The day begins with an early morning uplifting Nithya Yoga session in the sacred ambience of Arunachala
After watching the ardha jama puja - palliarai (the God and Goddess retiring to bed) the previous night, the group is back at the Tiruvannamalai temple first thing in the morning. They first visit a small Ganesh deity – one that Paramahamsa used to do alankaram (dressing and decorating) frequently as a young boy. Seen in the background, is a banyan tree. Through DNA testing performed in Osmania University, it has been scientifically proven that this tree is made out of the same DNA as the 600 year old Banyan Tree standing in Paramahamsa’s Bidadi ashram
Seen here is the stone pillared mandapam (hall) where Raghupati Yogi taught Paramahamsa yoga between 3 and 13. This hall is essentially the birthplace of Nithya Yoga
The pillars that RaghupatiYogi used to make Paramahamsa climb one-handed frequently
After brahmachari performs a small puja, the participants and Nithya Yogacharyas are garlanded in the mandapam
The Nithya Yogacharyas with Sri Subramanyan – a living eye witness to the birth of Nithya Yoga. Having worked in the temple for 37 years he very clearly remembers the deep learning and bonding that happened between Raghupati Yogi and Paramahamsa. He considers himself very fortunate to have witnessed this extraordinary energy at play
The group arrives in Kancheepuram which is a famous city for its silks and temples. The participants after having a sumptuous meal at a devotee’s house are taken shopping
Next, they are taken to one of the oldest Shiva temples (Kailasanathar Kovil) by the devotees. The temple is a world heritage site taken over by UNESCO. It is a marvel made entirely out of sandstone with deep alcoves and niches for meditation
The beautiful historic temple at sunset
It is said that if you whisper a wish in Nandi’s ear, the auspicious bull of Shiva will pass it on at a quicker pace to the Lord himself. The entire group in a bid to catch Nandi’s ears…… poor Nandi!
The group visit Mani Mandapam – temple completely hand carved in stone. The temple is still in development with 120 artisans working for past 10 years to get it to this stage of development. This puts in perspective the awesome nature of the work that must have gone into making the hundreds and thousands of temples dotting South India. Following are a few of the photos taken
A representation of the Shiva Meru that has been hand carved into the roof of the temple… the under view
No, it is not wood – it is stone carved to precision!
The group has an opportunity to visit a silk loom in the residence of the local weavers. It is the said that the length of yarn required to make one silk sari is more than 6000 kilometers long!. It takes the artisan seven days to make one single sari
The participants eat in traditional Rajasthani style at the devotee’s house before beginning their night travel to Chidambaram
