Baba Neem Karori Maharaj Ji

When we talk about followers of Baba Neem Karri then we have a long list in which have some names like Mark Zuckerberg, Steve Jobs, Julia Roberts, Larry Page, Richard Alpert and Daniel Goleman, you are bound to raise some real curiosity. It is a small ashram now called Kainchi Dham, Baba Neem Karoli Ashram near Nainital on Haldwani- Alora road, which attracts many people visiting to this place where famous Baba Neem Karoli spent decade of his life. This is the most well-known and famous Ashram of Baba Neem Karoli, followed by some of the biggest entrepreneurs in the world.

My Visit To Baba Neem Karoli Ashram, Kainchi Dham

The above history raised a keen to visit this place and finally I decided to visit this place. It was holly day for me i.e. 18 January 2020 when I started my journey from Gurgaon to Kainchi Dham Ashram. In this way I added to myself in above list of famous names.

Some experiences that I feel in this journey can’t be described in words, one of them is experience of visiting Baba Neem Karoli Ashram Kainchi Dham, Nainital. 

My Journey to Baba Neem Karoli Ashram Kainchi Dham

I started my journey from Gurgaon which falls into Delhi NCR near the Delhi airport. We started our journey around 1:15 AM from Iffco Chowk, Gurgaon by double decor bus which runs between Jaipur to Kathgodam. I was travelling on Friday night.

We had a stop at Shiva Tourist Dhaba, Babugarh, Hapur take a short brake in this journey. It was very cold and I took tea at this dhaba. This was good place where tourist can refresh and also can take some good food.

Internal view of double decor bus

How to reach Kainchi Dham Ashram

There are three ways to reach Kainchi Dham Ashram.

• By flight reach to Pant nagar airport that is 70 km from Kainchi Dham Ashram and hire a taxi from Pant nagar airport to Ashram.
• By train, there are more than tree trains from Delhi to Kathgodam, which we can catch from New Delhi.
• By bus, we can take bus service from Gurgaon or New Delhi to Kathgodam.

And after reaching Kathgodam We can take bus services which are going from Haldwani to Almora or we can hire a taxi for Kainchi Dham Ashram its distance around 37 KM.

Where to stay in Kainchi Dham Ashram

Earlier it was very difficult to stay near Kainchi Dham Ashram due to lack of room facility but now days these facility are available near the Kainchi Dham Ashram. So we can book online also or we can book after reaching there. But keep in mind that when we are going in summer season then it would be good book room online because due to crowd sometimes have problem in getting rooms. I am giving here some names where we can stay in our journey.

• Sampurnanand Homestay: You can contact on given number.

 

• Hotel Sudha Amar Retreat

•    Nirmal home stay 

    There are many more home stay and OYO rooms opti0ns are available outside the Ashram.

What to eat in Kainchi Ashram

For the eating purpose there are not available much more options but we can take some normal food that is available in dhaba near the ashram. But if you want luxury facility then you will have to stay in Bhowali hotels that are before 8 km from ashram. Tea, coffee,cold drink, neebu-paani, poori-sabji etc are available outside the ashram.

Schedules for darshan in Neem Karoli Baba Ashram

All the schedules of Kainchi Dham Neem Karoli Baba Ashram are given in above. Some points that you need when visit to ashram.

• For the shoes there are shoes stand outside the ashram.
• If you have some luggage then you will have to keep that outside on shops from where you will take prasad.
• Outside the ashram there is also available washroom where you can fresh.
• Photography is prohibited in ashram.
• Keep silent in the ashram.

About Kainchi Dham

Kainchi Dham is situated at an altitude of (1400 MT) On the Nainital – Almora Road, at a distance of 9 Km from Bhowali and 17 Kms from Nainital is a modern pilgrim center. It has achieved recognition owing to the ashram of the famous Baba Shri Neem Karoli Maharajji.

A lot of people visit the ashram every day. Each year on 15th June organised a huge Bhandara in which more than one lakh (1,00,000) people are fed.

The Ashram and temple are founded by the famous Baba Shri Neem Karoli MaharajJi in 1962 and it is very well maintained and kept neat and clean.

The idea of this place came into existence in 1942 when Baba Shri Neem Karoli MaharajJi along with Shri Poornanand of the Kainchi village proposed building an Ashram here dedicated to Sombari Maharaj and Sadhu Premi Baba who used to perform yagnas in this very place. Later in 1962, their dream materialized and the forest from this area was cleared and a rectangular platform was constructed. After due permission from the Forest Conservator, Maharaj Ji acquired the lease of this land and constructed a Temple devoted to Lord Shri Hanuman Ji over that rectangular platform and adjacent to it is the Kainchi Temple and an Ashram built for devotees.

