Today is the final learning day of the 2016 Educational Field Trip.

Today was the day

where we all would visit Kamarpukur and Jayrambati and then would go to Bengaluru in the
night. We all woke up early to attend the 6:30 breakfast. In the dining hall, we had some toast
with milk. Then, we said our farewells to the lovely helpers in the Belur Math Foreign Guest
House. After that, we placed our luggage into the two AC cars we rented and set off for
Kamarpukur. The 3 hour drive was quite scenic as we saw farmland and open fields. In the
middle of the drive, it started to rain but the rain was in Kolkata mode. It left after a few
minutes. We then finally made it to Kamarpukur. In our 10 minute stay we saw many rooms
that were important in Sri Ramakrishna's life. The first one we saw was the Husking Pedal Shed
were Sri Ramakrishna was born. It was in the center of the whole complex. Facing the idol of
Sri Ramakrishna in the shed was a meeting hall and a talk was occurring on the teachings of Sri
Ramakrishna. Then, we visited the prayer room of Sri Ramakrishna's family. Sri Ramakrishna's
family deities were Raghuvir, Shitala, and Shiva. To the left of that was Sri Ramakrishna's room.
It was in a small hut on the side of the complex. Two doors to the left was where his elder
brother stayed. Before leaving, we saw a mango tree planted by Sri Ramakrishna near the front
gate. Then, after a 10 minute drive, we made it to Jayrambati. We first went to one Swamiji's
office, talked to him about Vidya Niketanam, and we got a book on Kamarpukur. Then, we
talked to another Swamiji about Vidya Niketanam and he gave us prasadam and a guide. The
guide first took us to the shrine, which was first the room where Sri Sarada Devi was born and
where she married Sri Ramakrishna. That room is in the middle of the complex. We also
learned that Swami Saradanandaji was the proud helper of Sri Sarada Devi and that a shivalinga
was forming in one of the rooms in the shrine. Then, we went to the old cottage of Sri Sarada
Devi. She lived in that cottage for 52 years, from (1863-1915). There she blessed her devotees
by giving them the maha mantra, brahmacharya, and sannyasa. Then, next to the cottage was the
room of Surabala, the mother of Radhu. The story was that Sri Sarada Devi did not want to live
when she figured out that Sri Ramakrishna was dying. But, Sri Ramakrishna told her to stay
alive and finish more tasks. Sri Sarada Devi was "tortured" by Radhu, because Radhu was
making her live, but she knew that she was jogamaya so she stayed alive for 34 years. Sri
Ramakrishna told Sri Sarada Devi that she should take care of this girl, Radhu, because she
resembled Sri Ramakrishna. Sri Sararda Devi, not knowing that Radhu, her niece, was the girl
until later, she took care of her as Sri Ramakrishna as it was Sri Ramakrishna's wish. Near there
is the room where Sri Sarada Devi cooked. Swami Saradanandaji made a new cottage for Sri
Sarada Devi. She stayed in the new cottage from 15 May 1916 to 23 February 1920. Here she
blessed her many children the maha mantra, brahmacharya, and sannyasa. Next to that are the
guest houses for the people back then. Then, the guide talked about the Shingomali Temple. He
said that when Sri Sarada Devi had diarrhea and was vomiting a lot, the temple owner gave the
cure to her. So, the temple is an auspicious one. Before visiting that temple, we were led to a
plaque which depicted Sri Sarada Devi and another person. That person was Bhanupishi.
Whenever Sri Sarada Devi was in distress, she would come to the spot where the plaque was and
would speak with Bhanupishi. Then, we visited that temple and ate a pinch of the holy mud, the
mud in the temple which can cure all ailments. Then, we went inside the shrine and prayed to Sri
Sarada Devi. In the shrine, there were the pictures of Rama, Sita, Lakshmana, and Hanuman.

After that, we had lunch in their canteen and then Udayaji and Shantiji went shopping to collect
Jayrambati memorabilia. We then set off to the airport to catch our 8:05 flight to Bengaluru. 15
to 30 minutes into the journey, we got stuck in a traffic jam - an Indian traffic jam, not the
American type. Luckily, the drivers of our 2 cars knew another way to go to the airport. We
arrived there way before the gate opened for our IndiGo flight. We boarded the airplane late due
to a delay, but eventually we set off. After our flight had landed, Jagadeeshji came with the party
bus to pick us up. But, the party bus broke down on the way to the house, and he quickly called
for a replacement. Eventually, we made it to Bharadwaj uncle's house late at night and went to
sleep to wake up fresh for the first day in Bengaluru.