by Rachna Chopra
As the story goes, when the childless King of Madurai, King Pandya, was performing a fire ritual, a three-year old girl appeared from the sacrificial fire. The girl was pretty, but had three breasts. This worried the King. However, a divine voice assured the king that it would vanish as soon as the girl meets her consort. The girl grew into a bold and beautiful princess, and no sooner did she sight Shiva on the battle-field of Mount Kailas, that her third breast disappeared! The princess was none other than goddess Parvati, and after the couple wed and ruled long over the Pandya Kingdom, they settled in Madurai.
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by Valerie Brooks
There are few places more appealing to a traveler with spiritual interests than Northern New Mexico, particularly Santa Fe. The state’s capital, named “The City Different,” literally means The “Saint of Faith” or “Holy Faith.” This southwestern gem is a haven for artists, healers and progressive thinkers. A wealth of spiritual resources and places for exploration permeate this small exciting city.

Places to expand your spiritual mind in Santa Fe abound. One place most people can’t wait to explore is the Loretto Chapel. Legend has it that this structure was being built in 1873 when the nuns ran out of money and couldn’t afford to complete its creation. So, they prayed about it when suddenly a carpenter appeared, finished its construction, and then disappeared without accepting payment. The miracle is that he erected a huge spiral staircase made only with wooden pegs. Modern architects were and still are dumbfounded as to how this staircase remains intact. It is named “The Miraculous Stairway.”
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For acquiring knowledge one worships goddess Saraswati, to acquire detachment, one pleases Shiva, and for inviting lila into ones life, one chases the master dream weaver Krishna! Lord Krishna, the blue skinned Hindu deity, threw me an invitation in a dream, and true to Krishna’s reputation, his manner of inviting me was wrought in intrigue. A spell was cast, an illusion weaved, and I found myself by the sweet trick of destiny on the road to Mathura. The ancient city, once the center of power under the rule of Emperor Ashoka, flattened by Aurangzeb and re-erected by Hindu faith, has also been a key Buddhist center finding mention in the writings of the Chinese traveler Hyuen Tsang. But for me, it just meant the little town on the banks of sacred river Yamuna, where Krishna was born 5000 years ago.
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by Rachna Chopra
Call it Arunachala, the beacon of Shiva, or pillar of light – Raman Maharishi has declared the hill to be the spiritual center of the world. Adi Sankara called it Mount Meru and Vedic texts describe it as “The Supreme Being abiding on earth in the form of Arunachala.”

It was with a sense of incompletion that I boarded a bus from Bangalore towards Tiruvannamalai (Tamil name for the Sanskrit Arunachala, the Red Mountain). As I neared the small village, I saw a lone hill standing amidst barren uncultivated plain stretch of land –- the mountain that is considered the deity of this small village. Securing a room in the Swamiangal Ashram (of the late Saint who scared away flies off young Ramana so that he could contemplate unhindered) I walked towards Maharishi’s ashram. The spirit of Ramana and the eternal quest of “Who Am I” is palpable with a single step inside the ashram premise. The meditation hall is resplendent with the Maharishi’s presence who lived here for 20 years of his life, but its stillness can be withstood only by a strong mind. The scent of this Saint of Arunachala permeates the entire town of Tiruvannamalai (one amongst the five holiest towns of Tamil Nadu and synonymous with the fifth element of fire).
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by Rachna Chopra
Initiation happens in many a mysterious way. Sometimes through touch, sometimes through gaze, sometimes through word, and did you know, sometimes through rain? Yes, when a sudden shower of rain takes you by surprise, and drenches your spirit in inexplicable bliss, know that you have been initiated by the power of a spirit higher than yours. How fast this distance was covered from bondage to freedom, you fail to fathom. But then isn’t freedom about not caring how the prison bar clicked open, and how you were set free?
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by Rachna Chopra
You know you are in the land of the Rishis, when the Himalayas make a sudden appearance, and as you breathe in, you sense you are breathing in freedom. Just in remembering Rishikesh, it’s like I’m already there! In merely describing the experience, my mind encroaches on that space where it ceases to be. Strife gives way to rest, and effort gives in to the caress of the calming breeze that has just been touched by the Ganges. Its coolness assures us that we have arrived, and need no longer strive for the place called home.

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