We left Kanchipuram early Thursday morning to drive (5.5 hours) to beautiful Kumbhakonam.
The hotel grounds were beautiful.
To the Chidambaram Nataraj Temple (1 of 5 Elemental Lingas of Shiva Pilgrima). I will let the photos speak for themselves.
Blogged on Amma’s iPhone with Love (from the bus).
Tuesday we got up early and boarded the bus in Bellur to take us to the Bangalore airport. After a long check in process, we boarded the plane to Chennai where another bus awaited us to drive us to Kanchipuram. It was a long day!
After check in at our hotel, we met in the lobby where our bus was waiting to take us to Ekambaraswara Temple (one of five Shiva temples associated with fire element). It was late in the day when we arrived at the temple.
There were renovations being done on one of the temples which made for a good jungle gym.
I know this is a bit out of chronology but thought it would fit in here. The notice below was sitting on the night stand in our hotel room. Evidently monkeys pose a nuisance.
Blogged on Amma’s iPhone from CGH Earth Mantra Koodam Resort in Kumbhakonam (check this one out online!) with Love.
Here are my final photos of Bellur.
This was our final lunch in Bellur. The Brahmans started preparing Guruji’s favorite meal very early in the morning. The food was Ayurvedic, vegetarian and delicious. No utensils, no napkins. A bit messy, but when in Rome …
I took the following photos on campus while we were taken on tour.
We toured the hospital Guruji had built for the villagers. I especially took note of this sign, making sure I obeyed all the rules. Or else …
There are many old photos of Guruji. The next two are photos I especially like.
Blogged in Amma’s iPhone (on the busride to Kumbhakonam) with Love.
Today was our last full day in Bellur. The bus will be here to pick us up at 6:30am to take us to the Bangalore airport to begin the second leg of our trip. From there we will fly to Chennai.
Since my night time is your morning, I have already had a full Monday. You may be having breakfast, but our last dinner starts soon. I’m already packed with the exception of the toiletries I’ll need before leaving.
Today the Brahmans got up very early and came to cook us a feast for lunch. I took some photos, but you won’t get to see those until my next post because I’m trying to keep my writings and photos chronological. I will say this, the feast was incredible.
We are currently having a thunderstorm, which has been an almost daily occurrence. The weather app is telling me we’ll have more of the same as we continue our journey. Fear not. I brought an umbrella.
The first picture, below, is a view of the practice hall from Salamba Sarvangasana (aka shoulder stand). Because in this pose you balance on your shoulders with the back of the head/neck on the floor looking up to the ceiling, this is what the view looks like. The ceiling has things hanging for acoustic purposes, but it’s really quite abstract and I thought it would make a good photo. I was right.
I will share the final Bellur photos, including the feast, in my next post.
Blogged on Amma’s iDevices with love.
Savita Iyengar, Guruji’s youngest daughter, invited us to her home on campus to check out and purchase sarees if anyone needed one for the pitru paksha ritual. I didn’t need one but attended anyways.
The next morning we had to be up early and ready to go. It was arranged for us to have a woman arrive at 8am to help put our sarees on. It’s a very complicated process. A saree is basically a long “sheet” of material that is wrapped around, pleated to shorten the fabric and then a remaining portion which is prettier, sometimes with tassels, is draped over the right shoulder.
I thought I was clever by putting my own saree on without assistance. It looked great until I was told the sash goes over the left shoulder, not the right.
I was one of the first people to the lobby and instead of waiting for the woman to help, I stopped one of the working ladies headed to her job in the kitchen. She got me all fixed up. By the time she was done, a long line had formed, so she began helping the next person in line, then the next, and the next, and the next, etc.
This lady fixed ALL our sarees! The other lady who was supposed to do it never showed up. The following photo is our new friend taking care of one of the ladies’ saree. You can see how long the saree is before it’s wrapped.
My friend Mimi was on my left, and Bonnie, my roommate, was on my right.
The celebration was wonderful. We had a plate of prasadam (rice, black sunflower seeds, bananas, etc.) for offering to the pitris (ancestors) for purification of the lineage. I was limited in the photos I was able to take, so this is all I can share. There are also a lot of details I will leave out, but I can say that it was very auspicious.