The Lord Shri Hanuman Ji temple is built over the platform mentioned above. His devotees started coming from different places and a chain of bhandaras, kirtans, bhajans started. The Pran-Pratishtha of idols of Lord Shri Hanuman Ji and others was performed on 15th June in different years. Thus, 15th June is celebrated every year as Pratishtha Divas when a large number of devotees come to Kainchi and get Prasad. The number of devotees and the associated vehicular traffic is so large that the district administration has to make special arrangement to regulate the same. Accordingly some changes have been made in the whole complex so that people do not face any difficulty in movement.

In 1974 Steve Jobs, the charismatic Apple Founder and CEO visited this place and blessed by Baba Ji. Steve Job’s started Apple company after blessed by baba ji in 1976. Steve Jobs had said the lines “I wish him the best, I really do. I just think he and Microsoft are a bit narrow. He’d be a broader guy if he had dropped acid once or gone off to an ashram when he was younger,”.

Baba Ji Ke Popular Bhajan

KAINCHI DHAM, NEEM KAROLI BABA ASHRAM AND OUTSIDE VIEW

The Entry Gate of Kainchi Dham Ashram

Inside the temple of Neem Karoli Baba

Neeb Karori Baba Ashram , Kakrighat

Baba Neem Karoli and His Legacy

Neem Karoli Baba (नीम करौली बाबा) or Neeb Karori Baba (नीब करौरी बाबा) (1900 c. – September 11, 1973), is also known to his followers as Maharajji. He was a Hindu Guru, mystic and devotee of the Hindu deity Lord Shri Hanuman Ji. He is famous inside and outside India for being the Guru of a number of Americans who travelled to India in the 1960s and 1970s.

Some of the most well-known being the spiritual teachers Ram Dass and Bhagavan Das, and the musicians Krishna Das and Jai Uttal, and Trevor Hall (Rampriya Das). His ashrams are in Kainchi Nainital, Vrindavan, Rishikesh, and Shimla, Neem Karoli village near Khimasepur in Farrukhabad, Bhumiadhar, Hanuman Gadi, Lucknow, and Delhi in India and in Taos, New Mexico, USA.

Disciples of Ashram

His notable devotees and followers include humanitarian Larry Brilliant and his wife Girija, scholar and writer Yvette Rosser, filmmaker John Bush, and Daniel Goleman author of The Varieties of the Meditative Experience and Emotional Intelligence. Baba Hari Dass (Haridas) was not a disciple; however, he supervised several buildings and maintained the ashrams in Nainital area (1954-1968) before heading to the USA to become a spiritual teacher in California in the beginning of 1971.

Steve Jobs, Mark Zuckerberg and many more have followed

Steve Jobs, along with his friend Dan Kottke, traveled to India in April 1974 to study Hinduism and Indian spirituality; they planned also to meet Neem Karoli Baba, but arrived to find the guru had died the previous September. Hollywood actress Julia Roberts was also influenced by Neem Karoli Baba and later converted to Hinduism. A picture of him drew Roberts to Hinduism.

Mark Zuckerberg, founder of Facebook, influenced by Steve Jobs and visited Neem Karoli Baba’s (Maharajji) ashram in Kainchi dham in October 2015. Larry Brilliant took Google’s Larry Page and Jeffrey Skoll, co-founder of eBay, on this pilgrimage.

My experience in Neem Karoli Baba Ashram Kainchi Dham

I stayed at the Kainchi Dham Ashram for a day. It was interesting that no cameras or mobile phone pictures were allowed. You can carry the equipment but cannot take a picture. And yes there are people who keep constant watch to find any errands and you will not get away with it so don’t embarrass yourself by trying to take pictures. I am making that recommendation because I saw people exactly doing the same and politely being reminded of the deviation.

Just when you enter the gate need to get rid of your shoes or slippers. There is an unmanned rack where you can put all your belongings there.

The first temple on your right is a small temple and proceeding further you will find a right cut from where you will find Lord Sri Hanuman Ji temple, Baba Shri Neem Karoli Ji temple. There is also a library where you can find some books about life, spirituality and philosophy on Shri Neem Karoli Baba Ji. We did buy a handful of them in English and Hindi. 

Mediating at Neem Karoli Baba Kainchi Dham Abode

Concentrate for 10 minutes dissociating yourself from the rest of the world and see the calmness within, at this miraculously peaceful place. The fact that I could do that for 10 minutes at the place was a great achievement for me. It wasn’t easy for me to meditate as my concentration span is too low.

At the end I have no word to explain the beauty of this place and mystery of Baba Ji. Neither I or anyone else can describe about Him (Maharaj Ji) in words. 

                                                                                              By Avadhesh