Asteya in the Current Times

March 15, 2020

Niece accidentally painted Coronavirus!

The world is going through a tough time. How did we end up here?

Even though we are all socially distant (or more socially connected virtually?), no one is quite alone in it. It feels like we have been given the time to slow down, to sit at home longer so this could very well be a reflecting moment. Could we see this as a time to meditate on what we could do differently?

If you are connected to the world through any of the social media - Facebook, WhatsApp, etc., you have probably heard about or seen empty shelves in stores, people in line with carts waiting outside of big departmental stores, the inability to find hand soap, sanitizers, and other such essentials, etc at least in the America.

A well-wisher and friend called up to remind me to buy some essentials to keep myself equipped in case of need. Toilet paper, groceries were among the few that I was told to buy. I had been hearing about stockpiling and the shortage of essentials from my co-workers. It did make me think about what I needed to do.

I had a ‘wait a minute moment’ while I was thinking about what and if I need to get anything. I made a list of all the things I eat on any normal day and the list could fit in the top half of a small sticky note. Then came the question of do I need toilet paper? Almost 6 years ago, I installed bidet in the toilet to get back to my Indian standards. Since then the toilet papers are there for my guests and at this time, my guests are probably busy buying their own toilet papers.

Looking at my $10 bill at the Indian store during the last visit, the guy behind the billing counter mentioned that people are hoarding groceries worth $600. There was a sadness and a sense of worry on his face. I heard that the stores are now doing rationing. I bought some potatoes and taro root, both of which can last long. Coincidently later my mother mentioned how their neighbors asked them to buy some potatoes and kerosene oil after a flood warning long back - Potatoes to eat and Kerosene oil to light the stove.

So where is the need to stockpile coming from? It could very well be pointed to the self-preservation instinct or fear of death in a negative form. Self-preservation makes one buy the things one might need for a few weeks if one needs to quarantine themselves, but going overboard with it becomes hoarding, a natural outcome of ignorance.

I could relate it to what Patanjali says as the five Kleshas (क्लेशा:), afflictions or causes of suffering for human beings.

अविद्यास्मितारागद्वेषाभिनिवेशाः क्लेशाः॥2.3॥

Ignorance, egoism, attachment, hatred (aversion), and clinging to life are the five kleshas or state of a suffering mind.

अभिनिवेश (clinging to life) is the last one and deeply rooted in every human being.

The hoarding can be described in two ways, one gross and the other subtle: Parigrah (परिग्रह - possessing or grasping unnecessary) and Steya (स्तेय - stealing). Accumulating goods simply is possessing more than one needs. When one hoard, they are not just possessing it but also subtly stealing something from others who could very well make use of it. By possessing more, one contributes to raising the prices and even making things unavailable for others to use.

The opposite of Parigrah and Steya are Aparigrah (अपरिग्रह - non-possessiveness) and Asteya (अस्तेय - non-stealing) respectively - two of the five Yamas of Ashtanga Yoga. Yamas are the first of the eight angas (limbs) in Patanjali’s Ashtanga Yoga and described as self-regulating behavior in our interactions with the world. Patanjali gives assurance that if Asteya is followed, all ‘wealth’ will be available.

अस्तेयप्रतिष्ठायां सर्वरत्नोपस्थानम् ॥2.37 ||

To the one who is established in non-stealing, all wealth comes.

On a positive note, I see people coming forward to help and share in my neighborhood. Young folks have created virtual groups to help the elderly by bringing groceries to their door so they can avoid the fear of catching anything.

While it may appear like a difficult task to follow Asteya, one doesn’t need to go to a yoga class to practice it!

The 11th C

March 5, 2020

Central Park, New York

The airplane doors closed, the pilot gave a warm welcome, the flight attendant made sure both Hindi and English speaking passengers understood how to fasten the seatbelt and that if the air pressure in the cabin changes dramatically, it’s ok to be selfish and save your life first. The airplane quickly cut through the clouds and floated in the air for the next 3 hours before touching the ground at the Lucknow airport. I have been to Lucknow many times, but this was the first time I landed at the Lucknow airport.

