Travelling in search of the Third Eye.

I try to sneak in a languid nap before the clock strikes six on the day of Karthigai Deepam. It’s still 5pm, but I’m rudely awakened by my mother with a distasteful frown on her face.

“The Bharani Deepam ceremony on TV! You want to sleep?”

For many Hindus across the world, Karthigai Deepam is marked by lighting the first agalvilakku at 6pm. But for many more, it starts nearly two hours before, when Podhigai TV live telecasts the lighting of the Maha Deepam from Thiruvannamalai Arunachaleshwarar Temple. When the Maha Deepam is lit, the family prostrates in front of the television(something that cracked me up when I was little) and only then begin the other festivities.

This ceremony takes on further importance for me, a native from Thiruvannamalai and most of my childhood days were peppered with grandma-tales of the holy mountain. In a weird turn of events, I found myself camped at Thiruvannamalai on the third day of Karthigai Deepam, after a long drive of over five hours, burnt by the sun and drenched in the rain. I can trace my journey sitting on a grime seat, filled with little elements like lush fields sprawled across a vast area, ducks and goats sprawled across the road as they parade about in grand procession.

Standing on a roof top as darkness sets in, I witness from 10km, the deepam that has dazzled many for years together. The legendary lighting of the maha deepam is a spectacular event, and I ask one of the locals for the secret of its ten day life. “The deepam is lit on a huge copper vessel in which tonnes of ghee, camphor and fresh cloth are placed. Many assume that priests trudge up the hill everyday to light the lamp, but no. It is lit only on the first day and stays on till the tenth day. Such is its magnificence.”

Thiruvannamalai has drawn the spiritually inclined for many centuries: of songs sung in praise by the Nayanmars, of many saints who found recluse in these deeply tucked hills. It is said that Lord Shiva manifests Himself in the mountain and that whoever went around Arunachala hills with reverence would be blessed by the Lord in every way.

For those who don’t know, walking around the mountain is a 15km daunting task. During the Maha Deepam ceremony, there is easily a festive crowd numbering 10 lakh, who reach a zenith of religious fervour. You can do the math.

But Karthikeyan, a native of Thiruvannamalai brushes off the momentous task with ease. He has circumnavigated the hills barefoot for 48 days on a stretch, and loved every bit of it. “They say that taking a bus or any other means of commutation around the hills will not get you anything. You walk it, you deserve it.”

Did I walk it, you ask? Nope. The Herculean task clearly scares me, and I resort to just taking a stroll by the streets of the temple, taking in the fragrances of freshly garlanded flowers and holy incense. I resort to look on as people go about doing their routine jobs as three words seem to consistently escape their lips. Om Namah Sivaya.


You can dig out some more information about Thiruvannamalai at this super detailed page and this article.

What's a blog without an inspiration?

A showcase can be defined as a cabinet, or just a specific part of the house, allocated for displaying delicate or valuable articles that are of importance. The Sho-Case too is what I might call a spectacle of some of the best articles written by Shonali Muthalaly, a journalist for The Hindu, spreading over a lush meadow of topics from fashion to food, from travel to television. Or judging by the writer’s ardent love for shoes, it might even mean The Sho(e)-Case, you never know.

Sample this:

“It’s a chilly 3 a.m. Dark. Windy. Quiet. Yet, somehow, I find myself racing through a garden grouchily brandishing a frightfully pink yoga mat. I’m accompanied by nauseatingly cheerful people: A fiesta of track pants, tattoos and chic jeweled turbans.”

When something as normal and gruelling as yoga at 3am can be written in a way that makes you scroll down to read more, you know that you’ve hit upon something non-pareil. And when you see a delicious concoction of greens and vegetables titled as “The Brad Pitt of the salad world” you cannot help but let out a chuckle of delight.

The style of writing is simple, and yet engaging. The little anecdotes, and the comical portrayal of certain events only serve to make you feel at home, like you’re listening to a dear friend of yours narrating a particularly embarrassing account.

Shonali can write about ideas that are poles apart with exceptional ease. Proof of that would be the trails of her travelling to Pichavaram and right above that, an interview with Ian Rankin and an article about Californian wines.

Shonali also battles for the fairer sex at He Says, She Says against film critic Sudhish Kamath, and the posts are downright snarky, funny and sarcastic. Once a popular column featured in the MetroPlus, this blog serves for a good read, even though it has not been updated in a long time.

The multitude of ideas, the sheer usage of words, and the even the photographs more than make up for the plain, very HTML background of The Sho-Case. With all the brilliant imagery and sense of humour, The Reluctant Gourmet is sure to give you some food for thought.