Coimbatore

Our next and last stop was Isha Yoga Centre, Coimbatore. The centre is 40km away from the city centre, just at the foothills of the Velliangiri hills. Isha Yoga Centre is the headquarters of the Isha Foundation founded by Sadguru. The centre is open for visitors of two kinds- stay in and daily tours. There are daily trips to the centre where you can access some popular areas of the centre. You can stay in the centre by booking their accommodation and explore the entire place and take part in programs. This is for the visitors. You can also take part in scheduled meditation or yoga programs or become a volunteer.

Isha Yoga Centre

We had two objective of visiting Coimbatore. One, we wanted to explore the Isha Yoga Centre. Two, we wanted to visit Adiyogi statue at leisure and watch the light show. So, it made sense to book accommodation in the centre. If you are staying at the centre, you can ask your taxi to go around the main entrance by taking a connecting road to another entry point. That entry allows the taxi to take you inside to the welcome point parking. If you disembark at the entrance for daily visitors, you will need to walk quite a lot with your luggage to reach the welcome point.

As soon as you arrive at the centre, you can approach the Welcome Point where you will be allotted your room. If you stay in campus, you will get a band around your wrist which indicates access to several areas where visitors are not allowed. The rooms are minimal but very well maintained.

The schedule of programs, places accessible and list of accommodations are available on their website. We would advice joining a course or booking an in-house accommodation at the Centre. There are variety of accommodations available at the centre. More about it in our this post. This way you can experience the entire place, the lifestyle and the overall atmosphere of the place. We had booked an accommodation at the Centre. The centre has buses, golf carts and bullock carts to take you from one place to another inside the campus.

Adiyogi

The Adiyogi statue is the bust statue of Lord Shiva in the Adiyogi form (the originator of yoga). It has become a symbol of Coimbatore. The place is outside the premises of the Isha Yoga Centre and open to all public alike. There is no entry ticket. The statue is in a wide open space which the Isha Foundation maintains. There are many food and shopping stalls along the 1.2 km length of the approach road. There are bullock carts to take you to and from the entry point and the statue. If you want, you may walk along and enjoy the hillviews as well as the atmosphere.

There is a light and sound show conducted at 7PM every day. The show is called as Adiyogi Divyadarshanam. It is a wonderful 15-minute show describing the origin and contribution of Adiyogi in history. It is a captivating 15 minutes which leaves you thrilled and amazed at the graphics and the synchronisation.

Dhyan Linga

Dhyan Linga is a consecrated linga in the Centre campus. It is inside a dome structure of only bricks without any steel or iron frame. It is a meditation centre. The linga is at the centre with spacious surroundings where you can spend time meditating. This is open to all visitors. A huge Nandi statue sits outside the Dhyanlinga dome.

Linga Bhairavi

The Linga Bhairavi is the linga form of Goddess. It is a symbol of the Divine Feminism as Sadguru calls it. The deity is consecrated and placed inside a triangular sanctum. Everyday there is a abhishek ritual twice.

Teerthakunds

There are two sacred kunds in the campus. The Suryakund is for the males and the Chandrakund is for females to take a holy dip to arguably get rid of pranic imbalances which helps in psychological as well as physiological well-being as claimed by the foundation.

This was our last stop and from here we took our return flight home. To know more abour Tamil Nadu itinerary please read this post. To discover more places of interest in Tamil Nadu visit here.