Indra Sava

Indra Sava is a sacred place near Badrinath that only local sadhus know about. It is here that Mahavatar Babaji meets the saints. We have visited this place several times with one of the local Swamis and meditate where the Great Masters sit in the same circle with the Eternal Yogi Mahavatar Babaji.

From Swamini Abirami's satsang, June 2022

‘Jay Gurudev!
I would like to share a story that happened to us. Earlier, every time before a trip to Badrinath, I felt certain anticipation of deep spiritual experience, but this time the anticipation was special. Probably, it was because that, when we had been on the Dunagiri Mountain not far from Babaji’s Cave, we had met a sadhu there, who is believed to be a local saint. He lives at a temple and he receives the Divine Mother’s darshan every day right in his cell, where the Divine Mother comes Herself. We visited him with our group, and at the end of our visit, he gave us his blessing. When he heard that we were planning to go to Badrinath, he said it was very good and that ‘in Badrinath you will meet Sriman Narayana and who knows who else you will meet there, perhaps, the Divine Mother Herself will come to see you’. On the night before the departure, I had a very warm dream with Guruji in it… I felt the presence of Gurudev all morning on our way to Badrinath, the presence of the Divine within my heart, and His very strong inner guidance. When we arrived, we went to Vishnu-padam immediately, it is Narayana’s footprint located at the foot of the Narayan Parvat Mountain on the side of Badri Vishal, the temple of Badrinath.

We bowed to this footprint and afterwards we had an Om-Chanting practice there, which was very strong, and some participants shared later that they had never felt anything like this before. We felt the presence of Mahavatar Babaji and all the Masters, and there was a lot of light and energy coming from our circle. Few other pilgrims, who were also visiting Vishnu Padam, would sit around our circle, meditate and sing Om with us. It was marvellous.

After the Om-Chanting, we went to see my acquaintance, Swami Ramdas, a sadhu, who lives at the foot of the Narayan Parvat Mountain. I met him for the first time during my previous visit to Badrinath. When we came to his cell, he asked where we had been before, and we said that we had gone to Bhavishya Badri. Swami said that the last time we met, he wanted to show me the place called Indra Sava, a plateau, where devas and saints, great masters, such as Mahavatar Babji, Sundarnath Baba and other saints worshipped in the area, meditate, and also saints from the entire world meet there on the Narayan Parvat Mountain, which is located right behind the wall of Badri Vishal, the main temple of Badrinath. This place is considered very blessed, and Swami Ramdas said that he could take us all there, if we take the chance… Of course, many from our group were keen on going, because even the name of our trip was ‘Following the Footsteps of Mahavatar Babaji’. Before that, we had visited Babaji’s Cave, where he once initiated Lahiri Mahasaya, a famous Kriya Yoga master. We had reached Badrinath, where Babaji dwells invisibly, and where the actual place of his meditation, his asana – a large stone – is located.

Of course, we wanted to visit it, but, as we were on a very tight schedule, and this place had not initially been on it, and also because Swami said that the track was 5 km one-way, we decided to start at 4 a.m. No sooner said than done. It was interesting to watch Swami Ramdas’ positivity of mind and his absolutely ‘childish’ spirituality, which was very gladdening. I think they are real saints, because they have ‘childish’ hearts and very sincere attitude towards everything they do – their sadhana, prayer, walk around all those places. It was incredible to watch that, of course. Half an hour after the beginning of our trip, quite a heavy rain started, but Swami Ramdas met us with shining face and said ‘What a beautiful weather for the ascent, see how the masters favor you’. And with this joyous attitude, he dragged us up.

I can say that the track was indeed hard, but not very long; occasionally we had to climb sheer clis and narrow footpaths. Considering that it was wet and slippery, it was indeed a challenge. When we reached Indra Sava, Swami Ramdas showed us several large rocks that looked like platforms, worshipped by local saints as asana stones of Mahavatar Babaji, Sundarnath Babaji, Hanuman, Garuda and other saints and demigods. Babaji is always in the middle, and around him, a bit lower, sit the other saints and devas. Swami told us to climb the rock believed to be the place where Babaji was sitting. We doubted a little, if we were eligible to sit there too, but he said it was ok, and that we would sit on Babaji’s lap.)) We sat and started meditating together and singing Om. I had a feeling that the mountain itself, and this stone, and everything around us was singing Om loudly.

The entire space was vibrating with the Om mantra. Immediately, I thought how great it would be to have an Om-Chanting with everyone there, but this time it was impossible, so we decided to include Indra Sava into our next journey, so that the grace of this place could also pour on its participants. At some moments, we were even higher than the clouds on this mountain, and the views were amazing. Interestingly, the entire plateau was densely covered with strawberry plants that bloomed with red flowers, and I remembered Strawberry Fields Forever;). People use flowers of this strawberry to cure ocular diseases, and all animals, even carnivores, who live on that mountain, are always friendly to humans, and never attack. Right after we started meditating on Babaji’s stone, the rain and cold ended and the sun appeared. Probably, many had expected to see Babaji or somehow feel him. We didn’t see Him, but we felt very blessed indeed. Interestingly, on our way back, we met an eagle, first one, then another one, and the second eagle was half white. As you know, Garuda is Mahavishnu’s vahana, and it was a sign to us that Mahavishnu, Narayana was present with us, that He was with us on that trip.’