Happy Yugadi
Happy Yugadi to all our Teachers, students, and friends,
Yugadi or Ugadi is the first day of the Hindu calendar (first day of the first month, the Chaitra).
Yoga India Trip Nov 2009
28 November 2009
Trip to the temples
I never thought that it was possible to get up at 4 a.m. on a Saturday, but I have found that being here we seem to surprise ourselves week after week! Although a bit tired the twelve of us (Mahendra, Joe, Alina, Mika, Nancy, Peter, Carolina, Michael, Bin, Charles, Sofia and I) gather in front of the shala on a cold morning. After making sure that we had an equal number of men and women in the two cars we start our adventure still under the darkness of the night. Even at that early hour it was surprising to see how many local people were out already on the streets.
On the way to the first sight we watch the sun slowly come up and, after a short chai stop and a filling breakfast of dosas and idlis, everybody is awake and ready to begin taking an uncountable number of photos of each other. This is the first time that we are all together outside of the shala and its strict rules of silence, so most of us suddenly turn into a social animal!
The sun greets us with pleasant warmth as we arrive at Belur temple. Our guide is a very nice man and his technique of using a mirror and the sun`s reflection in it to point to the details of the carvings is very original. Thanks to him we are able to gain an appreciation and better understanding of the genius of the artists who carved the women in ritual dancing poses. These carvings ornate the front side of the temple and every piece is made using one single stone. There is unbelievable precision in each figure, each one has a perfect and differing hairstyle, jewelry and "so-called" sari, but these are a lot more revealing than those being worn nowadays! The small details are fabulous and meticulously done; a monkey of no bigger than 5cm sucking his finger, a lizard of half a cm long gazing a fly resting on a jackfruit and each of the elephants decorating the bottom line of the wall were all different. What variety and what great work, no surprise that it took around 103 years to complete the temple!
Inside the temple everything is made of a black stone and you cannot find one column that is the same. One column in particular represents the whole of the temple, including all of the decorative elements that could be seen outside. Next to the main altar there is a beautiful female figure, and here we learn that she is the image of a perfect woman. According to this concept a lady's body height should be seven times the length of her face, her waist should be as small as her front, her foot should be nicely arched and her second toe should be longer than her big toe. We all curiously follow the explanation up to the last criteria, and at that point we have to give up all hopes. Yes girls, it is maybe better for us to accept that since we cannot pass the toe test we will never be able to dominate our husband! Don't be too sad though, fortunately we live in a different era...
And now it is time to get lost in the complex, we have 30 minutes for ourselves, which means photos, photos, photos! Carolina, Michael, Mika, Sofia and I go really creative and invent some beautiful combinations of asanas, which have to be photographically recorded on the spot. Meanwhile, about ten meters away, Peter gets into a serious philosophical conversation with locals, and I can sense that they are just minutes away from laying down the foundations of a new ashram for `Guru Pierre`.
The site also some other interesting features. One of them is the stone column in the middle that only stands on three corners. Hhm, maybe from this masterpiece of balance we can learn something to improve our sirshasana practice? Another point of interest is the figures on the main gate. Sexual education on a large scale, but the guy high up on the ladder weeding between the lovers makes the scene nicely ironic.
Our next stop is Halebidu temple with its beautiful green lawns and Nandi statues. These humble giant bulls, the vehicles of Shiva, patiently wait for the colorful crowds of worshippers. Four of our men endeavour to seek inner silence and meditate in the temple in spite of the noisy visitors. Bin, who has been trying to find a silent moment since this morning, is more than happy to find the others and join them in meditation. But hey guys, if you can really meditate under those conditions then you are real yogis already! Bravo!
We slowly all gather by the lake on the emerald green grass to have a picnic. Tangerines, bananas, oranges, some Indian sweets and biscuits quickly make their last trip from our bags to our mouths. In this idyllic environment we really forget about everything and it is hard to move on. On the way out a bunch of students start to wave their hands and we wave back in greeting. Suddenly, a schoolgirl runs after us and Joe, Sofia and I cannot leave until a group picture is taken of all of us. It feels so good to be famous! Finally, we managed to escape from the beggars and the sellers, even though one of these small girls has such incredible eyes that it is hard to resist, and get back into the cars.
