“YOGA balances body and soul, physical health and mental well-being.
It promotes harmony among people, and between ourselves and the natural world.” Ban Ki-moon, the Secretary General of the United Nations, in his message in conjunction with the second celebration of International Yoga Day on June 21 this year, also emphasised on the role “healthy living plays in the realisation of the Sustainable Development Goals, adopted last year by all 193UnitedNationsMemberStates.”
Last week, we made brief stops at three cities, visiting a massive medical and yoga centre in Haridwar and an ashram in North India in Rishikesh, famed for its yoga programmes. South India too is replete with yoga and ayurveda centres.
In fact in the state of Kerala, the practice of the ages-old Indian health science, ayurveda, is very much a way oflife even today, and its wellness centres are popular with international tourists.
The second phase of my visit to India takes me to Thiruvananthapuram (also known as Trivanduram) in the southwest coast of India in the state of Kerala. The name means “City of Lord Ananta” and refers to the Anantha or Seshanaga, the five-headed cobra described in Hindu scriptures. Its statue can be seen at the Sri Padmanabhaswamy Temple, which is just about 2km from Thampanoor in the city centre.
The temple, devoted to Lord Vishnu, the Creator/Preserver in the Hindu pantheon of gods, is the richest temple in the world and its origins are lost in the mists of time. The Hindu god reclines, in the posture of the eternal yogic sleep, on the gigantic cobra, which symbolises the ocean of bliss and also embodies the entirety of creation. The many-pillared temple is astoundingly beautiful inside; however, only Hindus are allowed to enter, and that too if they adhere to the strict dress code stipulated. My first visit to Thiruvananthapuram, thecapital of Kerala, is actually to pay a visit to one of the most famous yoga and health centres here, the International Sivananda Yoga Vedanta Ashram, Neyyar Dam (35km from the airport). The road to the ashram bypasses villages and the rural scenery is fresh and green, similar to the kampung scenes of Malaysia, withabundant coconut trees and bananas ripening on stems.
The ashram was founded in 1959 by Swami Vishnudevananda, a disciple of Swami Sivananda Saraswati, a revered spiritual leader who founded the Divine Life Society. Sivananda is acknowledged as one of the greatest yoga masters of the 20th century (he was a qualified physician and served in British Malaya for 10 years). At the Neyyar Dam ashram at the foothills of Kerala’s Western Ghats, there is also an ayurveda clinic within the 12-acre grounds.
Visitors of course will already get a good deal of exercise just climbing the stairs to the centre’s halls, dorms and other buildings scattered across the undulating lands of the ashram. The setting is serenely beautiful — lush, alluring gardens surround the buildings.
Medicinal and ornamental trees and plants provide shade, graceful statues stand on pedestals, and artworks on Hindu mythology adorn the ceilings of the halls. The moment you step into the grounds, time seems to slow down and a meditative quality imbues the air.
The ashram offers several types of yoga programmes, including a two-week “yoga vacation”. But working at yourself requires a certain amount of discipline so there is a structured schedule yoga vacationers have to follow to reap the benefits of the programme.
A participant will be taught the five points: How to exercise properly (asanas), breathe correctly (pranayama), relax truly (savasana) and eat properly (this also means the diet is vegetarian).
Then there’s also instruction on positive thinking and meditation, which also embraces stress management. The aim at the end of the day is to radiate inner calm and bliss, and live in a healthier manner.
Children from 7 to 11 too can enrol in yoga camps, a three-week residential programme. It offers tools for self discipline and among the activities are yoga asanas, swimming, games, arts and crafts, and talks.
A more extensive course is available for those who aim to teach yoga. Graduates come away for an internationally recognised certificate (diploma) called the Yoga Siromani.
The ashram has optional trips to attractions outside, with a minimal fee. It also has a boutique. While walking around, we were introduced to the resident ayurveda consultant, Dr Vishnu, who runs the wellness centre in the ashram. It provides medical consultations and has a pharmacy and therapy rooms.
RECHARGED WITHAYURVEDA
The ancient Vedic healing science of ayurveda has found a huge fan base in the West. Its modality allows an individual to determine his or herbody type and nature, and thus, armed with the knowledge, one learns the means to best optimise one’s body, mind and spirit.
While many of us may only be familiar with the relaxing oil-drenching body massages of the ayurveda system, the 5,000-year-oldscience is far more cosmic in its scope and breadth. It includes general medicine, surgery, toxicology, beauty, fertility, childcare, psychology and more. For centuries, Indians had practised oil massages before the morning bath for improved circulation.
The monsoon season of Karkidaka (July-August) is generally considered the most beneficial period for relooking at one’s health and beginning rejuvenating ayurvedic massages and diets.
At the Sivananda Yoga Vedanta Ashram, there is a two-week course that acquaints one with ayurveda, covering the topics of the three doshas (body’s natural state and imbalances), its simple treatments, massages and illness preventive measures in accordance with body type, seasons and climate. These may include detoxification programmes like colon cleansing.
There is also meditation and yoga under this programme as it’s a holistic approach to health. The lecturers are qualified practitioners and clinical physicians.
The ashram also functions as a cultural centre and during Christmas and New Year, special events, dances and lectures on subjects like vastu, the Hindu science of architecture, are held.
CRUISING KERALA
Thus far we have been over land and air. Now it’s time to travel Kerala by water.
