Akkalkot. Journey Part 1, 2, 3, 4
From Akkalkot we went to Maniknagar, at a distance of about 140 km. It was more or less a direct route but for most of the way, the road was in a bad state, with big holes and partly a cambered roadway. It was 26 December, winter time, but it was quite hot. You could see with the vegetation that it is unbearably hot in summer. Srinivas often had to slow down and drive around the holes in the roadway.
When we approached Maniknagar from the direction of the city of Humnabad, the surroundings suddenly changed. There were huge trees along the road giving shadow and the fields were green and well cultured. We approached the Shri Manik Prabhu Temple – a site with huge palace-like walls surrounded by green lanes with statues and little temples. Everything was very clean and well maintained.
Manik Prabhu (1817 – 1885) was an Indian saint and freedom fighter who is regarded by many people as a Datta Avadhuta, a person beyond ego-consciousness and duality, or even as an incarnation of Lord Dattatreya.
In the Sripada biography, there is a hint about him in chap. 45 and a story of a prophecy in relation to a meeting between Shirdi Sai Baba and a Datta Avadhuta – Manik Prabhu – in chap. 4. (“He then met a Datta avadhuta and asked for silver coins. As his tin would not get filled up, the avadhuta put two khajur fruits (dates) in it. Then he was satisfied. With that, the chaitanyam (consciousness) of Datta flowed into him.”) In the inner court of the Manik Prabhu temple, there is a picture relating to this meeting:
Srinivas had often been at this place of Manik Prabhu and he had arranged a meeting with Shri Dnyanraj Manik Prabhu Maharaj, the present head of the Shri Manik Prabhu Samsthan (temple) and the sixth office holder in the series of successors. It is the only succession line of such Datta avadhutas for the spiritual guidance of the devotees, where the energy is upheld over a long time.
Srinivas had told me that recently the Manik Prabhu temple had published the book “Shri Manik Prabhu. A Rare Spiritual Gem” by Anandraj Prabhu and that they wanted to ask me for a German translation, since I had translated the Sripada Srivallabha Charitamrum.
We were received by the son of Shri Dnyanraj Manik Prabhu in a grand old villa and we came to know that Shri Dnyanraj was sick at the moment and could not receive us. We were offered lunch, and the book was lying on the table. I politely explained that due to my age, I am handing slowly over work I am doing and that I cannot pick up new tasks of such a size. But that I would look if I can find a German translator. The son gave me a copy. (If you are interested and able to do it, please contact me.)
We later visited the nearby small temple dedicated to Devi Venkamma or Madhumati Shyamala, his disciple (a yogini revered as a devi by Shri Manik Prabhu’s devotees).
Afterwards, we went back to Hyderabad and arrived at Divya Kalanjali in the evening. It was time to say good-bye to Srinivas and Santosh, our dear guides and travel companions of this part of the journey. The next part was the journey to Srisailam.
