Mayapur Yatra 2019

I always wanted to attend the PanchTattwa Abhishek in Mayapur the headquarters of ISKCON.  It was in 2019 that Their Lordships granted me the opportunity for the same.
On 26.2.2019 @ 7.10 AM we a group of 30 devotees started from Ernakulam (ERS) to Chennai by the Dhanbad Express and we reached  Chennai @ 10.30 PM. Our connecting train  The Chennai Howrah Mail was at 11.45 PM.  Our Bf Idli Sambar Chutney cooked by our devotees BINDU and Meena Mathajis arrived early morning at the Ernakulam Junction rly station.  Lunch and Dinner Prasadam by local devotees arrived at the respective stations. Our train journey was made blissful with  Sankirtan,  shastra class etc which attracted other passengers too. Time flew.
On 28.2.2019 at 4.30 AM  we arrived at Howrah. Our Bus from Mayapur was waiting at the railway station. On the way we did a   Stop over  @ Panihatti.  We bathed  in the Ganges where SRI SRI NITYANANDA Prabhu has conducted Panihatti festival in 17 the century AD.  We had a hearty Bf @ ISKCON Panihatti which was arranged  by a devotee from Chennai who we had met in the train.

On our way to Mayapur we visited Raghav Bhavan at Panihatti.  Raghav Pandit and his sister Damayanti Devi used to cook for Mahaprabhu. This is one of the 4 places where Mahaprabhu resides eternally.  Raghav Pandit and Damayanti Devi were Dhanista Gopi and Gunamala Manjari in KRISHNA Lila

We Reached Mayapur by lunch time, Checked into Namahatta building. 7 rooms in Namahatta  plus 2 rooms in Gita Bhavan had been booked for us.  

Kayal and Kumily

 

Our first holiday after almost 2 years of Covid restrictions was to Kayal retreat arranged by our daughter and son in law. Our daughter spoke to Maneesha the owner of this resort and arranged a beautiful holiday  away  from all the maddening crowd of city life .  This 4 cottage retreat in the island of Kakkathuruthu (which literally translates to ‘the island of crows’) on the bank of Vembanad lake is a lovely place to unwind. 

Mr. Shaiju one of the staff was waiting for us on the mainland and he took us across to the resort by traditional row boat which is the only means to reach the island.  There are no vehicles in the island. 

Once in the island we were escorted to the reception area by Mr Srikanth and we were served a refreshing welcome drink  - tender coconut water. We were then led to our cottages. There were five of us and we had  booked 3 of the 4 cottages in the retreat.  The cottages had a traditional touch of its own.  Bath in the roofless open air bathrooms  was indeed an experience in itself. 

We loved every moment of our stay....the walk through the village meeting the simple village folk, canoe cruise through the Kaithappuzha kayal,  star gazing cruise after dinner, the fresh tasty food etc etc...Food was traditional Kerala cuisine which included locally grown veggies, Fresh fish and freshly tapped toddy served according to guests’ requirements. 

For those who would like to take a break from their busy life and travel back in time Kayal Retreat IS the place. 

Our next destination was Spice Village in Kumily.