Discover the Mahavatar Babaji’s Cave: “Approaching the Sky”

By Giulia Calligaro, author, journalist, and spiritual Teacher.

When I think about it now, I still can’t fully grasp it: I have finally been to the Himalayas. These days, as summer fades, friends gather, and sooner or later the question arises: where have you been?

When it’s my turn to answer, and I hear myself say the words, “I’ve been to the Himalayas,” I look at myself from a certain distance, as if it didn’t really happen to me. I feel admiration and joy for this life core that emerges to the surface.

Then I realize that it is indeed me speaking, and the light born in my eyes, the one that hasn’t yet faded in the city’s mirror, or in the routine that tries to restart, is no illusion: it’s a piece of Heaven, a piece of a dream.

This past spring, I was going through intense days when I found myself playing a game. It’s the game I play whenever I want to shift away from what is, and leap onto the back of an anticipated happiness.

So I typed into Google exactly what I wanted for my “post-busy-life.” As a spiritual seeker and professional traveler, a simple vacation wasn’t of interest. My free time is now completely dedicated to the pursuit of light, the light I want to ignite in the still-dark corners of awareness.

This significantly narrowed the options and led me straight to Om Prakash’s blog, Rishikesh Day Tour, the very one I’m writing in now.

I couldn’t believe it: Om spoke Italian and patiently explained how he had reached the cave of the great Mahavatar Babaji, a name that was one of the key words of my search. Within minutes, I contacted him, and he responded—my dream began to take shape.

Arrival in Rishikesh Tapovan 

Om was incredible, sensitive, and attentive. He put together the itinerary of my desires and simply said: “You don’t need to worry about anything. Everything will go perfectly. If this is your time, nothing will stop this journey.”

Indeed, I couldn’t depart in the ideal period—after mid-September—so I’d be traveling in late August, still at the tail end of the monsoon season. What my tour would look like, with the car and driver Om had arranged for me, was truly known only to Heaven.

Finally, August 22nd arrived, the day of departure. Though the forecast called for heavy rains, the sun greeted me. Om came to pick me up at Dehradun airport, driving me to his homestay in Tapovan: a beautiful red house amidst lush rice fields, a walk away from Rishikesh’s center, but with the guarantee of peace and nights lulled by the sound of crickets.

Near the China Border, but Still India

Om, his wife Anju—also an excellent cook—and their two wonderful children, Siddarth and Tushita, immediately became like family to me during the days I decided to rest before embarking on the Himalayan journey.

Young Siddarth was also a perfect guide through the streets of Tapovan, taking me on walks to the nearby waterfall where I could enjoy a refreshing swim, and up to the small village on the hill above, where we bathed in the glow of the sunset.

Then, the day of the Himalayan tour arrived. I was excited and confident. The driver Om had chosen for me was a true travel companion. He quickly understood that I was interested in every spiritually significant spot along the way. He soon learned what I liked to eat and what I didn’t, translating for me at every small roadside restaurant where we paused. We had a perfect rhythm of words and silences.

Badrinath Temple

Our first destination was Badrinath, a 12-hour drive that we split into two segments, stopping at the powerful floating temple of Srinagar and spending a night in Rudraprayag, in a hotel directly overlooking the first peaks of the majestic mountain range.

A Room Near Mahavatar Babaji’s Cave

Early the next morning, we resumed our journey. The road grew increasingly humble in the face of nature’s growing power. Just before arriving in Badrinath, as often happens in these parts, a landslide blocked the way. We had to continue on foot and take another vehicle beyond the obstacle.

The driver helped me through the passage, and then we said goodbye for the time I would stay in the sacred city, where cars could not enter.

Perhaps it was a sign: on this journey that I had chosen to take alone, as any true spiritual journey must be, I was now required to trust a bit more—to surrender completely to the events of Heaven. And the sky over Badrinath indeed speaks to those with open hearts.

Choosing a season outside the usual tourist period allowed me to have a true, deep experience—a face-to-face encounter with the clouds tracing blue arcs between peaks, the roaring waters, and the chants of the small, magnificent temple where one truly feels they can touch the divine essence.

There weren’t many Westerners around, but the people of the Himalayas are incredibly kind and helpful, and I never lacked Om’s support from afar. I carry particularly sweet memories of the small village of Mana, the last Indian settlement before the Chinese border, where the cave is said to be where Ganesh, under Vyasa’s guidance, wrote the great sacred text of the Mahabharata, and where the swiftly flowing Saraswati River blesses visitors.

In the Himalayas, Uttarakhand

The next stops, after I reunited with the driver, deepened the embrace of this great, expansive temple that is the Himalayas, where every journey becomes a transformation that works on the fabric of the soul. Gwaldam offered a vista of light, while Kausani was a true retreat within the intensity of a landscape shaped by tea estates, which even Mahatma Gandhi described as peaceful.

Mahavatar Babaji’s Cave

Finally, the last stop remained: Mahavatar Babaji’s Cave, the Master of Masters and the originator of the Kriya Yoga lineage, whose path I follow through the teachings of Paramhansa Yogananda. To stay close to this sacred site, I asked Om to arrange lodging at Joshi’s guest house: a series of rooms and bungalows directly on the path leading to the cave.

Visited Twice

I was given a small red-brick house, with colorful blankets and many little windows in the ceiling. Joshi would come up with hot, tasty food, and I wouldn’t have wished for anything more—I was no longer the same person who had set out on this journey. I was gradually becoming a more essential version of myself.

I visited Mahavatar Babaji’s cave twice. The first time, in my eagerness, I went immediately upon arrival, but I was too tired to fully appreciate it. The next day, a magical dog guided me up a shortcut, waited patiently while I meditated, and then escorted me back. I like to think it was Babaji’s welcome—things like that happen in the Himalayas.

My Return To Rishikesh

On my return to Rishikesh, I stayed a few more days at Om’s homestay with his family. A friend from Kerala joined me, and those days felt so real and familiar, as though it had always been this way.

Although the gifts have been many, I am certain that I’ve only just lifted the veil on the radiant light of those places. Now that I’ve seen that dreams don’t hesitate much to become reality if you truly believe in them, I am sure I will return soon. A part of what I call home is now there, in the Himalayas.