. Where, then, is that intelligent Person who is unwilling to serve this divine Radha-kunda, which is situated at the foot of Govardhana Hill?
(Sri Upadesamrita, verse 9)
«Of all the devotees this Govardhana Hill is the best! Or my friends this Hill supplies Krishna and Balarama, along with their calves, cows and cowherd friends, with all the necessities: water for drinking, very soft grass, caves, fruits, flowers and vegetables. In this way the Hill offers respects to the Lord. Being touched by the lotus feet of Krishna and Balarama, the hill appears very jubilant».
(SB 10.21.18).
Application for permit does not mean confirmation of travel on that day, you still need to visit the forest office day before or few days before the journey and get the day of travel confirmation done.
You can do this either at Uttarkashi or Gangotri.
Charge for permit: You don’t have to pay anything online — when you reach forest office entry gate at Gangotri, you have to pay charge of Rs 150 per person.
Charge for Pony service: Government approved rate is Rs 1800 per person from Gangotri Forest entry gate to Bhojbasa and back next day.
Though Rs 1800 rate is fixed by government but on an average this costs Rs 2500 because they will charge extra for luggage plus if you are little over over normal weight they will charge extra. Consider this about Rs 2500 per person.
Guide charge: We paid Rs 2500 to our guide, Ideally you should fix your guide day before the journey, if you want only porter you may get it at Rs 2000 for the complete journey.
In our case Guide demanded Rs 2500 for his service then Rs 1000 extra for his boarding and lodging — we paid Rs 3500 to him for this 2 day journey.
In this route most guides work as Guide cum porter but still you should clarify this with the guide.
Food availability: You can carry your own food or if you want to locally buy, you will get Maggie with tea at Chirbasa.
Food at Garhwal Mandal vikas Nigam Guest house Bhojbasa- They serve good and tasty food, though options are limited, only veg food available.
Dal, Bharta or Bhindi average one person serving costs Rs 170 to Rs 190.
Tea in morning — you can get it at 6 am in morning at Bhojbasa.
Places to stay between Gangotri to Gaumukh: Only place where you can stay is Bhojbasa, there are 2 options there GMVN, you need to do online booking. There is no place to stay at Gaumukh.
Per person stay cost Rs 350 excluding food.
Other option is there is a ashram near GMVN, you can stay there as well at cost of Rs 350 per person. This cost at Ashram includes food cost, they serve langar there.
Electricity at Bhojbasa — There is no electricity over there, GMVN guest house has a generator which they run every day evening for one and a half hour.
Mobile network: You will get mobile network only for 2 to 3 km during the start of the journey, then no network, even BSNL network was not there.
If there is some emergency, GMVN people liasons with the Army there and communicates wirelessly with Gangotri.
Things to carry: Enough woolens, raincoat, oxygen cylinder, you can get oxygen cylinder from gangotri medical shop by paying Rs 600 and if it is not used they will deduct Rs 100 or 200 and return the balance money.
Its not compulsory to carry oxygen cylinder but just on a safe side.
Should you have any other query, please read through frequently asked questions below.
FAQ — Can i travel from Gangotri to Gaumukh and then come back on the same day to Gangotri.
Answer — Yes you can do that, as i did the same 6 years back when i went there with my wife but you need high physical fitness and good stamina. Though it is not advisable, as by the time you reach back Gangotri it will be dark.
Can i start trek early morning at 4 am?
Answer -No, Forest department allows entry from the gate at 6 am, to reach Forest entry gate you should start from you hotel or guest house at Gangotri at 5.30 am or 5.15 am…
Can i travel to Gaumukh in winters?
Answer — No — You can go there during May to Oct period only, during winters Gangotri National park is closed.
Benefit of taking guide?
Answer — He can guide you about danger zone, and give you good company. They are not professional guides, they were porters at some point of time and now have graduated themselves to guide.
Best time to travel to Gaumukh?
Answer — Mid august to end september. May and October will be cold. Though you can travel any time between May to Oct but avoid Monsoon time between June to July.
Is travel on Pony safe?
Answer — To my mind it is not advisable, because if you slip from Pony, it may badly hurt you or there may be a casualty too because it is steep below and passage is also small…
Though the number of travelers per day is limited so there is no crowd there but i will still suggest try walking down and you will love the journey.
Preparations are in full swing for this year’s Polish Woodstock festival — renamed the Pol’and’Rock festival. Two and half million young people are expected. Our devotees are busy setting up our famous “Krsna’s Village Of Peace.” Devotees are arriving from Russia, Ukraine, Hungary, Croatia, Macedonia, France, Germany and a number of other countries. It’s the 25th year of the Pol’and’Rock festival and the whole area is buzzing with activity. Many people are arriving early and all of them are asking when we’ll start our food ( prasadam ) distribution. We’re almost ready — most of the 48 tons of foodstuffs we’ll use to distribute approximately 160,000 plates of prasadam has arrived. And our kirtan tent is ready to resound with the holy names day and night. A massive maha yajna is about to begin. I have no doubt the demigods are also arriving in their flower airplanes!
