We hired a five seatter car from Vadodara and started our journey at around 8 am in the morning after completing full breakfast. Nareshwar is around thirty five miles away from the city of Vadodara. It takes around two hours to travel this distance due to heavy traffic and the road condition at some locations. We reached Nareshwar at around 10 am in the morning. There is a large Ashram here that was established by the Saint Rang Avdhut before around fifty years. There was a wild and dense forest all around this area at that time. This Ashram has the beautiful temple in which the statue of Rang Avdhut Swami has been established. The place at which Rang Avdhut Swami was staying is also preserved in the same way as it was kept by Swami himself in earlier days. His bed, work table, and the chair on which he was sitting are also kept for the Darshanas of the pilgrims visiting this Ashram. There is a large central hall, in which the prayers are continuously going on at all the times during the day time. There is also a beautiful replica made here of the famous Kailas Mountain and the Mansarovar lake at this Ashram. This replica is really very impressive and many persons like us who have not been able to visit Kailas/Mansarovar in their life can get the feel of visiting the real Kailas/Mansarovar here. The temple at the Ashram is also very large and has capacity of accommodating around five hundred people at a time. The morning and evening arti rituals are also worth attending as it creates a wonderful, spiritual, and holy atmosphere in the entire Ashram. There is also a large book store that sells all the religious literature, CDS etc. pertaining to Swami Rang Avdhut. The free Gujarati meals are served here everyday at the Ashram between 11 am to 1 pm. All the pilgrims visiting this holy Ashram make sure to take Prasad here. The Ashram temple remains open from 7 am to 12 noon and again from 4 pm to 9 pm in the evening. There are many benches provided at the Ashram for relaxing and taking some rest. Swami Rang Avdhut took the holy Samadhi at this Ashram. It is also a worth visiting place in the Ashram.
There is a small meditation hall on the top of the Samadhi. Many pilgrims perform Dhyana and meditation activities here at this hall. The regular camps of Yoga and Meditation are also held here at the Ashram regularly during the winter months. However, you need to book your seat in such camps in advance as there is a large rush of pilgrims in such camps. When you come out of the Ashram and walk straight ahead for around five minutes, you will be able to reach at the bank of River Narmada. The River Narmada flows here an all its beauty, having a large width of around half a mile. The hand rowing boats are also available in case you would like boating in the River Narmada. The rates of such boating are based on hourly basis. The rate for one hour of boating is around Rs.100 ($2) per person. The tourists can also take a leisurely bath here in the River Narmada. However, you need to be extremely careful while taking a bath as the water at some isolated places is very deep and have powerful twisters. There have been incidents of drowning here at Nareshwar in the past. There is also a provision for staying night halt here at the Ashram. The clean and spacious double rooms are provided to the tourists at the rate of around Rs.50 ($1) per day. Though, you may need to book such rooms in advance. The environment at this Ashram is really holy and spiritual and we really wonder now as to why we did not stay for the night halt at the Ashram.
We really enjoyed our visit to this spiritual place and hence, have no hesitation in recommending a visit to all my AC friends and readers.
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