Lucknow, the City of Nawabs, is associated with many of my childhood memories. During the few days in Lucknow last year, I got an invitation to be part of Sham-e-Awadh - annual function at my nephew's school. The chief guest for the day was Mr. Shomie Das, a former teacher, Principal and an Education consultant who previously also served as headmaster of The Doon School, Dehradun. His speech was targeted towards the parents in the hall and focused on how to prepare the kids for the world that is full of options at every stage whether it's choice for food or school, career, life partner, place to live, etc.

He mentioned these 10 qualities (10Cs as he called them) that the kids today will benefit from as humans and citizens. There were a few in it that resonated with me instantly. He wasn’t focused on how and what to do so that the kids become the 'best' in the world. The 10 Cs he mentioned are:

Creativity, Curiosity, Critical thinking, Communication, Choice, Courtesy, Collaboration, Candid, Citizenship, Compassion

The need for compassion (unconditional acceptance) - दया, करुणा was spot on. The constant lack of harmony can be improved if there is more empathy and compassion. The same principle applies to any area of life be it personal or professional.

Sage Patanjali mentions करुणा as a key factor if one wants to be happy with oneself. This is one where I feel that adults need to learn more than the kids.

मैत्रीकरुणामुदितोपेक्षाणां सुखदुःखपुण्यापुण्यविषयाणां भावनातः चित्तप्रसादनम् ॥1.33॥

(One can cultivate a peaceful mind by being friendly towards happy people, compassionate towards the ones who are suffering, delighted with those who are virtuous, and undisturbed by those who are harming.)

The world has moved from being a place that more or less felt secure to a constant place of competition. In the olden days, people knew what they were going to do when they grow up - learn some occupational skills from their parents and follow the same profession. It isn't the same anymore, one is forced to think about what they want to ‘become’ from childhood. I joke about how my grandfather made the mistake of not forcing his kids to follow what he did for a living and for that reason we are out and away from the serenity of our home in India.

It seems essential to have more compassion than the competition in the current world. Compassion helps lower the insecurity around. One can’t make good choices in life without having compassion for oneself and others.

Collaboration and citizenship are other elements that are much needed in the current state of the world. Even though Competition and Collaboration both start with C, Collaboration requires one to look at the common goal whereas competition forces one to look at other people and compare.

I felt there is an important C that is not in the list. I want to end this note with my 11th ‘C’. Concede - Surrender, Ishwara Pranidhana (ईश्वर-प्रणिधान), Ishwara Prasada Buddhi (ईश्वर-प्रसाद-बुद्धि). While life will be full of choices, one will encounter choiceless situations more than the choices. Choice in actions is essential but one has no choice or control on the results. The seed sown in a well-plowed land may not necessarily bear a good crop. At that point, this 11th ‘C’ will be most useful - acceptance with Grace!

Mahashivratri

February 21, 2020

Shiva at night, Rishikesh, India

Why are we not able to accept mortality with ease? Accepting the ephemerality of life puts one through a test time after time - days, months, years it takes to succeed can vary but it is still a test. Some of the profound words I recently heard said that if mortality was our nature, we would be able to accept it without doubt - but that isn't so! While the mind was still accepting the flow of life and death, Mahashivratri appeared to remind the truth.

Today is Mahashivratri (महा-शिव-रात्रि) - the great night of Shiva. Every lunar month has 2 pakshas (पक्ष) - krishna paksha (dark fortnight, towards new moon - अमावस्या), shukla paksha (bright fortnight, towards full moon - पूर्णिमा). Every krishna paksha's 14th day (चतुर्दशी - day before new moon) is considered as Shivratri. So there are 12 Shivratris in a year. Among these the one in the month of Falgun (फाल्गुन) is called Mahashivratri.

In the common language, this day is considered as the 'wedding' day of Shiva and Parvati. And then it is also considered as the 'birth' day of Shiva. There are many pauranic stories describing the origin of this day. 

Growing up we celebrated Shivratri with fasting on this day and visiting the main Shiva temple in the small town I spent part of my childhood - the Moteshwar mahadev temple. It use to be crowded with visitors from all nearby towns. This was one of those days when everyone in our home would fast. The habit has continued till date. This year I decided to take a day off - a day free from eating, talking, meeting!

Another aspect of Mahashivratri that we saw during childhood was 'Kaanwar' (कांवर) - created from a bamboo stick with cane baskets at both ends. Devotees carry Kaanwar to the holy places like Haridwar where river Ganga flows. Water is brought from river Ganga in cans inside the cane baskets.  People start their journey with their kaanwars long before the Mahashivratri day to travel and get Gangajal (water from river Ganga). They return with the Gangajal before mahashivratri and offer that to Lord Shiva. They travel on foot and by the time they get back home, it is not uncommon to have sores on the soles.

