Days after Cricketer Virat Kohli and actress Anushka Sharma along with their daughter visited an ashram in Vrindavan, people got curious to know who Baba Neem Karoli is. The couple stayed there for about an hour and had ‘darshan’ of Baba’s ‘samadhi’, besides meditating in a ‘kutia’ (hut).
Who is Neem Karoli Baba and why is he famous?
Neem Karoli Baba was a Hindu Guru and a devotee of Lord Hanuman. His followers refer to him as Maharaj-ji. Born as Lakshman Narayan Sharma in 1900 in the Akbarpur village in the Firozabad district of Uttar Pradesh, Neem Karoli Baba belonged to a wealthy Brahmin family. At the age of 11, he was married by his parents but he left home to become a wandering Sadhu. At his father’s request, he returned home to live a settled married life. He has two sons and a daughter.
His followers:
Steve Jobs, along with his friend Dan Kottke visited Neem Karoli Baba in 1974. He came to India to study Hinduism and Indian spirituality. Influenced by him, Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg also visited Baba Neem Karoli’s ashram in Kainchi in 2015. This was the time when his company was facing tough times.
That’s not all, Hollywood actress Julia Roberts is also said to be influenced by him. In an interview she was asked where did her interest in Hinduism come from, she said, “It came from seeing a picture of a guru called Neem Karoli Baba and I was so drawn to the picture of this person and I did not know who he was or what he was about but felt very strong interest.”
How did Neem Karoli Baba get his name?
His name was Neem Karoli Baba was kept after the village where he was first discovered in pre-independent India. He was travelling without a ticket in the first-class compartment of a train when a British ticket collector threw him out at the next stop. As per reports, he quietly disembarked and sat under a tree and the train was not able to move after that, much as the engine driver tried to go full steam.
All kinds of checks were carried out only to reveal that the train was in perfect working order. When the ticket collector called Neem Karoli Baba back onto the train, the train immediately began working.
How to reach his ashram in Uttarakhand? Know the route:
Regular trains of the Northern Railways are available for going up to Kathgodam in the Kumaon region of the northern part of the state of Uttaranchal. From there, a two-hour bus ride will be needed to reach Kainchi, where the ashram is in the vicinity of the bus stop.
How to reach his ashram in Mathura? Know the route:
One of the ashrams of Baba Neem Karoli is located in Vrindavan, Uttar Pradesh. Inaugurated in 1967, the ashram is the Mahasamadhi Mandir of the Neem Karoli Baba and this is also the place of Maharaj-ji’s Mahasamadhi Bhandara.
Reaching the Ashram is very easy in Vrindavan as it is quite close to the public landmarks. The Ashram is just 1.9 km from Vrindavan Bus Stand, whereas it is 2.1 km from Vrindavan Railway Stadion. So, it is clear that once reaching Vrindavan by public transport, the Ashram is almost within a walking distance.
How can you enroll yourself to visit the ashram?
– Visit https://www.tourism-of-india.com/neem-karoli.html
– Click on ‘Ask For Booking’
– Fill out the form
– Select the number of days for the visit
– Select room options – Luxury, 5 Star, 4 Star, 3 Star, and budget
– Select services required
– Click on submit
Set in the sylvan foothills of the Himalayas in Uttarakhand is a quaint little ashram named Neem Karoli Baba Ashram or Kainchi Dham.
Neem Karoli Baba died on September 11, 1973, in a hospital in Vrindavan, after he slipped into a diabetic coma.
His ardent devotees, Ram Dass and Larry Brilliant also established ‘Seva Foundation’ in Berkley, California which was also funded by Steve Jobs. His ashrams are located in many cities in India and the US.