Isha Yoga in Coimbatore

PVS is my class mate and we go for practicing yoga together from KL block to MDC yoga center. He is a Piscean and Kanya Hastham and so he is my favourite confidant and we talk something or the other as we walk towards MDC and while returning.

He had been telling about his engagement and now he announced his wedding in Gobi and he said that I could book tickets either till Coimbatore or Erode and the distance was almost the same to Gobi. So I decided, I will go to Isha Yoga Center which my dad had mentioned years earlier. My another PGPPM friend also mentioned how there was a mercury linga submerged in water, and mercury could solidify only at extremely low temperatures and how refreshing a dip in that holy water was. So I was all enthusiastic about going to Isha yoga and reconnoitering the place.

Kovai

So around 19th of March, I had my tickets booked for the night journey from Bangalore. It was pleasant to be able to speak in Tamil to enquire about where to board the bus for Isha Yoga center after stuttering and mixing all tamil, broken kannada and hindi in Bangalore while asking for directions. The railway guards said, cross the road and there is a busstop from where the buses go directly to Isha and lo it was. I had to drag my trolley for quite some time till I reached the busstop, I had just missed one bus to isha and sat waiting for the next one while observing the mallu couple next to me on my right and a mother and son on my left. At last the bus came and I boarded the bus. After 1 hour or so, and going through dry katcha roads, I reached Isha Yoga.

Isha Yoga Center

There was a huge Nandi statue in front and the whole style of the center had a playfulness about it. It was clean, there was a volunteer to guide me through the temple. There were beautiful flowers strewn here and there along the path. I did not want to visit the Devi shrine without bathing, so I first had bath and retraced my path to the Devi shrine where even how to prostrate was carved on the ground. After that was the sacred holy dip that this PGPPM student had mentioned. I felt as if was nearing a waterfalls. Water was steadily pouring from a copper wall at a height. There were separate lady timings and gents timings to take a holy dip for 30 minutes. After descending down through the steps and reaching the water, I slowly dipped my leg in and found is so cold. Gradually I got used to it and went up to the linga and saw how others were praying. There was a middle aged athletic foreigner who placed both her palms on the linga and was praying. I too did the same and after couple of pradakshinas, waded through the water, I reached till the copper wall and came back. There was sunlight there and the effect it made on the water made it glow like emerald sparkling away its way to glory.

After the holy dip, I escorted other ladies to the linga who were afraid of the chest water, one lady surprised me by doing a namaskaram after I escorted her back to the steps. All this in silence, since there were clapping volunteers.

Meditation Cave

After changing to into fresh dry clothes, I went to the meditation temple where there was a huge linga as I had seen in internet and other mailers. We were all led in groups inside the dome. The flowers were arranged beautifully and lamps were lit delightfully. The flames danced to some tune known amongst themselves and it was a gleeful sight to watch. I sat on a chair in silence trying to meditate. I also sat for the next round which was the last before lunch break. There was nubile Caucasian dressed in white who sang languorously without words, a soulful tune with occasional shiva namas uttered in between. On four sides of the linga, sat 4 young musical players who rolled an instrument that made a heavenly sound, and thus we sat enraptured while they played that music. After 15 minutes were over, a volunteer lady rang a bell and we all got up to move out.

Finally once outside the temple, I had my curd rice, and within 10 minutes, a bus to Gandhinagar busstand came and I boarded it and reached Gobi for PVS’s reception in the evening.