Meher Baba's Life & Travels
ESTABLISHING HIS CENTRE
1924 - Part B
Chapter 7 :
1. INTRODUCTION & CONTENTS
The story of Meher Baba's advent continues from Chapter 6.
This web page / chapter 7, will
follow Meher Baba ( Merwan Irani ) in the second-half of 1924 with his first close group of both male & female
followers.
The beginning of this page continues
the story from the previous page, Chapter 6 with Meher Baba and his first group of men mandali ( close ones ) residing in different locations such as
Quetta, Karachi, Bombay, Poona, Lonavla and
in Ahmednagar. There were some long distance walks and trips throughout India in rapid succession, Baba not quite settling down in the area near Arangaon village, which was later known as Meherabad.
Click on images and maps to enlarge them, also click on the under-scored names to visit their web-pages.
1924 JULY - DECEMBER
CONTENT : 1.
INTRODUCTION & CONTENTS
2. JOURNEY TO SOUTHERN INDIA
3. TRIP TO CALCUTTA
4. VISIT TO KASHMIR
5. VISIT TO
BARODA
6. VISIT TO GOA
7. RETURN TO MEHERABAD
8. LIVING IN BOMBAY
9. TRIP TO BELGAUM
Page references are marked RD ( Ramjoo's Diary ) & LM ( Lord Meher ).
Click on the following button to visit the previous page in Meher Baba's Advent.
2. JOURNEY TO SOUTHERN INDIA
Meher Baba departed Poona in the *early-afternoon of 2nd August for Raichur by train ( central southern India ). Many had come to the railway station to see Baba and his 4 men companions.
They were ; Beheramji Irani, Padri Driver, Gustadji Hansotia and Baily Irani.
Soon afterwards, Baba changed his mind and wanted to go to Madras ( Chennai ) instead, so the difference of the rail tickets was paid. They arrived at 9:30 am on the *3rd Aug. at Madras Central Station, they moved then to the Shaikh Sidiqui Choultry rest house near the station.
Madras ( now Chennai ) is on the southern-east coast of India.
Here, Baba made preparations to visit Porto Novo ( Parangipettai ) on India's south-east coast, south of Madras, which recently had devastating floods, causing damage to lives and property. They left the following night 4th Aug. for the Madras Beach station of the S.I. Railway.
Upon arrival, there were vast crowds clamouring to travel and after many attempts to purchase tickets, they discovered that there were none available, so they returned to the rest house.
RD p353-5
Please note : The book "Ramjoo's Diary" does not state who is actually the diary keeper for this journey. *The book mistakenly gave an arrival time in Madras of 9:30pm 3rd Aug. Travelling at an average of about 50-60 kms an hour for 1,092 kms, the arrival time in Madras would be 9:30am, 3rd.Aug. A 12 hour difference.
Times & distances are shown in the next section below. Webmaster
August 1924 Historical Time
1st Aug : Born - Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, King of Saudi Arabia from 2005 to 2015
2nd Aug : Born - Carroll O'Connor (John Carroll O'Connor), American TV actor known for portraying Queens resident Archie Bunker in the situation comedy All in the Family, and other films. (d. 2001)
-- James Baldwin, American novelist, non-fiction author and playwright known for the novel Go Tell It on the Mountain (1953), and the book Notes of a Native Son (1955); in Harlem, New York City (d. 1987)
3rd Aug : Amanullah Khan, King of Afghanistan, declared a jihad war against six tribes who had commenced the Khost rebellion,
-- A group of 150 Soviet troops crossed the border into Poland and attacked the town of Stołpce.
Died : Joseph Conrad (pen name for Józef Konrad Korzeniowski), 66, Polish-born British novelist known for Lord Jim and other works.
4th Aug : The first Women's International and British Games, also called the "Women's Olympiad", was held in London with women from six European nations (Belgium, Czechoslovakia, France, Italy, Switzerland at the UK) competing.
BEHERAM H. IRANI PADRI DRIVER GUSTADJI HANSOTIA BAILY IRANI
August continued ...
The following railway station name signs are in order of travelling from Poona to Ooty.
The distance between Poona and Madras by train is about 1,095 kms / 680 miles. This takes between 18.5 & 19.5 hours by today's trains.
The distance between Madras and Ooty by train is about 503 kms / 312 miles. This takes about 15 hours today.
The total one way is about 1,600 kms / 990 miles and takes about 33-35 hours today's trains.
The Madras sign was not available to be included with the other signs below.
Some of the towns travelled through by Meher Baba will also have a web page for them with extra details featured.
Total trip: 2,101 kms / 1,304 miles
August continued ...
The next day, 5th August they decided to go to Nilgiri Hills instead, some 330 miles away (532 kms). This is located on the western side of southern India, south of Mysore (Mysuru). They departed on the 5th Aug. at 6:30pm for Ooty, travelling 3rd class. Baba slept that night on part of a bench.
Some time in the early morning, they thought they were heading towards Metropalayam Junction (Mettupalaiyam), but they found they were heading in another direction, because while they slept, their carriage was attached to another train. They eventually arrived at this junction on the 6th. Baba referred to this place as "Petroleum".
RD p355
July 1924 Historical Time
5th Aug : The German delegation, including Chancellor Wilhelm Marx and Foreign Minister Gustav Stresemann, joined the London reparations conference.
August continued ...
