42 kishores and kishoris from the UK departed from London on the morning of 7 July 2010 for an enlightening six-week programme in India. The group arrived in Mumbai at 11pm local time where they performed abhishek at Mumbai Mandir, and engaged in a question and answer session with Sadguru Kothari Swami.
One of India’s well renowned historical sites – the Ajanta caves, were scheduled for the following day before a mandir yatra and then an early morning flight from Atladra to Delhi on 12 July for their first darshan of Pramukh Swami Maharaj. On Tuesday 13 July, the participants were fortunate to be able to participate in the garbha-gruh opening of Delhi Akshardham.
During their stay in Delhi, the kishores and kishoris enjoyed the darshan of Swamishri. Swamishri interacted with kishores and provided memorable smruti and offered his personal blessings. Other highlights included unique darshan of Swamishri using the Delhi metro for the first time and darshan of Swamishri performing abhishek to Nilkanth Varni.
Sessions with senior sadhus were also scheduled. Ishwarcharan Swami, Anandswarup Swami, Munivatsal Swami and Shrijiswarup Swami gave an insight into a variety of topics related to concepts of Satsang and Hinduism. On 19 July, the group departed from Delhi and visited mandirs en-route to Bochasan where they celebrated the festival of Guru Purnima with Swamishri on 25 July.
The shibir, ‘Brahmavidyani College’, began in Sarangpur on 26 July and finished on 6 August. The sessions were thought provoking and were presented by learned sadhus including Anandswarup Swami, Gnaneshwar Swami, Narayanmuni Swami, Aksharcharan Swami, Brahmadarshan Swami, Bhadresh Swami and Atmatrupt Swami.
The group then enjoyed the eagerly anticipated Sat-Chit-Anand water show in Gandhinagar. A three-day trip to Chhapaiya followed with a guide who explained the significance of each area. The group drove back to Lucknow, stopping at the River Saryu for dhun, before returning to Delhi.
Indian Independence Day was spent at Delhi Akshardham browsing through the exhibitions, boat ride and Mystic India. The group departed on 16 August to return to London. The trip proved to be inspiring, educative and enjoyable.