Tirivannamali

Tiruvannamali

 

Part of the great experience of travelling in India are the train and bus journeys. Local buses here are well connected to every small village although less frequent.  I take a Local bus from Pondicherry to Tiruvannamalai. It’s a temple and a mountain town, as its Diwali a great occasion to see the town that worships Shiva in his fire incarnation. The bus journey should take tow hours but it take four as it definitely does go through every village and I find my self contemplating about life and acceptance and all the rubbish that the Indians don’t want to deal with.

The temple is vast and a magnificent structure and inside a small labyrinth of dark rooms where puja (blessings) take place a significant one is where people light diwa (light) and walk around the Shiva stone chanting. For a lot of Indians temple worship is a way of life, but when I ask for an explanation of how and what to do ,no one seems to know the answer. I guess for me you don’t need to go to a temple to be close to God, but its fascinating to watch the devotion and the happiness of there faces.