Baba had a bad stomach upset during this travelling. At 12:15pm, they changed to the miniature train on a narrow rail gauge, to take them up to the hills, reaching Ooty at 3:30pm and at a height of 7,250 feet (2,210 metres) above sea level, and it was very cold.
There were no suitable hotel lodgings anywhere, those that were available, were too unsanitary. They sought permission and they slept the night in an empty train carriage parked on a siding. They left Ooty at 6:20pm after touring the nearby area and returned by train to Coonoor at 7:45pm.
That night, Baba had a fever all night, and by the next morning 7th August, he insisted on walking, to "Petroleum", some 21 miles (34 kms) away, leaving at 7:20am. Along the way, they had lunch and Baba told Padri "Don't ever become a Baba if you can help it".
RD p356
August continued ...
Although this whole area consisted mainly of tea plantations, all of the tea produced went for export, and only coffee was offered at all of
the stops. Baba consumed nothing the whole way. They reached Kellar (Kalla) station
after trekking for 16 miles ( 26 kms) and they covered the remaining 5 miles
(8 kms) by train to Metropalayam.
They returned to Madras by train without incident arriving at 8:30am on 8th August.
After arriving, they stayed in one of the traveller's hotels. One of the men travelling with Meher Baba- Baily Irani, said he had enough and was sent back to Poona with some excess luggage by train.
The other 3 men went with Baba to the Central Madras Railway Station on the 9th and departing at 8am. The men were Padri, Beheramji & Gustadji.
RD p.357-8
LM p.666
August 1924 Historical Time
9th Aug : The second World Scout Jamboree opened in Denmark at Ermelunden with thousands of Scouts from around the world, and closed on August 17.
3. TRIP TO CALCUTTA
Meher Baba and his men arrived at Howrah, a suburb of Calcutta at 5 pm, 11th August. They first went to the Moghuls Hotel near the station, staying on the 1st Floor, but the place was filthy, so they moved to the Punjabi Hotel taking a 2nd class room. It was very run-down but clean compared to the others. That night they took a joy ride and did some sight-seeing for 2 hours before returning to their hotel.
August 1924 Historical Time
11th Aug : Britain and Turkey agreed to submit their territorial dispute over the Mosul question, regarding the border between Turkey and the British mandate for Iraq
- Anti-British riots broke out in Atbarah in Sudan. British troops fired on rioting Egyptian railway labourers.
- In the Hyderabad State of British India, rioting that would injure 400 people at kill at least 10 in Gulbarga (now Kalaburagi in Karnataka state).
Shri Ramakrishna Paramhansa Swami Vivekananda
August continued ...
The next morning - 12th August, they went to Dakshineshwar after crossing the Hooghly River in a launch, to a place associated with Shri Ramakrishna
Paramhansa ( 1836-1886) were his disciple - Swami Vivekananda's lived. When they arrived they saw a blind beggar
sitting, very neglected, in a dirty place. Baba and his men removed him, cleaned him, then fed and placed him in a better place. They then proceeded to
Ramakrishna's Mission visiting Belur Math the main temple of the Mission,
which is situated by the shores of the river.
Baba instructed his men to pay their respects at the room which was once occupied by Shri Ramakrishna. The other rooms were occupied by Vivekananda and others of their circle. They also visited a small tomb which had a small photo of Ramakrishna, Baba gave the caretaker some instructions on how to do devotional exercises. They then returned to their hotel.
LM p.670
RD p.358
Madras to Howrah : 1,661 kms / 1,032 miles ( rail )
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dakshineswar_Kali_Temple
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ramakrishnahttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swami_Vivekananda
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Belur_Math
4.
TRIP TO KASHMIR
13th August - 9th September
On the 12th August at 7:30pm, Meher Baba and his 3 men left Calcutta from Howrah Station for Hardwar ( Haridwar ), taking 2 days to reach. The next day, they changed into the O. & R. Railway at Moghul Sarai Junction, near Benares, They arrived at Hardwar on the 14th August.
They went to a Hindu travellers' house, but there were no available rooms. However, they were allowed to stay in one part of the verandah. After some time they went to bathe in the sacred Ganges River, but the water at the bathing steps were in a muddied condition, so they returned to the shelter.
* Howrah to Hardwar : 1,517 kms / 943 miles ( rail )
August 1924 Historical Time
14th Aug : As many as 14,000 people were reported dead in flooding in the Zhili and Hunan provinces of China.
August continued ...
They later hired a Ford taxi car to take them to Rishikesh, about 14 miles / 23kms away, where a number of ascetics lived. The car was very run-down, especially the seats which were torn. In addition, the tyres began deflating and the engine had problems. They decided to take a more costlier and better car instead.
The road was rough and zig-zagged all the way to Rishikesh. When they arrived, Baba bowed to many pilgrims and lepers as he had been doing throughout his tour.
He also had a conversation with an ascetic known as Nepali Baba.
From there they walked to the foot of the Himalayan to a rope bridge ( about 9 miles / 15kms), and then proceeded to the village of * Laxman Zula ( known as the Cradle of Luxman ).
At 1pm, they went back to Hardwar. Once there, they planned a foot journey to Sakori.
Adi and Vajifdar were telegrammed with instructions for Vajifdar to meet them at Lakhsar
( Laskar ) .
* The modern name is Lakshman Jhula & the
Rope bridge is now a Suspension bridge named the Janki Bridge. A point of interest, near the village is the ashram the Beatles attended in early
1968.
