When Neem Karoli Baba brought Hanumanji To Nainital

Dear Kindred spirits, I, Dr. Nirmal Mungali welcome you to the divine nectar channel. In today’s episode of Sant Leela, I will present the story of the Hanuman Garh temple made by Maharaj in Nainital. This is about a day in the year 1952. I was two and a half years old and, apparently missing from home, had been frantically searched for, leaving everyone on edge. Suddenly, my father was informed that I was with Maharaj. Maharaj had been visiting one of his devotees and someone from my home took me along with them to visit Maharaj in the home he was visiting. Made aware of my whereabouts, my father immediately left to bring me back home. When he arrived, he saw me sitting with Maharaj on the takhat playing with an apple. Right as my father was at the doorstep Maharaj pointed towards him and said “the engineer has come, he will make it happen. Will you make it, Engineer?” Without knowing what Maharaj was talking about, my father responded, “yes Maharaj.” Maharaj replied, “For now you take the child home, and I will tell you later.” My father then picked me up and brought me home. Upon reaching home my uncle told my father that all the well-known people of the town were there. “Nobody came forward but you committed to him without giving it a second thought?” he asked. My father stood perplexed as my uncle spoke further. “Do you even know what he was talking about?” My father said he didn’t have any context for this conversation. My uncle then told him that Maharaj was talking about building a temple at Manura in Nainital. My father wondered, “What is there to get annoyed about? If he is Maharaj then he can will it and make it happen, and if not then not.” My father’s response calmed my uncle. Maharaj came home that evening and asked my father to leave for Nainital with family and to take Jeevan along with him. Jeevan is my uncle and is also fondly know as Jeevan Baba amongst Maharajji’s devotees. The next morning as directed by Maharaj my father left for Nainital with my mother, myself, my younger brother who was a few months old at that time, and Jeevan chacha. Upon reaching Nainital my father started working according to Maharajji’s directions and soon enough Maharajji also reached Nainital. A small shanty was built in the location for the temple for Maharaj, and the work started in full swing. Many people were asked to design a blueprint for the temple but somehow no one engaged in the work with conviction. Then one day Maharaj said to my father: “Bhuwan do you know how to make a square using a rope?”Upon hearing a “yes” from my father Maharaj directed him to pick up a rope knob which was lying nearby. My father picked it up and brought it to Maharaj. My father tied one end of the rope and gave it to Maharaj. Maharaj held that end of the rope and walked a few steps ahead and said “Ok nail it here” and my father picked up a stone and nailed the end of the rope to the ground. My father, holding the rope knob, took a few steps back from the nailed end until Maharaj said, “stop there and nail down the rope.”The first nailed-down end of the rope became the north-east corner of the future temple. After that, the next end to be nailed was the south-east end of the temple, and thus without any tape measure, only a rope, Maharaj measured out a squared area that would be the foundation of the temple. When the square was complete, Maharaj said, “Now let’s get started on digging the foundation.” Thus began the process of laying the foundation. A retaining wall started taking shape from the north slope of the demarcated area. Then came in the steps and a squared platform for the temple took shape. The construction activities kept going on, coming along this far with no map or blueprint to follow.