From the depths of my heart arises a wish, serene yet powerful — the longing to see the whole of Bharat, the sacred land where the Divine has walked in countless forms. It is not merely a tourist’s desire to see new places, but a pilgrim’s yearning to behold the living body of Mother India or Bharat Mata, whose rivers, mountains, forests, temples, and ashrams are sanctified by the touch of sages and saints, by the chanting of mantras, and by the timeless rhythm of devotion that still echoes in her air.
When Swami Vivekananda returned to Bharat from America via Ceylon (present-day Sri Lanka), he landed at the sacred soil of Tamil Nadu. Overwhelmed with devotion and emotion, he rolled on the ground, proclaiming, “After visiting so many lands, at last I have set foot on my Motherland!” Tears streamed down his eyes as he bowed to the very dust of Bharat Mata — a moving symbol of his boundless love for the nation and his realization that the true spiritual strength of the world lay in the heart of India.
Bharat – The Living Land of the Divine
To journey through Bharat is not to move through space, but through time and spirit. Every region — from the snow-covered peaks of the Himalayas to the blue waters of Kanyakumari — breathes a story of faith. Bharat is not just a geographical entity; she is Sanatana Dharma personified, an eternal teacher silently guiding humanity through her living symbols of dharma, tapasya, and divine realization.
When one stands before the Ganga at Varanasi, one does not merely see a river — one feels the pulse of eternity. When one bows before the Jyotirlinga of Lord Shiva or the radiant image of Devi in a Shakti Peetha, it is not just worship, but communion with the very essence of Existence. To travel across Bharat is to reawaken the sacred memory of the soul, to rediscover the invisible thread that connects all beings to the Divine.
Temples – Pillars of Spiritual Energy
My deepest wish is to visit every major temple of this vast land — from Kedarnath and Badrinath in the north to Rameswaram and Kanyakumari in the south, from Dwarka in the west to Jagannath Puri in the east. Each temple is not a mere structure of stone but a living vibration, where man and God meet.
Standing before a deity carved thousands of years ago, one feels the accumulated power of countless prayers, the tears and faith of millions who have come before. The sanctum sanctifies the heart; the ringing bell awakens something deep within that has been sleeping for ages.
Ashrams – Abodes of Silence and Wisdom
Equally strong is my wish to visit the Ashrams of the great Masters — the silent hermitages where Divine Wisdom has flowed like a perennial river. I long to sit quietly where Sri Ramana Maharshi sat in stillness, to walk in the gardens where The Mother and Sri Aurobindo dreamt of humanity’s divine future, Anandashram at Kanhangad, where Swami Papa Ramdas shared the bliss of his spiritual realization with the world, to bow at the Samadhi of Swami Vivekananda, and to feel the fragrance of peace in the ashrams of Swami Sivananda, Anandamayi Ma, Ramakrishna Paramahamsa, and many others who illumined the path.
Each ashram is a light-house of inner awakening — where the outer silence conceals an inner music. These are places not of dogma, but of discovery; not of rituals, but of realization.
Tirtha Yatra – The Sacred Journey
In our ancient tradition, Tirtha Yatra was never just physical travel. It was an inner pilgrimage, a journey from ignorance to wisdom, from restlessness to peace. To bathe in the Ganga, to climb Arunachala, to circumambulate Narmada or Govardhana, is to symbolically wash away the dust of lifetimes and move closer to the Source.
My dream is to undertake these pilgrimages — slowly, reverently, with heart full of devotion. I wish to walk by the Narmada’s bank in silence, to listen to the temple bells at dawn in Madurai, to watch the evening aarti on the banks of the Godavari, and to lose myself in the vast quietude of the Himalayas.
The Call of the Holy Land
Sometimes I feel that Bharat herself is calling her children back — calling them to rediscover her essence. Every pilgrimage is an answer to that call. Each journey becomes a dialogue between the soul and the Mother. The sacred dust of this land holds the footsteps of Rama, Krishna, Buddha, Mahavira, Shankaracharya, and countless Rishis. To walk upon it with awareness is to participate in an unbroken spiritual lineage that stretches back to the dawn of creation.
Beyond Sightseeing – A Spiritual Quest
My wish is not to see merely with the eyes, but with the heart’s vision. The temples and ashrams, the hills and rivers, are but outer symbols. The real pilgrimage happens within — as one’s ego slowly dissolves in devotion, as one’s heart opens to gratitude.
When I stand before the Himalayas, I wish to feel the stillness of the Self. When I bow at a shrine, I wish to surrender not just flowers but my limitations. When I meet a saint, I wish not to ask for blessings, but to learn the art of living in truth and simplicity.
A Journey Without End
This wish — to see the whole of Bharat — is a lifelong sadhana. Even if I spend every year visiting a few holy places, it will still be a journey without end, because Bharat herself is infinite. Her beauty lies not just in her mountains and rivers, but in her spirit — her people, her traditions, her songs, her silences.
And perhaps, one day, as I travel from one sacred spot to another, I shall realize that the true Bharat is not outside me — it lives within my own heart. For the whole universe, the whole Bharata Varsha, is reflected in the still lake of the awakened soul.
A Vow of Eternal Pilgrimage
To see Bharat is to rediscover one’s own Self. My wish, therefore, is not merely an outer desire, but an inner vow — to live as a pilgrim forever, to see God in every temple and human being, to find peace in every sacred river, and to let the fragrance of devotion guide every step of my life.
As the sages have said: “Yatra yatra mano yāti, tatra tatrasamādhayah” (Wherever the mind travels in devotion, there itself is meditation)
May my life itself become a pilgrimage. And may Bharat Mata bless me to see her divine form in every corner of her sacred soil.
This is a guest post.
Pradeep Krishnan is a senior journalist based in Kerala. A Commerce and Law graduate with a postgraduate diploma in journalism. He served in an Indian government department for 36 years before dedicating himself to writing. A passionate author and journalist, he has contributed articles in English, Hindi, and Malayalam to several reputed periodicals and online portals. He is the author of two books: Leaving Churchianity: Conversations with Ex-Christians Seeking Redemption in Sanatan Dharma, and Arivinte Abhimughanal (Interviews of Wisdom), a Malayalam anthology featuring conversations with 35 eminent personalities.