LM p.671
RD p.359
Note : The 284 ft rope bridge that Baba crossed the Ganges river was washed away 2 months after his visit. A suspension bridge was built in 1930.
The property that the Beatles & other celebrities visited in 1968 for meditation, is now a tiger's reserve.
In June 2024 article in a news feed appeared detailing the current situation with the Ashram property - click on the link to read it.
* Hardwar to Rishikesh : 17 kms / 11 miles ( road )
* Rishikesh to Laxman Zula : 13 kms / 8 miles ( road )
Total return : 30 kms / 19 miles
Howrah to Hardwar : 1,517 kms / 943 miles ( rail )
5.
TRIP TO
BARODA
August continued ...
The next morning 15th August, at 6am, they went to the nearby railway station to wash themselves, because it was too dirty where they were staying. After washing up and having tea, Baba was still not eating. They began their walk towards Lakhsar ( Laskar ).
Baba was not doing very well, but they continued, but with a heavy kit and a hot sun, they only achieved 10 miles. On arrival at Pathri Railway station, they camped in a meadow. Later on meeting some sadhus, Baba bowed down to them and gave advice. Padri removed a thorn deeply lodged in one of the sadhu's leg and bandaged it.
LM p.671-5
RD p.359-362
August 1924 Historical Time
14th Aug : Eligio Ayala was reinstalled as President of Paraguay,
PADRI DRIVER SADASHIV PATEL HORMUZD VAJIFDAR
August continued ...
The next morning, 16th August, Baba was still not well; he had no sleep, but he still led the walk, leaving at 5:45am. After 4 miles, a long haired Muslim man approached Baba, and shook his hand before continuing. Baba said he was a 'Abdul', a spiritual agent for Baba's spiritual work. It then started to rain and they took shelter in a cabin near the tracks. They had breakfast, and when the rain stopped, they continued their walk.
Baba broke his fast after he had some hot chutney which he consumed to eliminate his dysentery. They reached Lakhsar at 1pm. After their 9 mile walk, they washed themselves at a public well, ate lunch at a Hindu restaurant and then rested at waiting room of the Railway station. Later they sought accommodation at a nearby Hindu resting place, but the stench of nearby gutters forced them to return to the Station, where they were allowed to stay for 2 days.
The next day, 17th August, Sadashiv Patel was telegrammed to meet them in Benares. Baba spent his time in the town looking for sadhus, bowing, etc. Vajifdar arrived at 4am on the 18th. They were all in agreement to end the foot journey and take the train for Moradabad at 1:30pm, arriving there at 6pm. It was estimated that Baba had bowed down to 5,000 pilgrims in the previous weeks.
In this town, Baba went looking for more sadhus. They met a 'mast'
- God intoxicated man, who had not moved from his seated position for 4 years, defecating where he sat. They tried to
bath him but he refused.
LM p.671-5
RD p.359-362
* Hardwar to Pathri : 13 kms / 8 miles ( road - walked )
* Pathri to Laksar : 14 kms / 9 miles ( road - walked )
August 1924 Historical Time
16th Aug : The body of Italian opposition leader Giacomo Matteotti, who had been kidnapped on June 10 after making speeches against Fascist Prime Minister Benito Mussolini, was found in a shallow ditch about 14 miles (23 km) outside of Rome.
- The French and Belgians agreed to end their occupation of the Ruhr in one year's time.
17th Aug : Anthropologist Margaret Mead arrived in American Samoa and began work on her 1928 landmark book, Coming of Age in Samoa: A Psychological Study of Primitive Youth for Western Civilisation.
18th Aug : The remaining two planes attempting to fly around the world were damaged attempting to take off.
August continued ...
They then departed for Bhopal the next day, 19th August, changing at Lucknow. Padri was sent to Benares to meet with Sadashiv, and from there he was to proceed to Baroda, where they would all join up.
* Laksa to Moradabad - 141 kms / 88 miles ( rail )
August continued ...
Baba and the remaining men, changed trains at Jhansi and arrived in Bhopal on 20th Aug. in the afternoon, Baba again went to look for sadhus. Adi arrived from Ahmednager and pleaded with Baba to end his wandering and to come back to Meherabad. That night they left for Ratlam, Beheramji was sent ahead to Baroda (Vadodara) to make arrangements.
LM p.671-5
RD p.359-362
Note : The above paragraph mentions 3 distinct rail sections between Lucknow & Ratlam. The following list mentions these rail sections of this journey.
* Lucknow to Jhansi : 312 kms / 194 miles ( rail )
* Jhansi to Bhopal : 292 kms / 141 miles ( rail )
* Bhopal to Ratlam : 285 kms / 177 miles ( rail )
August 1924 Historical Time
20th Aug : The Victoria-Vélez Treaty was signed by the Foreign Ministers of Panama (Nicolás Victoria Jaén) and Colombia (Jorge Vélez) and setting a permanent boundary between the two nations. Panama had formerly been part of Colombia.
August continued ...
On the train to Baroda, Baba's health suffered so, after arriving, they decided to rest in Baroda for a couple of nights. They reached Ratlam in the morning of 22nd August. Here again, Baba walked about the train seeking sadhus and bowing down to them. They left Ratlam and reached Baroda at 8pm with all the men staying in the Gujarat Hindu Lodge in the Syaii Gunj.