This final video of our Kartika parikrama 2015 consists of highlights of the many places in Sri Vrindavan dhama that we visited. No doubt all devotees who participated hold memories of that month very dear to their hearts. We are grateful to Ananta Vrindavan dasa for capturing the special moments of the parikrama on video. No doubt so are the many Vaisnavas around the world who eagerly followed our sacred journey around Vrindavan through his work. We invite all such devotees to join our parikrama next year! Sastra speaks unequivocally about the importance of visiting the places of Lord Krsna’s pastimes:
“Certainly no means of perfection is superior to the worship of Sriman Madan Gopala’s lotus feet. That worship yields results far beyond what one could expect. It should be performed mainly through nama-sankirtana, along with reverence and affection for the many places of Sri Gopala’s pastimes, places which one should regularly visit.”
Talavan is one of the12 major forests of Vrindavan. Nestled in the paddy fields of Talavan is a beautiful temple dedicated to Lord Balarama, who killed the ass-demon Denakasura there. We enjoyed a wonderful day at Talavan having long kirtans and recounting the numerous pastimes that took place in that transcendental abode.
The beautiful deity of Gopinath was discovered at Vamsivat in Vrindavan 500 years ago by Madhu Pandit and Paramananda Bhattacarya. Madhu Pandit served Gopinath with great love and devotion for many years. Centuries later Gopinath was moved to Jaipur where He has been worshipped along with Srimati Radharani ever since. The temple is popular with the people of Jaipur, who come together daily to chant Radha Gopinath’s glories. Our parikrama party eagerly visits the temple each Kartika.
Алоха из Индии, друзья! Мы с вами отправляемся на прогулку-знакомство с Дели, пообщаемся с местными жителями, попробуем вкуснейшую индийскую кухню и побываем в самых интересных местах Дели – всё это в новом выпуске. Обещаю, будет очень интересно и атмосферно!
▶ ВИЗА В ИНДИЮ ДЛЯ УКРАИНЦЕВ
Самостоятельно оформить визу в Индию достаточно просто. С 2014 года здесь работают электронные визы. Для того, чтобы получить ее нужно максимум за 4 дня до прилета заполнить специальную анкету, загрузить туда фотографию, заплатить $100 комиссию. В течении 72 часов вам придет виза.
Теперь распечатайте эту визу и можете лететь. В аэропорту по прилету вам понадобятся загранпаспорт и распечатанная копия вашего обратного билета. С момента выдачи визы можно находится на территории Индии в течении 120 дней (2 въезда по 60 дней).
▶ КАК ДОБРАТЬСЯ В ДЕЛИ ИЗ АЭРОПОРТА
Аэропорт Индиры Ганди – это большой и комфортный аэропорт, пассажиропоток составляет приблизительно 24 000 000 пассажиров в год – в 2,5 раз больше чем у аэропорта «Борисполь».
Есть такие варианты как добраться в центр города из аэропорта:
① Delhi Airport Metro Express – это самый быстрый и дешевый способ добраться из аэропорта в Дели. Поездка до города займет около 20 минут и обойдется вам в $0,84.
② Городской автобус. Стоимость проезда – $1.05
③ Такси. Такси можно вызвать через приложение, либо воспользоваться pre-pay такси – его можно заказать на специальной стойке в аэропорту.
Первое, что вы заметите, то что правила дорожного движения в Дели – понятие относительное. На дорогах все подчиняется принципу «би-би-бип». Что это – узнаете в видео!
Жаль, что в Индии нет сервиса Uklon, ведь в Украине я всегда пользуюсь только им – это всегда быстро и комфортно. Установите себе приложение Uklon и пользуйтесь на здоровье! Ссылка на скачивание: bit.ly/2tEYNDw
▶ ЖИЛЬЕ В ДЕЛИ
В Дели мы поселились в районе South Extension II. По приезду покажу вам как мы заселялись в квартиру в Дели и расскажу зачем при этом нужно оставлять отпечатки пальцев.
▶ ЕДА В ИНДИИ: КАК ПРИГОТОВИТЬ ИНДИЙСКИЙ ДАЛ
Попробовать индийскую кухню мы отправимся в ресторан Bengali Sweet Center. Там опробуем настоящий дал – индийский суп-пюре на основе бобов дал, кокосового молока, овощей и специй. Это по сути тоже самое, что и привычный нам чечевичный суп, но гораздо острее.
В ресторане мы также разговорились с местным жителем, который дал несколько советов о том, какие индийские блюда обязательно нужно попробовать. Особенно он отметил Досу и Кулфи.
РЕЦЕПТ
Я не только попробовал дал, а и узнал все нюансы готовки дала по-индийскому рецепту. Вместе с делийским шеф-поваром Чандером мы с приготовим это блюдо из чечевицы.
India Gate – одна из основных достопримечательностей Дели, место рядом с которым происходит невероятная движуха. Особенно меня удивили несколько услуг, о которых подробнее расскажу уже в видео!
После India Gate прогуляемся в садах Лоди (Lodhi Gardens) – безумно красивое место, где можно отдохнуть на природе. Здесь чистый воздух и дышать гораздо легче! Кстати, 20% территории Дели – это леса и сады, благодаря чему город считается одной из самых зеленых столиц мира.
Ещё одна важная достопримечательность, которую стоит посмотреть в Дели – храм Лотоса. Он принадлежит религии бахай, которая признает все религии.
В общем, что рассказывать – скорее включайте видео и погружайтесь в атмосферу индийского мегаполиса!