Sacred Ground-Tiruvannamalia, Tamil Nadu

Sacred Ground-Tiruvannamalia, Tamil Nadu

Sacred Ground-Tiruvannamalia, Tamil Nadu
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WELCOME TO ARUNACHALA  TIRUVANNAMALIA

After the heart opening with Meyer Baba it was time to move on down south to Sanjay’s Home.  We took another taxi referred by the ashram to the city of Pune.  Osho’s Ashram was located there but unfortunately, we didn’t have time to visit before we caught the train.  I heard it is quite the beautiful grounds & ashram.  Another 2-day train ride homeward bound.  Then another 2-hr taxi ride to Sanjay’s small sacred town. The town is not big enough to have a train stop.

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The first week we spent fixing all the broken household items and reorganizing.  Since Sanjay had been gone for 3 months, things needed to get back in order.  image

He got me familiarized with the organic markets for supplies and staples to cook.  He introduced  me to the 1 organic/vegan restaurant in town, which was a daily visit at first until we got set up for our own organic /gourmet kitchen.  image imageI was on a mission of health & healing for him after the major detoxing he experienced in McLoud, Ganj from the Tibetan cleanse & ongoing herbal medicine.  He was still experiencing repercussions.  Lots of green smoothies & fresh vegetable meals.  We ordered an extracter/juicer from Amazon, India and surprisingly it came very fast. That was a fantastic machine for our daily raw juices.

Tiruvannamalia, Tiru for short,image imageis a huge attraction for foreigners from all over the world that follow Gurus, Yogis, Teachers & Siddhus.  There is a temple, ashram or sacred monument every block.  image imageThere are so many different deities & Gurus that are worshipped.  imageThis is Hanaman.  The monkey-man deity.  I was drawn to him wherever he appeared because before I left I had a vision of him come to me in a Meditation.  I had no idea the meaning at the time.  Found out that he was the devoted warrior of Rama predecessor to Krishna.  The legends get very complicated .  There are so many lineages of Guru’s all over India and most of them have been to this Sacred place in their lifetimes.  image imageThe draw is the Ramana Ashram & Arunachala Mountain which is in the center of town.

This is the Maharshi Ramana.

The belief is the mountain is the manifestation of Shiva, the great Hindu god referred to as the Mountain of light.image

Below is the gardens at Ramana Ashram. They also raise cows at the Ashram. image Babaji was born in this state of Tamil Nadu in the south and he & Yogananda have spent time on this mountain.  There are many festivals here and they draw thousands of people from all over India.

imageWhen the festivals are going on everyone is in the streets on foot circling the mountain.  Special annual festivals draw thousands from outer villages & towns being bused in.

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Sanjay’s Guru -Papji was the devotee of Ramana until he became enlightened and a Guru-Teacher himself.

He also resided here for some time during his devotion to Ramana.  There is a huge community who lives here of Papaji followers from all over the world and many who come & go each winter season.  In the winter the weather cools down from Oct-Feb from 100 dgrees, 100% humidity to 80’s.  So many come to climb the mountain and soak up the energy.

I rented a bike for a month for $10 so I can run my errands into town.

About a 3 1/2 mi. ride there & back.  I was very excited about exercising.  This is my beautiful route into town.   image imageI call this part of my route Siddhu Lane. This is where the Siddhu’s congregate, sleep & hang out. They know me now so they wave, nod, grab their heart or prayer hands as I pass. Along the ride you have to drive very defensively dodging monkeys, dogs, cows, people who walk in the middle of the street, motorcycles & cars.  There are no rules here, sometimes bikers & motorcycles are coming up the wrong way.  Buses will run you off the road so you have to be aware when they are coming.  I have my trusty bicycle bell to warn animals & people walking.  No one pays attention to anything & doesn’t look behind them when walking or in front of them for that matter when crossing the street. Another piece of the India Chaos.  I chose not to get a scooter here, since I was only going to be here a month.  Too dangerous & too much going on; you have to have eyes in the back of your head!!!  The tempatures are about 80-90’s with some thundershowers in evenings or afternoons but not every day. Every thing is lush & green.  Sanjay’s paradise abode is adoreable and sits right across from the mountain with a fantastic view.   Some days I see the aura of the mountain that runs across the entire outline of the mountain.  I dont understand why it is only sometimes???   I’m just grateful I can see it all.  Sanjay has heard from others that have  seen it but he hasn’t seen it yet.  Below is another smaller Shiva Temple just to the left of Sanjay’s house.image image

I have my own guesthouse upstairs level and it had been vacant for awhile and unattended.  We had to get it cleaned up & ready for me to stay up there.  I was cleaning out all the inhabitants who had taken residency, and a giant 5 1/2 inch bright orange centipede was crawling on the floor to greet me. He had black pinchers on both ends, literally an inch long.  After that Sanjay devised a bed with bricks & plywood 2 ft off the floor and mended all the holes in the screens.   After I blessed & put a  Merkaba protection around the place,  I felt comfortable enough to sleep soundly.

So now that all our organizing is done, there is time to explore Tiru and all the Temples.  There are so many different deities & gurus worshipped here.  It is Amazing and all the different vibrations in each one.  We putz around town on Sanjay’s motorcycle and he has taken me to the local great restaurants.  image
Dinners run about $5 the organic ones are $7.  Food is cheap.  The local southern Indian food is fantastic, much better than the north.  Rice based instead of wheat.  Their mainstay is idly’s and dosa’s. Rice crepe like roll ups with different vegetables Inside. IMG_1251

This is a giant Dosa. You break it off in pieces & dip into the flavorful sauces. Yummy!! Shopping along the street.

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One of the locals refusing to get off the motorcycle. He wanted to go for a ride.  Monkeys everywhere living happily with the people, dogs & cows.  This place definitely has a very high vibration.  It is a very Present Energy with miracles for the asking & the devoted. Many come with devotion to Feel the thousands of years of the ancient sacredness of Many Masters walking & living on this Mountain!  Namaste- SatNam

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