India Pilgrimage

NEW DELHI:

Qutub Minar, Nizamuddin, Hazrat Inayat Khan, Gandhi

Delhi is the starting point of this journey, where the group will stay for 2 nights. Pilgrims will visit the Qutub Minar, a magnificent tower of red sandstone and marble, inscribed with verses from the Koran, originally built in the 13th C. as a minaret to exclaim the faith of Islam in northern India. The tomb of Mahatma Ghandi, one of the most important political and spiritual figures of the 20th centaury, will also be visited.

AJMER

Moinuddin Chisti

From Delhi the group will travel by train to the medieval town of Ajmer in Rajastan, to the dargah of the great Sufi Master Mu’innnudin Chisti. This is the tomb/shrine of The Qutub-e-Irshad (axis or hub of the spiritual hierarchy) of his time WHO was responsible for bringing Sufism to India in the 12thC. This shrine welcomes all faiths.

DILWARA

Jain Temples

The group will then travel onwards to Mount Abu, once a hill station of the British Raj, beautiful and cool, with an ancient Hindu and Jain history. A road from the town winds upwards, past an ancient Hindu temple set into the natural rock of the Dilwara Jain Temple complex. The Vimal Vashi Temple is the focus here; exquisitely carved from luminescent white marble, it is dedicated to the first Jain Tirthanker or Guide, Ardinath, and a sacred place of worship.

UDAIPUR

Travel to Udaipur by bus for flight to Hyderabad via Mumbai

HYDERABAD

Manonash Cave

From Udaipur, the group will travel to Hyderabad in Andhra Pradesh, an important centre of Hindu and Islamic culture. This is where Meher Baba completed His New Life phase in the Manonash Cave, located in the rock of the surrounding hills. The group will visit this important site and stay in the Meher Baba Centre situated in the Jubilee Hills region. This beautiful and tranquil place is built on the curious rock formations that surround the whole area.

PUNE

Meher Baba’s house

MAHABALESHWAR

Panchgani cave, Shivaji’s Fort, Arthur’s Seat

The journey will continue to Mahabaleshwar, high in the Western Ghats. We will stay for two nights and visit several important places, including the impressive 16th C. Pratapghar Fort of Shivaji which overlooks the town of Satara. This fort, magnificent in its ruins, was where this great spiritual warrior king finally stopped the flow of Islam to the Hindu south. Meher Baba often visited this area with his eastern and western devotees, and Kitty Davy in her book ‘Love Alone Prevails’ remembered ‘It is a beautiful spot. A mass of woods, valleys and hills.’ The pilgrims will also visit the cave, known as the Panchgani Cave, which Meher Baba had constructed for His meditation and seclusion work.

MEHERABAD

the group will proceed to the tomb/shrine of Meher Baba at Meherabad near Ahmednagar and stay at the new Pilgrim Retreat.

ELLORA

Option for overnight stay at Ellora for those who want to visit the Valley of the Saints with transport back to Meherabad the following day. Transport included in the price but Hotel at Ellora and meals are extra.

From here the group will visit Aurangabad and the Ellora Caves, famous for the numerous Hindu, Buddhist and Jain Temples carved from the living rock. The Lonely Planet Guide states that; ‘ India ‘s three great religions and their coexistence at one site indicates a lengthy period of Religious tolerance.. The Masterpiece is the astonishing Kailasa Temple and is the world’s largest monolithic sculpture.’ The group will share a meditation in the Kailash Temple which Meher Baba instructed Don to visit and to film. We will also discover the simple beauty of the Buddhist and Jain caves, particularly Cave 10, Viswakarma, where an enormous statue of the Buddha sits in silent meditation.

As Don Stevens writes of the visit in 2009- ‘The entire Ellora Caves complex has an intense atmosphere of charged presence and one feels that one can pause anywhere at any time and begin any type of observance of one’s personal devotion and search for the Truth.’

Following the day at Ellora, the group will have an option to visit the neighboring Valley of the Saints which contains the tomb of the perfect master Zar Zari Barkash and the cave of Sai Baba, one of the five perfect masters who brought Meher Baba to earth as the Avatar.