Here Baba stated "After journeying to Mt. Abu, our tour will end and we will return to Meherabad and settle down".
Everyone was glad to hear that. Adi was sent back to Ahmednagar.
In Baroda, they went sightseeing, visiting the Maharaj's palace, museums, art gallery, etc.
Baba changed his plan stating "We will settle in the village of Sinhgarh near Poona. Sinhgarh is a suitable place for the permanent mandali to live. There we all can lead a quiet life since it is secluded and conveniently located with plenty of water. And, besides, it is Babajan's territory !"
LM p.675-6
RD p.363
August 1924 Historical Time
22th Aug : U.S. presidential candidate John W. Davis condemned the Ku Klux Klan by name in a speech in Sea Girt, New Jersey, reviving an issue that had badly split the Democratic Party at the National Convention.
* Ratlam to Baroda : 262 kms / 163 miles ( rail )
August continued ...
Meher Baba left 2 days later on 24th August at 10pm, and arrived in Ujjain on the 25th at 1pm. Later they found many sadhus on the banks of the Sipra (Shipra) River, lepers were there as well. Money was distributed to them after Baba bowed down to them.
Nearby there was a Shiva Temple on the banks, with some sadhus in a hut next to it. They later left Ujjain at 4pm and arrived at Mortakka south of Indore at 10pm, the same day.
*The nearest railway station to Mortakka is called Omkareshwar Road Railway Station.
August 1924 Historical Time
23rd Aug : In a speech in Maine, U.S. vice presidential candidate Charles G. Dawes responded to John W. Davis' challenge of the previous day by also denouncing the Ku Klux Klan by name.
24th Aug : Yasin al-Hashimi was appointed as the Prime Minister of Iraq by King Faisal I.
25th Aug : German Chancellor Wilhelm Marx told the Reichstag that he would ratify the London agreement whether the Reichstag approved it or not.
* Baroda to Ujjain : 358 kms / 222 miles ( rail )
* Ujjain to Mortakka : 109 kms / 68 miles ( rail )
August continued ...
They slept on the railway platform and the next morning, 26th August, they rode on a bullock cart to Omkareshwar ( an island in the Namada River ) some 9 miles away to the East; a famous Hindu place of pilgrimage "Mandhata" where Upasni Maharaj had meditated and entered a state of 'samadhi', which then led him to contact Perfect Masters Narayan Maharaj and Sai Baba.
Meanwhile, Padri had dysentery and had remained in the town, Baba was quite ill as well.
LM p.677
RD p.364
August 1924 Historical Time
26th Aug : The Montreal Star published an interview with Henry Ford in which he was quoted as saying that the Ku Klux Klan was "a victim of lying propaganda" and "if the truth were known about it, it would be looked up to as a body of patriots."
* Mortakka to Omkareshwar
: 15 kms / 9 miles ( road - bullock cart
)
Total return : 964 kms / 599 miles
Perfect Masters : Upasni Maharaj Sai Baba of Shirdi Narayan Maharaj
26th August continued ...
In Omkareshwar, Baba met a Bengali 'pundit' ( a priest or scholar) named Nirmal Ananda Swami; the locals called him 'Mahatma' - a great soul. Baba spoke in English with the Swami, telling him to disguise himself so Baba could seek out other sadhus in the area, with his help. Sadhus were found and Baba bowed down to them.
Baba told Sadashiv to bathe in the Narmada River.
They returned to Mortakka ( Omkareshwar Road Railway Station ) at 10pm and departed for Baroda immediately.
The next day 27th August, when Baba's train halted briefly, a Muslim man insisted on meeting 'this man', Baba. After he had taken a block of opium with a chapatti, he shook his hand and started to loudly praise the virtues of Mt. Abu, Baba was impressed by this man and decided to go there.
Later that night, they all arrived again in Baroda and stayed in the same hotel as before. Sadashiv returned to Poona on the same train.
LM p.677
RD p.364
August 1924 Historical Time
27th Aug : Built for the U.S. Navy, paid for by the German government and constructed by the Zeppelin Company as part of World War I reparations, the dirigible USS Los Angeles made its first flight.
- The American Telephone and Telegraph Company announced that a color photograph had been successfully transmitted from Chicago to New York. The process took less than an hour and was done by separating the colors at the point of sending and then reassembling them when received.
August continued ...
The next afternoon, 28th August at 4pm, they walked to Pavagarh ( Pavagad ) town and further along reached the foot of the mountain ( Pavagarh Hills ) at 9pm. They made their way through a narrow jungle path reaching a dharmashla and rested for the night. A local policeman urged them all to sleep indoors due to wild animals roaming the jungle.
On the 29th, they awoke at 6am and soon began climbing the steep mountain. Fog had settled during their trek, and Baba was still very sick with his stomach, but he kept a brisk pace, stopping for tea a couple of times. After climbing for 3 miles, they reached the summit and the Hindu temple ( Kalika Mata Temple ) at the top, which was dedicated to 'Kali' - the mother of the Universe.
Baba and the Mandali went into the temple and bowed down to the 'Divine Mother'.
Beyond the temple was the tomb of a Muslim saint *Sajjan Shah Wali, Baba led the men inside and they bowed down on the saint's tomb.
They then hiked to the ruin fort of Pavaghad. They all took in the scenic views of the mountain range and valley and then Baba talked to the men sbout whether they should move there permanently or at the Sinhgad forts near Poona. They then descended the mountain at 12pm and had lunch. They then returned to Baroda at 8:15pm, staying at the Gujarat Lodge.
