After dinner that night, she brought out the bowls, and we all got to try them out, placing them on different areas relating to our chakras. Pictured are Elly from Switzerland, Denis from Holland, and Bruno from Belgium.

Here is one of the outdoor temples. After this, and a visit to a Hanuman temple for puja, we went to lunch and did some shopping. Lydia is truly a power shopper - and I learned a lot from her. We both bought some things made of fabric - but the big thing Lydia wanted was some brass singing bowls. There were many Tibetan markets there, and she had a vendor she has already bought singing bowls from. She has a healing room in her home in the Netherlands with over a hundred bowls, all of different notes and frequencies. In her work, she uses bowls with specific frequencies calibrated to be most resonant for each person.

Here is a detail of some of the sculptural work. It is made from the local sandstone, but has survived for s couple of thousand years.

One day, I took a day trip with Lydia, a woman from Holland, to Mahabalipuram, a small town on the ocean. We did some touring and some shopping. Here was a park with several old temples and the abundant stone carving the area is famous for. Check the scale of this with the people on top.

Here is the view in another direction - with more landscaping and garden deisgn in progress.

On the top of the sphere! There was a sun covering, a lovely breeze, and visibility to the ocean and all of Auroville. For these parts it was the "top of the world"! Here is one of the views from the top, of the town hall building and some gardens being built in the foreground.

On the inside, several projects were going on - the interior finishing, and marble coverings for steps and walkways. This is what the inerior covering over the light disks will be like - the soft yellow glow is the completed area. We are walking up a spiraling ramp, looking at everying, when he asks me "how adventurous are you?" Well, you know me...(its a good thing he didn't ask about heights!) so we went through a door, up about three flights of stairs, over a transom, up a few more stairs and ended up....

Barabara arranged it with John, who is the manager for the matrimandir renovation project, and I got to tour the inside. Down at the bottom they are building a marble lotus petal fountain. We went inside, and up.

Here is Barbara - a long term resident originally from the US. She is currently working for the foundation (a governing body) at the offices on the Matrimandir land. I was asking all the long term residents I met if they knew Seyril - a woman I know from Crestone who lived in Auroville many years ago, and helped build the matrimandir. It was wonderful - everyone knew her, and I felt like her emissary, and took photos of people who wished to be remembered to her. Now, Barbara asked if I might like to tour the construction in the matrimandir, to take some photos for Seyril...Uh...no one from the outside has been allowed in there - would I??? Are you kidding???

This was a lily pond next to the seating area of a bakery cafe that had the most excellent coffee. I got over my fear of mopeds and driving ont he "wrong side of the road", mainly because of the heat - it was just too hot (at 100 plus degrees) to pedal a bicycle for very long. I loved driving the moped and will probably have one when I live somewhere appropriate to use it.

Aurovillians create small industries that give employment to locals and other Aurovillians. Industries included (but not limited to) are incense, soaps, clothing, paper products, food products, jewelry, and pottery. This work was done by a man who has trained and employs twelve villagers in the production of pottery mostly for export. I would like to import the wonderful hibiscus and lemon flavored "power syrup" I fell in love with

Bruno is considering residency at Auroville, and would like to be a tour guide for newcomers. He would do very well with that. Residency at Auroville takes some trial time as a long term visitor, to see if it is a good fit for both of you. Usually it takes about two years to go through the process of becoming an Aurovillian.

The people I met were all wonderful as well. The other guests, from Belgium, Holland, Switzerland and Italy, were all friendly and generous, organizing activities and trips together each day. Here is my self-appointed tour guide, Bruno, a young man from Belgium, who took me to several of the wonderful cottage industries, a few good cafes (oh migod - a cup of really good coffee and croissants, for under $1 - I could almost forget I was in India!) and helped me get over my intimidation with mopeds.

Here she is, working on a yantra with a white flour mixture. I looked forward to getting up early, so I could watch her each morning. One wonderful thing about Auroville is how it was reclaimed from a barren water-beaten dry pile of dead soil, to the gorgeous jungle I got to walk and ride through. The songs of the birds and the smell of jasmine and frangipani were everywhere - and it was green, lush and restful.

