A Divine Road Trip to Thiruvannamalai on RE
Day 1
On 23rd May 2025, my friend and I suddenly planned a trip to Thiruvannamalai for a divine darshan and Girivalam around the mountain. We started from Chennai in the evening after finishing our office work. I reached Perungalatur at 6 PM, and my friend arrived at around 6:30 PM. Then, our divine and Royal road trip to Thiruvannamalai began.
On the way, we faced the hurdle of heavy downpour with thunder and lightning. We stopped at the 99 Magic shop on NH42 for snacks and waited for the rain to subside over an hour, but the mighty rain was unyielding. We then decided to drive through the rain, packing our things in my customized RE saddlebag.
Driving in the rain was a challenging experience, with heavy lightning and thunder. It felt like lightning was falling right on my head — a feeling that's hard to describe. After an hour, the rain finally slowed down to a drizzle.
Finally, at 11 PM, we reached Thiruvannamalai. We initially planned to do Girivalam on the same night, but due to the persistent rain, our drenched state and the time lost, we changed plans.
We booked a room opposite Vijayalakshmi Ananda Ashram for rest. This is were we met an unwelcomed guest. a snaked coiled in the U-bend of our room western closet. Luckily it was timely spotted by my tired and weary eyes. We then moved to the first floor, where the room had a beautiful view of Thiruvannamalai Mountain. We rested there for the night.
Day 2: Spiritual Experiences and Mountain Climbing
On 24th May, we woke early, bathed, and headed to the temple. Entering at 7 AM through the special ₹50 darshan queue, we spent about 3 hours inside the temple, had a divine dharshan amongst the crowd and came out at 10 AM.
We then visited Sri Ramana Maharishi Ashram for some rest and rejuvenation. Unexpectedly, we were offered annaprasadam. The Annadhanam was delicious and hygienic, and served to everyone.
After a short meditation, we began climbing the mountain at 11 AM.
We reached Skandha Ashram, where the atmosphere felt divine, and we meditated briefly. From there, we climbed to Virupaksha Cave.
After spending time at the cave, we climbed down at 2 PM.
The view of the temple from the mountain top was breathtaking.
We returned to our room by 3 PM and had lunch at Vijayalakshmi Ananda Ashram. The guru there shared profound insights about Thiruvannamalai and showed us the Parvathamalai mountain view.
Following lunch and rest, we started Girivalam at 5 PM ; a 14 KM barefoot circumambulation of the mountain. This was the hardest hurdle to accomplish.
Along the way, we passed 8 Lingas and 8 Nandhis, completing the Girivalam at around 10 PM. We had small snacks during the walk and completed the journey with dinner. After a short rest, we checked out and began our journey back home.
Final Thoughts
Our divine trip concluded successfully, and we reached home at 3 AM on 25th May 2025. The spiritual and physical experiences were beyond words. It was a journey to be remembered, feel and definitely revisit.
OM Namashivaya namah
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