Karad 2: Reunion With The African Baba; Trip To Caves Near The City

 ...Then he arrived. 

Since it had been almost a month since I had last seen him in Tamil Nadu, I really didn't know what to expect when meeting him again. I was therefore somewhat surprised by my own reaction: great joy! The vibrant energy of the swami, his winning smile, his warm and welcoming demeanor... I felt like I was greeting a long-lost, dear friend. It was, in short, quite WONDERFUL to see him again!

We set out on an excursion to see ancient, buddhist caves, where yogis lived and meditated many centuries before. It was great to be out in the country again and seeing this historical place with Swamiji. 

In addition to the caves themselves, we visited a very old swami living by himself in a house above the caves. He had to be an octogenerian, and it was amazing that he could live in such an isolated way. But... I suppose an old monk would simply accept his fate when it was his time to go, if he were to be stricken with a serious ailment. Also, he must have had to travel to the nearest village for supplies, and maybe some were brought to him... so surely there were those making sure he was still alive?

All in all, it was an amazing day. Swamiji and I explored many of the caves (he told me there were 108 in all!) , meditated there, then headed back to the city, where we caught a rickshaw that would take us up the mountain to his "cave ashram." More about that in the next post!

Swamiji and I, in front of the first cave... as you can see, they were made to look almost like houses, cut into the mountain side. The had proper doors (the wooden frames were surely added to the original structures much later), "beds" and places to sit inside, and so forth. The catch?! Everything was made from the stone of the mountain!!!



Swamiji, making his way up the stone stairway to the caves... 


Steps led up to the caves from the valley below...it was QUITE a steep climb to get up there! And then, more stone stairs to follow to get to the different groups of caves. 


Although there were similarities between them, each separate cave had its own unique style and structure. 


Hard to make out in the photo, but I was holding a handful of very beautiful, rare blossoms from a tree near the caves...


Swamiji relaxes on a "seat" just outside one of the caves... 


One wonders at the immense amount of labor that had to have gone into carving out the caves, creating doors and windows, etc....monumental, indeed!

Inside the main Buddhist cave: I forget what this sculpture symbolizes in Buddhism, but it was huge, and most impressive, when you consider it was carved all from one solid piece of stone!!!



There was a great view looking down into the valley below....




Following the trail around to the next series of caves...

Visiting the abode of the very old swami...


I do not recall his name... the two monks had a nice chat, all in a language I could not understand, of course... (Marathi, the state language)...

After our enriching visit, heading back down the stairs again...beautiful that day, but very exposed and pretty hot!




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