The Spiritual Start

We started all our Way to Saturagiri(Chaturagiri or Sathuragiri) the Mountain of Siddhars(Holy men meditating in the Mountains) from Chennai, capital of Tamilnadu. Saturagiri is located in a mountainous landscape of Srivilliputhur District near Madurai, Tamilnadu, South India. It has been a dream for all of our group to achieve this trekking journey for a long time. Eventhough planned & executed in a very short time within 4 days, this trip is a rememberable one which has been a key to open our Inner Self.

It was a 10 hour journey from Chennai to Srivilliputhur. We landed at Srivilliputhur by 5 am, had a nice tea and waited for the direct bus to Thaaniparai via Watrap(Vaithiruppu).

Bus came by 05:30 and started in 10 mins. It was a scenic journey catching a glimpse of Sunrise through our bus windows.

The bus made a left cut from Krishnan Koil and proceeded towards Thaanipaarai, the base of our dream place Sathuragiri Hills. The journey was for 1 hour and 10 mins. Most of the passengers were local villagers and vendors who held small shops at Thaaniparai and way to Sathuragiri. We also got company from some devotees who were heading for a similar journey to Saturagiri.

After crossing Watrap, we happened to see a bunch of peacocks grazing in the fields like domestic goats. We landed at Thaaniparai successfully by 06:15. We were astonished to see lot of people in packs coming from all parts by their own car, van or bus cooking there with local firewood who were ready for the trek.

Surprise was yet to come in the form of nature's call for us. It is common to clear our stomachs in the morning and we were really shocked to see that there were absolutely no facility to make our conveniences. Little choice was left to make it in the woods without the availability of water. We decided to brave this by purchasing mineral water bottles and entering into the deep bushes and satisfy nature's call. It was a new experience since we were not used to it as we got settled in a Metropolitan city years ago. But phew, after making this out we were experiencing signs of relief and enjoyed it too in the open forest.

As light food would be better for an arduous trek, we settled with a quick breakfast of 4 idlies(Common south Indian dish).

And, We S T A R T E D our journey which according to me would be a gathering of Spirituality, Adventure & Psychological realization. We were to be accompanied by young, old and even the youngest(2 year old child) with Porters carrying from salt to sugar in amazing pace which we cannot compete.

What our Souls seldom knew at this point was it is going to be a nifty encounter with our own Inner Self.