These two men serve our breakfast, lunch and dinner every day, always with a smile on their faces. The orange food on the plate was deep fried plantains. It was the best treat!
And here’s a typical spread of food. This was lunch. Dal is served at every meal. Delicious freshly made yogurt is served every day with lunch and dinner for digestion. I don’t know what the name is for most of the foods I’ve eaten, but it’s all been really good. Everything is made fresh and according to the Iyengars’ strict Ayurvedic diet – no meat. Sometimes a bit spicy for me, but still very good.
After lunch a few of us went for a walk around campus. This first photo is for the grandkids. (They’ll understand)
One of the ladies in our group was feeding bananas to this monkey. Evidently she didn’t understand what a nuisance monkeys can be! The next day, my roommate was sitting on the veranda of our room and a monkey came right up and sat on the ledge! She said she looked out and there were about 14 monkeys hanging around! Then we found out that our neighbors had a monkey come into their room while they were in there and rummaged through their trash can!
That’s it for today. It’s 2:30pm here (2am where you are). We’re given a two hour break every day, so I’m going to take a small nap before going back into the practice hall for lecture.
Oh! Tomorrow is our last full day here in Bellur. Tuesday morning we will get up, eat breakfast and head to the Bangalore airport and begin the second leg of our journey, first to Chennai by plane, then travel through southern India by bus. Hopefully I’ll have time to keep you updated along the way.
Blogged on Amma’s iPad and iPhone with love!
The schedule here has been quite demanding and the weather hot and sticky. However we had a reprieve late yesterday afternoon and evening with lots of thunder, lightening and rain. Fortunately the rain didn’t interfere with our activities.
To be in the place of our Guruji’s birthplace and to be practicing such an auspicious and ancient YOG is quite an honor.
Here are some photos of the campus grounds (more of these to come).
The biggest highlight of this leg of the trip was the pitru paksha ritual, which is done every year on the last day of pitru paksha.
We were required to bring and wear sarees (pronounced “sorry”) to the ritual.
This has been a true bonding experience. There’s more to the saree story and ritual that I’ll save for an upcoming blog post.
Stay tuned for more from Bellur.
Blogged from Bellur with love.
I arrived at the Bangalore airport at 5:15 am Sunday. A driver took me to Bellur, along with two others who arrived on different flights.
I have had rides with a lot of crazy drivers in India but this one takes the prize!. He was not only the craziest driver, but about half way to Bellur he decided it was necessary to blast his stereo system for 3 over-50s women, showing off his incredible woofer system. The bass was so loud the whole car was shaking.
I took a video but my phone’s WiFi is not allowing it to download.
The Yoga Center is surrounded with beautiful views of the countryside. I haven’t taken many photos yet, but here are a few.
Blogged on Amma’s iPhone with love from Bellur.
While in Pune, 2019, I attended a Sunday morning “Learning the yoga sutras with clarity and rigour” group with Prashantji. Because Srineet was delayed in traffic, Prashantji changed the topic and spoke about the present moment. He spoke about how the past brings regrets, the future brings anxiety and while the present moment is now, it is gone the very next moment.
This came to me so vividly today during my morning sadhana. Are you able to sit quietly long enough to witness that moment in time between the past and future where you truly get a glimpse of yourself?
Gitte Bechsgaard has shared many times Mantriji’s quote: “You aren’t who you think you are.” A visit to that moment in time that is neither the past nor the future can unlock that door and bring clarity to the moment.
Last week I visited Robb, Alo and Kando in the Bay Area. As I was sitting on the floor next to the heater (where I parked myself much of the time), Kando plopped down in front of me with his feet like this. In Light on Yoga, Guruji shows this as the first (easy) stage of Virasana (plate 85). Perhaps a yogi in the making!
I hadn’t seen the boys in person for a very long time. Because of the rain, we spent most of the time inside playing games with a couple walks squeezed in when the rain stopped. I had a great time with them!
Blogged on Amma’s iMac after two years of silence with LOVE!
