How I came to do Girivalam?

I had read about Girivalam - that is pradakshina of Arunachala - the 14km walk around the mountain - usually done barefoot and especially on full moon day. But somehow it didn't register in my mind and somehow I never felt compelled to do it. Maybe I was merely cerebral and was obviously thinking how a long walk around Arunachala could be any different? It had been almost a year since I started visiting Tiruvannamalai. Most times I would visit the Ashram, spend few hours there and return back or occasionally spend the night, spend few hours at the Ashram next morning too and return back. Sometimes I would scale Arunachala partially and visit Skandasramam or Virupakshi cave. Then during one of my visits, I met three guys from Bangalore with whom I shared the return bus journey. It was Sunday evening and all busses were going packed and we all were in similar boat - so to speak - in hurry to get to Bangalore. We even contemplated doing a Taxi to Bangalore, but luckily we got the bus and the seats in last row. During talk with them one of the guys very mysteriously asked me 'Have you done Girivalam?' I said no. Then in couple of sentences he propounded its virtues in such a way that my mind must have unconsciously decided to experience it once. The seed of inspiration was planted in me that day.

Often times I take decisions at spur of moment. One such day was 18 May 2019. It was Saturday and a full moon day. It was around 5 in the evening and I was generally bored - lazing around at home. Suddenly it occurred to me that it is full moon and I remembered that guy's talk about Girivalam. But it was evening already and if I start now I will reach around 11 pm at Tiruvannamalai. However it was said that many people did Girivalam on full moon night, I was not sure if today was that night (as Tamil calendar is slightly different and I was not sure if it was the Pournami for Girivalam that day) and what do we mean by 'many' people? Nevertheless, I decided and started out within half an hour, went to the electronic city toll gate where I usually catch the bus. Busses are plenty all time round and I got in one of them. I realized that it was the full moon day of Girivalam when the bus made its final stop almost 1 km out of Tiruvannamalai near some large ground instead of going to the bus-stand in the town. I got down and started walking in dark with my fellow passengers in the direction where everyone seemed to go. There were hundreds of busses stopped on the way just like mine but I was not knowing where am I or which part of Tiruvannamalai I was in, I was just following the crowd. It must have been around 1 km before I got to the main road that is Girivalam path. I thought this must have been the same main road that enters Tiruvannamalai when arriving from Bangalore. It was brightly lit with streetlights but it was unrecognizable as it was full of people walking and all vehicular traffic was stopped. I could not even see through the mass of people to the other side of the road clearly so that I could guess where was I! It was an atmosphere of a walking fair. Food and refreshment stalls abound, loud speakers chanting 'Om namah shivay' and thousands of people quietly bustling barefoot under this beautiful full moon at midnight! I joined the stream of people and I was transported to a different world. For some moments, I could not believe that such place existed on earth and wondered why I didn't know this before? I felt this itself should be big news that people walk all night - that too in thousands - that too on every full moon - in this small town of south India - shouldn't that be big news and well known? - but no - it doesn't matter - you are here - now experience this. I was experiencing Tamil people's simple and yet deep religiousness and spirituality. Entire families, groups of friends, groups of unknowns, ascetics and eccentrics all were walking together, either chanting 'Om namah shivay' or quietly, on barefoot or with shoes on. Some people were taking rest on benches lined up on the way or on the paved footpaths. But most of the time a constant stream of humanity was flowing endlessly around the mountain which itself stood as a huge dark shadow under the full moon.

I don't recall if I ever had slept on the road or footpath before in my life, but after walking a while, tired, I layed down on the footpath like others while thousands still kept walking behind me on the road. It was around 2 am and I was lying down, facing Arunachala on inner footpath watching beautiful full moon and bright Jupiter conjunction along with the dark shadowy peak of Arunachala. Cool surface wind with its small turbulences was blowing just above the footpath and over my body. Around me other pilgrims, my brothers, were also resting just like myself. I, a product of this earth, was sleeping in lap of this earth as close as I can get to her. It is hard to describe the feeling of connectedness and harmony that I experienced in that half an hour or so on that footpath on summer night.