While Baba was inside, two bearded old men suddenly appeared and stood on both sides of Baba's taxi. When Baba came out from the dargah, the driver went inside to pay his obeisance. The two old men maintained their silent vigil beside the car. Gustadji, Raosaheb and Chanji were surprised by the men's odd behavior.
But Baba remarked, "They have been sent by Khwaja Saheb to serve me during my stay here."
They reached Mount Abu the same day and went to a dak bungalow.1 Although it was located in a quiet district, Baba did not like staying there. The next day, he asked Chanji to find a better location. They went to see the khansama's home. Though it was in a secluded location also, Baba did not approve of it. Chanji inspected three or four other houses in two hours, but Baba did not approve of them, either. Near Fingernail Lake was the house of a lawyer named Tonk. Baba seemed to like the house since there were also caves in the nearby hills. But after two nights at the dak bungalow, on 11 June, they shifted to the staff quarters (of a school or a public institution), and began cooking for themselves.2 Baba took a long walk from there to the famous Dilwara Temples the same evening.3
They continued their search for a suitable seclusion spot for three more days. Baba went for a morning walk to the Arbuda Temple on 13 June and saw a cave that had previously been occupied by Pleader during his wanderings.4 Pleader had carved Meher Baba's name on the stone walls.
Baba liked the place and observed, "If I can have this cave for four days, it would be good."
That evening, Baba visited Sunset Point , the most popular viewpoint in Abu, where hordes gather every evening to watch the setting sun.5
Baba and the mandali returned to the Arbuda Cave early the next morning to inquire about permission for Baba to stay there. Raosaheb took some photos near it. The keeper of the temple remembered Pleader clearly and was eager to have Meher Baba's darshan. Since Baba wished to remain anonymous, to avoid the man, he passed himself off as "one of Meher Baba's disciples."
While at Mount Abu, on Monday, 17 June 1935, the conversation turned to Persia and the Shah of Iran.
Footnotes
- 1.A khansama is a manager of a dak bungalow.
- 2.The exact location of the staff quarters is not known, though Chanji noted it was near Hamilton Inn and arranged by a Mr. Farid.
- 3.The Dilwara temples enshrine various Jain saints. Built between the 11 th and 13 th century, they are famous for their superb and intricate marble carvings.
- 4.This is an intricately sculpted temple carved out of rock, dedicated to Arbuda a powerful serpent who rescued Nandi (the sacred bull of Lord Shiva) from a chasm. The Gaumukh Temple ("from the mouth of the cow") is nearby, with images of Rama and Krishna. Like a similar temple in Mahabaleshwar which Baba had visited, a natural spring flows out of a sculpted cow head.
- 5.Baba went back to Sunset Point two evenings later, and to Palanpur Point on the 17th and 18th evening.