Travel Day 988 – Tiruvannamalai, Tamil Nadu, INDIA
Today I finally managed to get up at 5.20am again as I had done every single day while in the Sivananda Ashram, but today I did it to go back to the lookout on the Arunachala Mountain…
Ramana Maharshi Picture 1
Actually I was quite surprised when I got up, because the sunrise was earlier than expected, but on the bright side the local chai shop was already open, allowing me to take chai and biscuits along the way. This time around I walked from the back of the ashram and I made sure to wear my shoes which helped to walk much, much faster than I did last time around. Unfortunately once I arrived at the lookout, I came to realize that I was not the only person who had the great idea to come here first thing in morning…
But only a little bit of climbing was necessary and I reached a spot on the rocks that was more sheltered from views and there I set up camp for the next couple of hours. It really seemed to be the perfect spot to sit and meditate for a while and then enjoy the chai with biscuits while overlooking the city with its big Annamalaiyar Temple. Yeah this spot was so much better than those sweaty caves and if it would not have been for the hot rising sun, I probably would have stayed all morning long to say good-bye to Tiruvannamalai…
Ramana Maharshi Picture 2
The rest of the day I followed my usual routine while trying to avoid the unbearable heat of the day. So I had one last idly breakfast at the corner restaurant, one last chai on the roof in a hammock, one last lunch with a friend in the little garden restaurant, I practiced some Tabla and rested in the afternoon and then met another friend for chai and dinner. Besides all that, the only thing left to do was to say good-bye to the Ramana Ashram…
So I walked my rounds for the last time at the ashram as well, looking at the people and taking in the atmosphere which had changed quite a bit with all the Westerners being back in town. I also made sure to walk through the smaller, museum like parts of the ashram and even the dining hall. Those places seemed much more atmospheric to me than the big meditation hall where everyone else went, but I still couldn’t make a real connection to any of these things…
Ramana Maharshi Picture 3
After being here for a week, I decided to make peace with the fact that I had not been able to make a connection to this ashram or to Ramana. Especially all the photos of Ramana in which he posed on throne like structures while looking either arrogant or unhappy were still not talking to me and probably never would no matter how long I would stay. Actually I came to realize that I had seen the same kind of unhappy expression on the faces of many people in Tiruvannamlai, which was quite telling as well…
Maybe this somewhat strange spiritual place with its spiritual competitions, spiritual coffee talks and unhappy spiritual guru was just not quite the right place for me. Be it as it may, it was definitely time for me to say good-bye to Ramana and Tiruvannamalai…
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