More photos ...

Sadhaks Dilip Kamat (Virginia) and Sunil Padture (California), have uploaded photos of PP Shri Kakamaharaj's visit to their area.

Virginia Photos

California Photos

Video - Los Altos Library discourse

Sadhak Neha Vishwarupe has posted a 5-minute video recording of the discourse given by PP Shri Narayankaka at Los Altos Library in California.

Please click here to view the video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i-_9AGpblfs

PP Shri Kakamaharaj's Austin Visit

Here's the information about PP Shri Kakamaharaj's Austin (Texas) provided by Shilpa Nawathe.

Kaka Maharaj arrived in the city of Austin, Texas on the evening of Thursday 23rd Aug 2007 around 6.00 pm. This visit was after his New York/New Jercy visit. I went to receive him at the Austin airport. There was hardly any time to rest for maharaj after this journey from New York till Austin. The same night he gave a discourse at residence of Mrs. Kamlaben Mehta. The discourse was arranged by the Jain Sangha of Greater Austin.There were about 25 people who attended the discourse and listened to Kaka maharaj with interest. Kaka maharaj seemed satisfied with the crowd and arrangements.

The morning of Aug 24th 2007 was a routine morning for Kaka maharaj and he was busy in his daily sadhana and rituals as usual. In the evening, kaka maharaj gave discourse at the residence of Shri. RaviKumar Ballada, a friend and manager of mine. Kaka maharaj reached at the discourse location much prior to the scheduled time and was keen on having informal conversation with people gathered there. He seemed happy to see younger crowd present for the discourse location. The discourse began at the scheduled time and continued through the Friday night. About 25 to 30 people attended the discourse.

Saturday, Aug 25th was a busy day. Kaka maharaj gave two discourses on this day. The first one was in the Austin Hindu Temple where kaka maharaj spoke with 7-8 American Christians who came to meet with him and hear about Siddhayoga. The same day evening Kaka Maharaj gave discourse at another temple, Shri Omkara Mahaganapathy Devasthanam which is located in the city of Temple, about 60 miles from the city of Austin. There was a crowd of 10-12 people who attended the discourse. Night of Saturday some time was spent singing bhajans and kaka maharaj was on harmonium.

Sunday, Aug 26th 2007, was relatively free. Maharaj’s daily morning routine was as busy usual except that samuhik Sadhana was included in that routine. Maharaj got some rest in the afternoon. He spent time reading books written by Shri. Potbhare and wrote blessings for the books. In the evening Kaka maharaj talked about Bhagwad Gita. He stressed that each verse of Gita can be practiced in day to day life and is not meant just for reading/singing as is conventionally done. He talked at length quoting several verses of Gita and how the practise of Siddhayoga was consistent with the teachings of Bhagwad Gita.

Monday, Aug 27th 2007, was a big day. This was a day of the global trial for universal brotherhood and also a day for Deeksha. After this event, Maharaj got some rest. Evening of Monday, we performed Shankarachi aarti since it was month of Shravan. After the aarti, samuhik sadhana was performed as per kaka maharaj’s suggestion.

Tuesday Aug 28th 2007, was a day for Rakhi Pournima. Maharaj offered Rakhi to p.p. Swami maharaj and I offered one to P.P. swami maharaj and tied rakhi to Kaka maharaj as well. The sad and hard part was next. Saying farewell to our Kaka Maharaj !! The same morning Kaka maharaj left for Boston, his next venture in US tour.

PP Shri Kakamaharaj's visit to Chicago area

On 19th Sept., at 7.00 pm at Dr. Nagabhushanam Koneru's house in Barrington, IL. Dr. Koneru is a very well known Dr. in Chicago and he is a chief trustee of the Sai Baba temple in Chicago. He and his wife received P.P. Maharaj with great devotion and had called a priest to perform the Pooja. Both Dr. Koneru and his wife did padya Pooja in the silver plate. Dr. Koneru had invited over 25 prominent people of Chicago to the discourse at his palacious home.


On 21 Sept, Friday: P.P. Maharaj gave a discourse to over 60 people at Sai Baba Temple in Aurora, IL. P.P. Maharaj was received by Dr. Koneru and priests did Pooja of Maharaj. P.P. Maharaj then did Pooja of Sai Baba.