August 1924 Historical Time
28th Aug : The August Uprising, an attempt by Georgian independence activists to overthrow the Soviet Communist government of the Georgian Soviet Socialist Republic, began a day earlier than planned when activists in the mining town of Chiatura rose up against the local Communists.
29th Aug : The collision of two Indian railway trains killed 107 passengers and two employees, near Harappa in the Punjab Province in what is now Pakistan.
- The Sultanate of Nejd, led by King Abdulaziz ibn Saud, launched an attack on the neighboring Kingdom of Hejaz, ruled by King Hussein bin Ali and the location of both the holy city of Mecca and the city of Jeddah.
Hejaz would be conquered within three months, and Nejd would annex the kingdom to create the kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
- Edward, Prince of Wales arrived in New York City aboard the RMS Berengaria and began his visit to the United States and Canada.
Baroda to Pavaghad : 55 kms / 34 miles ( rail & walked )
Total return : 110 kms / 68 miles
Webmaster
In the original text in both publications of Ramjoo Diaries & Lord Meher Vol 2, they mention going to Mt. Abu from Pavaghad. The actual location of Mt. Abu in Rajasthan is some 343 kms / 213 miles away. What I believe they were actually implying was that the mount at Pavaghad is the Gujarat version of the actual Mt. Abu. The mention of Mt. Abu in text from the start of the first paragraph above, was removed.
* There is no mention of Sajjan Shah Wali's tomb at Pavagadh, but there was of Sadan Shah Pir.
Sajjan Shah Wali's tomb is located in Jalgaon, some 443 kms / 275 miles away from Baroda.
The old structure when Baba visited in 1924 contained both temples, but in 2022 the tomb of Sadan Shah Pir was dismantled and moved elsewhere and a whole new temple was built. This is part of the Hindu Nationalist policy to ancient
shrines.
In the original texts, it's stated they "hiked to a fort" after visiting the temple.
Not sure where this fort is, possibly near Champaner.
The road-path from the village of Pavaghad to the
Kalika Mata Temple is a long convoluted trek, especially a century ago, due to the terrain.
Map of India with marker. Topographical maps of Pavaghad Mount
August continued ...
The next day, 30th August, Baba said to the men " Oh God, I am not a Baba!" and then cried out "It is you who have bestowed Baba-hood upon me ! Now sadhus and saints want to crush me !"
It appeared later, all these calls, etcetera, were just Baba goading Padri who was 21 y.o.
He had many disturbing thoughts about spirituality ever since he took the animals- Sufi & Saint to Upasni Maharaj, who would abuse him terribly, this had shaken Padri, very much.
On the 9th September, Baba left Baroda after 18 days and headed for Bombay by train. Adi was telegraphed instructing him to meet them at Vajidfar's home in the Irani Mansion in Dadar. They stayed there for a week; a permanent residence still was not decided.
August 1924 Historical Time
30th Aug : With hyperinflation in Germany out of control in the Weimar Republic, the almost worthless German papiermark was finally taken out of circulation.
- Six people were killed in clashes with the Ku Klux Klan in Herrin, Illinois.
- Lebanese citizenship was legally created by decree of France's High Commissioner of the Levant for the French Mandate of Lebanon and Syria
31st Aug : The round-the-world flyers reached continental North America again when they landed at Indian Harbour, Labrador.
September 1924 Historical Time
1st Sept : The Dawes Plan, a restructuring of the payment of reparations owed by Germany to the victorious Allied Powers of World War I, went into effect.
- A hurricane that had stricken the Virgin Islands on August 28 eased, after having killed at least 80 people.
3rd Sept : The Taif massacre of at least 300 civilians was carried out in the Kingdom of Hejaz at the city of Taif, near Mecca, by troops of the Ikhwan, sent by Sultan Ibn Saud of Nejd in the course of the Saudi conquest of Hejaz.
9th Sept : The Hanapepe massacre, a gun battle in the U.S. Territory of Hawaii, killed 20 people, most of them striking Filipino workers at the McBryde sugar plantation on the island of Kauai.
- Combat troops from the United States, Great Britain, Japan and Italy were deployed in Shanghai to protect their nations' interests as civil war appeared imminent in China.
- The Kohat Riots, three days of fighting between Muslims against the minority Hindus and Sikhs, began in the town of Kohat in the North-West Frontier Province of British India (now the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan. 12 Hindus were dead and 13 others missing, and 11 Muslims were confirmed to be killed.
* Baroda to Bombay : 394 kms / 244 miles ( rail )
Total trip : Hardwar to Bombay : 2,817 kms / 1,750 miles
6. TRIP TO GOA
September continued ...
After a few days, Baba decided to go, by train, to Goa with some of the Mandali by train. Padri stayed in Bombay, but Vajidfar, Gustadji, Beheramji and Masaji left for Panjim, via Poona, on the 14th September, travelling on the M. & S.M. rail line. They halted in Londa, due to Vajidfar's fever.
When they arrived at Castle Rock Station, all their luggage, except for Baba's bed roll, was
disinfected using steam. On the way to Marmagao, they viewed the Dudhsagar Waterfalls. Masaji was looking after Vajidfar. They left the train at the
port of Marmagao, and then took a steam-boat, taking a couple of hours to get to Panjim. They stayed at a Christian hotel.