Staying at Auroville was a very sweet and gentle experience. Besides the food being wonderful at the guest house where I stayed (some long term residents preferred to take their lunched there!) there was the constant reminder of the beauty and spirit in the vision behind the place. This little Ganesh was washed and given puja (offering of flowers, incense and sugar) each morning by a woman who also drew prayer blessing yantras on the ground in the major walkway areas of our guest house.

Inside the kitchen, once the cooking is complete, the staff fills tiffins (the metal stacked containers) for the residents to take away.

The first evening there, I attended a kirtan at the ampitheater. The second day, I wanted to learn about the solar kitchen, which is a large facility that feeds up to 1200 people for the main meal of the day (lunch). I was somehow fortunate enough to be "found" by one of the men responsible for the design and construction of the kitchen. It is powered by a huge (15 meter) parabolic disk of mirrors, which generates enough power to run all the steam equipment in the kitchen. There are several large pots, a steamer oven with several layers, and some smaller pots as well. Since most of the food includes rice, dal, subjees, potatoes and jellies, this setup is quite efficient for a large portion of the cooking requirements.

The gold disks are made from glod leaf foil fused between two sections of glass in small mosaic tiles that are about an inch each. There are three sizes of disks. Here, in a view from the top of the sphere (more about that later!) you can see the disks lined up in front of the amphitheater. The amphitheater is one of the first things that was built, over thrity years ago. In a dedication ceremony, leaders from over one hundred and thirty nations came with soil from their own countries to place in the center section, in a gesture of all nations living together in peace. Auroville now has over 1000 residents from over 100 nations. These people live in community areas, along with the Tamil (Indian) people who also have villages within Auroville. English and French are the main languages, and somehow, it all works.

The matrimandir is the center and heart of Auroville. A sphere covered with gold disks, it was undergoing extensive renovation while I was there. Visitors were only allowed to the outside and into one of the "petals" - the red structures at the bottom, which are meditation chapels. Here is a close up of the restoration work which included resurfacing the moisture barrier, necessitating the removal of the gold disks.

Auroville is a really interesting community, founded on the teachings of Sri Aurobindo and the Mother. An intentional community, it is devoted to living the teachings in ways that include individual practices, international harmony, health and environmental conciousness and community involvement.

Once again on the road - this time, past salt farms in the south, as I have flown to Chennai to visit Auroville for a few days. This was taken driving up along the coast between Chennai and Pondicherry. The white hills are huge piles of salt.

I got to meet with Muniraji and got to read the mantras for him, to learn the correct pronounciations. I am now qualified to perform the mantras in a havan (fire ceremony). Quite thrilled is an understatement, its more like a fulfillment of a dream, and there is a Yiddish expression for when you are bursting with happiness - "qvelling". Here I am with Muniraji a little while after reading the mantras, "qvelling".

As we climb back up the mountain to Haldwani, I am sad to leave this lovely place, but also excited because now I will get to (finally) meet with Muniraj. I wanted to speak with him about what I am doing in my life, but also to fulfill a long held dream to learn to recite the mantras correctly for the fire ceremony. One needs his permission and approval to do this.

It is time to leave Haidakhan, this peaceful place that is the "center of the universe" to Babaji devotees worldwide. I take one last longing look at the holy Ganges river.

Guatama Ganga - the mother of the river

Lord Dattatreya

Goraknath - who some say is one of Babaji's incarnations.

Brahma. All the "big guys" in the Hindu tradition are represented in these temples, as well as some minor ones special to Babaji's teachings.

Here is Vishnu.

Here is Ganesh, who lives to the left of Haidakhandeshwai Ma.

The next few photos are of the murtis in the nine temples on the gufa side. This is the mother, in the first temple. Gorhari, the pujari on the gufa side was incredibly wonderful, making me feel welcome and at home, allowing me to take photos of "anything I wanted", letting me do some gardening, and even gifting me with some Vibhuti (sacred ash) from Navaratri to bring back. Not all the photos came out well, but here are a few to give you the idea. This is mother, in the first temple, where we sat outside and chanted aarati.

This is the entry to the cave. When you go in, it is compeltely dark, and there is a small murti inside. It is a quiet, cool place to meditate, but it was also very intense to meditate there - it felt like Baba was vibrating at you off the walls!

