Category: In Spirituality

  • Kali Temple of Kolkata, Shakti Peeth

    Kali Temple of Kolkata, Shakti Peeth

    —

    by

    Priyanka Dalal
    in , ,

    contact me at inspiritualityblog(@)gmail(.)com for personalized pilgrimage planning for a powerful spiritual experience

    Spent a relaxed 5 days in Kolkata last month. I have been to this city earlier but always with family as my close relatives stay here including my grand mom :) This time I planned to spend time with family AND explore the intriguing Kolkata! One of the first places that I wanted to take…

  • Jagannath Puri Rath Yatra – Behind The Scenes Story

    —

    by

    Priyanka Dalal
    in , ,

    contact me at inspiritualityblog(@)gmail(.)com for personalized pilgrimage planning for a powerful spiritual experience

    It so happened that I planned my Jagannath Puri trip a week before the Rath Yatra which brings millions of devotees to this sleepy, coastal town in Orissa. If I had planned a week later, I would have really struggled with booking and high costs. To attend a festival like the Rath Yatra – which…

  • Kumbh Mela: Ujjain Simhasth, May 2016, Photos

    —

    by

    Priyanka Dalal
    in , ,

    contact me at inspiritualityblog(@)gmail(.)com for personalized pilgrimage planning for a powerful spiritual experience

    Quick trip to Ujjain for the Simhasth Kumbh Mela happened in early May. I had traveled to Nashik for my first Kumbh Mela experience in 2015 and I deliberately went on the non-Shahi snan days. I was concerned about the crowds and overall facilities. This time for Ujjain I went impromptu on the 7-8th May…

  • Social Implications of Solo Travel, India

    —

    by

    Priyanka Dalal
    in ,

    contact me at inspiritualityblog(@)gmail(.)com for personalized pilgrimage planning for a powerful spiritual experience

    When I started solo traveling in 2009, it all happened a bit impromptu. I had a basic plan in place, Mumbai – Goa – Bangalore (transit) – Mysore – Coimbatore (yoga ashram). I provided all accommodation details with contact numbers to my parents and that was pretty much it. As I started doing this more…

  • Varanasi Calling…

    —

    by

    Priyanka Dalal
    in , , ,

    contact me at inspiritualityblog(@)gmail(.)com for personalized pilgrimage planning for a powerful spiritual experience

    Lately my heart is turning to Varanasi – that crazy, crazy city! I am cooking up plans to visit it again, just to have my thoughts clash about all the various trips I plan to make. It is a common dilemma I think, of travelers who aren’t on the road indefinitely. Don’t get me wrong…

  • Solo Travel Hacks: Enjoy the Solitude

    —

    by

    Priyanka Dalal
    in ,

    contact me at inspiritualityblog(@)gmail(.)com for personalized pilgrimage planning for a powerful spiritual experience

    One of the common questions I get when I talk about solo traveling is ‘Do you feel lonely?’ or something on similar lines ‘how do you pass the whole day on your own?’. Here is my experience… I don’t just Enjoy & Love Solitude. I NEED it! I have always been someone who loves spending…

  • Travelogue: My Kumbh Mela Story @ Trimbakeshwar, Nashik

    —

    by

    Priyanka Dalal
    in ,

    contact me at inspiritualityblog(@)gmail(.)com for personalized pilgrimage planning for a powerful spiritual experience

    The 3 lovely days I spent at the Kumbh Mela in Trimbakeshwar, Nashik were a truly unique experience. I was thinking of going with a few friends but they were busy with some work, so went on my own. Usually I travel solo but for the Kumbh Mela I was a bit concerned. Not concerned…

  • Solo at the Kumbh Mela – Notes for a Wonderful Experience

    —

    by

    Priyanka Dalal
    in , ,

    contact me at inspiritualityblog(@)gmail(.)com for personalized pilgrimage planning for a powerful spiritual experience

    Planning to be solo at the Kumbh Mela can be a daunting task for many as it conjures up images of huge crowds, religious frenzy and a truly eclectic bunch of people from rural folks to ash smeared sadhus. I was hesitant at first, but I really enjoyed my 3 solo days at the Kumbh…

  • Manikarnika, The Burning Ghat – Varanasi

    —

    by

    Priyanka Dalal
    in , ,

    contact me at inspiritualityblog(@)gmail(.)com for personalized pilgrimage planning for a powerful spiritual experience

    Having become Time itself, I destroy the world here, O Goddess! ~Shiva, Padma Purana 1.33.14 As I said Varanasi has been one of the most intriguing trips I have made. Never have I felt a city so full of going ons. Just inane, often crazy, some brilliant, other bizarre going ons. Just going on. Like…

  • Kashi, Varanasi, Banaras – It’s All Crazy!

