Blogs from Karla Caves, Maharashtra, India, Asia

Keith and I woke up at 6:30 to go to the Swami-ji's kuti (hut) for morning prayers/chanting. It was quite a spiritual experience, with the Swami and his not-so-glamorous assistant (a grey German lady in her late 50's) chanting in Hindi while she laid flowers on an altar with incense and a relief picture of the god Krishna. We were each then given the equivalent of "communion" - a palmful of buttermilk, drank and the hands then passed over the head, and a piece of spiced fudge-like sweet. After the cerimony, we chatted to the Swami about life in the Ashram and ours back home, and were given a banana each, before heading off for our second Yoga session, which was again very relaxing. I then missed breakfast - no great loss, more veg and rice ... read more