There were many churches in Goa, especially the Good Jesus Basilica, which contained the mummified body of Francis Xavier, who's revered as a saint. Baba made an extensive tour of the church, even climbing the dark stairs to the high dome.
LM p.680
RD p.365
Note : In the original text, it's stated they visited the 3 Waterfalls. The actual waterfalls they did visit were the Dudhsagar Falls, sometimes referred to as 4 Waterfalls. The 3 Waterfalls are located over 200 miles further south.
September 1924 Historical Time
12th Sept : Chilean President Arturo Alessandri fled to Argentina.
- In Italy, Armando Casalini, a Fascist Party member of the Italian Chamber of Deputies, was assassinated by a Communist activist.
- The Nestorian rebellion, a second uprising by the Assyrian people in southeastern Turkey, began.
13th Sept : A 6.8 mag. earthquake killed 60 people in and around the city of Pasinler in northeastern Turkey.
15th Sept : The Second Zhili–Fengtian War began in northeastern China between the Japanese-supported Manchurian forces.
16th Sept : Lauren Bacall, American film, stage and television actress
18th Sept : The U.S. military occupation of the Dominican Republic came to an end after more than eight years, the U.S. Marines turned over police power to the Dominican Republic National Police Force.
- The Mahatma Gandhi began a 21-day fast of despair over the recent riots between Hindus and Muslims.
22nd Sept : The sinking of the American freighter SS Clifton in Lake Huron drowned all 26 of its crew.
24th Sept : British racer Malcolm Campbell broke the record for fastest speed on land, driving "Blue Bird", a Sunbeam 350HP with a V12 engine, at 146.18 miles per hour (235.25 km/h) at Pendine Sands
- Sculptor Gutzon Borglum arrived in the U.S. state of South Dakota at the invitation of Doane Robinson to carry out plans to carve a statue of four American presidents in the state's Black Hills.
26th Sept : Flooding killed 30 people in Leningrad.
28th Sept : The four remaining American aviators in the round-the-world flight expedition completed their journey by landing at Sand Point in Seattle in the airplanes. Including stops for rest and maintenance, the trip took 175 days and covered 27,553 miles (44,342 km). Time 363 hours and 7 minutes.
30th Sept : Born : Truman Capote, writer known for Breakfast at Tiffany's (1958) and In Cold Blood (1966); in New Orleans, Louisiana (d. 1984)
* Bombay to Poona : 169 kms / 105 miles ( rail )
* Poona to Londa : 468 kms / 291 miles ( rail )
* Londa to Mormugao : 109 kms / 68 miles ( rail )
* Mormugao to Panjim : 11 kms / 7 miles ( boat )
Total : 757 kms / 470 miles
Total return to Bombay : 1,514 kms / 940 miles
Click on images to enlarge and descriptions
7. RETURN TO MEHERABAD
October 1924
After staying in Goa for 3 days, they left on the 3rd October, returning to Bombay via the same route by which they arrived. They arrived in Bombay on the
4th October, where they stayed initially at the Irani Mansions. During October and November, Baba travelled several times between Bombay and Ahmednagar. The plan to move to
Sinhgad was stopped.
Meher Baba started to visit a cotton mill named Akbar Press, in Ahmednagar, which was the family home of Nusserwan Satha. Baba's mail would be addressed there and Nusserwan would forward it to him at Meherabad. In the years that followed, the Satha and later the Jessawala families became very significant in Baba's life.
Later, the 2 men who were leaders of Arangaon, the town nearest to Meherabad, introduced the villagers to Meher Baba.
On 18th November, Baba observed silence for a week, staying in his Jhopdi / hut which was locked, while Padri kept watch all day outside. Everyone kept away from him, except Padri.
October 1924 Historical Time
1st Oct : Born : Jimmy Carter, 39th President of the United States, from 1977 to 1981; in Plains, Georgia[5](living in 2024)
5th Oct : Carlos José Solórzano was elected to be President of Nicaragua, to take office on January 1. He would be overthrown on March 14, 1926.
- Seven people died and 48 were injured during rioting in Camagüey, Cuba,
6th Oct : Radio Marconi, the first radio station in Italy for the general public, began broadcasting from Rome as a service of Unione radiofonica italiana (URI).
- Ali of Hejaz was proclaimed the new King of Hejaz after his father, King Hussein bin Ali fled from Mecca to Jeddah
- The United States accepted diplomatic relations with the Irish Free State.
10th Oct : The Commonwealth Electoral Act made compulsory voting the law in Australia.
13th Oct : The holy city of Mecca was captured by the Wahhabi Muslims in the Saudi conquest of Hejaz by the Saudi kingdom of Nejd.
- Hjalmar Branting formed a government as the new Prime Minister of Sweden
15th Oct : The U.S. Navy dirigible USS Los Angeles arrived in the United States at Lakehurst Naval Station
16th Oct : In Germany, Adolf Hitler, incarcerated for organizing the 1923 attempt to overthrow the Weimar Republic government.
18th Oct : The first "round-the-world" wireless radio communication took place between locations in New Zealand and the United Kingdom as favorable atmospheric conditions permitted amateur ham radio operators to hear each other over a distance of more than 19,000 kilometres (12,000 mi).
19th Oct :The 1924 Cuba hurricane, the earliest officially classified Category 5 Atlantic hurricane, struck western Cuba in Pinar del Río Province and killed 90 people.