On 23rd Sept. Sunday: P.P. Maharaj attended the RSS - HSS shakha in Naperville, took part in the shakha activities and performed surya namaskars with all other Swayamsevaks. In the shakha Maharaj gave a discourse to all the attending Sangh Swayamsevaks. The total sankhya (attendance) was 55.














On 24th Monday; Maharaj gave a discourse to all the local American students of Peaceful Yoga center of Naperville, Over 40 Americans attended the event.

Description and all photos provided by Prasad Garkhedkar.

More photos from Northern California

For more photos from the Northern California visit by PP Shri Kakamaharaj, please visit Sunil Padture's online picture album at Google.

Photos from the Michigan visit

Photos shared by Dr. Yogini Deshpande. All the pictures of PP Shri Kakamaharaj are with a group of Michigan University students.

Northern California Photos

Photos sent by Neha Vishwarupe.











PP Shri Kakamaharaj giving discourse at Palo Alto, California.












Another picture of the Palo Alto discourse.












Discourse at San Francisco.

Details of the Northern California Visit

Here are the details as described by one of the sadhaks named Mr. Sunil Padture:

Maharaj arrived at San Jose Airport with Dr Deshpande on Sept 12 at noon. Many Sadhak welcomed Maharaj (Shyam, Smita, Deepa, Mr and Mrs Gadre, Neha, Sunil, Pranav). Maharaj stayed with Pranav Dhekane, his grand nephew for a day.

On Sep 13 evening, Maharaj, after meeting a few sadhak at their homes, went to Cupertino's e-prasaran internet radio recording. He stayed at a Sadhak Neha Vishwarupe and in the morning performed samuhic sadhana. Several sadhak asked him questions about Sadhana.

Following day, Sept 14, an event was hosted at Los Altos library at 7 PM. This was attended by about 35 people. Maharaj gave a discourse and took questions and answered each. Later Maharaj visited a sadhak home for few minutes and proceeded to Shri Padture home in Union City.

Saturday Sep 15th marked two events, a radio interview by Stanford University Radio at Padture's home and a discourse in Fremont. Radio interview was conducted by Mr Shripati for about 40 minutes which will be broadcast during November. Fremont discourse later that afternoon was mainly attended by Gujrathi association members and hosted by Mr and Mrs Patel. About 60 people attended this 2 hour discourse. After visiting the hosts Mr Patel, maharaj returned home for his Sandhya and Sadhana.

Sunday, Sep 16 turned out to be a very busy day. Sunday samuhic sadhana was hosted where Maharaj was staying. Maharaj answered questions about sadhana and reiterated the rule of "no sadhana no meal". After Ganesh pooja and lunch, later, that afternoon Gurudev visited Yoga Society of San Francisco institute in the San Francisco city. At a temple within the institute maharaj gave a discourse to about 15 people. In the evening there was another discourse at a Church in Palo Alto. This was attended by about 40 people. Questions and answer session for this session was so intense that it lasted for hour and half.

On Monday, Sep 17th Maharaj, during the city tour, visited historic Chinatown, a tourist attraction called Lombard Street and San Francisco Port called "Embarcadero". In the evening, Maharaj visited Swami Shivomtirtha disciples in Berkeley. This informal session was mainly to guide sadhak in their meditation. Pictures of Swami Vishnutirtha and Swami Shivomtirtha dorned the home of the Sadhak Kurt Keutzer. Two sadhana were conducted here and maharaj was very pleased by memories of Swami Vishnutirtha.

On Tuesday, Sep 18th, Maharaj left from San Jose airport around noon. Several Sadhak came to the airport to bid a fond and a tearful farewell.

Broadcast Schedule for Radio Interview

ePrasaran (an internet radio service) will be broadcasting PP Shri Narayankaka Maharaj's interview conducted in Marathi by Neha Vishwarupe on the following days and times.

