Thursday, January 13, 2011

~~Visit to temples in LA~~

 After visiting Getty museum,Sukirtha took me Lake Shrine temple the place where Yoganada Paramahansa lived. Few months back I visited Ellis Island in New York, it was the port of entry for people from all over the world entering into US during the beginning of 20th century. There was a list of famous people from different countries who came via that island and settled in US and one of  the Indian in the list was Yoganada Paramahansa. The ashram was located near pacific palisades which is near Malibu beach.

We were the only visitor that time and as soon as I entered I was captivated by the beauty and serene atmosphere of the place. The place with lots of trees,well maintained garden and has a wonderful lake inside.Once in one would never feel he is in middle of a buzzing city. There was a meditation hall which was closed that time,when we told we wanted go there an American volunteer took us there, he was meta physicist who got inspired by yogi teachings and he is a follower for 3 years. He took us to the main prayer hall and after meditating there for few minutes he showed us around. They had a small memorial in the temple which had ashes of Mahatma Gandhiji and it was one of the first place to build a memorial back in 50's. We then took a small walk around the lake and spent some time enjoying the beauty of the place.

From there we took a drive along the Malibu beach ,it was in the evening sun set time and that was the right place to be. From there we went to the Balaji temple which was located in a small hill near the beach.It was a ride ride with lots of twist and turn and when we reached the temple we were the only one there.  Iyer of the temple was glad to see us and started talking with us for quite sometime. It was he who suggested to have dinner at woodlands and also told us the way to reach it. They also has a Shiva adjacent to it and we went there and prayed at all sanathis. Finally drove to woodlands for dinner.


There I had spring dosai which was something unique and tasted good. It was a long day to end with great dinner.

1 comment:

Sripriya said...

Sriram,
I have been waiting to visit this 'Yoganada Paramahamsa' Ashram in LA since 2003. Got inspired by the book about 'Yogananda Paramahamsa' given by Mala aunty when I visited her for the first time (Feb 2003). I might have read this book for a number times... Just waiting to visit that ashram... u remined me again! Thanks!