20th Oct : An explosion of gunpowder killed 14 servicemen on the U.S. Navy light cruiser USS Trenton as it was conducting gunnery drills off the Virginia Capes.
23rd Oct : General Feng Yuxiang, leading the 11th Division of the Chinese Army, carried out the Beijing Coup, arriving in China's capital and taking the city unopposed and overthrowing President Cao Kun.
25th Oct : The Sherlock Holmes short story "The Adventure of the Three Garridebs" by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle was published for the first time.
28th Oct : The British African protectorate of Sierra Leone held its first elections for the native population.
31st Oct : The government of Miguel Primo de Rivera had Spain's highest general, Dámaso Berenguer, sentenced to six months' imprisonment for insubordination.
November 1924 Historical Time
1st Nov : Gerardo Machado was elected president of Cuba
- Britain's Royal Air Force introduced its Meteorological Flight service to take regular readings of the weather.
2nd Nov : Huang Fu was named as the acting President of the Republic of China following the Beijing Coup,
- Ten passengers on a street car in Chicago were killed and 31 others injured when a freight train hit a street car after midnight at the crossing of the Chicago, Milwaukee St.
3rd Nov : In the UK, a railway accident killed 15 British commuters who were riding the Liverpool train.
- In China, General Feng Yuxiang's troops entered Tianjin.
4th Nov : Calvin Coolidge of the Republican Party was elected to a second term in the U.S. presidential election, as Democratic opponent John W. Davis nearly swept the South.
- Stanley Baldwin returned to office as the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom after forming a Conservative Party government, following the October 29 election.
- A mutiny of eight Brazilian Navy officers and 260 sailors took place on the Brazilian battleship São Paulo.[19] The mutineers took control of the ship and attempted unsuccessfully to incite rebellion among officers on other ships, the São Paulo rebels arrived at Uruguay on November 10, where they were granted asylum.
5th Nov : The Irish Boundary Commission held its first meeting to come to an agreement of the dividing line between the Irish Free State and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.
7th Nov : The first commercial radio station in Australia, 2BE, began regular broadcasting from Sydney.
- Boško Boškovič, Governor of Lower Kolašin in Yugoslavia's Montenegro republic, was assassinated. Outraged Christian residents of Montenegro retaliated two days later with the killing of at least 600 Muslims in Šahovići.
12th Nov : The Tientsin Conference began with powerful warlords meeting to discuss the future government of China in the hope of reconciling with Sun Yat-sen's rival government in Canton.
16th Nov : Occupation of the Ruhr: French troops evacuated the right bank of the Rhine.
- In British Malaya, Sir Charles Brooke, the English-born Rajah of Sarawak, oversaw a peacekeeping ceremony between the Iban, Kayan, Kenyah and Kajang peoples
Bombay to Poona to Dhond to Ahmednagar to Meherabad : 328 kms / 204 miles
Return distance : 656 kms / 407 miles
X 3 visits = 1,968 kms / 1,221 miles ( 3 times return - each visit 656 kms )
PADRI DRIVER NAOSHERWAN SATHA
8.
LIVING IN
BOMBAY
December 1924
In the first week of December, Baba travelled with Padri, Masaji and Gustadji to Bombay. They rented a room at the Bharucha Building, and stayed there into January 1925.
Baba had arranged, prior to his visit to Persia, for Mehera, Naja and Daulat to come and stay with him, and share a room. They were to cook the meals. Baba was still fasting and occasionally ate, but he remained on liquids, mostly warm water mixed with sugar.
November 1924 Historical Time
19th Nov : Major-General Sir Lee Stack, British Governor-General of the Anglo-Egyptian Sudan and Sirdar of the Egyptian Army, was shot in Cairo by a gang of Egyptian nationalist students, dying the following day.
20th Nov : Rudolf Ramek formed a government as the new Chancellor of Austria, succeeding Ignaz Seipel.
22nd Nov : Fethi Okyar formed a new government as Prime Minister of Turkey.
23rd Nov : Edwin Hubble announced his discovery that Andromeda, previously believed to be a nebula, is actually another galaxy, and that the Milky Way is only one of many such galaxies in the universe.
24th Nov : Duan Qirui (Tuan Ch'i-jui) was installed by General Feng Yuxiang as the acting President of the Republic of China replacing Huang Fu.
26th Nov : The Mongolian People's Republic, was proclaimed as a Communist nation.
27th Nov : The first Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade was held in New York City by the R. H. Macy & Co. department store.
- The Bear Mountain Bridge, with a main span of 1,631 feet (497 m), at the time the longest suspension bridge in the world, opened in the U.S. state of New York.
28th Nov : Four men were killed when the former Royal Navy battleship HMS Marlborough, almost 70 years old, capsized off of the English coast at Selsey, West Sussex, while being towed to Osea Island.
29th Nov : Died : Giacomo Puccini, 66, Italian opera composer.
30th Nov : Plutarco Elías Calles was inaugurated as the 40th president of Mexico.
December 1924 Historical Time
1st Dec : An attempt by Communists to overthrow the government of Estonia failed, leaving 125 of the 335 rebels dead, and 500 more arrested. The Estonian Army lost 26 soldiers and cadets.
