Hello ppl.. good to be bloggin after such a long time… I blame my laziness for this delay (or rather this long break). Well, exams are over. Am into my final yr of engineering. Campus recruitment wil be here soon. Big stage of life (some say so!!)
As am listenin to 4mins of Madonna-Justin timberland (gr8 song-u ppl shud hear it too!!) am gonna write bout my trip to Thiruvannamalai for girivalam. I don recognize myself as a highly devout person, of course I believe in god but the prime reason I went on this trip was a sense of adventure it would offer.
This plan was initiated by Kaarthic Vadivel- my friend. This wasn’t his 1st. this wasn’t my 1st either. I had gone for girivalam bout a decade back I think (must hav been 9yrs old then). But tat was wit family. This was to be wit my friends- Kaarthic Vadivel, Ashwin Venkatachalam, Vijay, Nellai a.k.a Hari.
Am including the timing details cuz I took pains in notin them down!!
19th May , 2008
6.15pm- ash n me took an auto to t.nagar bus stand where we met up wit de other 3. we waited for a bus to CMBT. We waited n we waited!!!
7.30pm- finally we got a bus m27( I think). Commuting inside de city on an mtc bus will be anyone’s nightmare, ours was no different!!!
8.52pm- we reached CMBT. It was a pleasant surprise tat it was a pretty clean place ( like an airport!!). We got something to eat n drink n went to get tokens for de bus to thiruvannamalai. Got tokens for bus H.
9.35pm- we boarded de bus n it started out of the bus terminus at 9.35pm.
The ride inside the city was bad as usual. Too much of traffic, honkin of loud horns, a couple of accidents!!!
11.36pm- made a pit stop at some place after enterin chengalpet district. Kv n vijay slept lik logs. Ash was sleepin in patches. Me n nellai were sight seein.
11.58pm- bus started again.
20th May, 2008
1.42am- pit stop again for fillin up de tank, somewhere inside Gingee.
3.00am- got down at de final destination-Thiruvannamalai.
THE TEMPLE GOPURAM-SHOT AT NIGHT WIT MY MOBILE CAM.
3.26am onwards- started off for de girivalam after removing our footwear.
It was a 16km path. On an average of 4km per hour, I assumed tat it’ll be over in 4hrs time. We visited each of the 8 lingams(worship forms of Lord Shiva) on the way. It was chitraa pournami. So, doin girivalam on tat day was spl, I was told. The moon was too brilliant at tat time. The pathway was well lighted. We were never alone even for a second. There would either be other people who came for the girivalam or the shopkeepers who formed the border of the road.
TEMPLE GOPURAM-ANOTHER ANGLE
One sad fact was tat there were too many shops. They were playin songs( many were spiritual n some were film nos). the shops were mostly relatin to food- tender coconut, cool drinks, fruits n others, or cassette shops. There was clear degradation of the envt. Plastic cups n plates strewn almost everywhere, coconut shells n straws were in heaps. If only the govt could do something to prevent these ppl from pollutin the place.
THE HOLY HILL-THIRUVANNAMALAI
7.36am- it actually dint work accordin to my calculations, took us 10 mins more than 4hrs to complete the girivalam. Felt lik I’ve achieved something after completin the journey.
8.00am- took back our footwear n started towards a hotel.
8.15am- hadn’t even brushed!! Yet had breakfast at a hotel there n went to the bus terminus there. Kv had to go to his native-Karaikudi n we to Chennai.
9.10am- boarded bus to Chennai. Was itchin to get home from the time I boarded de bus. N wit every passin moment, the wait seemed to get longer.
12.25pm- had reached Tambaram.
1.02pm- was at Ashok pillar.
Me n ash started walkin home from there. Nellai n vijay went to catch a bus to t nagar.
1.22pm- was inside my place. Slept as soon as I came.
MISSION ACCOMPLISHED!!!!
NO PHOTOSHOP INVOLVED!!!
LOOK AT THE HUES!!!