Closing with these words from Adi Shankaracharya's Nirvana Shatakam (निर्वाण षट्कम्) which say, I am none other than Shiva. May you see the truth in you and others. Happy Mahashivratri!

न मृत्युर्न शङ्का न मे जातिभेदः

पिता नैव मे नैव माता न जन्मः ।

न बन्धुर्न मित्रं गुरुर्नैव शिष्यं

चिदानन्दरूपः शिवोऽहम् शिवोऽहम् ॥

Vasant Panchami (बसंत पंचमी)

January 29, 2020

Taken at Half Moon Bay, California

Festivals seems to be coming faster than I thought! It's clear that we Indians don't stop celebrating once we start! Happy Basant Panchami! 

Basant (Vasant - वसन्त in Sanskrit) Panchami is celebrated every year on the Panchami (पञ्चमी तिथि - fifth lunar day from full moon or new moon) of the Shukla Paksha (शुक्ल पक्ष - towards full moon) in the Indian month of Magha (माघ - end of winter and start of the spring). It is the onset of the spring season. Goddess Saraswati is worshiped on this day also initiating devotees into education. 

Mustard starts flowering. The sight of those soon to be dense yellow fields can't be ignored. It's amazing to see the flow of life through these seasons - if there wasn't a fall with all bare trees, there won't be a spring so enjoyable and much awaited. 

Yellow color is also given a lot of importance. Back at home, we were given yellow colored handkerchief on this day by our grandmother. These used to be plain white ones colored yellow in home made color with turmeric. Kids often pin them to their shirt pocket while going to school. We use to make sure we wear yellow colored clothes on this day. Young girls often get their ears and nose pierced on this day. Looks like Kumaoni women love to wear their big traditional nose ring. 

Sitting Holi (called Baithki Holi), a special tradition of Uttarakhand also starts from this day and continues till the Holi festival. Time is spent gathering, singing traditional holi songs with traditional musical instruments. 

Wishing you a very Happy Basant Panchami with this beautiful poem by famous Hindi poet Ramdhari Singh 'Dinkar'. It beautifully describes how the glory of Spring is connected to the Monsoon behind it:

राजा वसन्त वर्षा ऋतुओं की रानी

लेकिन दोनों की कितनी भिन्न कहानी

राजा के मुख में हँसी कण्ठ में माला

रानी का अन्तर द्रवित दृगों में पानी

डोलती सुरभि राजा घर कोने कोने

परियाँ सेवा में खड़ी सजा कर दोने

खोले अंचल रानी व्याकुल सी आई

उमड़ी जाने क्या व्यथा लगी वह रोने

लेखनी लिखे मन में जो निहित व्यथा है

रानी की निशि दिन गीली रही कथा है

त्रेता के राजा क्षमा करें यदि बोलूँ

राजा रानी की युग से यही प्रथा है

नृप हुये राम तुमने विपदायें झेलीं

थी कीर्ति उन्हें प्रिय तुम वन गयीं अकेली

वैदेहि तुम्हें माना कलंकिनी प्रिय ने

रानी करुणा की तुम भी विषम पहेली

रो रो राजा की कीर्तिलता पनपाओ

रानी आयसु है लिये गर्भ वन जाओ

Makar Sankranti-Ghughutia

January 13, 2020

Received through a WhatsApp message

Makar Sankranti is probably the most familiar name for this time of the year. Others like Pongal, Bhogi, Lohri all just follow it. Ghughutia is how it is called in our home Uttarakhand in India.

What is Makar Sankranti? मकर संक्रान्ति - Makar (मकर) means Capricorn. Sankranti (संक्रान्ति) in general means transition, change of direction. Makar Sankranti is when the Sun progresses into the Capricorn zodiac attributing to the movement of Earth. Thus in Indian culture, we have 12 Sankrantis corresponding to each zodiac. We also consider Uttaraayan (उत्तरायण - उत्तर + अयन) to start from Makar Sankranti. Uttara (उत्तर) means North and Ayan (अयन) means movement or progress (Progress of sun towards the north). Sun progresses northward towards Tropic of Cancer during the next 6 months that is when the Karka Sankranti happens leading Sun into Dakshinaayan (दक्षिणायन).