A 160km drive by road to Alleppey (also Alappuzha) popularly referred to as theVeniceoftheEast ends inavillage. After a welcome garland andfresh coconut water, we climb aboarda Kettuvallom docked at a small jetty.
These Kettuvalloms are beautiful houseboats, converted from rice barges into luxurious holiday homes fitted with modern amenities. In these you can travel the backwaters (rivers and lakes connected by canals) of Kerala, and gain insight into the riverine life of rural Kerala.
It’s a different lifestyle, one free of traffic jams and smog, with floating stores and school buses. You can have your houseboat stop at various points to go by foot into the villages andfarms to do your marketing, memento shopping or watch the folk festivals and temple celebrations when these are on.
In the Kuttand backwater stretch in particular, stop to admire the local engineering techniques that allow these communities to plant rice andother crops 1-3 metres below sea level on reclaimed land through the use of dykes.
The fresh produce from the marketing lands on your houseboat cook’s kitchen table. You’ll be enjoying traditional Kerala cuisine cooked fresh on board and served piping hot, dishes like the famed Kerala fish and prawn curry. Seafood, of course, is plentiful and delectable in Kerala. Our lunch cooked within two hours by the cook onboard consists of seven dishes, including fried local fish and soothing, non-spicy vegetables Kerala-style. We finish with coffee and goreng pisang; it feels like home.
You can also fish from your boat, stop the boat to go swimming or simply do nothing but eat, laze and read.
I am told the houseboats are also popular for corporate gatherings and getaways. The boats vary in size and have spacious dining and living rooms, air-conditioning, fitted kitchens and sundecks. The one I am in (from the operator Spice Routes) has two bedrooms with four poster beds and adjoining bathrooms (separate quarters for crew), two kitchen staff and a boat captain.
When booking a houseboat, it would be wise to ensure your travel coordinator pays a visit the day before to ensure you get what you paid for.
Unfortunately, I do not get to experience an overnight stay on the boat. We disembark at Kumarakom four hours later, on the shores of Vembanad Lake, the largest lake in Kerala, to stay at the four-star Lakesong Resort set in two hectares of grounds landscaped with coconut groves and waterways on which you can canoe. Some 5km away is the Kumarakom Bird Sanctuary. But there isn’t time for a visit.
SERENITY AND FUTURISTIC BUILDINGS
Pondicherry or Puducherry (newtown) is one of the most interesting cities in India.
Located in South India facing the Bay of Bengal, it was once under the French (1674-1962) and still carries very strong French influences, from its heritage buildings lining the French Quarter, to the residents who still speak French, English and Tamil.
I travel there by road from Chennai in Tamil Nadu, and arrive 3.5hours (160km) later at the town where Taiwanese American director Ang Lee filmed so many scenes from his Oscar-winning movie, the Life Of Pi.
On a past visit in 2012, I had written about the vibrant mix of arts and culture in Pondicherry and the communities that make up the town and a place called Auroville, 14.8km from Pondicherry town. This time it’s a quick visit to Aurobindo Ashram in the city and a stopover at Auroville.
The humanitarian, philosopher, political and spiritual leader Sri Aurobindo lived in Pondicherry for 40 years. Before his death in 1950, he had already made known his method called Integral Yoga — in short, a spiritual realisation that is aimed at not only liberating man’s consciousness but also transforming his nature. There are no rituals and forced meditations in these teachings.
Aurobindo founded the ashram in 1926 with his spiritual collaborator, whom is lovingly referred to as Mother (she was born Mirra Alfassa in Paris).
The ashram is a series of interconnected buildings of colonial design and there are a few guest rooms as well. There are materials on the lives and teachings of the two spiritual icons and their life-affirming work. But the focal point is the “samadhi” (tombs) in the courtyardwhere their bodies have been laid. Visitors stream in to pay their respects.
Auroville, 14.8km from Pondicherry, is a community of many nationalities numbering more than 2,000 residents.
Initially an inspiration of The Mother, Unesco gave its back ing for this “experiment” in human unity in 1966. It is generally a self-sustaining community adopt ing a lifestyle in sync with Nature. Here you’ll find foods prepared organically, workshops on yoga, the arts andcraft. It’s a beautiful pastoral-looking place with acres of woodland, gardens, homes, cafeteria and the Matrimandir.
The name “Matrimandir” translates to “Temple of the Mother” and it is designated the “soul of the city”. According toSriAurobindo’s teaching, the “Mother” concept stands for “the Universal Mother, which seeks to help humanity move beyond its present limitations”.
While all this is spiritually stimulating and inspiring, the huge golden dome of the Matrimandir is undeniably futuristic visually, viewed from the outside. Apparently the vibrations inside the dome are just as amazing but one needs to pre-book in person to go to the Inner Chamber as the Matrimandir is not to be taken lightly as a mere tourist stop. I am told in the centre inside is a pure crystal-glass globe “which suffuses a ray ofelectronically guided sunlight thatfalls on it through an opening at the apex of the sphere” . The Inner Chamber serves as a place to clear the mind and “to find one’s consciousness”.
This area in which the Matrimandir stands is called the Peace Area, and there’s an amphitheatre with the Urn of Human Unity that contains the soil of 121 nations and 23 Indian states.
Altogether, Pondicherry and Auroville are places that require at least a couple of days’ visit to truly satisfy one’s curiosity about their very unique characteristics.