Babaji’s cave & Kauravchina
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| Babaji's cave |
I halted overnight at Dwarahat while returning to Dehradun. A quick Google search for places of interest revealed that Babaji’s cave was located close by. People who have read the book “Autobiography of a Yogi” by Paramhamsa Yoganada will realise the immense significance of this cave. It is in this cave that the Babaji taught Kriya Yoga to Lahari Mahashay. Since I had read this book many years ago, I decided to visit the cave before heading off to Dehradun.
The tarmac road to Babaji’s cave ends at a place called Kukuchina. Beyond that is a motorable dirt road for another 20 minutes. It takes about 30 minutes of moderate hike from the car to reach the cave. The trek to the cave is signposted. Before reaching the cave there is a building run by YSF (Yagoda Satsang Foundation). Books about Babaji and other spiritual publications are available for sale there. However this building is open only for a few hours each day. The path to the cave was littered with red rhododendron flowers. The hike was beautiful and serene. |
| Inside Babaji's cave |
Babaji’s cave is being looked after by the followers of Babaji and YSF. The cave is small. The floor of the cave has been cemented and levelled. There are mats on the floor for meditation. The cave used to be open at the rear but this has been cemented up. An iron gate has been installed to prevent entry of animals. Inside the cave it’s quite cool. I found a person meditating inside. There was an air of sublime peace about him.
I sat in the cave for a while. When I came out, I decided to walk up beyond the cave. After a short ascent, I sat on a big stone overlooking the valley. Suddenly, another person appeared there. He too was surprised to see me there. He told me that there was a temple up the mountain and that he was going there. I decided to go along with him as I realised that I won’t have another chance to visit this hilltop temple. There is another route to the temple but this path is used only by the locals.
The temple on top of the mountain is called Pandav Kholi. From Babaji’s cave it’s a 45 minute trek to Pandav Kholi. It is believed that the Pandavas (from Mahabharatam) stayed here for a year when they were in exile. There are 5 stones to represent the Pandavas. In stark contrast rest of the mountain there is a large area beside the temple where trees do not grow. It is said that only grass grows on that patch of land because Bheeman used to put his Gadha (club) there. Remember the place where the tarmac road ends-Kukuchina. It is a corruption of the word ‘’Karuav China’ meaning Kaurava’s garrison. The story goes that the Kaurava army had reached Kauravchina (now called Kukuchina) and camped there but they could not locate the Pandavas who were hiding in Pandav Kholi.
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| Pandav Kholi |
In the 1950’s another revered saint arrived here. Sri Sri Balwant Giri Maharaj lived here until his death in 1994. The room that he used to stay in has been maintained in the same condition. The main guru of Pandav Kholi is Sri Krishna Swamy from Rameshwaram. But he doesn’t live here permanently. The temple seems to be well funded and there are a lot of new buildings. During my visit, the temple complex was deserted. The caretaker was the only person around. He offered to make me some herbal tea. While sipping tea in the temple kitchen with the caretaker and another visitor came in. This former MIG fighter pilot was a regular visitor to Babaji’s cave and Kauravchina since the early 90’s. Since he had never been through the route I came up, we decided to hike down through the same trail. We knew that it would be a challenge since the route through the forest was not sign-posted.
Kukuchina turned out to be a wonderful tranquil place. Since I had time on my hands, I decided to put off my trip to Dehradun and stay with Joshiji for a day. The rooms have basic amenities and backup solar power. There is even a meditation room in Joshiji’s accommodation. All the people staying at Joshiji’s are pilgrims who have come to visit the cave. It’s a nice fraternity of like-minded people. A large number of devotees staying here were from Tamil Nadu. Some had come for offering prayers at Guru Purnima. Others stay for longer periods of time- up to a month. At night the wind picked up. It started raining and soon the entire place was covered with hail stones.
Everyone at Joshiji’s were ardent believers of Babaji and/or Lahari Mahashay. Everyone had their own personal story about Babaji. My new-found friend had started coming here in the 1990’s when there were very few travellers. Those days the path to Babaji’s cave was not signposted. To make matters worse he had journeyed here in the winter months. Shepherds and strangers guided him through the snow towards the cave. He managed to visit the cave and come back before sun down. Devotion had triumphed over logic and adversity. He has been coming here ever since. He had spent 3 days in Kukuchina and departed the next morning. 
The next day I decided to go to the cave once more before setting off to Dehradun. I offered a lift to another devotee who was staying at Joshiji’s. This devotee (an engineer in his early thirties) had unconditional faith in Babaji. He considered Babaji as the ultimate yogi. Unlike most, he was not a member of YSF and did not practice Kriya Yoga. He practiced some other form of mediation. He too had a personal story with Babaji. A few years ago he suffered a mental breakdown after a personal tragedy. He was hospitalised for a long period of time as he was mentally and physically ill. He had heard about Babaji but was not yet a devotee. Then he had a vision of Babaji. Soon his health was restored and life became ‘normal’. The cave was empty when we arrived there. He sat in the lotus posture and began meditating serenely. After a short while he suddenly started shaking violently. I could see that he was in a trance. His movements were in-voluntary. His whole body would shake and move/rotate while he sat with his eyes closed in the lotus posture. He would then become like a Buddha again; silent and serene. I watched him go through this cycle a few times. It was time for me to leave.
There are many who have experienced the vision and blessing of Babaji inside this cave. Even on the second visit to the cave I did not experience any spiritual vision or divine intervention. People plan for months to get to this remote corner of Uttaranchal. All were pleasantly surprised that my visit to the cave was a total coincidence. There is no such thing as ‘coincidence’ with Babaji, they assured me. Only the people "He” calls are allowed to visit the cave. Since I don’t have any connection with Babaji in this life, I would have been associated with Babaji in my previous lives. I’m mysterious or what!!
Patal Bhuvaneshwar
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A wonderful experience that has been captured in beautiful words.
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