Toward the end of February, 2015 I stumbled onto a blog, quite by accident, or so I thought. I subsequently learnt that there are no coincidences or chance experiences, as we often perceive them to be. I was, at that time searching for something people commonly refer to as “the search for purpose, meaning in life or discovery of the self”. I would read copiously; anything that was even remotely close to what I thought may shed light. The size of my book collection hinted that I had no idea what I was seeking. The internet became an excellent resource to scan, browse and surf for more targeted searches and swift results. I enjoyed the alone time searching for the unknown until the day something jumped out at me, off the net. I had landed onto a site, a blog which displayed a video of a spiritual figure paying tribute to a saint, sage or rishi in the form of a statue. It seemed pretty random, nothing out of the ordinary however, I was drawn to it. I had no idea who the sage was. I was just intrigued, fascinated and curious to know more, but more of what?. In the days that followed I was repeatedly drawn to the blog and that specific video. There was something inviting, mesmerizing, soothing about it but the attraction, I came to realise, could not be logically described or explained to others.
A bit of research revealed the sage to be Siddha Agasthiya, the spiritual figure to be Swami Thavayogi Adigal, the place of worship to be the Agastiyar Gnana Peedam in Kallar, a small ashram in a little known town nestled in the deep south of India, and the blog Siddha Heartbeat. I remember little else other than the distinct knowing that I had to go there. Hailing from the southern tip of Africa and desiring to fly all the way to a little heard of town in India based on unsubstantiated, inexplicable experiences left no time to question rationality. I conferred with my husband around my baseless experiences and an unexplainable desire to go there. Strangely, this was not challenged, he trusted my instincts and supported my mission.
I later discovered, Siddha Agathiyar to be a revered sage in Hindu Mythology, born approximately 4573 years prior to the commencement of Kali Yuga and is renowned for his knowledge, wisdom, spiritual teachings and various other contributions to Indian culture. He is also associated with the Nadi Astrology; a divine technology which dates back thousands of years when siddhas had written about one’s life (past, present, future) on palm leaves. The leaves contain details, insight and guidance relative to one’s current life. Written in ancient Tamil, the leaves can only be read and interpreted for individuals by a few who meet specific criteria to read them. Swami Thavayogi Adigal was one of them. I had no knowledge of any of this. On contacting the Swami he invited me to his ashram and gave me an appointment to do such a reading on the 1st of April. I was fascinated.
By the 3rd of March (only a few days later), tickets to India were booked. I promptly embarked on planning an itinerary with great zeal. On the 6th of March, upon checking, discovered that our passports had just expired. The 9th of March we frantically applied for new passports. I did not panic and knew without doubt all will be well, a reaction unfamiliar to me. The new passports were produced and ready for collection within a week, around the 16th-17th of March. Passports were collected and applications for visas were submitted. Visas were granted around the 24th-25th of March, and all documents were in order by the 27thof March. There was only a weekend to spare before our flight to India, departing on the 30th of March. We managed to pull all of that off in less than a month.
The night of our impromptu journey arrived. We boarded our flight timeously, but had to sit through an hour delay while baggage and other flight contents had to be re-loaded, to apparently balance the weight on the aircraft. I buffed off this technical hitch as a much bigger mission absorbed my attention. My husband however, was concerned that the delay may result in us missing a connecting flight from the UAE to India. The flight staff assured us that would not happen given that their airline was delayed and our ongoing flight was with their airline.
Nonetheless, our delayed arrival in the UAE, did result in us, including many other passengers missing ongoing flights. Missing the connecting flight resulted in us missing another flight from Chennai to Coimbatore as well. The drama that usually follows when negotiating with airline personnel went into action. All other outgoing flights to Chennai were fully booked and the next flight available to us was some time the following day. We needed to fly out of the UAE, arrive in Chennai thereafter fly out to Coimbatore and travel approximately an hour and a half from the city to the little ashram in Kallar to make that appointment by 9am the following morning. The thought of achieving that, at that moment appeared pretty bleak. In their defence, the airline accommodated us in their super luxurious facilities to refresh, rest and relax while they attempted to sort out the mess and get us back on our travels . That, they must be applauded for.
Within hours we were miraculously accommodated on a flight out of the UAE to Chennai (India). I recall arriving in Chennai in the dark, the air thick with mystery and adventure. Mystery and adventure followed indeed. We were on the next flight out to Coimbatore sometime in the early hours of the morning, however we were astonished to discover the airport in Chennai closed it’s doors at 10pm. This meant we could not wait at the airport and was then challenged by having no accommodation for the night. The driver designated to fetch us from the airport promptly suggested we spend the night at some kind of inn or guesthouse that he was familiar with. Panic and scepticism began to creep in. We were in a strange city thousands of miles away from familiarity with only a driver and no other apparent options. We arrived at a guesthouse, called Mars (something or the other). I remember thinking that the entire experience was beginning to take the shape of landing on another planet, perhaps Mars. Except for loud external noises, the room was fine and within hours we were back at the airport and out to Coimbatore.
Our original plan was to arrive in Coimbatore the night before and take a leisurely morning drive to Kallar but that was not to be. We arrived in Coimbatore on the Wednesday, 1st of April and departed from the airport a little after 8h10. There was no time for a hotel check-in hence we headed straight to Kallar. The driver had heard of the ashram but was not sure of it’s exact location. We stopped several times during the drive to ask for directions and local people were happy to show us the way. We eventually arrived at the steps of the Sri Agathiyar Gnana Peedam, Kallar, Tamil Nadu, gazed up at the endless sky, scanned the beauty of the surrounding foothills and drew in a deep breath. I finally had the courage to look at my watch. Miraculously, it was 9am. There was no rational explanation as to how we surmounted the many obstacles to get there at 9am.
On a side note, the approximate time to get from the Airport in Coimbatore to Kallar is around an hour and a half. Make of that whatever you wish.
The question is… if this were you, if you had the experiences described above, had a mere “feeling”, would you decide to drop everything, leave your zone of comfort, head off to explore something that may not exist … would you do that?
If you answer “Yes”, explain why? And
If you answer “No”, explain why not?
You don’t need to respond or share your response with anyone, it’s for your inquiry alone.
