Thiruvanmalai is most known for the Arunachala hill which is considered a representation of Lord Shiva and therefore sacred, the Ramana Maharshi ashram, the Arunachala temple and so on. I had once heard about the practice of walking around the Arunachala hill - a distance of 13 kms and felt that someday I would like to do it.
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| Arunachala Hill |
Anyway, we did got around the route, peeped into the Ramana Ashram and the Arunachala temple as well as a reccee trip.
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| Girivalam route |
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| A sadhu chilling with his friends |
The pradakshina around the hill is interesting. One finds sadhus at every step of the way - some seeking alms, some simply lying down and chilling. There are hundreds of temples, big and small, all around. There are eight ashta linga temples if I remember right - Vayu, Agni, Varuna, Indra, Yama - and others named after the elements.
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| Nityananda Ashram |
People walk around barefoot. There are places where one can get a foot massage through some contraptions, drink coconut water and other juices. One can do the pradakshina or as they call it Girivalam at anytime of the day or night. Ideally to be done on a full moon night when the traffic is quite a bit. Fascinating.
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| Ramana Ashram |
I found Nityananda's ashram too on the path. I remember someone telling me there were these siddhars or men who have powers to heal in the Arunachala hill and one such was Nityananda who was famed for his healing powers before he became Swami etc.
The Ramana Ashram was quite peaceful with several meditation halls where a number of Indian and foreign devotees were engaged in meditation. It has a nice vibe. Apparently one can go through it to the Skanda Ahram which was first set up by Ramana Maharshi and perhaps even to the Virupaksha cave.
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| Arunachala temple |
The Arunchala temple is one of the biggest complexes I have seen, massive is size. Once can see the Arunachala hill behind the temple complex.
It probably needs a lot more time to explore Thiruvanmalai but for a recee trip, this was good enough.
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