Travel Diary -- Dhyana Lingam

(The road leading to the Dhyana Lingam meditation center)

Had been to Coimbatore this week (Taking a break from my office routine) from 22/Feb to 25/Feb. This vacation turned out to be more of a pilgrimage with me visiting 5 temples in and around CBE in two days time. One of the places I visited is the "Dhyana Lingam" near Velliangiri hills(In the backdrop). It is 30 kms from CBE and we traveled by a car to this place. The last 6 to 7 kms of this travel is on muddy roads and it is indeed a nature lover's delight to be traveling to this place. The serene atmosphere combined with the natural roads, pristine forest make an avid photographer like me jump in joy.

The dhyana lingam shrine, established by Sadhguru, has a meditation center, a small pool located 30 feet below the ground level in which a 660 kg mercury lingam has been consectrated and 3 faces of Lord Shiva representing the 3 phases of man kind. (I would try to find more information on what the exact terms for the 3 faces are and post it here). The pool is around 6 feet deep & anyone could take a dip in the holy water assuming they have a spare set of dress along with them. One can enter into the pool after climbing down some 30 odd steps. The water is supplied from a pipe from the ground. The idol of Shiva immersed in the water is supposed to give the water medicinal properties. As I was not aware of this pool, all that I could end up doing is enter the pool to dip my feet in the holy water.

(Entrance to the meditation center. "Aum" symbol is visible)

The entrance to the meditation center has a large beam that bears the signs of "Aum", the " Crescent" and the "Cross" signifying that the meditation center is beyond all religions, faiths & beliefs. Inside, it has a semicircular dome like structure with a Shiva Lingam in the center. There are small cave like enclosures in the wall. People are recommended to sit in these enclosures and meditate. The peace and serenity that engulfs the whole place is something that can only be experienced and can never be described in words.

There are a lot of volunteers from the "Isha Foundation" who guide the visitors around the place. First time visitors to the place are given a brief introduction about the place and about the decorum that needs to be maintained while in the place. There is also a coffee day inside the building that serves various types of porridge(Kanji in tamil). Given all these positive points, there was something in my mind that kept nagging me and did not allow me getting the peace that I should have taken from this place. Was it the nature of the construction of the building that looked more like a set from a movie (or) is it that photos were prohibited not just inside but also outside the building (or) the fact that most of the volunteers had a clean shaven head with a 2-day old stub of beard that seemed out of place? I would never be able to tell.

All said & done, this a place that needs to be visited for the sheer natural environment in which this meditation center is constructed.