January - February 2013 Tours, and Pilgrimages, starting from Mumbai and ending in Mumbai, you can join us for Part 1 or come and meet us in Kolkata and then onto Kumbha Mela. It is promised to be a rare and unique tour led by KD Babukishan unlike any that has been offered in the past and it will be unlike any ever to be offered again.
Part 1
Bollywood, Shopping and Mumbai Temple Tour.
(Bombay) Mumbai Temple, Shopping and Introduction to Bollywood Tour. KD Babukishan has lived in Mumbai for 30 years and is well connected both with temples and in the Bollywood scene. He is a Bollywood Music Composer with over 150 musical scores to his credit and well connected in Bollywood and Indian Cinema. He is a Master of Indian Classical Folk Baul Bollywood and Fusion Music including Kirtan Mantra and Bhajans. Anybody can go to Mumbai and see the regular tourist attractions we will introduce you to places tourists never see, out of the way places that are unique and powerful.
http://babukishandas.com/
http://babukishan.blogspot.com/view/magazine
Part 2
Kolkata (Calcutta), Historical Kolkata, Spiritual Temple Shakti tour.
We will travel to Shantiniketan the home of Rabindranath Tagore University and the Vaishnava Bauls of Bengal. We will visit Tara Pith and some rarely visited Kali temples, this is where KD Babukishan is from it is guaranteed to be a rare and unique tour. Babu was born in Suri West Bengal even while he had lived in Mumbai he has been back and forth all of his life.
He was a Vedic Monk with the Ramakrishna order in Calcutta for 12 years and attended Calcutta University with a BA in Indian Philosophy, MA in Indian Music. Kolkata the city of JOY, Culture and Bengal is the land of spirituality. Immerse yourself in the Tradition that originated Kirtan and Bhakti Yoga in Bengal thousands of years ago, The Vaishnava Bauls of Bengal. Kali/Shiva.. Radha/Krishna. Learn Baul sadhana with Babukishan aka Krishnendu Das Baul aka Baul Guru. We will be introducing you to a Calcutta and Bengal that is rare and is less traveled by the regular traveler.
Babukishan aka Baul Guru will be teaching never before taught Baul Sadhana's, Baul songs, he will be lecturing, and completing a documentary that he began 40 years ago. His lineage was passed onto him from birth by his Guru Sri Nabani Das Khyeppa Baul his grandfather, and his lifelong teachers Grandmohter Sri Brajabala Dasi his Aunt Radharani Dasi, father, mother and other aunts and uncles.. This lineage of Baul is an oral tradition of sanskrit speaking people who sang to the villagers in Bengali.
Bauls are poets, Indian Philosophers, Tantrics, and Bhakti Yogi's. A Baul believes the body is the temple, music is the soul. Bauls are sweet Rasa Leela Mystics, the shaman connected to the soul and soil of Bengal feeling the heart beat of nature and the soul of everything.
They were peacemakers way back holding all in the highest light, A Baul talks about Buddhism, Sufi, Christianity, Baul is based on Hinduism but they embrace all no caste, creed, or pedantic talk.. They are true natural Bhakti Yogi's original Bhakti Yoga of Bengal, they were never colonized in the way other Bengali's were they kept as natural as they were thousands of years previous to now but because they are indigenous people they are dying from the planet their old ways do not work in this world of corporate temple business and book traditions. They are known as the honey catchers because they use the art of distilling the essence, into juice or honey. A Baul never says we are best or our way is the only way the ektara is their symbol of peace and unity between all peoples of the planet the ektara is a one stringed instrument symbolizing unity peace and harmony for all humanity.
Bengal is the land of Parmahamsa Yogananda, Ramakrishna Dev and Sharada Maa, Vivikenanda, Karbir, Rabindranath Tagore, SitaramDas Omkarnath, Anandamayi Ma, Aurobindo, Nabani Das Khyeppa Baul, Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabu, Chandi Das, Joy Dev, Mother Theresa, Sri Nityananda of Ekkchaka, who by the way was a Baul and BabuKishan's ancestor his lineage of Vaishnava Baul and Kirtan. Bengal is the land of Kali and Krishna. Ramaprasad Sen, and Bhama Kheppa from Tarapith..
Babukishan being closely connected to Ramakrishna and Tarapith he has led many in the past through doors they otherwise they would never have entered if it were not for him. Most of the famous Kali books or older Baul documentaries have come from people who have entered the doors through Babukishan.
http://lineagebaul.blogspot.com/
We will journey back to Kolkata in time for Saraswati Puja February 15th, on February 16th we will watch as the Saraswati Devi's immersion takes place into Ganga Maa.
Part 3
From Kolkata we will fly Allahabad to the Maha Kumbha Mela for rare Darshan's with Saints, Yogi's, Sadhu's, Avadhuta's Guru's who arrive from all over India and the Himalaya's, highly spiritual people who are normally hidden away. This is the worlds oldest and largest spiritual gathering, a once in a lifetime Pilgrimage. KD Babukishan say's it will be intense and highly spiritually charged for anybody who wants to progress along their path. The Maha Kumbha Mela takes place only once every 12 years.
We will depart Allahabad to Mumbai.
Stay tuned we are still organizing.
We will start from Mumbai (Bombay) and end in Bombay.
Photo is from Babukishan's collection, it is of a temple in Bengal.. Kali Ma and Lord Shani...Photo taken by Babukishan