Pilgrim Sacred India - Bhakti Yoga

SACRED PILGRIM INDIA 2023

Dates 22-31 October 2023 

New Delhi - Rishikesh - Vrindavan

visit @ohmat on Instagram, for more videos about our latest pilgrim in India

Hello dear friends! 

We would like to reach out to you and invite you on a short spiritual adventure, let's call it a retreat trip to the holy places of India, which has been called pilgrimage since time immemorial. In the ancient Sanskrit language, pilgrimage is translated as Yatra. So at the end of October we are going to create our little Yatra.

We are sincerely sure that such attempts by a person to rise above his material nature is the best thing in life and our simple duty is to find time for this.

For us, any person who wants to travel with us is special, because any person who follows his heart is a very special blessed person with great spiritual experience from the past. Therefore, we consider it our good fortune to serve people on this journey  and show the path that many great seekers of truth have passed before.

Please read until the end and if you have any inspiration, then just send us a message and ask if you want to know more about it. We will gladly and positively answer your questions. There are already 6 people in our group, we hope to take another 5-10 people on the trip.

Did you know that despite numerous attempts for more than a thousand years by the Islamic world, the English Empire, and now the culture of Western materialism to destroy their culture, religion, traditions and the inner world of people, India has retained much of what they wanted to take away from them. These are various spiritual practices, a lot of faith and devotion, the ancient  Vedic scriptures, Ayurvedic medicine, Jyotish astrology, music, temples, traditions, relationship culture and the list is much longer. 

Every sensitive person who comes to India knows this feeling, when you arrive at the Indira Gandhi Delhi Airport, there is an amazing feeling, as if most of the burden has fallen off our shoulders, there is a certain freedom. And it doesn't go anywhere, despite the noise of rickshaws, people and a lot of oddities.

However, a tourist trip is different from a pilgrimage, so despite the fact that India has this loud and colorful property, we will try to find those places and people who are not only culturally impressive, but also can touch our heart and even maybe change it.

Most likely, if you decide to make a pilgrimage with us, you already have some idea about India and its spiritual teachings. Since we wanted to consider ourselves followers of the ancient teachings of the Vaishnavas, following in the footsteps of our spiritual teachers, always before going on a pilgrimage, we pray that our mood would be humble, that our pride would not prevent us from seeing and feeling on a spiritual journey through holy places.  The method  of bhakti is a practice that works with consciousness, elevating it through the development of humility before God,  chanting  of the Hare Krishna mantra. And bhakti yoga is a practice that gradually allows you to comprehend the beauty of God.

The basis of this practice is listening (Sravanam) and repetition ( Kirtanam). Therefore, we will meet together every day to set our consciousness for each new day of pilgrimage. We will discuss themes from the scriptures (satsanga) and try to understand the meaning of how the teachers of the past brought this ocean of wisdom to us. And we will also chant this mantra while visiting different ashrams and temples.

The final goal of our journey is always the place dear to our hearts Vrindavan, the most sacred place where Krishna, the soul of all souls, came and spent his time with his loved ones. This time we  visit two places Rishikiesh and Vrindavan. In order to prepare for the trip to Vrindavan, we decided to first visit Rishikesh, the capital of yoga, the entrance to the Himalayas, a place of yoga and meditation. Very powerful  place on the bank of holy river Ganges.

   

Teachers

In this pilgrimage you will be accompanied and assisted by us - Liladhar and Debbie. We will introduce ourselves. Although of course many of you already know us.

Liladhar

  I am very glad to all of you. My friends and well wishers. With an open heart I invite you to pilgrimage. If you are reading this, then maybe soon we will spend some time together. I can't wait to meet you and share with you the glory of the most amazing place in the world.

Here are a few words about me. I was lucky guy and lived and traveled with my teachers, senior monks, from whom I learned a lot of wisdom, knowledge and calture,  and now I can and want to share it  with others.   The last 20 years have been a regular practice of pilgrimage to India for me . Sometimes there were 90 people in our groups and that's great ofcourse,  a lot of fun as well, it's given me a lot of experience, but I prefer smaller groups.  We think 15-20 people max in order to maintain a more comfortable atmosphere.

I have been studying and practicing Bhakti yoga  since 2002. In 2006 I was initiated into the Bhakti tradition. So for  12 years I was a young monk (Brahmacharya). Was living in southern and northern India, studying the scriptures, practicing prayers and chanting mantras, meditation and features of religion and culture. After that I moved to Europe to Amsterdam and met my wonderful wife Debbie who is beautiful being, with big devotional heart, she is my helper and friend, family protector and wonderful mother. We have a five years old daughter Jeya. And a few years ago we moved to Portugal Algarve to a  quiet place in the south. We practice meditation and prayer together, raise a child and work together.  

