Feeding time at Ramanashramam

I know that sounds a bit like feeding time at the zoo (and being India there are more than a few similarities) but there are thousands of meals supplied free of charge every day here. Firstly they feed all visitors, guests and invitees (I’m not sure exactly where the lines are drawn between those three) and at specific times they open the doors to the dining hall then apparently close them again pretty smartly. Everything at the ashram is run to a very tight and disciplined schedule during the day and the meal times seem to be no different. There is a substantial kitchen area staffed by those who choose to stay at the ashram and serve as a part of their time there, serving very simple meals served on banana leaf plates. Then aside from all of that, there is a time where they “feed the poor”, whatever that means in India. The following photos are taken during the serving of those meals. I am interested to know how more about how this works and who exactly “qualifies” to be fed at this time. From what I could see there was a very long line of the orange-clothed swamis, but they seemed to be a completely different kind of Baba to some of the others I have been photographing out on the roads. Then there were a few children as well as a line of poorly dressed women at the end of the queue. I will investigate more about this and how it’s all paid for. The ashram charges absolutely nothing for anything you do, including the meals they serve. There are no donation boxes anywhere and I know that even though they have a substantial area for accommodation it is probably the cheapest place in town to stay, just a few dollars a night and that is, as mentioned, for those who are there to help and serve as they can. There is a bookshop, but again, all books available must be at “cost plus 10%” without the 10% the books are so cheap. So I see no hint of money making, which follows along with the absolute purity of intent that Ramana Maharshi himself had. I am guessing the ashram is funded by donations somewhere along the line.

There is an interesting story coming from the early days of Ramana Maharshi when he was first on the hill. As with these things there are always a few who see an opportunity to cash in. He was in one particular spot on the hill, and as is the way, men take it upon themselves to act as guardian over anyone considered a ”holy man”. With Ramana throughout the early years this was very much the case as he had such a remarkable presence that many people wanted to visit him.  So these particular men decided that people should pay a small fee to visit the Maharshi. As soon as Ramana found out this was happening he left that place saying that if people had to pay then he himself would also have to pay. Seeing as he had no money that would be impossible so he would have to leave. They begged him to return promising to never charge people again. Since his arrival in Tiruvannamalai until his death he never touched money, only ever ate what everybody else ate, would allow no special treatment of any kind and continued to live a very simple life even as the ashram grew around him. You can see this still in the way things are managed at the ashram and has always been a great inspiration to me personally.

Who is Ramana Maharshi ?

 

From the book written in 1970 by Arthur Osborne

Born in 1879 he attained spiritual enlightenment just before his 17^th year through a remarkable experience as if he was undergoing death of the physical body while remaining in full consciousness. Following this transformation he was drawn irresistibly to the sacred hill of Arunachala.

He never left the hill. In the Ashram which was formed around him he taught the purest form of Advaita Vedanta (non-duality) through the supremely simple discipline of Self Enquiry.

Ramana Maharshi’s presence invoked a remarkable and transformational impression of benevolence and dignity, kindness and simplicity, which proved to be fundamental to the movement toward spiritual enlightenment throughout the Western world.

 

Skanda Ashram

Skanda Ashramam, otherwise known as Skandashram or Skandasram is 1.4km up a stony path on Arunachala from Ramana Ashram, otherwise known as Ramanashramam or Ramanasramam.

When entering the Ashram-am you remove your shoes and leave them with attendants during your visit. You just have to watch that when you want to get your shoes back it’s at a time when they are actually there, their break times seem to vary. For this reason a lot of people simply leave their shoes on the ground outside where they store the shoes but you risk having them stolen. A good trick with that is not to leave both shoes together, put them down separately in other words, after all, who is going to steal one shoe ??

Except maybe the guy who sells mostly single shoes ??

 

 Anyway, I decided to walk up the hill in bare feet, as many people seem to do, and began making my way up the path which has well laid out rocks as paving stones all the way so that worked out OK, on the way up at least. On the way down was a different matter, it was much hotter for a start so the stones were well and truly cooking by then but walking barefoot downhill on the stones was way different to walking uphill so was quite a bruising sort of an experience. 

Ahhhh but at least I have all my bits intact and there is one thing about India is that at every moment there is a constant reminder that things really just aren’t quite as bad as you might think, like this guy with a stumpy arm thing. In order to qualify for a few rupees from me you pretty much have to have some bits missing or be extremely old. Just have to get a bit selective about who you give anything to. Some westerners give nothing to no one but I find that a bit harsh as there are clearly some who have genuine need, and anyway, generally speaking, who am I to judge anyway, I only have so much to give.

 

 

This is the huge temple from the hill. Not easy to photograph the temple of anything in the town as the sun is pretty much facing you all day when up on the hill.

