Abode of Gods in India

We Indians have been very lucky in the sense that we grow up listening to stories of great saints. Most of us have at least some acquaintance with some of the saints – be it Shirdi Sai Baba, Ramana Maharishi, Ramakrishna Paramahansa or Meher Baba.

Many of the saints have been found around the Himalayas – northern states covering Himachal & Uttarakhand, Sikkim, West Bengal & North Eastern states. “Deva Bhumi” gives a beautiful narrative of some of the saints of Uttarakhand, that lived approximately 100 years ago. The book was written by Krishna Kumar Sah (popularly called KK, by western disciples), a close devotee of Neem Karoli Baba (Maharaj-ji).

It was due to KK’s insistence that Neem Karoli Baba allowed the visit of western devotees into His ashram, after Ram Dass (Dr. Richard Alpert) had left India, after his first visit to the revered Guru – Neem Karoli Baba, in 1967. KK Sah was very close to Ram Dass. It was KK who served as Ram Dass’ translator when he communicated with Maharaj-ji, and took Ram Dass into his home and introduced him to Indian family life. Barring language, culture and background, they both became best friends, over the period of time. In fact this book is published by ‘Love Serve Remember Foundation‘ that was started by Ram Dass. While Ram Dass merged into Infinite on December 22, 2019, his best friend, KK Sah embraced him few days after on January 14, 2020. 

The book’s forward has been written by Ram Dass & Preface by Raghu Markus (another devotee of Neem Karoli Baba).

KK Sah collected stories about several saints such as Sombari Baba, Hairakhan Baba, Bal Brahmachari Maharaj etc. 

The book is an easy read overall. It has short stories about various saints, their miracles and how devotees flogged around them to get their blessings. With less than 300 pages, the narratives of various saints will not cease to mesmerize you. E.g. Sombari Baba left his body in 1919. In 1914, (during World War 1), he predicted that the British will leave India by 1946/47. 

The stories are not very long, maximum 2-3 pages, so you can read them with regular breaks. The stories have been narrated by various devotees from the length and breadth of India. 

Link for the book on Amazon.in – Deva Bhumi.