5. History

SHRI JALARAM BAPA (1799-1881 A. D. )
The saying goes - Guest is god-'Athidhi Devo Bhava'. That is why among Indians, it is a tradition, whether there be sufficient food for the family members or not, but whoever comes to the house at the meals time, are first fed. Feeding all, and especially the poor, are not only a humane but also a spiritual act as per Indian thinking.There is no greater meritorious act than feeding the poor and hungry. Actually allaying the hunger of whosoever he is, whether he is rich or poor, is a highly meritorious act indeed.

Virpur in Saurashtra is very famous. It was the place of birth of one of the great saints of recent times, namely Sri Jalaram. He had sanctified the place by his devotional and spiritual sadhanas. Feeding the people was one of the routine daily chores in his life, besides his other devotional exercises. He used to delight himself allaying the hunger of people. "It is Narayana, the lord himself I am feeding" - that was his bhavana and belief. Even today in the Jalaram Ashram at Virpur, thousands and thousands of people are fed daily. The kitchen is run there at all times of the day. What is fed there is 'Prasad', which not only fills the stomach and nourishes the body, but also nourishes the soul. Jalaram termed this mass feeding by the name 'Sada Vrat', that is an all-time and every day duty, which he undertook as his principal Sadhana.

Jalaram was born in Virpur in the year 1799, on the seventh day of the Kartika month. His father was Pradhan Thakkar and mother was Rajbai. At his sixteenth year, Jalaram was married. His wife's name was Virbai.

Jalaram's uncle Valji, who had no children, had always loved Jalaram. He asked Jalaram and his wife to stay in his house, as members of his own family. He had a grocery shop of his own, and made Jalaram to attend to it. Jalaram was working very sincerely at the shop. But here his charitable deeds continued as ever.

Many miraculous events happening in Jalaram's life brought a tremendous change in his mind. His spiritual yearning, which was dormant in him so far, burst forth in a new blaze. It made him completely restless. His uncle, who noticed this, thought that it was good and advisable to send him on a pilgrimage to some of the holy places. Jalaram visited Ayodhya, Kasi, Badrinath and several other sacred places. He also visited Fatehpur and took Diksha from one saint named Bhojalram.He sought also the Guru's blessings to start ' Sadavrat'.

Jalaram started the Sadavrat at his 20th year. He just started it with forty measures of grain. The very first guest to his Sadavrat was a saint. The guest saint blessed Jalaram and gave him the idols of Sri Rama, Lakshman and Sita and told him that he should offer worships to the idols daily. On the third day itself after Jalaram started the worship of the idols, he got a vision of Hanuman, Jalaram got a temple constructed and installed the idols gifted to him by the saint, along with the idol of Hanuman also.Jalaram was doing the daily worship of the idols till his very last day, with the deepest devotion.

For his Sadavrat, the inflow of the people was increasing day by day. Jalaram's gentle and hospitable nature, combined with his humility, used to win the admiration for all. But his means were meager and limited to meet the ever-increasing expenses for the daily mass feeding of the visitors and the pilgrims. He used to work very hard in the field" to make both ends meet", to keep the "Sadavrat" ever going on without any slackening. But his ever-lasting faith and dependence on Lord Sri Rama guided him throughout.

Inspired by his insatiable desire to feed the poor and needy, many became his devotees, and used to serve him, helping in the 'Sadavrat'. Mulubha Thakore, Jam Saheb and many others, who experienced Jalaram's grace, gave contributions to his Ashram. Whenever there was any shortage in the ashram, help used to come from unknown sources. His wife always stood by his side with total devotion and used to toil all the time in the Ashram- services and kitchen work.

The maharajah of Dhrangadhara presented two big grinding stones for use in the kitchen, which are still there. The Nawab of Junagadh donated some land for the Ashram.