After a few days staying in the main ashram, I asked Muniraj for permission to stay on the gufa side. (the side with the nine small temples and the cave where Baba was first found meditating). This is the gufa side from the river, with the cave opening in the lower right. The temple spires have scaffolding on them because they are getting faced with shaped local marble in different colors and designs. It is a major construction project, with cutting, sanding and shaping of the marble occuring on site. When I was there two spires were completed, and two more were in progress.

Here I am, basically as close to Babaji's physical body as I could be. Behind me is the site of his mahasamdhi, the place where he left his physical body. Since he is a maha-avatar, he was not cremated as most Hindus would be, but instead was interred in a sarcophagus type box with an elaborate tomb above it.

The only other two Europeans who were there when I was were David (left) and Ram Pritap, both from Belgium. David was the one who took the photo of me with Babaji at the samadhi.

Cary (on the left) originally from the US, is pretty much the manager of the ashram, and serves as welcoming committee, shop and office manager, harmonium player for aaratis, and probably much more that I am nto aware of. She was incredibly essential in helping me get accustomed to the ashram and its ins and outs quickly. Bhavani, an Italian who visits every year, was tending the dhuni, but when Cary went to Italy for a vacation, she took over the shop and office.

Part of the ashram's practice included bathing in the Ganges every day. Up here the water was pretty clean, with the biggest upstream worry being a little cow manure. It was cool and refreshing, and I was told that bathing there also cleanses your aura.

The dhuni, where the sacred fire was kept going 24/7. Pujas were done to the fire morning and evenings by a dhuni baba.

The murti in the small Italian mandir, close to the main temple.

The murti of Baba in the temple at Haidakhan

Baba's assan in the temple at Haidakhan.

This is the Haidikhandi Ashram fromt he other side of the Ganges river. The temple is the round pointed white part in the almost center, and the red gate is where the 108 steps down to the river begins. The dhuni (sacred fire), the river for bathing and the best chai shop (for breakfast) are all at the bottom, so I did the trip several time a day . Climbing the oddly steep and irregular steps under normal circumstances would be a workout, but in the heat of the day it was a real challenge.

Here is the first good view I have of the sacred Mount Kailash. (Funny, I have a photo very much like this of Pikes Peak in Colorado, where I used to live.)

So now, I have come down from Chilianula, in a shared taxi from Raniket back to Haldwani, with three men who stopped at a Chai shop mid way down the mountain, and ended up buying me chai and lunch. Almost as soon as I got there, I organized another taxi to take me up another road to Haidakhan, where the main Babaji ashram is.

This is Dr. Vijay and Dr. Usha from the Ayurvedic clinic. Dr. Vijay was helpful in giving me something to help mitigate the effects of the allopathic antibiotics, and was very generous with his time in helping me learn about the Ayurvedic program.

Here is Prakash, working at the hospital pharmacy. Besides helping with Pujari duties, he also helps keep the computers running. In his late twenties, he was one of the few men I met in India who made me wish I were younger.

One of the things that happened while at Chilianaula ashram was that I got knocked back with a respiratory infection. I used to get bronchial infections every year, which I hadn't gotten for many years (since I stopped eating meat) so this was an eye opener for me. Fortunately, the Babaji Charitable hospital was right next to the ashram. So I got to learn first hand about what the hospital is doing, by needing to be a patient. Serving more as what Americans would call a clinic than a hospital, it is well equipped, with good staff and outreach programs to remote villages. The main hospital is Allopathic, with laser surgery for eyes and a dentist. On the ground floor is an Ayurvedic clinic. Here is the back of the hopital, with some prep work for an addition in the foreground.

This little murti is at one of the ashram entrances. The little flirtatious boy just finished climbing up onto the ledge to put the mala on the murti. The children are village children, but like everyone else in the town, they greet you with Bhole Baba Ki Jai...

This was an experiment with the camera. The Anandpuri temple at night with the moonrise from the ashram. 

This is the murti of Baba in the temple at Chilianula. It felt strange chanting aarati to somone other than mother, after all this time. Even though I have been connected to Babaji for twenty years, this was my first trip to His ashrams in India, so it was pretty profound in ways I could not even begin to describe.