Makar Sankranti brings a change of seasons, harvest season arrives, days tend to get longer, the weather gets warmer and in Uttarakhand, the migratory birds start returning to the hills. Even today, people in Uttarakhand say that the cold will go away after Makar Sankranti. Makar Sankranti and the whole Uttaraayan period also have great significance with one's spiritual journey. We have a close relationship with the Sun. If we can understand the Sun and its relation with everything around, we can understand our relationship with everything associated with us including our mind, etc. The Gayatri Mantra associated with the Sun is also where one seeks wisdom and enlightenment. Though any time is good to make progress, this particular time is considered specifically good to make spiritual progress.

Makar Sankranti is celebrated all over India (and in some Asian countries too) in some form or the other. The celebrations may differ but the underlying theme is the same. In Uttarakhand, Makar Sankranti is celebrated both in the form of Uttaraayan and Makar Sankranti - Ghughutia or Kale Kauva (काले कौवा or black crow). Uttaraayani fairs are held across different towns. I remember going for it a few times at our local center for cultural activities - Parvatiya Sanskritik Utthana Manch (पर्वतीय संस्कृतिक उत्थान मंच) in Haldwani.

For Makar Sankranti, people across Uttarakhand make sweets out of sweetened flour, typically with jaggery and deep-fried in ghee. There are a number of things that are cooked:

• Ghughute - though all the shapes are called Ghughute this is the main one which is Ghughuta. This is made in a specific twisted crossover shape.

Deep-fried Ghughute

• Special Ghughuta for the crow - this one is made especially for crow.

Special Ghughuta for crow

• Various shapes - flower, sword, shield, damru, chakri (spiral), khajoor (dates).
• Gudpare - Usual square or diamond-shaped sweets
• Bade - Made with urad daal and are salty with a hole in the center

Ghughute and different shapes

Once the deep-fried Ghughute are ready, garlands are made with these by adding dry fruits (specifically fox nuts - मखाना and raisins - किशमिश) and fruit (usually an orange) in the center along with them. The garlands are then hung on the wall or kept someplace safe.  They look like the ones in the cartoon picture above.

The next day in the morning, kids wear their garlands, go on the rooftop of the house and call the crow to feed its Ghughuta and seek blessings. One can hear neighborhood kids also doing the same. Kids sing a specific song to call the crows. 

The song in Kumaoni:

काले कौवे काले घुघूती माला खाले
बडा पुआ खाले
ले कौवे बड़ा मेकें दे सुणो घड़ा
ले कौवे ढाल मेकें दे सुणो थाल

…..

In English:

Black, black crow, eat this ghughuta garland
Eat this badaa and pua
Black crow eat badaa, give me a gold pitcher
Black crow eat this shield, give me a gold plate

The advent of mobile phones and WhatsApp messages has also resulted in this morning ritual of Makar Sankranti to be done with messages these days. Once the Ghughute have been offered to the crow, one can enjoy it themselves. Ghughute are also shared with relatives and neighbors. By the end of the day, there is a vessel full of all Ghughute that came from various neighborhood houses that one won't be able to identify which was made by whom. 

Here are some other glimpes of Sankranti celebrations in India from last few trips:

A man with his decorated cattle on Makar Sankranti day

Makar Sankranti special Rangoli at the doorstep in Karnataka

Flower and Sugarcane decoration

When I got caught by the Police

December 30, 2019

In the rearview mirror!

This is a real-life story and I am sure many can relate to this. It used to be an embarrassing incident but since then has turned into a funny story and had inspired a few others in a similar situation. A number of us dealt with that initial anxiety caused by the thought of having to drive, specifically on highways. 

Do you know that driving on highways is one of the most common causes of anxiety? Its phobia version also has a name - Vehophobia.

I lived in California for about a year and a half without owning a car in the times when services like Uber and Lyft didn't exist. I relied on public transport to the extent that I was teased that I always needed to find a rental place next to the train station. After getting a valid license to drive, I finally bought a Car. 

