January 9, 2010
Aum Amriteshwaryai Namah...
Today is when I say goodbye to Jim for about a month. We all left the Ashram this morning at about 8:30am to begin the South India Tour. Jim leaves the Ashram on Monday so I won't see him now until we join up in Portland, OR on February 10, 2010 to go to the Breitenbush Faerie Winter Gathering. It was kind of weird to say goodbye to him and have him walk me over the bridge to the village of Vallikavu to catch the bus this morning. A certain sadness came upon me. I knew full well that touring is NOT Jim's thing at all, but I LOVE it!
We were scheduled to leave at 8am and actually departed at 8:30am. This is remarkable for India. We stopped in Kochin for lunch and took a tour of the AIMS Hospital. It's really beautiful and there is much history in that place. Apparently, that whole area was swamp land that Amma bought to build this hospital. She built this hospital in response to all the concerns and complaints that She would hear from people when they came to Her for Darshan. People telling Her how there was nowhere for them to go to get medical attention that they so desperately needed. She bought a hill of mud a little ways from the swamp land (where AIMS now rests) and had that mud brought over to create the land and foundation of this small city we now call the AIMS Hospital. It is truly a little city. It's about 3 times the size (possibly more) of the Ashram in Amritapuri. There is the Hospital itself which, if seen from an arial view is shaped like a lotus flower. Six petals - six buildings, each having its own specialty medicine practise. Then there is a medical college, dental college, residential buildings for both the students and the bystandards. In India, there is a rule that all in-patients must have a bystandard with tthem in their room around the clock. The 20 minute (very fast) tour of AIMS was very enjoyable and informative.
We got back in the bus and made our way to Coimbatore. The only stop that we made was at the Amma University for chai. Then we made our way further to the Program site - the Brahmastanam Temple.
On the last leg of the trip (from the University to the Program site, we chanted the 108 Names of Amma, the Stotram (abbreviated version of the 1,000 Names of Devi), the Mahishasuramardini and then some bhajans. It was really fun!
We have not seen Amma at all today. I guess we will all see Amma tomorrow at the same time as everyone else.
Anticipation is rising as is the excitement of being on tour...the mosquitos are out in full force too. I really wish I had a mosquito net.
Aum Amriteshwaryai Namah...
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South India is a linguistic-cultural region of India that covers the four Indian states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu and the Union Territory of Pondicherry.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the information. Coimbatore is the second largest city in Tamil Nadu and is a bustling and growing city. Host to a plethora of automobile companies, engineering firms and textile industries, it is one of the most important cities in the South of India. For tourist attractions, check out these places to visit in Coimbatore.
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