Debbie

 I started yoga journey 15 years ago and since 10 years also a yoga teacher, teaching in Bali, Amsterdam and Portugal.

I organized and hold several yoga retreats guiding mostly women on their search for yoga lifestyle. 

When we met 7 years ago, my heart was also touched by the teaching of Bhakti . Now we live family life together, work and practice spiritual life together. I think this is the most amazing thing that has happened to me. I have always been attracted to the idea of God and have always prayed to him. The Christian church itself was not very attractive to me, unfortunately, so the teachings of Bhagavad Gita  became a refuge for me and my heart.   

After our last trip in 2022 to northern India, to  Vrindavan, we received many letters with wishes to travel with us. Thus, we realized that this was a sign and decided that in October 2023 we will make a pilgrimage.

                

Locations

This will be a 10 day trip. October 22-31.  In which we promise you care and support throughout the whole journey. We have planned our journey in such a way that you are comfortable and at the same time that you can experience a spiritual adventure that is always unpredictable. 

We are arriving in  Delhi, visit a large ISKCON temple complex in the center of Delhi, will go in nice vegetarian restaurant , spend the night in the guesthouse at the temple  and in the morning we will go to Rishikesh. We stay there 4 days.

Rishikesh

Rishikesh is a very auspicious and purifying place! And it’s also very beautiful. This is a rare place where three rivers merge together. It is called Triveni when the river Ganges, Yamuna and Saraswati merge together. The weather in October there is just wonderful. So we can breathe enough prana and beauty. There is a lot of prana(energy) and you can feel the vibrations of the ancient world, great yogis and sages of the past have been here, but this place is not the goal of our first pilgrimage. Our destination is Haridwar!

Rishikesh has been called the gateway to the Himalayas, but in fact, Haridwar is the gate and  a very sacred place for all pilgrims.  Its another one hour auto rickshaw ride from Rishikesh. We will make a trip there to take a bath in the Ganges River, offer puja to the river Ganges,  a light  of the lamp, flower and pay respect to this one of the most sacred places on earth, which is known for washing away any sins of the one who takes bath in it.

Haridwar is the gate (dvar) to God (Hari) - to the sacred Himalayas. Here the river Ganga flows down from the mountains into the valley. Haridwar is one of the seven major holy cities of India (the other six are Ayodhya, Mathura, Varanasi, Kanchipuram, Ujjain, Dvaraka). Haridwar is one of the four cities where the main religious festival of India, Kumbh Mela, is held (the other three are Allahabad, Nasik and Ujjain). At this time, millions of pilgrims from all over India arrive in Haridwar. Of course when we get there it will be pretty quiet.

In Rishikesh we will go rafting, hike to waterfalls, do yoga and swim in the clear Ganges water on the silvery bank.

We'll take a road trip up to the mountains  to the Shiva temple, Nilakantha mahadev.  One of the most revered sacred temples of Lord Shiva. This is the place where Shiva drank the ocean of poison. The temple is located at an altitude of 1330 meters. It is surrounded by dense forests of the Nar Narayana mountain ranges and the valleys of Brahmakot, Manikot and Vishnukot and is located at the confluence of two rivers - Madhumati and Pankaja. The road will take about an hour one way, or you can go trekking through the jungle, in which case the journey will take about 3 hours one way.  We are also fortunate that at the same time we are there, our dear friend, amazing devotee, kirtania Madhava will be in Rishekesh holding evening kirtans, which of course we will attend. You can read about him in the link bellow.

Vrindavan

On the morning of the sixth day of our pilgrimage, we will leave for Vrindavan, the final destination of our little adventure. sacred ancient city of Vrindavan, also known as the city of 5000 temples. This is a place where since ancient times pilgrims come from all over India, and now from all over the world. Already from early morning 4-5 am, you can hear the ringing of bells and sadhus rushing to the first early service (Arati) in the temples. This is the place where Krishna, the original truth and personified love, as described by the sacred scriptures and teachers of the past - one of the incarnations of God on earth, was born and lived many thousands of years ago. For 4 days we will try with you to immerse yourself in the atmosphere of this truly transcendent place. We will visit temples, sing kirtans, discuss spiritual philosophy, do shopping at local markets, making photos, share impressions with each other, eat, laugh and reflect deeply.

                

Day to Day Highlights (aprox) : 

22 Oct :  Arrival in New Delhi, Liladhar will be waiting upon arrival to guide everybody to our first stay, a proper guesthouse connected to one of the largest temples of New Delhi. 

23 Oct :  Early morning bus to Rishikesh. Takes 6hours with Bus.

24 -25 -26  Oct : Rishikesh - Haridvar - Shiva Temple Himalaya

27 Oct :  Bus ride to Vrindavan, 6 hours bus & 2,5 our taxi. We leave early morning. 

28 - 29 - 30 Oct : Exploring Vrindavan, early morning arati, offering lights, visiting main temples, holy Yamuna river, Go (cow) shala, parikrama walk around Vrindavan, etc etc. 