USA Pacific Time: (California)

Friday October 5th : 7.00 AM, 11.00 AM, 3.00 PM and 7.00PM

Saturday October 6th: 12.10 PM

Sunday October 7th: 8.10 AM

India Time:

Friday October 5th : 7.30 PM and 11.30 PM

Saturday October 6th :3.30 AM and 7.30 AM

Sunday October 7th : 12.40 AM and 8.40 PM

Please inform all interested persons and spread a word about the same. ePrasaran, being an internet radio service, interested persons will only be able to hear the interview using their PCs.

PP Shri Kakamaharaj in the news

PP Shri Narayankaka Maharaj held a press conference in Chicago on Thursday Sept. 20, 2007 and informed the reporters about his efforts to spread the path of Siddhayoga to the whole world.

Desi Talk, a Chicago-based newspaper has posted an article about the same. Read the same by visiting here. Please go to the page 19 to read the full article.

Letter of appreciation

PP Shri Narayankaka Maharaj was at the Riverside (California) function during his tour and made his presence felt at the event. One of the sadhaks, Mrs. Victoria Truver, took the initiatives to make sure PP Shri Kakamaharaj was invited to attend this gathering.

Mrs. Victoria Truver aka "Vikki", got a letter from the organizers. It is as follows,

Thank you, Narayan Dhekane, for your beautiful contribution to the topics of peace and nonviolence at ICFOR's "The Other 9/11" event on Tuesday, Sept 11, 2007 at the Gandhi Statue in Riverside, CA. Just your presence, first of all, made an impact...and then your obvious experience dealing with microphones made your message so very able to be heard. You had such a gentle insistence in your "please help me with this" to get people to close their eyes, relax their bodies, and feel Mother Air going in and out of the body. This quiet experience of peace and Brotherhood was enhanced by the presence of the gentle breezes coming through the Mall at the time. Your presentation was unique in that people got to experience peace within themselves, while the rest of the Program they were mainly hearing about it through words and song.

The Inland Communities Chapter of the Fellowship of Reconciliation appreciates your participation in this event and wishes you well during your visit to the United States. May you have many opportunities to spread your important message of Peace through Sidduyoga.

Namaste,
Marilyn Sequoia and Linda Dunn
ICFOR
www.icfor.org www.forusa.org www.nonviolentpeaceforce.org

Photos from UK Trip

Here are some of the pictures from PP Shri Kakamaharaj's trip to UK. All the photos have been taken by Lalit Dandekar. Thanks to Lalit, for hosting PP Shri Kakamaharaj during his UK stay.

Note: Click on the photos to view enlarged copy.

PP Shri Kakamaharaj taking a walk in the park

Dr. Deshpande Maharaj and PP Shri Kakamaharaj in London Underground Train

Lalit Dandekar with PP Shri Kakamaharaj and Dr. Deshpande Maharaj

PP Shri Kakamaharaj giving discourse at Dnyaneshwari Mandal, London

Dr. Deshpande Maharaj and PP Shri Kakamaharaj at the Greenwich Observatory

PP Shri Kakamaharaj in discussion at RSS Shakha

More than 1000 gather at the California Kumbh Mela

PP Shri Kakamaharaj is in California these days. He was invited to attend the Kumbh Mela that gets organized every year, in Southern California, on a Sunday prior to Sept. 11. Following paragraphs have been taken from an article written by one of the sadhaks named Mrs. Victoria Truver.

The participants gathered in the parking lot of Sanatan Dharma Mandir in anticipation of the beginning of the 2007 Kumbha Mela. Intricate chariots, huge decorated temple umbrellas, and specially constructed parade floats, designed to carry the many large murtis, vied for space with cars and trucks in the parade line. Some groups had constructed special platforms to hold garlanded framed pictures of their Gurus. Sadhaks carried banners to identify their marg.

At the head of the procession Nityananda’s devotees waved a sea of white and blue pennants. Even as it prepared to begin the Kumbha Mela was already a feast of color, sound and texture.

A 12-foot green-faced Kathakali dancer on stilts swayed in the breeze that began to disperse the heat and give some relief. Two of Swami Vishwananda’s devotees dressed as butterflies seemed about to fly away on their wings of colorful multi-hued sheer fabric.

The procession slowly walked from Sanatan Dharma Temple to Excelsior High School. Traffic crawled along on Pioneer Boulevard allowing the parade to pass. Many cars stopped to view the participants and accept some of the many items of literature being handed out. Local residents stopped along the sidewalks to view the procession as it passed, ask questions and receive literature and information.

