South India is dripping hot - I am sweating by 7am (I try to get some exercise walking on the mountain before breakfast.)I am visiting an old friend in Tiruvanamalai - which is where Ramana Maharshi lived and site of a mountain which VIBRATES. His ashram is at the base of the mountain where he lived for his whole life, after becoming self-realised at the age of sixteen. He saw the mountain, Arunachala, as his teacher and it is seen as a manifestation of Shiva. I walked around the base, 14kms, early one morning which is the traditional and magical pilgrim thing to do. I was meeting my friend at 5.45am for chai so we could get a good hours walk before the sun appeared. But she didn't show up so I tagged along with an Italian group for a while, and then walked happily on my own once I realised that the path is so well marked - with interesting Shiva/Shakti symbols. The inner route is peaceful and some good folk are slowly planting trees on the lower slopes so there was a sense of forest emerging from the scrubland. By 8.30am I was hot and ready for breakfast so when I reached the edge of the city and spotted an auto-rickshaw I haggled for a ride back to the Ramana Ashram area where there is a plethora of Western style eateries (eg 'Tasty Cafe - we are cure for borring food')
The streets are busy with ashramites wearing white, miscellaneous tourists, and sadhus in various shades of orange. Some are clearly inspired by the spiritual energies of the place, but many others have simply taken up an acceptable form of begging. A few are suffering degrees of mental illness. It is quite disturbing to leave the peaceful meditation hall and be shouted at by a mad sadhu!
It is a delight to have a familiar friend to hang out with, especially one who has lived here over a few years and knows all the special places, reliable tailors and good material shops. Got my favourite ragged old shorts copied, and a couple of nice new shirts made to restore my wardrobe before heading back to Europe. She walked me round a number of ashrams where different saints have their mahasamadhi. Her guru is very Indian, but lots of similarities with the Tibetan schools so we compare notes on different styles of devotion. I spend my time with her and her friends, eating and chatting, and reading about Ramana Maharshi and Shirdi Sai Baba - bathing in their miracles.