Jalaram stood the test of time, wavered. One day an old sadhu came. He appeared greatly fatigued and tired. Jalaram welcomed him and offered to serve him. The visitor made a strange request. He said" I do not want your food. I have no one to attend to me, if you really want to help, you give away your wife and send her along with me to serve and attend on me." Jalaram after consultation with his wife offered Virabai to him. The sadhu left the place along with Virabai. They reached the outskirts of a forest. The sadhu asked her to wait there for some time and said he had a little work to attend to and would come back soon. He left with his 'Danda' and 'Jholi' asking her to keep watch on them while he would be away. As he walked along in to the forest, Akash vani was heard saying "Virabai, my child ! you are a great sati. Your husband Jalaram is matchless in his charity; he excels even Sibi and Karna. He is my dearest devotee. I bless you both always. Go back to your husband, install my Danda and Jholi in your Ashram, and worship them. Go on serving your husband and people. That is your worship to me. I shall be ever with you." The Danda and Jholi were installed in Virpur and they are worshipped even now. Jalaram and his wife thus stood the severest test of God, passed through it unscathed and earned the fullest Grace of God.

Jalaram had one daughter. She was married to Bhaktiram of Kotdapitha. She had one son Hari Ram. In the year 1881, Jalaram Bapa took his Samadhi. At Virpur, the Sadavrat goes on still, in a most magnificent way.

4. Religious Place Virpur

Virpur is well known for the temple of lord Jalaram and attracts thousands of pilgrims daily. Nearby at Khambalida are some Buddhist relics.

Saint Jalaram was a devotee of Lord Ram. From very childhood, he served the Shadhu, saints and needy without any bias, opinion or discrimination of any kind. He had done hard labor to earn money to serve the society. With the name of Lord Ram on their lips, mind and heart, his wife and him served men, women, child, old, young, rich, poor and animals alike. His spirit continues to serve the people who believe in him and who need desperate help in every day trouble in life. His temples are found all over the world. Many devotees of Jalaram are residing in the USA. They formed Jalaram Seva Samaj of North America (JSS) to continue the tradition Jalaram began to serve the public.

In virpur, Trustees have stop taking cash money as well as any sort of foodgrains since 9th February, 2001 As they have enough money and they dont require any more money from anyone. It is the first and only temple in the world to discard taking money from people.

Jalaram was born in Virpur in the year 1799, on the seventh day of the Kartika month. His father was Pradhan Thakkar and mother was Rajbai. At his sixteenth year, Jalaram was married. His wife's name was Virbai.

At the tender age of 16, Jalaram married Virbai, daughter of Thakkar Pragji Somajia. Jalaram was however not inclined to live household life and to continue to do business with his father. He is mostly engaged in serving sadhus and saints. He separated himself from his father's business and stayed with his uncle, Valjibhai, who was very fond of Jalaram. It was obvious that Jalaram was inclined to completely withdraw from marital life. Fortunately his wife, Virbaima decided to follow the path of Jalaram. So, when Jalaram decided to go for a pilgrimage for holy places, Virbaima followed him.

At the age of 18, Jalaram Bapa accepted Shree Bhojalram from Fatehpur as guru and was given a "Guru Malaa and Mantra" in the name of Shree Ram. With blessings of his guru, he started "Sadavrat" a feeding centre, a place where all sadhus and saints as well as the needy could have food any time during 24 hours. Nobody returned from that place without having food. All this he did single handed with Virbaima assisting him.

Soon his fame spread as an incarnation of the divine. Whoever come to Virpur, whether Hindu or Muslim was fed by Bapa. Once three Arabs in the service of Thakore of Rajkot demanded an increase in wages by four rupees in a month. Being refused, the Arabs resigned and set out to Junagadh. On their way, they hunted few birds and kept them in their shoulder bag. When they reached Virpur, Bapa asked them to have their meals and then go. When they protested that they were Muslims, Bapa said that in the court of God there was no distinction in caste and creed and they were welcome.

The three Arabs had their meals in the temple but they were embarrassed that they were carrying dead birds in their bag. The Bapa touched the bag and said that the birds were feeling suffocated. The Arabs opened the bag and found that the birds were alive. They flew away to a nearby tree. The Arabs were amazed and understood that they were in the presence of divine person. They fell at his feet and asked whether they would get a job in Junagadh.

Bapa said "What was the need to have a job in Junagadh? The Arabs serve only one master." Just at that time, a camel man sent by Thakore of Rajkot arrived there. He took back the Arabs with him saying that Thakore has sanctioned an increment of seven rupees in their wages.

There are many stories about the greatness of the saint of Virpur. Remembering the stories, we can fill the heart with devotion and gratitude.

In 1934, Jalaram Bapa worked very hard for whose who were struck by the terrible famine. In 1935 Virbama died and in 1937 Jalaram Bapa left his body in his prayers. This is the story of the great saint of Virpur.