The Kumbha Mela attracted representatives from margs around the world. Swami Vishwananda arrived from Mauritius. Shri Narayan Kaka Maharaj Dhekane arranged his trip to the U.S. from Nasik, specifically to attend the Mela. His sadhaks came from all over California to attend the event and walk in the procession with him. While one dikshit held a golden ceremonial umbrella to shield him from the sun, a second carried a chair for him to rest and a third bore the garlanded framed photograph of Paramaguru H.H. Loknath Tirth. When main disciple Dr. Shamsunder Deshpande asked Swami Vishwananda to chant “Digambara Digambara” using his microphone, Swami Vishwananda walked back to the place where Kaka Maharaj waited and invited him to walk together. For the rest of the procession the two holy men walked side by side and the two margs seemed joined as one as the sadhaks blended into one group.

After 2 hours the parade finally ended on a field at the high school where a tent had been constructed to seat the swamis during the Maheshwara Pooja when traditional Respect was paid to all the Swamis of the Mela. This was followed by abhishek of all deities in the pool containing tirth waters from 5 sacred rivers.

The swamis and deities were then brought to the main area where the holy men were sequestered in an enclosed tent and the murtis were placed in a second tent for arati. Onstage the organizers of the program, Swami Nityananda, Yogesh Acharya and Vedanta Society’s Swami Sarvadevananda each spoke for 5 minutes on peace.

The All-World Gayatri Pariwar performed bhajans on stage while a 51-kund havan took place on the ground directly below. A cultural program concluded this year’s mela. While it is impossible to accurately calculate the attendance, at least 1,000 were present.

More Photos

Photos have been requested from hosts of the programs conducted till date. These will be uploaded on the blog as and when they are available.

Keeping an Eye on London

A tourist named Theo van Iperen from the Netherlands had taken picture of PP Shri kakamaharaj and Deshpande maharaj while they were in the 'London Eye'. Thank you Theo van Iperen for your kind act. The sadhaks are greatful to you for sharing the photo.

Here's the picture he sent. In the background city of London can be seen along with River Themes.

Kakamaharaj's New Jersey Stay

PP Shri Narayankaka had a busy schedule in New Jersey. He had discourses as well as radio interview during his stay in New Jersey.

A discourse at Sai Mandir, New York on the 18th August, followed by a discourse at Marathi Vishwa Community Center on the next day. On 22nd August was the half-hour radio interview. And finally, a small homely function at the residence of the host, Mr. Bindu Madhav Joshi. Click here to view some of the photos of PP Shri Narayankaka at Mr. Joshi's residence.

Seen in this photo from (Left to Right) are Mr. Roland Corvol, PP Shri Narayankaka and Mr. Bindu Madhav Joshi. Mr. Bindu Madhav Joshi will be uploading a few video clips on YouTube, once he gets the camcorder connected to his laptop. The next part of the tour takes PP Shri Narayankaka to Austin, Texas. He left for Austin on the 23rd August 2007.

Media Appearances

PP Shri Kakamaharaj would be appearing in the media quite a few times in this tour.

• New York ITV displayed a 30-minute program on 19th August 07.
• A radio interview (for an hour duration) is planned and will be broadcast on ePrasaran internet radio. [Visit http://marathi.eprasaran.com/ for more information]
• RBC Radio (FM 96.5), in the New Jersey and New York area, will also broadcast an interview on 22nd August 07 from 7.00 pm to 7.30 pm Eastern Time. [Visit http://www.rbcradio.com for more information]

Discourse on Aastha TV Channel

PP Shri Kakamaharaj's discourses will be telecast on Aastha TV (a channel that broadcasts spiritual and cultural programs) on 25th August 2007 at 11.20 am Indian Standard Time. Please make sure you watch this program. Inform others as well.

For people in other countries, please lookup your satellite TV guide to know the exact number of the Aastha Channel and make sure you watch this one. Please inform other as well.

PP Shri Kakamaharaj is in the US

On 14th August 07, PP Shri Kakamaharaj arrived in the US safe and sound. Thank You Dr. and Mrs. Mone for hosting PP Shri Kakamaharaj.

