I don’t know about you, but I can’t visit a stunning place and spend time clicking a selfie which often doesn’t even look that good. And when it is a wowser like Adiyogi, a 112 feet Shiva face, surrounded by the beautiful Velliangiri hills and the ethereal Yogeshwar shrine, it really prompts me to do something different. And in general, for spiritual places, it is good to engage with the place in a little deeper way. This helps us spend more time with the place and forget our mundane selves for a while. So, here are 7 9 10 ways to make your Adiyogi visit a lot more memorable and maybe, meaningful. 🙂 [For a complete guide on travel information and other details for your visit to Adiyogi here are two detailed blogs I have written: Adiyogi Coimbatore Details & Adiyogi Chikkaballapur (Bangalore) Details.]

In case you came in late, Adiyogi is a stunning 112 feet tall bust of Shiva as the first yogi. It was unveiled in Feb, 2017 by none other than our Prime Minister NaMo, at Isha Yoga Center. This center is 30 kms from Coimbatore city in Tamil Nadu, India. In front of the Adiyogi is a small shrine with the Yogeshwar Linga.

Adiyogi is a statue that is meant to inspire and awe the visitors. Kind of like the amazing gopurams of South Indian temples. The actual deity or energy form, that creates a consecrated environment for meditation and sadhana is the Yogeshwar linga. [Here’s another informative blog on the Yogeshwar Linga]

Adiyogi was one of my major reasons for visiting this place for the live Mahashivratri event in 2018. [Detailed blog post on how you can attend the Isha Mahashivratri live event here]

And feel free to come up with your own ideas to make your visit more memorable. And share those ideas with me in the comments… 😀

7 9 10 Ways to Engage with the Adiyogi

Adiyogi Pradakshina

This is a no-brainer. Isha Foundation has opened up a formal “Adiyogi Pradakshina“, a 3.2 km walk from Yogeshwar Linga to the various shrines in Isha Yoga Center where offerings are to be made. Since, I have not yet heard Sadhguru talking about it in any sathsang, I have a few doubts about how exactly we are to do it. But I personally feel that if we were to not just offer stuff at the shrines but also sit inside for a while as part of the parikrama it makes a lot of sense.

Pradakshina has become significant for me after visiting the Ramanasramam and Arunachalam. Here there is so much significance attached to the girivalam – parikrama around Arunachalam, and also around the Ramana samadhi. So, I wouldn’t want to miss the chance for a parikrama at Adiyogi.

The Adiyogi Pradakshina is also special because of the immensely dedicated people that I have seen doing it often in heat and shade, through morning to night.

Catch the Sunset (or Sunrise)

The Sunset time brings a lovely ambience around the Adiyogi due to the surrounding Velliangiri hills. The Isha Samskriti kids come at the sunset sandhya to sing some bhajans. And a lot of ashram residents and visitors sit and meditate near the shrine. It is a good time. 🙂

The sunrise time is also really good, but usually the sun rises on the opposite side of Adiyogi. So, we don’t really get to see them together. We have to sit with our backs to Adiyogi to view the sunrise.

Click the Best Photo (Try)

The Adiyogi is such an inspiring place for photography! So many avenues to click amazing pictures. And now, most of us have decent phones to click good pics. The mobile photography culture is considered a distraction or interruption in life. But, I don’t think this is necessarily true. Any form of art is a spiritual process. And photography done as art, to capture something beautiful, may very well make you more attentive and attuned to the beauty. It can be a deep process.

Do it as art and not to get social media likes. And with a place like the Adiyogi, haha, there is so much inspiration!

Meditate at the Yogeshwar Shrine, Duh!

Another no-brainer, the ongoing chanting and ambiance at the Yogeshwar linga, makes it a good place to sit and chant / meditate. There are also couple of offerings like water for the Linga or tying the black cloth to the Adiyogi which you could make use of. The sunset time can also be a good time to meditate to the sound of the bhajans.

Yoga Practices by the Adiyogi

Plan your Adiyogi visit so you can do your yoga practices there! Take care of the timing because it’s an open place, means the sun could be quite strong during the day. But even during the day, one can always sit in the shadow of Adiyogi and do a bit of anulom vilom or some other light practice.

3 Steps – 1 Bow Buddhist Practice

The main stone pathway that leads to the Adiyogi, is about 700-800 metres I think. It is a good place for the Buddhist 3 steps – 1 bow practice. Basically, after every 3 steps, you bow down. It’s not only a Buddhist practice, I suspect it is very much a part of Hinduism, but anyway, it doesn’t matter. I came across this practice from a book by 2 Buddhist monks called the Highway Dharma Letters (super duper book!). Since, I was actually reading the book during the time of my Adiyogi visit, I did this practice there. And it was really something. Very humbling. So if you feel interested, try it out.

You can also take a smaller distance like 300 metres if you want.

3 steps and then 1 bow. And the Buddhist monks attributed all the merit gained through this exercise to sentient beings across the world to ease their way towards their enlightenment.

Volunteer @ Adiyogi!

What better way to spend time at Adiyogi, than helping the other devotees have a better time 🙂 Karma yoga! To know how you can volunteer in this iconic space, contact Isha helpline number @ +91 8300083111

Here’s my video on volunteering at the Bangalore Adiyogi,

Time Lapse and Star Trails

Another idea someone at the Adiyogi shrine gave me was shooting a night sky time lapse video. Imagine the moon moving across the night sky, as the Adiyogi remains silent and unwavering. Such a time lapse would be cool with the sunrise or sunset too I think. Add some exposure dynamics and you will get star trails.

For a night sky video shoot, one would have to stay there at the Adiyogi for the night. Night out at Adiyogi, what an awesome idea, and it is indeed possible on full moon nights:

Spend the Full Night Out at Adiyogi!

Full moon nights for women and new moon nights for men – only for folks staying inside the Isha Yoga Center. It’s possible. Though the reason is so we can truly feel vulnerable to nature. But at the same time we can make use of it to observe the Adiyogi in the darkness of the night. Read my experience of the Sharad Poornima night out at Adiyogi.

(I am not sure is this is still happening, haven’t seen any update around it lately)

Divya Darshan

If all the various above reasons weren’t enough Isha folks and Sadhguru bring us another stunner. A laser show called Divya Darshan. It was first displayed in Mahashivratri celebrations 2019. Since then, it has become available every single day for free, open for all. I am a huge fan of this light show click here to know why!!

For a detailed guide on the light show timings, best seats and more read this blog post.

So that’s all I got in my bag of ideas as of now. Uncovering more about the 21 ft Adiyogi in the USA Isha ashram have given me a few more ideas to add to this post, will do so soon. Sign up for my email list, to be updated!

And you, share any ideas you got! 🙂