– part of Sadhana Yoga Ltd –
The Meenakshi Temple is such a cool place – spacious, clean and peaceful.
However, as I was having a darshan (viewing) with the main deity – Meenakshi, I nearly got thrown out of the central shrine by the police.
No non-Hindus allowed (but I was given a pass)!
From the soft silver sands of Ram Jula in Rishikesh (North India) we headed south to the beachers of Chennai (Madras), and then further south to Rameshwaram, a holy site at the end of a long sandy peninsula near Sri Lanka.
This southern region is tropical with coconut palms, bananas and tamarind. The weather has been overcast and warm.
Many pilgrims come to Rameshwaram to seek blessings and bath in the sea, which is thought of as sacred.
Our next journey will be to Madurai and then onward to Kanyekumari for Xmas at the bottom of India … follow us there!
We are back in Haridwar & Rishikesh for my friend’s (Mary) birthday. Winter has arrived and the days have cooled down. North India is a great place to visit in Winter – December is cooler and quieter.
Rishikesh is a shopping & yoga mecca – books, clothes, jewelry, great food and not to mention high speed internet!
It was so lovely to visit Guruji’s ashram in Mathura. Beautiful peacocks and wild parrots sat in trees and picked through the shredded wheat. We saw many guests at the ashram and I taught yoga to local people.
In this place there is nothing but open country side and old villages dedicated to Radha. It is a great place to come if you want to practice the simple, peaceful life.
Follow the rest of our yoga journey in the posts below …. (Days 1 to 6)
Day 7 & 8 // Haridwar to Delhi
Day 7 was the group’s last official day in Haridwar. We did yoga on the roof in the morning and got a final group shot taken at our guest house near Birla Ghat.
For the next installment of Ali’s yoga journey in India watch this space! I am about to go off the grid into amazing new places, spending time with my sadhu family …
Day 5 // Devprayag – the meeting of two rivers
Steve, Liz & Kim joined Guruji and I on an adventure to Devprayag high up in the Himalayas. Here, two sacred rivers meet to make the official River Ganga. Sitting watching two rivers converge, one milky and tumultuous, one green and serene, was simply perfect. Steve got a special blessing for his ancesters’ well-being, as did I. Guru-ji gathered some water for our pilgrimage to Rameshwaram at the bottom of India.
P.S Annabelle and Tahlia’s rock-star lifestyle caught up with them and they laid low back at base! But there was a girl just like Annabelle at Devprayag!
Day 6 // Kali Cave – Adventuring into the wilderness
Annabelle, Guru-ji and I had an amazing journey to the caves of Kali Gophur. We passed a man preparing tumeric and sat in the depths of the natural caves. The sunset on our return journey was mesmerising! We had such a special day together, breath-taking journey.
P.S. The others decided to have a relaxing day back at base.
Main Bazzar Haridwar photo by Steve Mackinlay
Day 3 // Haridwar – Maya Devi Mandir, Manasa Dvi Mandir, Main Bazaar.
For the locals of Haridwar, Tahlia’s bright red hair was one of the main attractions. For our group, one of the main attractions was shopping at the main bazaar both in Haridwar and Rishikesh! Western mind … very big purchases!
Another wonderful part of being in Haridwar was introducing the group to the sadhus of Maya Devi Mandir.
A big attraction for me (Ali) was bathing in and being by the mighty Ganga (the northern Ganges River) … so beautiful, so serene, so refreshing.
Also, visiting Manasa Devi, via the ‘short-cut’ which entailed climbing up hundreds of steps, was so interesting … as was the cable-car ride down.
Day 4 // Rishikesh – More shopping & sight-seeing…
We spent the day in the yoga mecca of Rishikesh. After lunch we sat down on the soft white sands to watch the River Ganga flow past. The weather was a warm 22 degrees and we engaged with the locals.
Our yoga trip to Haridwar, Rishikesh and Devprayag has been so full of fun, laughter, lessons, great food, adventure and shopping!
The group have moved around like rock stars, getting their photos taken, not to mention all the selfies captured to document the journey.
We have had so many amazing experiences but the internet in Haridwar is sooooo slow~
There will be many more photos posted once the technology improves!
Great trip so far x
On-route to India …
Day One – 30/11/14: Our 8 hour transit in Sydney was put to good use and we stopped off at the beautiful natural rock pool of Maroubra Beach. After swimming and sunbathing we stopped off in the beach-side park and ate gelato!
Stopover Singapore … We found a garden of sunflowers which glowed in the dark.
Day Two – 01/12/14: Everybody shopped till they dropped at the Main Bazaar Delhi … buying silver bangles, hand-made sandles, clothing … At night we did yoga on the roof. Then we did a mindfulness meditation, listening to the orchestra of train horns, sirens, calls to prayer, fireworks. In the background the beautiful Laxshmi Temple glowed with strands of red light glowing against the backdrop of neon signs. Great first day!
Ali and a group of adventurous yogis are off to India on the 30th November 2014! We will be stopping off in Delhi on route to Haridwar, where the waters of the River Ganges (Ganga) run deep and fast and fresh.
If you are keen to keep track of our journey follow us via this webpage. Ali will be being posting updates regularly to keep you up to date with our trip.
Ali will be backing teaching a normal timetable of classes from Monday 5th January 2015.
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