Time: July 10th-13th, 2025
Place: Isha Yoga Center, Coimbatore
Company: Wife & Daughter
Highlights: Unlike other anniversaries, this year we thought we will do it differently by a visit to the ashram. The dates were coinciding with Guru Pournima, so we clubbed some of the events. Wife went early to the ashram to attend the Guru Pournima event while daughter and I tried to view the event online as much as we could while we were on our way to Majestic to board the train on 10th.
On 11th, the two of us reached the ashram and met her at the entrance itself. We then got ourselves checked in and went to the room for refresh. Had to rush back to the Biksha Hall to have brunch. Then visited the Devi temple, gave an offering to Devi, then the Nada aradhana at Dhyana Linga and went back to the room at 1 pm for a nap. In the evening, went to Adiyogi. Spent a lot of time but not until Divya Darshanam since we had since that enough times already. Headed back, went to Biksha Hall for dinner and retired for the night. Daughter had a nice time cycling around the vicinity.
On 12th, we could hear the Mantra chantings from 5.30 in the morning. We did our kriyas and then breakfast time again. We just passed the time until about 11.30 am at which we were supposed to meet few volunteers who wanted to show us the ashram premises in and around 3 kms perimeter of Adi Yogi, with upcoming projects and developments. We obliged and we were fortunate enough to see Sadhguru on his bike who went past us on the same road where we were walking. Had detailed conversation with couple of monks about isha and how it was to how it has become now and what is Sadhguru's vision going forward. It was indeed very inspiring. Headed back to the room post noon and took rest until evening. It was again tea in the evening and dinner at night. Went to the terrace, it was a beautiful night with the moon and stars and the Vellangiri Mountain as backdrop. We could also hear music from the Program Halls nearby.
On 13th, we had given our names to the Klesha Nashana Kriya for all three of us. I took bath in the cold Surya Kund water while the wife and daughter 'prokshan'ed from Chandra Kund. We then took the offerings from the counter to the place where Klesha Nashana Kriya is performed. It is an elaborate ritual where you are made to sit on a table and your aura (so to speak) will get cleansed by neem leaves and the fire element. The whole thing will take about 30-45 minutes. After that we went to Devi again and sought her blessings. One quick visit to Dhyana Linga too and then we rushed to Biksha Hall for Brunch. That done, we checked out and took the bus at 11 am to the railway station. Our train was on time at 1 pm. Rest of the journey was uneventful. Just yapped, read books and kept taking eateries from passers-by. Had initially planned to get down at Karmelaram (first time in life), and in fact we did but it was raining, so thought we will not get taxi easily and hence got back on train to get down at Majestic. Took Metro and finally reached home at about 10 pm.
Overview: A very different way in which our anniversary was celebrated in the Guru's ashram with aura cleansing and divinity all around. Very peaceful, not rushing around wanting to see places or try adventurous stuff like how it had been in the past!
