A visit to Kainchi Dham

 


Perhaps the deity I have prayed to most often, and whose shrines I have visited most frequently, is Lord Hanuman. The monkey God, supreme giver of gifts, most powerful in his own capacity who chose to remain in devoted service of Lord Shri Rama.

I stumbled upon Kainchi Dham, dedicated to Neeb Karoli Baba an ardent devotee of Lord Hanuman while reading of Steve Jobs travels across India. Steve Jobs travelled through in 1974 to experience India and Hindu philosophy. He was unwell in Varanasi and reached Kainchi Dham, near Nainital to recuperate. He had heard of Neeb Karoli Baba and wanted to meet him but Baba had passed away some months prior. Steve Job’s experiences at Kainchi ensured that Mark Zuckerburg, Larry Brilliant and Larry Ellison of Oracle visited Kainchi. Mark was specifically told to visit Kainchi Dham when he went to Steve Jobs for advice. Julia Roberts was enraptured by Baba’s photograph [now that’s a paradox of reversal]!

My journey started with a visit to Neeb Karoli Baba’s ashram at Rishikesh, the holiest of holy cities, a short drive from Dehradun. The ashram was remarkably clean, imbued with a sense of quiet reflection and a gravity that only immense faith can bestow. The meditation hall is large and faces a lovely idol of Lord Hanuman, the doer of impossible tasks. Devotees trickled in and out. The pictures and statue of Neeb Karori Baba are striking for the warm crinkly smile and a questioning expression: what do you seek?


After 3 visits to the Rishikesh ashram I qualified, I guess, for a visit to Kainchi Dham. A 7 hour road trip from Dehradun took me to Nainital, and 17 kilometres of steep, winding hill roads from there to Kainchi Dham. The ashram is nestled quietly by a stream, off the road. A set of low buildings house the deities – a temple dedicated to the mother goddess, a tableau of Lord Shriram, a shrine for Lord Hanuman, the narrow old cave/ room where Neeb Karori Baba meditated and then his temple. His expression is smiling, questioning, playful: what do you want?

There was a steady throng of devotees on the cold winter evening and the subsequent morning that I visited. The wooden seat with a thin mattress and a blanket where he once sat with his devotees remains outside what were his living quarters. I sat for a few minutes at the steps near his seat - a brief moment of not seeking, merely being grateful. The first wave of Covid 19 had receded and perhaps the visitors felt brave at the ashram. By the ashram flowed a thin mountain stream even as watchful monkeys waited for fruits and sweets. The stream has a two pronged flow like a scissor, and therefore the name Kainchi. A few junior simians engaged in noisy combat!


The pictures reflect Baba seated with a coarse blanket around his shoulders, three day stubble on his chin, a study in simplicity and playfulness. He is known to have constantly thrown fruits at Larry Brilliant in an attempt to disturb his meditations – his question – what is your quest? After all we are all constantly wanting, seeking… 

[Larry Brilliant worked with WHO teams to eradicate small pox in the region and was the inaugural Executive Director at Google.org].

Baba’s teachings are simple - The best form to worship God is every form. All are one [books can be written on universal connectedness and singularity but he just said All are One]. I liked the quiet, the hope, the faith, the simplicity at Kainchi Dham – when all is said and done, perhaps that’s all we need!

So, what do you seek?

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