 

Hopefully you can see from the photos that it’s a sort of a cave with a small building built right into the rock to make the ashram. Sri Ramana Maharshi spent 7 years here from 1915 to 1922 living in these tiny rooms.

 

 

This man was just sitting quietly and had the most beautiful, calm, serene look on his face and in his eyes, something I just don't see in all those swamis wandering around. 

Couldn't really capture it in a photo unfortunately

 

The Wandering Swami of Arunachala

I had seen this swami on a few youtube videos so knew who he was when I came upon him halfway up the hill to Skandashram. A very sweet man he asked me to sit and rest awhile, which I did. I have become highly cynical of these guys as they all seem to just want cash, most asking immediately. A funny situation today where one swami-baba came up to me asking for some cash so he could get food but kept adding “please don’t mistake me for a beggar, I am not a beggar, I am just hungry....but I am not a beggar” Gave him a Southpark face as there was really nothing to say to that. So the Wandering Swami and I were talking and I told him I had seen him on the internet (all the while wondering if he knew what the internet was) at which point he pulled out a pen and paper asking what site I saw him on. I didn’t give him the opportunity to go for any cash as a couple of other people turned up and I moved on. I hate to say it but he probably has his particular angle and probably does particularly well out of it. What the heck, you have to make a living I guess don’t you ?

 

Arunachala Pradakshina

Arunachala Pradakshina (pronounced – aroo-narch-alla-pra-duck-shin-a - and said really, really quickly as if it is all one word) is the sacred walk around the Arunachala mountain, which by no stretch of any intelligent persons imagination can be considered a mountain. To an Australian this would be a major mountain, but by NZ standards little more than a speed bump. Arunachala is a hill all the same but mountain definitely sounds better.  Arunachala is an incarnation of Lord Shiva, according to Hindu mythology. There is a major festival in November where the town of around 130,000 swells to anything up to 2,000,000 and they all walk the Pradakshina, I cannot imagine that in my wildest imagination as even nearer the end of todays walk it was getting pretty crowded as thousands were starting out as I was nearing the end.

The walk is 14km and is especially done every full moon day by thousands upon thousands of people, today was a full moon day. Best time to do it apparently is earlier in the morning or later in the afternoon and evening so I headed out at noon, the hottest time of the day. My legs were pretty tired from the last few days of walking but thought I would just take my time, after all, there’s no hurry. Wasn’t so hot, maybe 30-32 degrees but I found that pretty good for the most part as there are plenty of trees for shade for a lot of the walk. Oh the other really cool thing is that you are supposed to do it in bare feet, which to your average Indian is probably not a big deal, even on the at-times very rough roads. I definitely wore shoes because with my whimpy soft western feet I can barely make it across the cobbled paths to the swimming pool at the hotel. There were two German girls I spoke with briefly after I started, they had already done maybe 5km (you start wherever you start) and were suffering already with about 9km to go. Not only were their feet getting sore but it was starting to get really hot as well. When I asked why they were doing it the hard-core way they simply said “because zose are ze rules”.

I stopped for maybe half an hour at the Ashram as I passed, which for me was around the 9km mark. They have acceptable toilets there, well probably the only public-type toilets in Tiruvannamalai come to think of it.  It was extra busy due to the Pradakshina, not so peaceful but still heaps of shade, which was nice. Some people make a real event of this walk, take maybe 6 or 7 hours over it, stop at the various temples along the way, stop for Chai and a chat whereas others are on a mission and probably clean it up in maybe 2 ½ hours. I can tell you that by the time I got back to the hotel the pool was extra cooling today.

Here’s another funny little story from the “Only in India” file….

The not-so-bright auto-rickshaw driver – This one rick-astley driver was taking me part of the way back to the hotel, a 4km stretch of road. He wanted to show me a better way, a faster way, “That way 4km, this way much faster, only 4.5km”….only in India ???

Here’s a selection of photos I took along the way.

 

Company Bicycle !

 

Fleet of Company Bicycles ! 

 

Tree Phone

 

Some more of the super-up-to-date transport round the town !

 

Strange, on the Pradakshina people would stop at all the little temples along the way, of which there seem to be one about every couple of hundred metres. This one they would squeeze through a pretty narrow gap and out the other side (then pay some more money no doubt !)

 

This couple have a thriving rubbish-sorting-through business.

 

Shoe repair man

 

This is a Gopuram at the big temple, more on that later when I eventually visit it

 

The Pradakshina is the perfect opportunity for all manner of beggers to come 

out onto the street to ply their various trades......

 

......Like the Babas.....

 

This Baba lives in this little hut on the side of the road

 

The thousands on their Pradakshina

 

I have become more and more selective about who I give a few rupees to. This guy is severely deformed and qualifies in my book, whilst there are many who don't

 

The busking Babas