MEET SANDEEP CHOURASIA | Shaktipeeth pilgrimage specialist, India Beacons Sojourn
A Shaktipeeth pilgrimage is more than visiting temples. It is understanding the journey between them.
The stories behind a shrine. The customs of a village. The little-known roads that lead to an ancient temple. The ways in which history, faith and local culture come together. These are the experiences Sandeep Chourasia loves sharing with the people who travel with him.
For pilgrims who want to go beyond a checklist of temple visits, a personally guided journey with Sandeep offers the chance to discover the Shaktipeeths through the eyes of someone who has spent years seeking them out, travelling their routes and listening to the traditions surrounding them.
The call that changed his direction
In 2011, a Baba from Chennai contacted Sandeep about arranging a vehicle to visit approximately 20 temples. Sandeep knew the locations of only a few. The Baba explained that these were Shaktipeeths and that West Bengal was Blessed to have 13 of the 51 Shaktipeethas and 1 Ashtadasha Shaktipeetha (As laid down by Adi Shankracharya).
What followed was not a ready-made itinerary. At a time when reliable online temple locations were difficult to find, Sandeep and his wife, Anubha, made repeated exploratory journeys to identify the shrines. Directions were sometimes misleading. Some temples took several attempts to locate. Over roughly a year, he found them one after another.
Sandeep credits his wife, Anubha, with inspiring his interest in spirituality through her own devotion and spiritual pursuits. His subsequent search for these temples gave that inspiration a new direction. What began as an assignment involving transport grew into a fascination with the sacred geography of the Shaktipeeths, their traditions, the surrounding communities and the extraordinary journeys pilgrims make to reach them.
A depth of first-hand experience
Since 2011, Sandeep has travelled extensively among the Shaktipeeths of India, Bangladesh, Nepal and Sri Lanka, as well as the Jyotirlingas. He has personally visited the 49-Shaktipeeth circuit on at least ten occasions, accompanying different travellers, and undertaken approximately 250 West Bengal Shaktipeeth journeys.
His personal pilgrimage experience includes visits to 50 Shaktipeeths and all 12 Jyotirlingas. He has returned to many of these sacred sites on numerous occasions, adding to his first-hand understanding of their traditions, routes and practical pilgrimage arrangements.
This accumulated experience matters: the difference between a tour planned from a list of destinations and one informed by repeated, first-hand visits can be felt in the pacing of the day, the understanding of practical conditions and the ability to explain the significance of each place.
Travel with stories, not just an itinerary
A journey with Sandeep is intended to be an engaging experience. Along the way, he shares what he has learned about the temples, their legends, local traditions, regional history and cultural setting. Conversations often extend beyond the sanctum to the villages, landscapes, customs and people encountered along the route.
For many guests, this is the part they remember: not simply that they reached a temple, but that they came away with a richer understanding of the place.
Personal attention throughout the journey
Thoughtful planning and attentive guest care are central to Sandeep’s approach. Long journeys, remote locations and unfamiliar surroundings require realistic schedules, suitable transport arrangements, communication and sensitivity to each traveller’s needs.
Women travelling independently have also undertaken extensive pilgrimages with Sandeep, including journeys covering all 49 Shaktipeeths. Their experiences are an important part of the trust he hopes to earn, although every itinerary is assessed individually and no journey can be guaranteed risk-free.
Guest comfort and practical safety are taken seriously: arrangements should reflect the travellers, the places being visited and the conditions at the time.
From taxation to travel and spiritual exploration
Sandeep started his taxation practice in 1997 through Chourasia S and Associates. He still handles a small number of selected professional cases, but his work expanded into organised travel in 2009 and, following an unexpected encounter in 2011, into Shaktipeeth pilgrimages as well.
He established India Beacons Sojourn in 2009, initially conducting tours to the Sundarbans and Northeast India, including East Sikkim, Assam, Arunachal Pradesh and Meghalaya. The company was already active in nature and regional travel when a chance encounter with a baba from Chennai in 2011 opened a new direction: spiritual journeys to the Shaktipeeths. In 2013, India Beacons built its own Sundarbans houseboat, M V INDIA BEACONS, extending its tourism activities.
His education includes an M.Com, LL.B, intermediate professional studies in ICA and ICWA, a Diploma in Tourism and completion of the Incredible India Tourist Facilitator Certification programme in 2020. His trekking and mountaineering background includes the Basic Mountaineering Course at Himalayan Mountaineering Institute and the Advanced Mountaineering Course at Nehru Institute of Mountaineering.
These different chapters—professional practice, adventure, tourism entrepreneurship and spiritual exploration—combine in an approach that is both methodical and deeply personal.
Recognised through guest experiences
India Beacons Sojourn’s Sundarbans journeys have received TripAdvisor recognition and guest reviews over the years. Official award badges, their exact titles and relevant historical rankings will be displayed after the original certificates and listing records have been checked.
Explore the Shaktipeeths with Sandeep
If your idea of a pilgrimage includes hearing the stories behind the sacred places, understanding local traditions and travelling with an experienced specialist who takes a personal interest in the journey, ask about a personally guided Shaktipeeth tour with Sandeep.
Personal guidance is subject to Sandeep’s availability and must be expressly confirmed in the quotation or booking. India Beacons Sojourn also operates other guided and non-guided tour packages through its wider team.
Explore Shaktipeeth Darshan and enquire about your preferred dates and pilgrimage route.