A tour of Sringeri and Kollur - 2003

Some years ago my family and I went on a tour of Sringeri and Kollur among other places.

We stayed in the rooms provided at the Mutt. The next day I went to the telephone booth to make an STD call. The man at the booth was a decent middle aged guy and was quite friendly enquiring about my tour plans. Suddenly he said "stay at our Mutt at kollur". "Tell the manager there 'so and so' has sent you", and he scribbled something at the back of the phone bill and gave it to me. I accepted it and just slipped in the side pockets of my bag.

I really did not give it any second thought as my idea was to stay at any one of the innumerable places that normally dot a pilgrim centre. And there was no dearth of them. Or so i thought.

I enquired about buses to Kollur from Sringeri. There was only one mini-bus starting at 8am and it came with passengers from a place a few kms away from the Mutt. But I was assured by locals that normally seats were available and for three of us...it was no big deal.

So next morning a minibus drove in and to our shock - all the seats were occupied. The bus stopped and nobody got down. I enquired with the driver if he could somehow manage to take us. He said that unfortunately the bus was full that day and he had just stopped to load some goods. I was in a terrible fix as my entire tour schedule could go haywire.

Looking helpless and at my wits end I sent out a silent prayer. Suddenly the three men sitting in the front row got down and left the place almost in some sort of hurry. The others in the minibus who were watching our plight were urging us to get in and occupy the seats. I was not so sure. I was worried they might come back and claim their seats. And then there would be the bigger problem of saving my face in front of so many strangers.

Meanwhile the driver came back and enquired what was the matter. He said there is no time and asked us to get in. Also the loading of goods were postponed o the next day as there was some problem in their packing.

The rest of the trip was just beautiful amidst the ghats and hills ....full of greenery and matching weather. We forgot everything and reached Kollur in a few hours.

Once there we were shocked to see a huge crowd of devotees everywhere. We were told that being a full moon day there was some festival. I enquired for accommodation in a few hotels, only to be told that all hotels were full and were being rented out at premium rates. I was again in a dilemma.

Just then i saw the Sringeri Mutt board. Immediately I remembered the slip the man at the telephone booth had given me. I still had no hopes of getting a room at the mutt. However my wife urged me to make a try. I went to the gate and the manager himself was there. He told me no rooms were available.

I told him I knew that but that we had been sent by this person and showed him the slip. Immediately he invited us in and gave us a very good room at the fixed rate which was very nominal. We thanked God for this unexpected development.

So the two problems solved, I was in a particular hurry to thank Mookambika Devi. So we rushed to the temple immediately after a quick wash. Luckily the crowd was moderate at 430pm. We finished the Dharshan and were coming out. I suddenly had another desire to thank the Godess once again. We were standing ouside the sanctum sanctorum. The entrance was filled with devotees and I could not see the deity clearly. I closed my eyes and prayed that She grant me another Darshan. As soon as I opened my eyes there was just no crowd at the entrance and we all had a clear dharshan of the Goddess.....just for a minute and then again it was fully crowded.

My wife then commented about the sudden disappearance of the crowd in front of the Goddess. I revealed to her about my deep prayer to the Devi for HerDharshan.

I always remember this trip with gratitude to Mother Mookambika Devi.