This weekend I got to go to the Dhyanalingam Yogic Temple, about 30 km outside of Coimbatore in the Western Ghats. Its grounds contain a temple to Shiva, a yoga retreat, and an underground spring where you can take a bath in holy water. When we got there, we wondered around the grounds, then put on lungis (those cloth skirt-like things I blogged about before) and took a holy dip, then went and meditated at the Shiva temple. Afterwards, we went and saw a huge waterfall in the Ghats, it was a great break from all the work we’ve been doing!
The three states of Shiva- notice his eyes and facial expressions as he mellows out into meditation.
The pillar at the entrance to the temple has the symbols of Hinduism, Islam and Christianity on it, and many other religions including Buddhism and Judaism on other sides, signifying that people of all religions are welcome to come and meditate.
The Dhyanalingam- no photos are allowed inside so I lifted these from the web. Those little squares you see behind the lingam are 5X5 recesseed little boxes that you can sit in crosslegged while you meditate to give yourself a little extra privacy. The thing in the middle is called a Lingam and is a symbol of Shiva.
Kovai Kutralam Falls- it was absolutely beautiful there and we got to get wet in the falls too!
Monkeys!!!
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