A walk of determination

People from across India flock to Thiruvannamalai all year round but to see the deepam at the peak of the mountain during Karthigai Deepam, in December, is auspicious and the temple would be jampacked. As most of us know, the deepam on top of the peak glows for about ten days starting from the day of Karthigai Deepam. To avoid the crowd, we planned our trip two days after last day of the deepam. 

It was my long-time wish to go on Girivalam by walk. Covering around the mountain is about 14 km and some people, especially elders who are unable to walk that stretch, usually go on a ride along this way. But I wanted to walk and i wouldnt want to compromise on that. 

When to go to the temple Before starting our Girivalam, we tried but couldnt even enter the main entrance - the Rajagopuram due to the crashing crowd. It seemed as though we needed to wait for more than three hours in the line to get a glimpse of Lord Shiva. With a heavy heart, I turned my attention to start Girivalam. I wanted to walk the complete 14km but I was constantly thinking about my little kid who might bring up some fuss to hold me back. To my surprise a few things unfolded as soon as we decided we couldn't get darshan that evening. My dad has the habit of holding us back from walking if he couldn't walk. After some conversation, finally me and my husband decided we will settle everyone in our room while we go on walking. To my relief, my kid slept on the way to our room.

It was around 6 PM that we started walking, earlier than most people would start their journey. At first I thought that only during the full moon day people will go for Girivalam and the other nights nobody will and the streets will be deserted. I was wrong. During the night of Poornima, every month, the Girivalam path will be crowded with walkers while the other nights will have moderate number of walkers. We started our walk from Agni Lingam. 

There are totally eight Lingams situated around the mountain, along the Girivalam path, and these are fairly equally spaced out. Agni Lingam, Yema Lingam, Niruthi Lingam, Varuna Lingam, Vayu Lingam, Kubera Lingam, Esanya Lingam and Indhra Lingam - each of these lords symbolises one or more birth signs or Rasi. We were fortunate enough to see the first three Lingams. All the other Lingams' temple premises were closed with just a light to see the deity from outside the gate. 

We were told that when we walk quickly we will get tired soon making us unable to complete the entire 14-km stretch and that it would take 6 hours to walk the ring. So, we decided to walk as relaxed and slow as we can taking short breaks as we proceeded. We stopped by to have some tender coconut and some hot coffee and biscuits on our way.

It was around 7.30, the traffic had already died down, earlier than what we are used to in the city, yet there were lots of people walking barefoot or wearing socks, going on Girivalam. The first seven kilometers or so crossed by like a breeze. After that, we felt our legs numb. At times, our feet was paining a lot and we sat at one of the many stone benches that dotted the entire stretch. There are also lots of mini bites that we could get - some prasadhams, something and we didn't feel hungry at all although we were spending a lot of energy.

Highways department had setup route maps, for every kilometer, clearly depicting where we are and how much distance there is left to cover. 

At around 9.30 PM we decided to have a light dinner at a roadside hotel. It was only when we stop and take a break I felt my feet paining making it difficult to take a step further. But when I kept on walking slowly, stay in motion pain was a bit less. My legs felt numb with pain yet we wanted to finish off the entire course. 

Foot massager machines dotted the way and we stopped at one that had three different varieties of massagers. I was doubtful at first but then decided to go for it. Priced at Rs.70 for fifteen minutes, being a first-timer it was scary and fun-filled at the same time. Just like the way a pressure monitor belt squeezes the arm at the hospital, the massager squeezed my calf muscles and feet in varying intensity and the tiny balls rolling inside the machine under my feet sent giggles. The massage brought a good amount of relief to my legs indeed that I suggested my husband to go for it too. 

We stopped by at a selfie point that had 'I love TVMalai' with big block letters. I began getting calls from my mother that my kid woke up and was crying for me. At that time we had 3 more kilometers to finish our walk. I don't want to give up at any cost, I promised my kid that I would return as soon as I can and walked non-stop, determined to finish it off.

Finally, walking past Thiruvannamalai bus depot, we reached a junction with a Nandhi standing in the middle of a round tana. When the road branched into two, we didn't know which one to take. With the mountain on our right, I suggested that we take the road closest to the mountain and we proceeded. After walking a few hundred meters, it felt strange that we didn't find any other fellow walkers. We thought we were off the actual route and asked an auto driver. He explained that we should have taken the parallel road from the junction and that we would have already finished the last lingam, the Esanya Lingam by this time. The auto driver was courteous enough to drop us from there to the Esanya Lingam and from there to our room charging us just 500 bucks for a stretch of 3.5 kilometers altogether. It was 12.30 midnight when we reached our room. 

To my amazement, several factors helped us walk the distance. My child who normally sleeps for an hour or so, slept for 5 hours straight on that night - the first miracle that let us walk. My husband whom I thought would give up once the pain became unbearable, was confident and determined all the way till the end. For the last one and a half an hour, my mom helped deal with my kid who kept asking for me and she kept telling the kid that I would be back soon.

That walk - the 14-km, six-and-a-half-hour walk around the mountain reiterated something - our determination is key to making anything a success. Despite all difficulties, when our determination leads our mind and body to reach the goal, success will come its way. Throughout the walk, we had only one goal - to finish the entire stretch by foot. I felt a deep sense of calm and fulfilment as we walked. There is some divine power out there that we need to find from inside us.