    —

    by

    Priyanka Dalal
    in , ,

    contact me at inspiritualityblog(@)gmail(.)com for personalized pilgrimage planning for a powerful spiritual experience

    She Said: “You have been to Kashi, how was it?” He Said: “It’s just like any other dusty Indian town” I have been officially solo traveling since March 2009. There were other trips I made much earlier where I was predominantly solo exploring….but today, a week after returning from Varanasi I consider this trip a…

  • Brahma temple #Pushkar Rajasthan

    —

    by

    Priyanka Dalal
    in , ,

    contact me at inspiritualityblog(@)gmail(.)com for personalized pilgrimage planning for a powerful spiritual experience

    Being one of the only Brahma temples around the world is very intriguing as it is, but that is not all that is unique to this temple! The whole story that led to Brahma – one of the three main deities of Hinduism, not being worshiped in the world also has its roots in Pushkar!…

  • Not on the Road, but always a Traveler

    —

    by

    Priyanka Dalal
    in

    contact me at inspiritualityblog(@)gmail(.)com for personalized pilgrimage planning for a powerful spiritual experience

    My social media marketing company was entirely a virtual operation until January, 2014. I have since then taken up an office space and built a team. Last year was difficult in terms of work, not surprising considering that the economy was really bad, everyone I spoke to shared woes of cost-cutting and reductions. Last year…

  • Balaram Temple, Malpe

    —

    by

    Priyanka Dalal
    in , ,

    contact me at inspiritualityblog(@)gmail(.)com for personalized pilgrimage planning for a powerful spiritual experience

    Malpe is a small beach town near Udupi. Its like a suburb of Udupi, just some 6 km away. Amongst stuff to see in Malpe there is the superb beach, fishing wharf, ship cutters factory and an ancient Balaram temple. Balaram is the brother of Krishna and also a big sage/god or something. The Balaram…

  • Kanyakumari First Impressions, Solo Woman Travelling!

    —

    by

    Priyanka Dalal
    in , ,

    contact me at inspiritualityblog(@)gmail(.)com for personalized pilgrimage planning for a powerful spiritual experience

    On my month long trip this January I reached an impasse, I had been on the road for 20 or so days and then reached Bangalore. From Bangalore I had no idea where to go. I planned to go to Pondicherry but there was some Aurobindo event and hence all accommodations were full. Finally got…

  • Short Guide to Rewalsar, Himachal Pradesh

    —

    by

    Priyanka Dalal
    in ,

    contact me at inspiritualityblog(@)gmail(.)com for personalized pilgrimage planning for a powerful spiritual experience

    Hi there reader, I generally don’t write such ‘short guide’ posts because they are so easily available online, except for a few destinations for whatever reasons. Rewalsar is one of them… so here goes for the benefit of my fellow travellers esp solo women because we tend to plan out where we will be staying…

  • ‘Traveller’s Block’ – Breakthrough

    —

    by

    Priyanka Dalal
    in

    contact me at inspiritualityblog(@)gmail(.)com for personalized pilgrimage planning for a powerful spiritual experience

    I have heard of ‘writer’s block’ but never really faced a serious one. Last few months however since my Coimbatore-Mysore-Bangalore trip in Feb, I was not able to go on a trip despite planning 5 different trips! The reasons for not going were varied viral fever, passport issues or just simply canceling. I figured it…

  • Health Retreats in India – Naturopathy, Ayurvedic and others

    Health Retreats in India – Naturopathy, Ayurvedic and others

    —

    by

    Priyanka Dalal
    in ,

    contact me at inspiritualityblog(@)gmail(.)com for personalized pilgrimage planning for a powerful spiritual experience

    Even though I do yoga regularly at home, I feel the urban lifestyle soon catches up to me. I look forward to health retreats in some clean and refreshing place far from the city! I have done some research to find a few health retreats, these are low to medium budget places, Nisargopchar Ashram – Uruli…

  • Auroville and Matri Mandir, Pondicherry

    —

    by

    Priyanka Dalal
    in , ,

    contact me at inspiritualityblog(@)gmail(.)com for personalized pilgrimage planning for a powerful spiritual experience

    15km from the city is the Auroville. This is also where the Matri Mandir – an intriguing meditation complex made by the Mother and Aurobindo is located. My first view of this center was a sense of lot of ‘disjoint’ communities working together. It probably felt disjoint because the different building complexes are some distance…

  • Aurobindo Ashram, Pondicherry

    —

    by

    Priyanka Dalal
    in , ,

    contact me at inspiritualityblog(@)gmail(.)com for personalized pilgrimage planning for a powerful spiritual experience

    The term ‘Aurobindo Ashram’ commonly refers to the many different units within Pondicherry that are affiliated to the organisation set up by Aurobindo and Mother. Auroville is another distinct settlement which also houses the Matri Mandir – a unique meditation temple. Like mentioned earlierPondicherry city is integrated with the Aurobindo Ashram. Typically painted grey and…

  • Back to pavilion, Mumbai :)

    Back to pavilion, Mumbai :)

    —

    by

    Priyanka Dalal
    in

    contact me at inspiritualityblog(@)gmail(.)com for personalized pilgrimage planning for a powerful spiritual experience

    So the trip is over and I am back to pavilion, Mumbai! I am very glad that everything went fairly well, all the accommodation got sorted, met interesting people, had fun and overall everything got managed. This maybe a good time to pen down my thoughts, I returned last night around 2am and now after…