Next destination: LUNCH! Wow, this vegetarian restaurant is not a bad pick and the food is delicious, but still we have some troubles. Michael is the first to order but the last to be served. Poor Carolina suffers from the spicy sauces and no matter how many ice creams they offer her (at least 3), nothing can make her fully happy. Sofia is losing her temper over the delayed rice and she lets out several "Baya, baya!!!" shouts until the situation is resolved. Alina got her ‘yummy' alu paratha on time and it is tasty, but at the third piece she discovers a hair in her plate and all the complaints will get her another 4 pieces which are way too much to finish.
After settling the bill we are waiting for the last of a long line of people to return from the restroom and I wickedly decide to have some fun. There is a huge fire with threatening black smoke right behind our cars and Bharath is on the phone with a very serious face. All it takes is the right agitated tone to make Joe, our experienced sailor, believe that it is actually our jeep that is burning and Bharath is just seconds away from calling for help. Sorry Joe, it is now clear that you prefer adrenaline to stress.
It is late in the afternoon with the best light of the day when we reach the holy place of Sravanabelagola, with its jain temple and a giant on the top. By now we have got used to leaving our footwear behind, but to climb the 676 stone steps without it might prove to be quite a challenge. But look at the Indian...Sofia is putting on socks, not fair!
From the top the view is breathtaking and the temple and its surrounding buildings are bathing in the wonderful orange sunlight. The huge corridors around the temple with their striped walls, ancient carvings and stone floors are mysterious, especially when you wait for everybody to leave. But it is not just the temple that seems rather special, the hill itself holds some kind of magic. The rock is so smooth it was probably polished by waters or maybe, to obey the wish of a god, it just melted from one second to another to instantly become hard again. Charles is so right to sit down in a comfortable meditation position with Bharath to just experience the energy of the surroundings.
I enter the temple to meet the others and now I can see Bahubali, the jain deity in his full glory. This spotless white statue is elegant in its simplicity, and is a perfect contrast to the orange turban of the monk serving at his feet.
As we climb down the hill, Mika and Bin, in true teacher training style, start to observe the "correct technique", "limitations" and "benefits" of this exercise. There are a few limitations, but in conclusion everyone can do it. Just work carefully if you feel any discomfort, feel and work, but do not fall. Benefits are many, but just to mention a few; it relieves stiffness from the joints, hard work takes place on the legs, it improves lung capacity and greatly increases concentration and will power. The technique is a bit more complicated to explain since we have not much breath left after laughing so much. Therefore, we also cut short the common mistakes by saying that use of a portable chair for 300 Rupees should be avoided.
Eventually everyone is there at the meeting point, but not quite on time since the Tibetan shop represents a huge temptation. It is dark again when we arrive back at the shala, but the streets are still full of people, does India never sleep? Unlike us yoga students, who by now are really longing for our beds. A slip of the tongue makes someone say ‘see you tomorrow at 5 a.m.', but tomorrow is Sunday and we can finally rest.
Anyway, this trip was well worth the effort and thanks to all who contributed by their presence to the completeness and beauty of the day. Om Shanti.
Gobi
Teacher Training Trip
The day began at 4.45am with 13 tired little yogis piling themselves into 2 luxury cars and heading off out for a well deserved day off. The early start was a slight shock to the system, especially as it was even earlier than we had to get up for practice, but as we watched the most picture perfect sunrise over miles and miles of rice paddies it all became worth it! By 6.30 am we were all ready for a chai stop, which gave us the chance to stretch our legs, and experience local life in a town begin it's day. We then drove on through the most beautiful scenery imaginable, it really did feel good to escape the city and be surrounded by greenery, with rice paddies and palm trees stretching as far as the eye could see. Spirits were high and even the small bit of rain couldn't dampen our spirits, but Bharath's suggestion of chanting managed to keep everyone quiet for a few minutes, and I still to this day don't know whether he was serious!!