Hello friends and family. I thought I’d post an update on one of our favorite past times. For several years we’ve been keeping an eye on the Birdcam aimed at the dove nest we have hanging just outside our laundry room door and window. Bruce built this beautiful bird nursery that the doves have used many times. Last year we probably had 5 separate nestings, all successful except one little chick that didn’t make it.
Doves lay two eggs, one day apart. The first egg is left in the nest unattended until the second egg is laid so the babies mature equally. Then the mother dove sits on the eggs from late afternoon to early morning when the father dove relieves her and sits on the eggs during the day. Incubation period is approximately 14-16 days.
April 8 morning – The mother dove and two eggs sit waiting for the father dove to come and take his scheduled daytime duty. These eggs were laid March 29.
This Monday (4/12) at approximately 6:30am – A peek of the first hatchling. This little one didn’t wait to get started feeding. (Video)
We have often wondered what happens to the egg shells after the babies hatch because there is no sign of egg shells anywhere in the nest. That question was answered in the following video when hatchling #2 poked its curious head out of its shell. The parent dove didn’t waste any time cleaning house. This video is a bit longer, slightly over 2 minutes, but it’s worth watching. Pardon the early morning local news radio background noise. (Video)
Aren’t they cute??
This morning, a peek at one baby dove sitting in front of its father. This is a rare sighting of a baby dove only 2 days old. The parents normally sit and protect them until they get too big and/or active. This is a wide angle camera so the photos are just a bit distorted.
Then a photo I took this afternoon of both parents at the nest.
An update on my mom – I would say she’s as fully recovered as she’s going to be after she fell and broke her hip a week before Christmas. She had a partial hip replacement and spent almost a week in the hospital (covid style – no visitors) and then a little over a month in a skilled nursing facility (we were allowed to visit her there a couple times, outside in the patio). Because she was in skilled nursing, she managed to be among the first in San Diego to get fully vaccinated. She’s been home about two and a half months, has completed all her in-home medical care and she’s doing very well. I get her out to walk around the block (on the flat side of the hill) almost every day which amounts to about a 20 minute walk, and I’m also doing some physical therapy with her which she calls “yoga.”
We had two small family gatherings for her 93rd birthday, April 2 at her house and the next evening we took her to Miguel’s on Shelter Island. We had fun with Jamie & Bobby who flew down from Idaho and Robb & the boys who drove down and surprised her.
We hadn’t seen Robb and the boys in over a year! Zoom has been great though, as we’re able to talk face to face almost every other Friday.
Ron and the kids missed the festivities because they had previous plans for Spring Break to go to Catalina Island for half the week where they got to go on a helicopter ride.
I apologize for the long delay in posting. Even though life has gotten much more simple for me, I am still very busy. I can’t make any promises, but I’ll try to be more regular in my posts.
Blogged on Amma’s MacBook Pro, as always, with LOVE …
Today I had the pleasure of pulling out one of Maya’s front teeth. Correction … it was her only front tooth. She lost her other one a couple days ago. This poor tooth was hanging by a thread. So I did what anyone would do. I offered her an apple. She took me up on the offer, but she made me cut it in small pieces for her.
Bruce found a YouTube video with a variety of inventive ways one could have their front tooth removed, all of which involved a piece of string. One had the other end tied to a rocket that blasted up. A dad tied the other end to a ball and when the girl threw the ball the tooth went with it. A sibling rode a bike away holding the piece of string – tooth gone! Another tied the string to a ball and hit the ball with a bat. One kid pulled his own tooth out by shooting a Nurf arrow with the string attached. The amazing thing about all these “tricks” is that none of the kids cried. In fact, all of them were willing participants and were ecstatic, jumping for joy when they realized their trick worked.
Not surprising, Maya wasn’t going for any of those ideas. It took me two hours to convince her it was time for the tooth to come out and that I was the right person to do it. She was ready, then she wasn’t, then she was ready, then she wasn’t. This went on, as I said, for two hours.
It wasn’t very creative, but the time came when Maya opened her mouth, let me put my fingers in there and I yanked that puppy right out of there!
Oh happy day!
Blogged on Amma’s iMac with LOVE!