tiruvannalamai

this lovely town in tamil nadu, about 3.5 hrs west of pondicherry, is home to the ramana maharshi ashram, as well as mt. arunachala - the abode of shiva. i left auroville on tuesday morning, after sharing another energy home experience in pondy with nalasa and mike. we had the famous 9 in 1 herbal drink which really is amazing and must be tried. in it these 9 herbs are blended with coconut milk: durva grass (cynodon dactylon), thduvalai (solanum trilobatum), gotu kola (solanum nirgum), indian goose berry or amallki (phyllanthus emblica), veld grape (vitis quadrangularis), bhangra (wedelia calendulaceae), matsyakshi (alternathera sessiles), and ballon vine (cardiospermum halica cabum).

the bus ride to tiru was nice and for part of the way this indian man sat next to me and jabbered away in tamil and broken english, trying to communicate with me. i was able to learn, through hand signals and inference, that he got married one year ago to a woman who was sitting in the front of the bus, and they just had a baby boy (she was holding him) of whom he was very proud. he was only 2 years older than me, and had studied biology in college, but now he works using his hands (im not sure doing what). i thought that it was really funny and great that even though we obviously couldn't communicate with any degree of depth, he still continued to talk to me and ask me questions about all sorts of things (most of which i didn't understand) and for a lot of the conversation, i just guessed what he was asking about and talked away in english. when he got off the bus with his wife, he grinned broadly and held up his baby boy for me to see as the bus pulled away.

i arrived in tiru and went straight to the ashram, where i had a booking to stay. as soon as i entered the gates of the ashram the busy chaos of tiru melted away and there was just so much peace in the air. i was so happy with my room - comfortable mattress, screened windows, a desk, a fan, and even a western toilet down the hall! it was quiet and lovely and clean! i relished being able to lounge around naked in my room, which i couldn't do in auroville because i was staying in a dorm. i went to the samadhi shrine as soon as i was settled, and sat. i ended up just sitting and sitting and sitting - the energy of the place coupled with the enormous collective intent of all the devotees was powerful and almost palpable. i sank into my self and floated there blissfully for hours that first night. i didn't even wander around the ashram to see the other buildings and was even a little late to dinner. i was so impressed with dinner as well: at least a couple hundered banana leaves were laid out on the floor, very orderly with a cup of water. everyone files in and takes their seat behind a banana leaf, then the kitchen staff comes around with buckets. each one carries a different item and one after another you get a scoop of rice then various curries and sambar and fruit and spicy paste and more rice and milk. breakfast was served the same way, except instead of a banana leaf you ate off of a plate made from smaller leaves pinned together wtih twigs (so exquisitely done!!!!!) and you had idly (little rice pancakes) instead of rice. the food was heavenly and the love and attention placed into it you could taste. some of the men, as they came around with the buckets of food, were chanting mantras, which even further intesified the energy of the dining hall. and of course, there were pictures of ramana maharshi on almost every available wall surface.

unfortunately, in tiru i came down with some sort of stomach/digestive issue (which has finally resolved itself, thank god, after a little more than a week). this affected my mood after the first day, as i didn't feel good and the idea of moving about was not too high a priority for me. however, this made sitting in meditation quite easy, so i sat and sat and sat. but after a whole day of this, i was quite frankly a littled bored. on my way to distract myself with internet, i ran into this man i had met at dinner the night before. we got to talking on the street, and we ended up going up to the caves on mt. arunachala. it was something i definetly wanted to do, however there were signs everywhere advising lady devotees to not make the trek alone. this whole women as second class citizens and property thing is REALLY starting to get on my nerves and makes me question gender roles and cultural explanations for such unequal treatment. the positive outcome of this is that i really do appreciate my country and all the most amazing and incredible opportunities with which i am blessed.

the trek up to the caves, of which there are 2, took about 30 to 45 min. halfway up, we (the israeli man and my self) stopped and chatted about the persuit of self realization. he had some really good insights, and helped me realize just how ignorant and innocent my ideas really are. we finally arrived at the first cave, which is perched up on the mountain, overlooking the city. you can see the entire shiva temple complex below, as well as an incredible views of the rest of the area - out to surrounding mountains and lakes and plains. sitting inside the caves is so sweet - there is no effort required for meditation, it is the only thing you can manage to do while you're seated inside.

the last night in tiru i stayed at the hotel ganesh international, which is very close to the main temple complex. compared with the ashram, downtown tiru is a circus - but really it is just a typical indian temple town. i saw no westerners in downtown tiru, which suprised me because there were so many of them at the ashram and the little streets surrounding it. i went for darshan at the main temple, wandered around, watched the elephant bless countless devotees with his trunk in exchange for a rupee coin, and wondered about influence that ramana maharshi, this one estatic being, had on the town, the country, and the world.