By 8am we arrived at our breakfast stop, a great little "local" restaurant where we all feasted on masala dosas, iddlies, badam milk and of course more chai. It was a great atmosphere and such an experience to mix with the locals and see how to do breakfast true "Indian style", I'm still not sure I'll ever get used to spices for breakfast though! Just 2 minutes more down the road and we reached our first destination - Bellur. Belur's claim to fame is it's magnificent temple complex and legend has it that it took 103 years and 3 generations to complete. The intricate sculptures that fill the temple are breathtaking, and we were lucky enough to have an amazing tour guide who took us all around the complex explaining everything in detail and making sure that we missed nothing. We were then given some free time in which to wander back around the temple taking in the atmosphere and taking pictures. But, put a group of yogis and a camera together and what happens...asana pictures! We spent a really fun half an hour taking pictures of each other in all of our newly learned asanas (head standing on the concrete floor was optional!)
By 10.30 it was time to leave and drive 45 minutes down the road to stop number 2 - Halebidu. Halebidu was the regal capital of the Hoysala Empire in the 12th century, and is home to one of the best examples of Hoysala architecture in the ornate Hoysaleswara and Kedareswara temples. Here we were given just over an hour to wander round these beautiful temples, which were never quite complete and ruined by repeated attacks by enemy empires, which is where the name came from as Halebid translates into Ruined City. We all met back at the lakeside at 12.30 ready to leave but while sat on the grass someone asked a question, which led to an impromptu philosophy class! It was such a different environment from the classroom, sitting next to a beautiful lake enraptured by Bharaths words of wisdom and I think one of my favourite moments of the trip.
The next part of the drive took us through even more beautiful scenery as we wound through country lanes watching women wash clothes in the river, children playing in the street and local farmers walking their cattle, such a great way to see the way to see local life in the countryside. We then arrived into the city of Hassan, which was a complete contrast to the peace and quiet we had just experienced! Here was a whole new set of sights and sounds to take in, a typical Indian city; alive and vibrant, busy and loud! At 2pm we stopped for the most amazing lunch, where we all got to sit together and share the days experiences and a lot of laughs! The great thing for me about the day was the chance to actually talk to everyone, and I really feel that the group bonded and were brought so closely together. Full and satisfied (and slightly tired after so much food!) we piled back into the cars, where Bharath put on some lively traditional Indian cultural dance music to wake us all back up and energise us for the climb ahead! A short drive later and we arrived at our final stop - Sravanabelagola.
Sravanabelagola is a noted place of pilgrimage for the Jains, where a flight of 614 steps finely chiseled into the granite of the mountain leads to the summit, where the 58 foot, 8 inch statue of Sri Gomatheswar stands. Seeing this as a great opportunity to walk off the food we had just eaten most of us set off up the steps, except Enrique, the biggest and heaviest of our group who could not pass up the opportunity of being carried up the mountain in a chair, it was quite some sight! We had an hour here, which was just enough time to tackle the steps and spend time taking in the amazing views on the way up, standing in awe at the foot of the statue, and of course more photo opportunities. Luckily Enrique let the men off with carrying him back down, but Loveleen then could not resist the opportunity either so caught the ride back down!
The drive home saw a much quieter group, with everyone tired but happy. In one day we had managed to just about cover "all of India" with the temples, history, culture, experiencing peaceful local life in the countryside and the mayhem of Indian cities! It was the perfect mid-way point in the Teacher training and one of the highlights, an experience that I won't forget.
Foundation Course
From Jan 2010 yoga India Offers booking for the Foundation course. which is starting on first of the every month for four weeks and later if any one want to continuein to advance course also available.
Success
Take up one idea. Make that one idea your life - think of it, dream of it, live on that idea. Let the brain, muscles, nerves, every part of your body, be full of that idea, and just leave every other idea alone. This is the way to success; that is way great spiritual giants are produced."