31 Oct :  Last morning in Vrindavan as a group. 

*Daily we have sadhu sangha (spiritual talks), and if program allows also daily yoga asana.

** Daily we share 3 meals, morning breakfast, lunch and dinner. 

 

Accommodation

It will not surprise you but this is not a fancy Yoga resort retreat. We will be staying in average India Guesthouses / Yogi ashram that have wooden bed frames & firm mattresses. This is how they do it in India. In Ayurveda this is the promoted way for supporting the body for rest. A month before we fly all out, we will confirm the places where we will stay, cause by then we know how big the group is for the pilgrim. We have many contacts and friends living in India that can help us finding the best places in town for our Indian way of comfort at night. 

In New Delhi we stay in ISKCON Guesthouse 

In Rishikesh we stay in Yogi Ashram Ved Niketan & Meditation School 

In Vrindavan we stay in MVT Guesthouse 

Food 

Since we stay in guesthouses food is not included. That why we cant cover the cost in our package price. But we have set timing for food in our program, so we eat together 3 meals a day.  We will select the best Vegetarian restaurants for us to visit as a group. You can already have a good meal for aprox 10eur per meal. But this is up to your budget, can be more or less.. Sometimes we will visit a street-food place that we personally know  (and never got sick from) and sometimes a restaurant. To vary the experience of it all.

In New Delhi we will take you out for fine dining vegetarian cuisine in New Delhi. This date is on us! 

        

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Price

1299€ based on shared accommodation 

1499€ based on single accommodation 

We ask you to confirm your spot with a 250€ non-refundable deposit. Balance must be paid in full 30 days before the pilgrim (September 20th). If due to COVID-19 the retreat is cancelled, the full deposit along with any other payments will be FULLY refunded. 

If you prefer paying in instalments then please reach out to us. 

All guests are welcomed. If you wish to bring your child, please consult us for advice first.  Kids pay half price. 

Cancelation policy below. 

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Include

9 nights Indian guesthouse accommodation

Welcome drinks and food in New Delhi

1 fine dining vegetarian cuisine in New Delhi

Yoga asana classes

Daily Sadhu Sangha / sharing bhakti wisdom

Daily sharing history and traditions about India

Transport (riksja) to temples and activities

Taxi Transport from Delhi to Vrindavan

Exclude

Your Return Flight, book instantly to keep price low, and ask us for flight info

Food 

Transfer to airport to fly home

Travel Insurances, optional vaccination, covid-19 regulations if there are. 

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More details before you pack 

• Pack your Open Heart & Mind

• This is a Women & Men Pilgrim

• Notebook & pen

• Bring comfort clothing, covering shoulders and knees for in temples (skirts, scarfs etc you can buy a lot in India too) Make sure to bring clothing that is ok to get dirty or messy. Flip flops, birkenstock, croqs or comfy shoes that are easy to take off going in and out the temple. 

• Don't forget Beach wear, sun screen 

• Mosquito repellent (also available in India)

• Arrange ur Travel insurance 

• Your personal travel necessary

• Make sure to update yourself with your local Travel info to India (COVID 19)

• There is always a laundry place to find to wash clothing if needed. 

• Visa or Credit Card that is to be used world-wide in any atm.

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Cancelation Policy

The cancellation policy below will apply for all cancellation scenarios, with no exceptions. This cancellation policy has been designed to be as compassionate as possible in the case that plans change, whilst also understanding our commitment to and cancellation policies with our vendors prior to organise the pilgrim.

All cancellations must be submitted in writing to us, info@ohmat.nl.

Delays & other unforseen circustances. 

There will be no refunds nor discounts for arriving late, leaving early, flight cancellations, travel delays or illness. For additional protection due to any unforseen circumstances, it is highly recommend that all participants purchase travel insurance at the time of booking the retreat.

Travel insurance.

Travel insurance can protect participants against participant cancellation, lost or delayed baggage, medical expenses and the cost of repatriation should the participant become ill or injured. It is strongly recommended that all participants purchase travel insurance, including a 'cancel for any reason' option in order to protect them against the rare chance of cancellation. 

We apply the following cancellation policy applies

- For cancellations made more than 90 days prior to the retreat start date, and greater than 14 days after the official booking date, any payments made will be refunded minus the non-refundable deposit (minus any payment online card handling fees).

- For cancellations made 60 days or less, prior to the retreat start date, 70% of your payment will not be refunded, as we have made non-refundable costs for the organisation of the pilgrim.

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How to sign up? 

You can sent us simply your email with your wishes to join! 

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CONTACT US

We will join the Kirtan Mela in Rishikesh where Madhava Naidoo will be part of.

 MADHAVA KIRTAN : @madhavanaidoo