Tiruvannamalai - The power of the sacred Aruchanala mountain

So I have now been in Tiruvannamalai for 4 days and really starting to unwind and relax and get into the local mood, a mix of fire and spirit, of a massive temple, a holy mountain and it's gurus dead and alive, that are worshipped and chanted and smiled at at different sittings that are planned throughout the day in the various Ashrams situated south of the main temple. I arrived here a little tired and just dropped my things in a grotty hotel close to the main temple, the view form the rooftop was exquisite but I forgot to take a photo as a few hours after arriving there, I discovered the south of the city, quieter and more 'occidental' with quality eateries with WIFI, I also found a cleaner guest house and decided to move there 'illicit presto'. It turned out this new place was real noisy, so I moved again after two nights to another place that is great... On my first night, I headed straight to the main Ashram called Sri Ramana Maharsi, it was the one of a very holy man who died in 1950 and which is a beautiful place with a very nice shiva temple as well as a shrine of the holy man and his wife and where chanting is held out at many moments throughout the day. The one of his 'sayings' chanted in Tamil and is a dialogue between the men and women of the assembly sitting facing each other, is very impressive and beautiful. Another chanting session is the one of the priests who chant the Vedas in sanskrit is also pretty impressive and very soothing. After this introduction to the local spirituality, I headed for the main temple that is a massive Shiva temple and of his 'FIRE' impersonation. Most of the visitors are dressed in red and the two shrines are of course very warm and the deities are surrounded by a multitude of ghee burning candles. I returned there the next morning to see the pilgrims arriving for the morning pujas but stayed outside the temple walls just watching the preparations. I then went to a Dharshan held by a living holy woman called Ammayair who graces her followers with her beautiful presence every morning for 15 minutes when she walks in front of her audience delivering peacefully looks, smiles and gentle gestures. It was quite an experience and even if it is a very well presented, managed and staged appearance, her presence and warmth and the feeling you get is truly soothing. This part of the city is taken over by non indian spiritual tourists, mostly dressed in local costumes both men and women and in a way it's a little too much but what the hell, it's a peacefull part of town and the places to hang out serve delicious and mega heathly food in a very beautiful surrounding at the foot of the Arunachala hill that is the energy of this very special place. You can check out some Wikipedia info and also on www.tirulive.com and by googling 'Sri Ramana Maharsi ashram' and 'Shri shiva shakti Ammayair ashram'