Gopal and the Sacred Mountain Arunachala

Because of the limited time I have for blog posting, I decided to limit my “words” and allow you to experience my adventures through mostly photos.

The trip was filled with many more memories, some chaotic that can only be experienced, ancient philosophical history and visits to temples where photography was not allowed. Those memories will remain locked away in my memory bank.

Here are the photos of our time spent with Gopal during the rickshaw tour around the mountain called Arunachala.

This temple reminded me of a merry go round.

Looking at the high point of Arunachala.

Another Nandi carved in the rock on the way back down.

The is was our last full day in Thiruvanmalai. We got up early the next morning, attended a short puja at Ramana Ashram, had breakfast and began our very long drive back to Bangalore.

The drive was only supposed to be about 4 hours, but it rained most of the day and there was flooding and other obstacles that forced us to take a detour, so we didn’t get to the hotel until 5 o’clock. I got a few hours of sleep and got up early to start my journey home.

Blogged from home on Amma’s iPhone with LOVE! 💕

Thiruvanmalai

Heading back toward Bangalore, we spent two nights in Thiruvanmalai, the holy abode of Lord Arunachaleswar, the Agni (fire aspect) of Lord Shiva. Here we visited the Maharishi Tamana Ashram and attend the ritual and abhishekam at the Shiva Temple, which sits at the foot of the sacred mountain Arunachala.

We also shopped (say it isn’t so!), hiked the mountain in the rain, and then took a rickshaw tour around the mountain.

The road to Thiruvanmalai

In Thiruvanmalai

Tight squeeze in the rickshaw including Gopal, our new friend and driver (L-R Gopal Gloria Peg Joanne Me Leela Mimi)

Climbing the mountain we saw lots of monkeys.

And then there were more monkeys.

How many monkeys can you find in the above photo?

Blogged on Amma’s iPhone with Love 💕

Kumbhakonam

When we arrived at CGH Earth Mantra Koodam resort in Kumbhakonam, I found it to be a jungle oasis. We stayed two nights here where we enjoyed the peace and quiet, nature hikes, Indian food and Ayurvedic treatments. The grounds are so beautiful I decided to dedicate this post to the resort.

Our room was very nice with one exception. The bathroom was pretty big and it had two showers. One was a “normal” shower. The other one was what I guess you would call a “natural” shower where natural water came down through a spout like a waterfall. Above this portion of the bathroom there was no roof. Thats right, a great big opening to the sky. At first I thought it was pretty cool, but then came the part when it rained (think “rain forest”) and the clothes we had hanging to dry got soaking wet. And not to overlook the part where we were in the jungle where there are lots and lots of mosquitoes. Needless to say, we had to take great care to keep the bathroom door closed at all times and limit our time in there.

Blogged with Love on Amma’s iPhone (en route)

Kanchipuram to Kumbhakonam

We left Kanchipuram early Thursday morning to drive (5.5 hours) to beautiful Kumbhakonam.

Sweets counter where we stopped for a pit stop along the way

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).

Kanchipuram

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.

The monkeys

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.

Food, city sights and more temples

Typical lunch consisting of more than I can eat

On the building outside our hotel in Kanchipuram

Front of
Kanchi Kamakshi Amman Temple in Kanchipuram

Very old tree actually consisting of 2 trees that have fused together – Kanchi Kamakshi Amman Temple in Kanchipuram

Snakes – Kanchi Kamakshi Amman Temple in Kanchipuram

Ganesh – Kanchi Kamakshi Amman Temple in Kanchipuram

Adishesha – Kanchi Kamakshi Amman Temple in Kanchipuram

Another Ganesh – Kanchi Kamakshi Amman Temple in Kanchipuram

Just outside Kanchi Kamakshi Amman Temple in Kanchipuram (I got a wave)

Street market outside Kanchi Kamakshi Amman Temple in Kanchipuram

Blogged on Amma’s iPhone from CGH Earth Mantra Koodam Resort in Kumbhakonam (check this one out online!) with Love.

Last Day in Bellur

Here are my final photos of Bellur.

Reflection sunset on marble floor of practice hall

Note the cellphone tucked in at his waist

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.

Patanjali and Hanuman Pujas

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.

Salamba Sarvangasana view of ceiling in practice hall

Inside practice hall looking from the platform

Very small Adishesha temple outside the practice hall

Bus to take us to the Patanjali and Hanuman temples

Bats hanging from trees next to the Patanjali temple

Gitte’s son, Daniel, and our little friend Linkhan outside the Patanjali temple

Navaratri displays depicting the story of Hanuman and Sita

One of the twin Brahmans inside the temple

I will share the final Bellur photos, including the feast, in my next post.

Blogged on Amma’s iDevices with love.

The Saree Story Continues

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.

At the Pitru Paksha Ritual

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.

Typical afternoon

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)

Group of trees along the side of the road

Entrance to Bellur High School (one of the schools on campus that Guruji built for the local children)

Treasure trove we came across at the high school – lots of photos, gifts and awards given to Guruji during his lifetime

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!

So Saree

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).

Preparation for pitru paksha ritual

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.

My beloved teachers (L-Gitte Becshgaard & R-Gloria Goldberg)

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.

First impressions

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.