Narmadehar: By Grace of Narmada Maiyaa Foot Parikrama an Experience with Swamiji Gajanan Tirth

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Commander (Retd.) Anil Pande was commissioned in the Indian Navy as an officer where he served as an Electrical Engineer. Being a student of Sainik Satara School and an alumnus of National Defence Academy, Pune. He studied at the prestigious IIT Delhi, where he earned a MTECH degree. After completing his studies, he served on board a number of Warships and shore establishments in various capacities. Post retirement from active service, he served as a GM (Quality Assurance) in a private company in Mumbai.

Whilst in the Navy, he was blessed by Mata Amritanandmaye, the Hugging Saint from Kerala. She has been his spiritual guide and played an important role in bringing about a marked change in his life.

In addition to his military service and work experience, Cdr. Anil has been extremely passionate about travelling, mainly related to religious places. He has undertaken several Tirth Yatras since retirement from the defence services which included paying obedience at various shrines like Mount Kailash/Manasorvar, Amartnath, Jotirlingas, Tirupati Balaji, Simahachalam, Konark and Ganapati Temples, Devi Shakti Peeths all over India, etc.

Rivers in India are revered and considered as a living beings and Narmada Malyaa is no exception. Circumambulation of Narmada Malyaa is considered also as Tirth Yatra. This book covers his personal experiences of the same.

Cdr. Anil currently lives in Mumbai, India with his wife, son and daughter-in-law.

This E-Book is written by an ex- Indian Navy Commander Anil Pande. Of the four, starting the foot parikrama from Omkareshwar, Pande and me completed the foot parikrama. Am indeed honoured in presenting this book to readers in English in the digital format across the globe. Limited hard copies are also available on this pilgrimage.

Had reservations about Pande meeting my requirements since I am an orange-clad Brahmacari sanyasi, a 'Swami' from the Shaktipat Paramapara, the lineage going back to thousands of years. He did tune with my thought process. Additionally serving some of my trivial needs of the day. I am glad that he did surpass all my expectations. The success of the parikrama is reflected in this book/E-Book. We are deeply indebted to "Narmada Maiyaa" for helping us complete the foot parikrama, without much of difficulties. Minor hiccups are a part and parcel of the 137 days that we spent together in and around the Maiyaa's banks.

The first couple of weeks were spent understanding each other's likes, dislikes, temperament, etc. Thereafter, it was smooth sailing. It was never a one-way traffic from my end, but the spiritual discussions that did take place during the parikrama and the conclusions drawn have been reflected truly by him.

Shared with him some of the knowledge that I had acquired from the teachings received from both late Swamiji Keval Krishna Tirth, my immediate Guru and his Guru, Shivom Tirth Maharaj. The learnings from the various books written and the knowledge bequeathed by the Gurus of the Shaktipat Parampara.

Very special thanks to Swamiji-GT (Gajanan Tirth) in accepting me as I am/was, with all the flaws that I have. He has given me the leeway and enlightened me with valuable advices. Having shared with his very personal experiences, pre and post Sanyasa. It has impacted my life post the parikramas and the subsequent times that we have spent together.

Wish to thank Mr. Shyam Kumar, Mr. Ajit Kumar, former editors in print and publication sector and Mr. Khedekar, Manager in a nationalized bank in helping me editing the manuscript and giving valuable suggestions in making the book more readable.

Vivek Cholkar of Gauri Arts, Pune was gracious enough to part with the two maps of Narmada Parikrama, by foot, vehicle and Uttar Vahini for the benefit of all the Narmada Maiyaa devotees. These are appended at the end of this book.

I wish to specifically thank Mrs. Vaishali Shashithal, a self-made and freelance artist for preparing the sketch of Amarkanthak temple. I also wish to thank some of my neighbors viz. Kshitish and Nivedita Vaidya and Lilly Desai, in helping me overcome some of the teething problems faced by me during the typing of this manuscript, preparation of files and uploading a few other photographs on the net.

Special thanks to Mrs. Kavishwar, Mr. Anil Khedekar, Mrs. Nayana Joshi and Mr. Chari, Retired Scientist "E" from NSTL, Visakhapatnam for having read and reviewed the book and offering their comments. They have been kind enough to spare their valuable time in going through the book.

**Contents and Sample Pages**