Hoping to upload the arrival photos on the blog as soon as they are available.

Let us all pray to PP Shri Loknath Tirth Swami Maharaj and Gurudev Datta to shower their blessings on PP Shri Kakamaharaj for a successful US trip.

On the way to the US

Today, 14th August 2007 at 1805 hrs (local time), PP Shri Kakamaharaj would fly from London to New York, USA, after finishing a successful trip to the UK.

Meanwhile, there is a change in the originally planned schedule. Instead of going to Canada, PP Shri Kakamaharaj would now be spending more time in the USA.

Discourses and Radio Interview have been planned in New Jersey area and around 4 to 5 days of discourses are being finalized in Texas. Stay tuned to find out the exact dates of the programs and contact information at each location.

Meeting at Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan

A meeting cum small gathering at Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan was held on Saturday 4th August 2007 in the afternoon. Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan expressed interest in arranging a lecture to be delivered by PP Shri Narayankaka Maharaj.

Radio Interview on 22nd August 2007

A radio station in New York / New Jersey area, RBC Radio (FM 96.5), will be conducting a radio interview of PP Shri Narayankaka Maharaj on 22nd August 2007 between 7.00 pm and 7.30 pm (Eastern Time Zone).

The interview will be for a duration of around 20 minutes followed by a 10 minutes Question & Answers session in which people can call in with their questions.

For those in the NY/NJ area, please listen to RBC Radio about announcements about discourses being arranged in your area.

Taking off for a better tomorrow

Today was the day, 2nd August 2007, when PP Shri Kakamaharaj and Dr. Deshpande Maharaj, took off for UK. In the words of Purnima Gore of Mitra UK,

" Shri Narayan Yeshwant Dhekane is an unique personality, whose Universal Brotherhood idea encompasses the whole universe. He is earnestly striving for a far better world for a common man. As a destined personality, he practiced yoga for forty years of his prime age and put forth a wonderful philosophy which encompasses and engulfs All the religions, all the countries, nay whole world as – One Nation and One Human race. In all the diversities of the world, he has established uniqueness of live force (pran) as the basis for universal brotherhood. "

At the airport, there were around 50 people who came to see off PP Shri Narayankaka Maharaj and Deshpande Maharaj. The air was filled with a kind of spirit that would uplift one's senses and touch their emotions. It was half sorrow-half joy feeling for the sadhaks. Joyous because their Guru was leaving to make the world a better place on the other hand they were sad because they will not see their Guru for a good 3 months. Earlier, on August 1st, 2007, an even bigger function took place at Nashik where countless sadhaks and well-wishers gathered to see their PP Shri Kakamaharaj leaving for Thane.

Months and months of preparation, discussions, meetings, opinions and best wishes of others will now be put to use as his tour progresses. Mr. Lalit Dandekar, of UK, has taken a lot of sincere efforts in trying to organize the various lectures/discourses planned in and around London.

Many people have contributed their money, time and other resources to make this trip a reality. With PP Shri Loknath Tirth Swami Maharaj's blessings and best wishes & hearty feelings from numerous sadhaks, the trip is bound to be a great success.

Tomorrow is the big day ...

Tomorrow i.e. August 2, 2007 is the Big Day, when P.P. Shri Narayankaka Dhekane Maharaj will set steps to start his foreign tour. His maiden tour in the Western countries.

He will be visiting UK, USA, and possibly Canada, in his 3-month tour aimed at meeting his disciples and seekers of Kundalini Shaktipata Yoga. However, the primary aim of the tour is, to meet as many number of people as possible, and try to spread the novel path of Siddhayoga (Mahayoga) in other parts of the world.

It was around two years ago, he completed his tour of India by visiting various cities, towns and villages by covering a distance of around 10,000 kms. Soon after that, he also visited the neighbouring country of Bhutan to continue his mission to spread the path of Siddhayoga (Mahayoga).

His global vision did not allow him to be at rest for long, thus the idea was born to visit countries in the West. People are encouraged to make it possible to attend one of the free discourses being held in various cities in UK and USA. A detailed tour plan is available here.

Watch this space for updates and photos as the tour progresses.