It was 2011, a year after I had bought a red ferrari (aka car) and was actually driving everywhere but with a catch - I had not gone onto freeway alone ever. Every route would usually involve some highway in between, it was a bit tough for me to use it and not end up on the highway. To be my lazy self, I had turned the ‘Avoid highway’ option 'on' in the Garmin GPS device that I had, which meant that it’s going to show only the routes that go through internal city roads. Google Maps is smarter but these devices weren't.

Having survived two layoffs at Adobe during the downturn of 2009-2010, I was in the process of finding a new job. I was appearing for an onsite interview with a company in San Mateo, very close to my house. Almost all of us have some stress before interviews, presentations, etc. and I am no different. I took my car to get to the interview location. I was using my GPS navigator. There was a left turn that needed to be made to drive into the company's parking lot and I missed that!

The lane I was on became ‘Left only’ with a ‘No U-Turn’
 sign. Then the ‘Left only’ lane turned ‘Freeway only’. What more could I expect? It was like some conspiracy against me. My single shot ‘stresspresso’
 turned into a double shot one in no moment - the interview stress and the add-on of ‘I have no clue where am I supposed to go’. 

Remember my non-smart GPS device was on ‘avoid highway’ mode so it stopped telling me any route to get to my destination. The ‘stresspresso’ kicked in and I stopped my car on the side of the freeway entrance which had quite a lot of parking space but was neither a legal nor a safe place to park. 

Trying to find my route back through the dumb GPS device, I was just parked there when I saw the Police car behind me. The policeman came to my window and knocked. I rolled down the window and he said, “Mam, do not come out of the car. Why are you stopped here?”. I told him what had happened and that I was trying to find my way back and I was not comfortable going onto the highway.

We continued to talk through the window. Usually one won't be happy being interrogated by a Police officer but I was relieved that he came and asked. He understood my genuine concern and offered to help.

He said, “I will help you get onto the highway and take the exit”. He took out his loudspeaker and told me to follow him. 
“Look over your shoulder, merge with the traffic ….. take the next exit”, were the words before the man and his voice both disappeared. 

I got to the interview and also got the job offer, though I didn’t end up joining that company.

The 'No U-Turn' sign from that experience remained in my head. After that on a weekend, I decided that it’s going to be a do or die day. I will go onto the freeway and either will get rid of this limitation once and for all or won’t return home. I took the car, got on to Highway 101 and drove from San Mateo to Mountain View just to buy groceries at the Milk Pail Market. Since then I haven’t looked back. I also stopped relying on GPS and trust my mental map and navigation more than the smart maps now. 

Fear of missing the highway exits and not being able to find my way back was probably the primary cause of not wanting to drive on freeway. I dealt with the issue by using Google street view beforehand to familiarize myself with the route and exits. I left the other silent concern of 'who will be in trouble if I accidentally end up in a hospital?' aside.

I also reminded myself that the appearance of fear is a false evidence. Fear, after all, is False Evidence Appearing Real. 

Since then, this incident has become a fun story and every time I shared it, someone would quote either themselves or their friends who still don’t consider driving on the highway. Just recently, a coworker who had recently moved from another country and was in the process of learning to drive here and get a license mentioned that they are still learning and aren’t yet comfortable. Everyone else in that lunch group started sharing their embarrassing yet funny driving stories. 

Hopefully, this story will inspire someone to get past their fear of driving and not take it on themselves, it is a genuine and well known area of concern among many people. And I am glad that my so far the only encounter with the Police was a pleasant one. 

Until next year... 

Listen! Don't try everything in English

I mentor a young schoolgirl in India. We do video calls once a week and during that time I can either help her with anything that she needs help with or I will make her do some exercises. I was told she needs help with English so I focus on English. Frankly speaking, I was a bit conflicted inside that do I want to teach English. I was also told that these kids don't have people in their family who can help them. A whispering voice came from inside, "can you keep your ideologies aside and focus on the need of the hour?". Often we don’t realize that the little time we give to someone can mean so much to them. Let’s call this girl ‘Radhika’ for our conversation. She is in 10th std.

Radhika would ping me on our defined day with a WhatsApp message ‘Hi mam, today is my skype’ which often makes me laugh as I am not used to hearing mam and we don’t end up using skype. My initial impressions about Radhika was that she is a smart and fearless girl. Initially, I was supposed to talk to her in English so that she gets comfortable conversing in English but I decided not to do that and since she understands decent Hindi, we communicate in Hindi. 