2nd Dec : A devastating earthquake struck Java in the Dutch East Indies (now Indonesia), killing 727 people.
in British India in a ceremony by the Governor-General,
4th Dec : The 85-foot (26 m) high Gateway of India monument, designed by architect George Wittet, was inaugurated in Bombay (now Mumbai) in British India in a ceremony by the Governor-General.
5th Dec : The Battle of Mecca took place as Abdulaziz Ibn Saud, ruler of the Sultanate of Nejd, overwhelmed the outnumbered defenders of the Kingdom of Hejaz and forced Ali bin Hussein, King of Hejaz, to flee the city. The final rout completed the Saudi conquest of Hejaz and the union of Nejd and Hejaz as Saudi Arabia.
- The State of Syria (Dawlat Sūriyā) was created within the Mandate for Syria and the Lebanon
DAULAT IRANI MEHERA IRANI NAJA IRANI CHANJI DADACHANJI
December continued.....
One day in December, Baba instructed Chanji to take Mehera, Naja and Daulat to see a film at his Madelaine Cinema, which he owned. They were wearing ordinary saris and as they were leaving, Baba remarked to them, "Have you all turned into nuns ? Do clothes have any connection with spirituality ? NO ! Change your clothes and then let's go! "
The ladies were happy, putting on their finest saris and they went with Baba to the
cinema.
Baba only watched half the film and they returned to their residency. During this month, Chanji was asked to sell his cinema, and after disposing of all of his worldly possessions, to come and stay permanently with the Mandali.
During December, Baba would take walks in the Victoria Gardens every day for a week along with Mehera, Khorshed, Dina and Soonamasi. One day, as he was coming down through the planes, he pointed to a bench in the park. A man accused him of staring at his family. The ladies all laughed. He later kept silent for another week and no-one was to enter his room. Gustadji kept watch. This was the 4th time ha had kept silent, twice in May at the Jhopdi, once in November and now in December.
LM p.683-6
KHORSHED SOONAMASI DINA TALATI MADELAINE CINEMA
9. TRIP TO BELGAUM
December continued....
A 'Qawaali' musical programme was held outside their house, with Baba listening to it. Baba recited the whole programme to the women, he had a melodious voice and said "One should get so drowned in the love of the Divine Beloved, that one is unaware of anything else. There is no rule underlying this path except for the lover to consider the Divine Beloved's pleasure as his own".
Later in December, Baba travelled to Belgaum in the south of Bombay with only his uncle Masaji, and after roaming the town, they returned to Bombay.
LM p.687
December 1924 Historical Time
10th Dec : The 1924 Nobel Prizes were awarded.
13th Dec : Former Albanian Prime Minister Ahmet Zogu 9later King Zog), who had been driven into exile in June, led an invasion of Albania with guerrillas backed by Yugoslavia, and marched toward the capital, Tirana.
15th Dec : Samuel Smith, a 15-year-old African-American arrested for shooting and wounding a white grocer, was seized from his hospital room in Nashville, Tennessee, by a group of masked and armed vigilantes shortly after midnight, driven to Nolensville and hanged from a tree near the grocer's home. Onlookers then shot the hanging body multiple times.
17th Dec : Constantine VI, the Metropolitan of Derkoi, was elected by his fellow clergy as the new Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople, the leader of the Eastern Orthodox Church, and enthroned the same day. Constantine remained in Turkey for only six weeks before being deported to Greece on January 30, 1925.
- Prempeh I, the exiled ceremonial king of the Ashanti Empire, was allowed to return to Ghana (at the time, the British Gold Coast colony in West Africa).
20th Dec : Adolf Hitler was released from Landsberg Prison as part of a general amnesty for political prisoners, after having served 13 months of a five-year prison sentence.
24th Dec : A fire killed 36 people in a one-room school house at Babbs Switch, Oklahoma
- All eight people aboard an Imperial Airways de Havilland DH.34 airliner— seven of them passengers— were killed while traveling between London and Paris.
27th Dec : An explosion killed 94 persons in Japan, and injured more than 300 persons, as 600 cases of dynamite were being transferred from the cargo ship Shoho Maru to a freight car, at the Temiya railway station at Otaru on the island of Hokkaido.
* Bombay to Belgaum : 596 kms / 370 miles ( rail )
Total return to Bombay : 1,192 kms / 740 miles
August to end December 2024 Travelling
Poona to Madras & Sth India tour : 2,101 kms / 1,304 miles ( rail & walking )
Madras to Howrah : 1,661 kms / 1,032 miles ( rail )
Howrah to Hardwar : 1,517 kms / 943 miles ( rail )
Hardwar to Bombay : 2,817 kms / 1,750 miles ( rail & walking )
Bombay to Goa return : 1,514 kms / 940 miles ( rail & boat )
Bombay to Ahmednagar : 1,968 kms / 1,221 miles ( 3 times return - each 656 kms )
Bombay to Belgaum return : 1,192 kms / 740 miles ( rail )
TOTAL DISTANCE : 12,770 kms / 7,935 miles
This concludes the very hectic year of 1924.
The following map illustrates all the trips Meher Baba made within British India in all 1924.
REFERENCE BOOKS
The reference books that were used on this webpage :
Lord Meher Vol.2 - Bhau
Kalchuri pages 589 - 687
Ramjoo's Diary - Ramjoo
Abdulla pages 352 - 367
The Perfect Master - Charles B. Purdom pages 67
- 72
The God-Man - Charles B.
Purdom pages 46 - 49
Posted : 3rd April 2024