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Friday January 2: Depart Montreal and fly to Frankfort, on Lufthansa Airlines, then onto Chennai, India. Or, if leaving from Europe, depart January 3, 2009.
Sunday January 4 early a.m. arrive in Chennai: Sunday morning: arrive in Chennai (Madras), south India. Stay at the 4 star Hotel Shelter in Mylapore. Rest till the late afternoon then visit the nearby Ramakrishna Monastery and meditation hall established by Swami Vivekananda.. Also visit Kapaleeswarar Shiva Temple in Mylapore where Saint Thirugnana-sambandar resurrected a young girl by singing a devotional hymn. This area is known to be the prior residence of Thiruvallavar, a disciple of Agastyar, and who authored the widely read and translated Tamil text named Thirukkural. Mylapore takes it's name from the Tamil word for peacock, mayil, as Parvati, in one of her incarnations, lived here as a peacock.
Monday January 5: Travel to Pondicherry, until recently a French colony. In ancient times it was known as Vedapuri, as Agastyar established it as an educational center. Sri Aurobindo came here seeking asylum from the British and established the Aurobindo Ashram. Stay at the Hotel Ananda Inn.
Tuesday January 6: Visit Sri Aurobindo Ashram and samadhi shrine where Sri Aurobindo and the Mother are laid to rest. In the morning visit and meditate in the upstairs rooms where the Mother and Sri Aurobindo lived in seclusion for many years.
Wednesday January 7:
Visit the Chidambaram temple of Nataraja (Dancing Shiva). Participate in a special puja conducted especially for us.
Thursday January 8: Visit Auroville. Meditate in the Matri Mandir dome.
Friday January 9: Travel to Tiruvannamalai. Stay 4 nights at the new deluxe Hotel Arunai Anantha. Visit Ramana Maharshi Ashram.
Saturday January 10: Visit
Ramana Maharshi Ashram at the base of the mountain of Arunachala
and the small hall where Ramana spent many years absorbed in Samadhi.
Evening visit to the Tiruvannamalai Shiva temple. This region was
sanctified by Shepherd Siddha Idai Kadar who resided here and herded
his goats and cows around the mountain. In the evening worship
in the Arunachalaswarar Temple where Idai kadar experienced Svarupa
Samadhi and Arunagirinathar, a disciple of Agastyar, composed many
beautiful songs to Lord Murugan.
Sunday January 11: Ascend Arunachala mountain and explore the ancient meditation cave, Virupaksha Cave, named after a rishi whose body is enshrined within the cave. Meditate at Skanda Ashram where Ramana Maharshi lived for six years. Skanda Ashram
was constructed by Kandaswami, a devoted disciple of Ramana. Practice sadhana in the caves
.
Monday January 12: Go around the mountain or climb to the summit.
Tuesday January 13: Travel to Tanjore. In the afternoon, visit the Britheeswar temple, dedicated to Shiva, with the tallest temple tower in Asia. Meditate at the shrine of the Siddhar Karuvoorar. Stay one night at Hotel Oriental Towers.
Wednesday January 14: Travel
216 km (130 miles) to Palani. Visit the Palani Murugan shrine for
darshan of Lord Dandaswamy, after climbing the 1,008 steps to the
top of the hill. Meditate in the Samadhi shrine of Siddhar Boganathar.
Visit the ashram of Boganathar’s disciple Pulapani. . Boganathar
was the guru of Babaji, and he established this temple and Samadhi
shrine.
Thursday January 15: Sadhana in Palani Visit the Pulapani ashram, founded by the disciple of Boganathar.
Friday January 16: Travel to Coimbatore and stay at Isha Yoga Ashram for 2 nights. Founded by Satguru Jaggi Vasudev. Visit the unique Dhyana Mandir constructed without cement, do group sadhana and participate in the activities of the ashram.
Saturday January 17: Sadhana at the Isha Yoga Ashram.
Sunday January 18: Travel to Mysore. Stay at a 4 star hotel. Visit the ashram of Sri Ganapathy Satchidananda and the Mysore Palace.. Local shopping.
Monday January 19 late morning travel to Bangalore: Pilgrimage ends about 3 pm at the Bangalore airport. Departure to international destinations via Bangalore/Chennai as required. Or stay in Bangalore and visit Kriya Yoga Ashram in Bangalore.
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