About Dhyanalinga Temple
Isha Yoga Center,on the slopes of the Vellingiri Hills, is the site of Dhyanalinga, a recent, but popular place of pilgrimage near Coimbatore.
The temple was consecrated by Sri Jaggi Vasudev, a popular yogi. Dhyanalinga is said to play te role of the invisible guru to unlock the full potential of the seven chakras locked inside the human body. It is said to be the distilled essence of yogic science, as the solidified mercury inside a copper tube in the Lingam, reportedly holds all the seven chakras in their full flow. a few minutes in meditation in its presence is said to make one feel the divine energy that flows from Dhyanalinga. Modern science does not believe in solidified mercury, bt Sri Vasudev is said o have achieved it after three and half years of intense consecration in 1999. Born Jagadish Vasudev in Mysore in 1957, he is said to have had his first spiritual experience while sitting on a rock in the Chamundi Hills(near Mysore).
There are certain rituals to be undertaken here before darshan of Dhyanalinga. First you need to take a bath (not compulsory, though). There is a huge pool, but before you get into it, you would have to wet yourself in one of the numerous showers. Appropriate saffron colored clothing are available free for men and women. Men wear dhotis, while women are given a housecoat-like apparel. There are different timings for men and women at the pool: thirty minutes for men and thirty for women alternately . Fresh water falls from the top like a waterfall. There is a Lingam in the middle fo the pool, which devotees hold, while mediating.
Adjunct to the pool is the temple. It's a fairly simple structure, prefaced by a huge metallic Nandi. a smaller granite Nandi sits just outside the shrine. The huge forbidding walls hide a circular dome, which covers the sanctum. It is topped by a gold-colored Lingam, beyond which is visible the greenery of the Velllingiri Hills. The dome is 10m (33 feet) tall and 23m (76 feet) in diameter, constructed with bricks and stabilized mud mortar, without any of the modern appurtenances like cement, steel or concrete. Inside is the 4m (13 feet) tall mercury-based Lingam. Silence is strictly observed inside the shrine. The circular sanctum has cave-like rectangular niches for devotees to meditate.
Not far from the Center, on the Vellingiri Hills, in an ancient temple for Lord Shiva. Devotees trek up the hills, which is said to symbolically represent one of the five faces of Shiva, on Shivarathri (February) and during the summer vacation.
How to get there: Dhyanalinga is located in a huge campus, which has hostels and hygienic restaurants. Isha Yoga Center is 30km from Coimbatore. Buses take you directly to the Center.