Visiting Sai Baba at Kodaikanal
Kodaikanal is a former Christian Mission Station transformed to a famous hilltop resort that usually has rain ten months of the year. This is called off-season. Season is generally April-June, and that's when most tourists visit. Kodaikanal is a lovely place, free of dust and mosquitos, and has plenty of tourists attractions, like the restaurant called Buddha's Belly!
Here we will give you an overview of visiting Sai Baba, and some important information to get you well prepared!
Generally, Sai Baba can be found at the Puttaparthi Ashram. This is in
South India, approximately three hours drive from Bangalore.
During
the hot summer months in Puttaparthi, (Rayalseema area is one of the driest
areas of South India) Sai Baba generally travels from Puttaparthi for
Bangalore, where there is an ashram located T Whitefield, some 27 kilometres
out of the city of Bangalore.
Occasionally, Sai Baba visits a small
ashram called Sai Sruthi, located in the hill resort town of
Kodaikanal, which is quite further south of Bangalore in the adjoining state of
Tamil Nadu.
Travelling to Kodai
The only direct way into Kodaikanal is by road. Kodaikanal is connected by
road with Chennai (520-km), Ooty (264-km), Trichy (197-km), Coimbatore
(175-km), Kumili (160-km), and Madurai(120-km). Additional buses ply during the
season. Taxis and vans are available for local transportation. There are no
auto-rickshaws in Kodaikanal, and taxi fares are set by local authority. All
must pay to enter the National Park entrance, some kilometres out of
Kodaikanal.
It is a hilltop town, and the roads narrow and
winding. Those travelling for the first time, best not look down when looking
out the window!!!
Darshan at Kodaikanal, 2005
Planes fly to Madurai and Coimbatore. Then a two hour taxi journey.
Taking letters, Kodaikanal, 2005
By Rail ...
The nearest railway stations are the Kodai Road Railway Station (80-km)
and the Palani Railway Station (64-km).
Luxury Buses
ply between Bangalore Majestic and Kodaikanal. Bus travel takes
approximately 12 hours.
Taxis from Whitefield to
Kodai will cost between Rs 6000-8000 and you would be advised to share a taxi
if you do this. Travel time to Kodaikanal would be approximately 10 hours.
It is never known in advance if Sathya Sai Baba will visit Kodaikanal in any
year. Kodai is cool at night, oft times raining overnight, and generally mild,
up to 23 degrees in the daytime. Fog, clouds and rain can be expected on any
day at anytime.
Darshan of Sathya Sai Baba, Kodaikanal, 2005
IF Sathya Sai Baba visits Kodaikanal, then the
following are suggested:
umbrella, thin light jumper, thin winter
clothes as you would wear in a sub-tropical winter, thin plastic macintosh like
that you can get in Woolworths or Kmart for $5 to have in case of rain.
Kodaikanal is flat where Swami's house is, there is one driveway to
walk up (steep), then flat sitting area for darshan. If you were to stay in
town at the Hilltop Hotel, Carlton Hotel or around the corner from Swami's
place at the Sterling Hotel, then it is largely flat walking to Swami's
darshan. The remainder of Kodaikanal is hills, hills, hills and
incredibly narrow roads. A taxi to darshan is the usual practice if
staying in one of these other Hotels.
There are Western Hotels at Kodaikanal with charges somewhat similar to Hotels
here in western countries. The top two are the Carleton and Sterling, standard
Hilton Hotel type accommodation. Hilltop is very good and somewhat
less, approx 750-1000 rupees per night.
There are many other hotels and guesthouses available in Kodaikanal. Many
devotees group together and hire a guesthouse. Here is one suggestion:
Lilly's Valley Resort on Sivanadi Road (ph. 04542-240558). Lilys Valley Website There's a
wonderful kitchen that can cater to Western taste buds. We have our own water
source (spring) that trickles (or flows depending on the season) into a holding
tank and that's the water that's pumped to the kitchen and rooms. We drink that
water boiled. Here is a comment from the owners of this resort:
In the days that Swami used to come every year for weeks, our hotel felt like
an ashram filled with devotees in satsang and singing bhajans and sharing taxis
to and from darshan (it's about a 8 min ride to darshan). Swami has taken two
different letters from me requesting that He personally visit Lilly's Valley
and although He hasn't physically as of yet, He surely visits. We had a singing
group formed in 1997 of devotees staying in Lilly's Valley and He allowed us to
sing on May 4th in the afternoon. Lilly's Valley is an enclosed, three acre
land which feels like a garden or park.
Darshan is in the mornings; you can walk from the township, around the lake
to the darshan queue, which is on Lake Road itself. Men line up on the footpath
adjacent to the lake, Ladies line up on the other side of the gate, on the
grassy side of the road. Ladies often sit in chairs by the roadside. Of late,
seva dal have stalls either side of the gate, and as you pass, you put your
shoes in and receive a chit.
There are only 4 lines each side at Kodai, and numbers are in fact given out.
Men on cycles or young boys with hot c canteens walk up and down the lines
selling small plastic cups of tea. You can expect to stand in line up to about
8AM or thereabouts when the gates are opened and the lines called in. Lines
generally begin to be formed around 6AM, and there is either silence of jollity
in the lines ...
Like Puttaparthi and Brindavan, there is a small security check as you pass
the gate; therafter, it is a dash or a sedate walk up the STEEP driveway, to
the darshan shelters. Men to the left of the front of the house, ladies to the
right, guests along the far right wall. Men must pass in front of the ladies to
reacch their allocated darshan area.
There are chairs for those
who need. Darahan is a small affair under a simple canopy, and ladies also sit
in an island in front of the garden.
Unlike Puttaparthi or Whitefield, all remain inside the compound, seated for darshan until its full completion. If individuals or groups are called for interview, all remain seated. By this time, pullovers, shawls and all the extra coverings are removed as the sun is out and quite warm. When Interviews are complete, Baba emerges, and goes inside the main building; thereafter, darshan is over. Sometimes prasad is distributed during darshan.
After morning darshan, Swami sometimes goes for a drive around Kodaikanal and environs; perhaps a leisurely drive, perhaps a visit to an orphange, or to a home, or to another venerable place. Sometimes, to a picnic! In past years, one would see a procession of cars leaving Sai Sruthi perhaps half an hour or an hour after darshan, with Swami's car in the middle.
Afternoon Darshan commences with lines at approximately 2.30 or 3PM. As before, all line up around Lake Road. There is a small bhajan mandir on the top and right as you reach the top of the STEEP drive; if you see people going in, follow, for often there are spiritual talks, sometimes a divine discourse, or bhajans in that small mandir. For Afternoon Darshan, Swami may walk along the verandah of the residence, even if it is raining. From time to time, Swami has delivered divine discourses from the Verandah of the residence, to those outside.
General Information - Kodaikanal
STD Code : 04542Population
2,133 metres.
Altitude
2,133 metres.
Location
120 Km From Madurai, Tamil Nadu.
Usual time of Bhagavan's visits:
Late March - Early May