Pilgrimage to Yogananda’s Kolkata
15-17 March, 2024
The heart of the Autobiography of a Yogi is the city of Kolkata. Immeasurable blessings emanate from the places where Paramhansa Yogananda and Swami Sri Yukteswar lived and meditated. That power is as alive today as always. Ananda has led pilgrimages to Kolkata since 1986, and we share a deep friendship with Yoganandaji’s family and other custodians of these shrines.
Two houses are central to our pilgrimage. One is Yoganandaji’s boyhood home at 4, Garpar Road, where he spent his early years of spiritual seeking. The family of Yogananda’s brother, Sananda, continues to inhabit the home, which they will open to us as a shrine. In Yogananda’s attic meditation room he “found God” and had visions of Divine Mother and Sri Krishna. We’ll be able to meditate on this very spot. Yogananda’s father and Sri Yukteswar were brother disciples. Sri Yukteswar regularly came to this house to visit him. Before Yogananda departed for America, Mahavatar Babaji came to bless him at the doorway of his bedroom, which is now reserved for silent meditation.
During Yogananda’s 1935-36 sojourn in Kolkata, he stayed at the home of his close friend, Tulsi Bose. This home is now preserved as a meditation shrine, under the care of Ananda Sangha Kolkata. Conserved here are the beds used by Yogananda and Sri Yukteswar, and relics of our gurus and of other saints who have blessed this house. Manash Mukherjee, Tulsiji’s grandson, will host us and tell us family stories.
We’ll meditate at the site of Sri Yukteswar’s Serampore hermitage, and visit the banyan tree at Rai Ghat, where Babaji and his disciples appeared to bless Sri Yukteswar when he finished writing The Holy Science.
We’ll visit the Kali Temple at Dakshineswar, sanctified by the presence of Sri Ramakrishna Paramhansa for much of his life, and by Yogananda, as recounted in Autobiography of a Yogi.
On Sunday, we’ll visit the Ananda Kolkata centre, have satsang and share together with Ananda devotees in Kolkata.
Tentative Schedule
Friday, 15 March
| 8:30 am | Indigo 321 departs Chennai. Only carry-on (cabin) baggage is permitted. |
| 10:45 am | Arrive Kolkata |
| 11:30 am | Board bus. Drive one hour to Serampore |
| 12:45 pm | Meditate at the site of Sri Yukteswar’s hermitage |
| 2:15 pm | Lunch at Denmark Tavern |
| 3:15 pm | Visit and chant at Rai Ghat, under the banyan tree where Babaji came |
| 4:15 pm | Bus to Kolkata hotel |
| 5:30 pm | Check in, tea |
| 6:30 pm | Satsang if time permits |
| 7:30 pm | Dinner at hotel |
Saturday, 16 March
| Morning meditation and satsang at hotel |
|
| Breakfast at hotel | |
| 11:00 am | Meet to board bus |
| 11:30 am | Visit Yoganandaji’s home, 4 Garpar Road |
| 11:00 am | Meet to board bus |
| Meditation and darshan, including attic meditation room and Yogananda’s bedroom | |
| 1:30 pm | Depart. Return to hotel for lunch |
| 3:00 pm | Board bus for Kali Temple in Dakshineswar |
| 4:00 pm | Kirtan, Ma Kali darshan, and meditate in Sri Ramakrishna’s room |
| 6:15 pm | Board bus to return to hotel |
| 7:30 pm | Dinner at hotel |
Sunday, 17 March
| Meditation at hotel | |
| Breakfast and check-out | |
| Ananda Kolkata centre for satsang | |
| Lunch | |
| Visit home of Tulsi Bose, Manash Mukherjee shares family stories, meditation with relics and in meditation room | |
| 4:30 pm | Depart for airport |
| 7:10 pm | IndiGo 234 departs Kolkata for Chennai |
Accommodations, Meals, and Transportation
Our hotel in Kolkata for two nights is the 3-star Hotel Gallery 67. All meals are included. Transportation within Kolkata will be by comfortable a/c bus.
Programme Fees
Double occupancy: Rs. 24,000 per person.
You may choose a room with one double bed or with two twin beds.
Only a limited number of private, single-occupancy rooms are available. You may request one by speaking directly to Brahmachari Prasanna (+91 98846 42688).
If you wish to share a twin room and you don’t know another pilgrim, you’ll be assigned a roommate if possible.
The programme fee includes airport transfers for the above flights, all group transportation in Kolkata, lodging and three meals a day, and hotel tips.
Not included are airport transfers for flights other than those above, donations at ashrams and Yogananda’s shrines, medical care should you need it, personal trips in a taxi or auto, and personal hotel room charges. You’ll be invited to make a donation of any amount to help the upkeep of both of the Yogananda shrines.
Payments
A completed application form and payment are both needed to confirm your space. We ask for full payment once your application has been approved.
Glimpses from past pilgrimages:[rev_slider alias=”kolkata”]