In one of our chats, I asked Radhika if she had any specific topic she would like help with. She did come up with a topic - direct and indirect speech. I don't remember learning anything in school since it had been so many years. I explained to her how to convert direct to indirect speech in Hindi. I wanted to avoid just telling the general grammar rules as her teacher might have already done that. Imagine explaining direct and indirect speech in English when your explanation itself will have those. We did a few examples and then she had to rush to school. Before we hung up, I asked her if this was helpful to her. She said, “this was very helpful”. Since then I have seen her improve in the homework.

The next time I asked Radhika the same question, “do you have any specific topics you need help with today?”. "No", she said so I had to come up with a task for her. I made her read a story of a few pages from her textbook to see her level of comprehension. While she had a regional accent, her comprehension was good. I noticed that she has a habit of eating words. She would eat some of the articles (‘a’, ‘the’), interchange them or twist and make new words while in a hurry. I stopped and corrected her every time she did that. Then there was a phrase in one of the sentences - ‘part and parcel’. I asked her if she understood what that means. She read it as ‘part’ and ate ‘the parcel’. I said, "can you explain the meaning of the phrase to me?". To my surprise, instead of coming up with a verbose explanation in English she said ‘अविभाज्य अंग’. Next, there was the phrase ‘new dimension’. And she was quick to say ‘दृष्टिकोण’. Her textbook has English meanings of these phrases. I was so happy as she reminded me of myself during school and my love for the तत्सम words. By now I had guessed that Radhika is strong in Hindi. I was curious if she studies Sanskrit as a subject in school as Hindi isn’t her mother tongue. She smiled and said, “no”. I asked her why she smiled. I thought she might say what will one do with Sanskrit. But she said, “Sanskrit is hard to learn”. I didn’t say much and we moved on to reading the next paragraph. 

Why am I writing about her? Of course, she reminded me of my old days and brought a smile. But more than that I wanted to write about the overly hyped need for English speaking. There are other more dangerous things than not being able to speak in English, like making it mandatory to speak in English in schools, teaching in English when the kids don't know that language, thinking that getting educated in English medium is the only way to get a job, taking English fluency to be a sign of intelligence. Humans are born with a sense of inadequacy and if one is made to feel inadequate because one isn't proficient in a foreign language, it can't be anything other than a disaster.

While the listening, speaking, reading, writing order is probably good for learning one's mother tongue, it seems the reading, writing, comprehending, speaking may be better suited for learning a second language that English is. There is a fundamental difference when one learns something in their mother tongue versus when it is taught in a language that isn't their first language. It is much easier to learn a concept if it's explained in one’s mother tongue or a language close to that. It's also not important to fluently speak in English to feel confident. As long as one can read, write, comprehend it, that fulfills the purpose of learning English for most kids in India. One can get used to converse over time. It would be a bit worrisome to not be able to speak in your mother tongue but that doesn’t apply to other languages.

I don’t know where this girl will go but I do see the potential and the confidence in her. I hope I would be able to influence her fluency in the subtleties of life more than her fluency in English.

Laugh at your own risk

(scene from an Indian Railway compartment, people who don't like middle berth sometimes occupy someone else's berth and don't want to give it to the actual ticket holder)

Ramanashrama and Tiruvannamalai - Nov 2019

When I left for India, I had completely different plans for traveling there. I didn't end up following them due to various reasons. And then the visit to Tiruvannamalai worked out. I was silently hoping to visit the ashram once and it worked out somehow. We went to Tiruvannamalai with an extension to Pondicherry. 

Tiruvannamalai or Thiruvannamalai is a small town in the state of Tamil Nadu. Its named after the Annamalai - Lord of the Mountains, Shiva. The Arunachala hill is considered sacred.  

Arunachaleshwara temple with the Arunachala in the background

This early morning view of the Arunachala hill from the temple was amazing. We were there just after the full moon so the moon was also visible in the background. 

The Temple Gopurams are tall. I love the carvings and the elaborate designs on them. The four gopurams on each side are like the 4 Dwarapaal. The eastern one is the tallest and is called Rajagopuram. 

The eastern gopuram - Rajagopuram, tallest and is 11 stories

Nandi in the Temple

This big Nandi reminded me of my clay nandi. Having worked on the details, it was interesting to see how much details I noticed in this Nandi. 

