Tiruvanamalai

I took a bus to Tiruvanamali arriving at around 1am...This night was a festival for Lord Shiva, where the people walk 14km around a mountain chanting...or at least I think they are chanting, I arrived too late at night! My Tuk Tuk driver had to go to 5 different hotels until we found one that had a room and then I apparently did not tip him enough for his effort...Live and learn...  Here are some pics of the holy temple in Tiruvanamalai...There were many of these giant structures... around the gates and inside, it is a huge complex but I was feeling a little camera shy

 

 Getting blessed by an elephant...It is a Shiva temple and Shia's son is Ganesha, the kid with the head of an elephant who is also worshipped in southern India...He removes obstacles...I wonder and assume that this is has something to do with the elephant here...

I am guessign this fellow was part of the parade at night!
 

One of the many forms of transport!
 

These guys were my neighbors in the hotel...

 This is a Dosa, a typical south Indian breakfast...it can come with some potato or other food inside and a couple dipping sauces...The hard part is to tear it with one hand!
 

Here I am with Kiran, who was the nephew of the owner of m hotel and who showed me around and helped me out!  We went on a bike around the mountain stopping at a few ashrams and seeign what was up...some famous folks have ashrams int he area and while it is a popular place I wanted to go to the Sivananda ashram to continue the line of study I am used too
 

After a rough night of getting to know the floor of my bathroom and a day of recovery I headed to Madurai and The Sivananda Ashram...