3 Ashrams, a Disco Temple and an Orphanage

Each and every day holds so many experiences it is impossible to put them all up. On my way home last Sunday night from writing the last blog the wedding next door was in full flight. I tried to get a picture of the wedding procession moving up the street towards the function area but none of them came out that well.

It was led by a mirrored chariot covered in large fog horns. Adjacent to this was a solitary musician playing one of those tiny little casio keyboards that you might have got for birthday when you were little and this was what was being amplified and played from the foghorns.

Immediately behind him was a brass section of about six men wearing neon yellow uniforms and behind that there was hundreds of people going bananas in anticipation of the mountains of free food they were about to receive at the wedding.

That's the best picture I could get of one of the trumpet players.

The wedding was really interesting. The groom arrives way before the bride and the second he is seated it's a free for all buffet-style. There's a mass exodus to the food stalls.

It is an open invitationed celebration we were told and nobody seemed bothered at all that we were there. I hung around for quite a while after the groom arrived and still no sign of the bride.

The amount of food was insane and the jewellery and clothes of the obviously more wealthy invitees were a site to behold.

Our week in the Ashram focused almost entirely on Kundalini Yoga. There's a brief description in the previous blog.

It's been an amazing experience on lots of different levels. Many people broke down during morning practices which is far from uncommon in Kundalini Yoga and many had very very strong emotional reactions throughout the week including myself.

We have Kirtan on Tuesday and Thursday evenings. Kirtan is group chanting of Mantras accompanied by guitar, sitar, tabla, harmonium or whatever instruments you have at hand really. I really enjoy it and have some amazing memories of the Kirtans we have done already.

We were joined by a harmonium player (pictured right) and a sitar and tabla player on Tuesday night. Really good fun and the Sitar player was extremely patient teaching different Mantras.

Instead of Kirtan on Thursday evening we did a Chakra Toning practice which involved chanting different sounds at different ascending tones for the Root Chakra (Muladhara) through to the Crown Chakra (Sahasrara).

I really liked doing this as it was something completely new to me. The room looked gorgeous lit with a lot of candles and some people reacted very strongly to it and others felt nothing at all.



Yesterday (Saturday) was a massive day. We left the ashram to visit quite a few places including 3 ashrams and an orphanage opened in 1992. The first Ashram we visited was opened by a local Swami, who is now deceased, and his German wife who was his student for many years previous.

We were greeted by their daughter who continues to live the simple 'conscious' lifestyle of her parents. She spoke of being conscious of our acts and thoughts in everything we do. Very very sincere sweet girl and a beautiful place to visit. I'd love to go back there and spend some time.

We then travelled on to another Ashram which seemed more like a farm than anything else. The Swami there is very fond of cows and breeds a cow indigenous to India which is apparently quite rare with the cross-breeding over the centuries.

This was followed by a trip to a temple more for comic value than anything else. Vishva Ji calls it the Disco Temple. The entire place is covered in Mirrored glass. Entertaining for a pitstop.

























Our last main stop before home was an orphanage which was set up by the parents of a girl who works at Anand Prakash Ashram. We spent quite a lot of time here and the head mistress was very accommodating and we got a tour of the entire place.

There are about 150 children living in the orphanage quite a few affected by polio. Looking around as you travel through India it is not difficult to imagine how many children end up parentless and alone and if they're very very lucky in a place like this.

We arrived to a welcoming party of about 6 girls dressed up like Christmas decorations who performed a few dances for us which was very cute. It really makes you think about your situation and how we take so much for granted when you see these kids that have nothing and yet they are still so happy.

One girl in particular with polio looked to be about 10 years of age had to crawl around on her hands and knees to get about and all the time with a smile from ear to ear.

She's the third from the left.

One thing I will say for the world of Yoga is you do meet people with really big hearts all the time. A group of us helped Vishva Ji to put together a photo catalogue of assists and adjustments in various Asanas and during the break he told us of the Ashrams involvement with that orphanage and other projects around Rishikesh.

The Ashram and their World Conscious Yoga Family is definitely growing since I last visited but no matter how much it grows Vishva Ji will still only spend what he needs to on himself and already seems to be working, up and active from 3am to 9pm seven days per week.

Next week we begin Raja Yoga week. Exams tomorrow. More Practicums (Our teaching critiqued), Presentations and plenty more experience before we move into the final week.

Off to do an Ashtanga Class on the banks of the Ganga. Deadly:-)