Next to the Patala Lingam cave

This picture is interesting to me, I did not know I was being clicked from behind. 

This was taken while walking near the temple.

This is the most interesting part of visiting temples. There is just so much intricate art and carvings that you find in these hidden nooks and corners inside temple.

This one had so much detail. Having done some clay sculpting myself, I couldn't imagine the effort it might have taken to carve these on rock.

I had to literally bend down to take this one. Was hidden at the bottom corner of a temple mandapa base. This reminded me of the trip to Hampi few years back, when I got a good collection of these intricate stone carvings. They reflect the history very well.

Since it wasn't possible to find the name of each god figure I saw (names were written in Tamil), I am trying to find the references now. I think this is the personification of River Ganga as goddess on her vehicle Makara. The Makara is an imaginary animal form composed of a fish like body, elephant trunk, feet of lion, eyes of a monkey, ears of a pig and prominent teeth. It can be interpreted as a turbulent state of nature and the ornaments shown coming out of its mouth symbolize the pralaya and the Ganga may be having control over that to make it life giving. Anyways, if one can just take it as water god and do something to save water that would be enough. The symbolism in actually very interesting and leads to a profound understanding of reality than it just being an idol in some temple. 

The vaanar sena is always around in any Indian temple to feed and grow their family. This monkey took the coconut and the banana from someone and gave the banana to her kid. This reminds me of a hike to a hill in Karnataka several years back when a monkey took our cold drink bottle, opened the cap and drank in front of us :)

These pictures were taken randomly in the evening. I was just amazed to see the amount of work on these Gopurams. All I was thinking was how did they make these, did they build it somewhere else and got them here or the sculptors were sitting there to make these. The Gopurams are specific to South Indian Temple architecture so you won't see these in the North Indian temples which have an inverted beehive like structure called 'Shikhara' - mountain peak. 

This kind of completes the highlights of the Arunachaleshwara temple - dedicated to Shiva and is associated with the five elements - Pancha Maha Bhootas. Agni is the element that is worshiped here. Other Pancha Maha Bhoota Sthalams.

Arunachala Hill

We also did a modern (by car) Girivalam or giripradakshina - circumambulation of the Arunachala hill. It's a 14km stretch and people do it on foot. Usually around full moon. It was nice to see the hill from different sides. 

The other major part of the trip was the visit to Ramanashrama. In fact when I thought about the visit, the temple wasn't in my awareness. 

The tree that welcomes into the Ashram

Ramanashrama is very close to the temple. It's right on the main road and the gate feels like a school gate with an arch and board on top. 

It also rained in the evening and the peacock there was roaming around though didn't dance.

Samadhis of pets in the ashram

We sat in meditation and listened to the daily chants for a while. The bookworm inside me began crawling but the book store was closed at that time.   

We wanted to go visit the Virupaksha cave (Ramana Maharshi meditated there) and the Skandashrama. There are 2 ways to reach them. One way is from inside the ashram and other is close to the temple. The one inside ashram is longer. The one close to temple is 10-15 min but steep climb. We were a bit late but still went ahead through the shorter route but some folks who were coming back on the way told that its too steep and also that its probably late. 

The next day we took the way from the ashram. It wasn't too long. The way from the Skandashram to the Virupaksha cave is a path of downhill stairs. We decided not to take the same route back as it looked like getting on the road from the Virupaksha cave would take less time. It looked like we shouldn't have listened to the folks we met yesterday as it wasn't a bad climb for a pahadi. 

Way to Skandashrama and Virupaksha cave

Most people do the hike to the cave barefoot so the path was pretty much clean. There were a few yogi dogs and pigs on the way. 

Mid way you get this beautiful delight of the temple. The pictures are from my phone's camera so aren't doing the justice. 

Vaanar sena on the way 

Virupaksha Cave 

We sat in the cave for some time. There are 2 parts of the cave, the inner one probably the actual cave is a very small and dark chamber and probably accommodates 5-6 people. The outer one is likely built new and can accommodate more (say 10) people.

Monkey who couldn't meditate due to his monkey mind

While we were sitting outside the Virupaksha cave, one local person came and told us to go visit the Mango tree cave as well which was 10 mins climb down from there.

The well on the way to Mango tree cave

Mango tree cave where Maharshi lived

After this we started for Pondicherry. 

Until Next Time.....