3. Jay Jalaram Bapa Temple at Virpur

India is a land of saints since ages. Many saints have served the poor and miserable people of India through out their life. Such saints are really rare on this earth. One of such saint was Jalarambapa of Gujarat. Saint Jalaram was born in the year 1799 at Virpur, a small village near Rajkot, one of the important cities of Gujarat. There is a famous temple of Jalarambapa at Virpur in Gujarat. Many Indians have a deep faith in Jalarambapa. They always visit this temple whenever they get an opportunity. Saint Jalaram was not a god but was a human being, just like you and me. In spite of it, he is worshipped today amongst all Indians more than god. The worshippers of Saint Jalaram are available in all the parts of the world.

devotee of Lord Ram. His father was doing a business at Virpur near Rajkot in Gujarat. In spite of his many efforts, young Jalaram never took any interest in the worldly activities and was drawing towards Lord Ram day by day. His guru gave him one advice to feed hungry people all the time. Jalaram took this advice and started giving food to the poor, sick and needy people. His parents made him to marry Virbai, a local village girl. However, his religious activities continued along with his wife. Jalaram was moving from village to village to collect the donation to feed hungry people. People started to know and recognize about the work of Jalaram and they started giving donations to him for his noble cause of feeding hungry people. The span of activities increased and Jalaram was soon worshipped as "Rotibaba". He started giving food to all the people coming to his house since the year 1827. Both Jalaram and his wife continued serving like this for many years. Then came the greatest famine of the century in the year 1856. Jalaram and Virbai worked very hard and fed hungry people all through this famine. This service was really invaluable as it was performed without any physical expectations of any kind of returns. Finally, Jalarambapa died on 23 rd February 1881 while doing prayers of Lord Ram at Virpur only where he was born. This is called samadhi in Hindu religion.

The temple of Saint Jalaram was established at Virpur, Rajkot after the samadhi of bapa to pay the tribute to the noble acts of Saint Jalaram in the year 1885. There is no statue of Jalarambapa in this temple but his only real photograph available is worshipped here. Most of the Indians visit this place and Virpur has become a place of pilgrimage since then. The old practice of serving food, tea, and snacks whoever come to this temple is continued even today after around 121 years. This service was possible due to unlimited donations from Indians all over the world and has never stopped even for a single day during the long span of 121 years. Even today, all the persons visiting this temple take prasad in form of lunch, dinner or snacks. The whole job of cooking, serving, cleaning etc. is done by the youngsters of Virpur village without taking any type of compensation. Have you seen such a holy and noble place where food is served to all the people with love and affection without any charges for last 121 years? I am sure your answer would be NO. The most important aspect is that the temple trust have stopped taking donations since the year 2001 as there are sufficient funds already available to continue this service in the future. Special lunch and dinner are served on the birthday of Saint and some special occasions.

You can reach Virpur by road from any major city of Gujarat. Virpur is around 130 miles from Ahmedabad by national highway 8B. The roads are excellent and it hardly takes around 3 hours to drive. There is a Dharmashala available, managed by the temple trust, to stay during the night at very nominal rates of Rs. 20 (50cents) per day for two people. There is a small market where you can buy all types of souvenirs of Saint Jalaram. The temple is still having the bag and the stick that was carried by Saint Jalaram while he was going for collecting donations. There is also a beautiful statue of lord Ram and Devi Sita in the temple. The temple remains open all through the day and closes at 9pm. The morning and evening Artis are really worth attending. Try to remain present during these Artis and you will have a divine pleasure. Though food is provided free, there are some small hotels that can provide varieties of food on nominal payment. Around 10000 pilgrims visit this holy temple everyday and pay their homage to the great Saint Jalaram.

If you also want to share this unique experience, make sure to visit this temple at least for a day in Gujarat. This will increase your faith in powers of human beings and what can be achieved by the sincere efforts of an ordinary human being.

2. Family Tree of Jay Jalaram Bapa

1. Life History of Jay Jalaram Bapa

Shree Jalaram Bapa was born in Samvant 1856 (A.D. 1800). His mother's name was Rajbai and father's name was Pradhan Thakkar. Pradhan Thakkar and Valji Thakkar were two brothers actively and honestly engaged in business earning their livelihood.

It is said that Rajbai, wife of Pradhan Thakkar was religous lady who was very inclined to serve sadhus' and sants'. A mother of three sons and three daughter's, she was content in her family life and used to find free time to do her religous duties to sadhus' and sants'. She was once a host to Sant Raghuveerdasji who was very impressed with her selfless services and had blessed her - his blessings were that her second son would be instrumental in enhancing the services that she was doing - he would be famous all over in advocating pious life, duty full of devotion and act of good deeds. This second son was none other than our Shree Jalaram Bapa.

There was a remarkable incident in early life of this saint person : when he was a child, a saint came to the house and requested to see Jalram; when they came face to face with each other - Jalaram at once greeted the saint with respectful "Namaskar" and it appeared that Jalaram had recollected his previous life, he realised who he was, he was reminded of his goal in life - it is argued that this visiting saint was probably a heavenly messenger - from that day onwards the young Jalaram never stopped chanting "Sita Ram" and he began to live life in a different way.

At a young age of 14 Jalaram's marraige was arranged with Virbai, a daughter of Thakkar Pragji Somaija. Jalaram was not in favour of marraige, but his duties towards his parents forced him to accept this arranged marraige. He got married when he was 16 years of age.

Jalaram's love towards sadhus' and sants' grew day by day and he would go to any extent to entertain sadhus and sants. This was not acceptable to his father. Jalaram's deep involvement with sadhus' and sants' led to his seperation from his father's business. He had decided to go his way. He worked for his uncle for some time. Uncle Valjibhai was very fond of Jalaram, but even that love and fondness would not deter Jalaram's desire to serve sadhus' and sants'. If at all anything it made more determined to devote himself fully to the service of sadhus' and sants' and the needy. He was fully aware that such devotion would mean complete withdrawal from marital life, a life free from family ties and circles. His inclination was to go on that path faster and with approval of his parents and uncle Valjibhai, he set out on a holy pilgrimage of holy places. He was fortunate that Virbaima was keen to follow her husband Jalaram. To her, Jalaram's work was her work, Jalaram's wishes were her wishes and all that Jalaram decided to do she was but prepared to do that. She was following Jalaram in every respect.

At the age of 18 he accepted Bhojalram as his Guru and with Gurus' blessings, he started "Sadavrat" a feeding centre, a place where all sadhus' and sants' and the needy can go and expect to be fed 24 hours a day. Both Jalaram Bapa and Virbaima started working for this holy place. Jalaram's strong belief was that "This was the Lord's order - This was Lord's work - I am not doing anything for anybody - Lord has asked me to do this work - since it is Lord's work HE looks after it and ensures that it functions". Actually that did happen - indeed the place functioned well. Nobody ever returned from that place without being fed. One can question whether this can possibly be done by a single person - Yes. We argue and debate and yet probably would not come to a sensible answer - but then to do what Jalaram did one has to be a person of Jalaram's determination, his patience, his love towards others.

He was 20 years when his saintliness acquired a great fame. There are stories of how he was put to tests for his qualities of patience, endurence, love towards others, his steadfastness of thinking - he did not change under any pressure - he came out of all those tests successfully. His fame spread and he was regarded and accepted as a saint. People started worshipping him. They came to him for guidance in difficulties, for blessings in real distress and discomfort. It is said that once he was called out to see an ailing child struct with serious disease. Parents of this child believed that the cure was solely due to Jalaram Bapa's blessings - Jala was since called Allah. In another instance a person who was threatened to be imprisoned went to Jalaram for his blessings. This man was not only saved from such imprisonment but he decided to lead a normal honest life then onwards. Jalaram was then onwards addressed as Bapa - Father of all. There are numerous such instances that can be quoted from his books but fact is that his feeding place was open and is still open today in Virpur where people go and are fed. People go to Jalaram Bapa's places for prayers to him and seek his blessings for their personal griefs, shortcomings and failures and many acquire relief and satisfaction.

Human beings during their span of life always aspire to be rich and acquire wealth - they pray for complete family life - it is such saint as Jalaram Bapa who remain away from such desire and wants. In their lives they always give - even when they are gone they still give to those who ask from them with purity of heart and sincerity of purpose.

In 1934 during terrible famine Jalaram Bapa worked very hard to feed those who were suffering. In 1935 Virbaima died and 1937 Jalaram Bapa died while in prayers.

Such is the story of the life of this Great Saint of Virpur.