On Sacred Mountains
The Virtual Journey
When I started my journey around sacred mountains ten years ago, I had never viewed a web page. The fact that I can now recreate the entire journey online, including web pages for unkown gurus I chanced upon in village India, seems as miraculous as much that happened along the way in my journey.
This page is designed as a companion piece to On Sacred Mountains, adding images and new sources of information to anyone who wants to carry the journey further. The chronology of the story matches the sequence of my own visits. Of course if you choose to use this page to introduce you to the sacred mountains, and then feel called to read the book, that's marvellous too! /font>
Our virtual pilgrimage begins in Eastern Turkey. Mount Ararat is the holy mountain for the Kurds, for whom Noah is a very real figure. It is possible to visit his grave, even though adventurers have yet to definitively find the remains of Noah's Ark. Ararat - Noah's Ark Website
Live Webcam of Ararat - Watch Mount Ararat appear and disappear, live from Armenia. It's curious how something so mighty as a mountain can disappear the way this one does. When it's in view, capped by snow, it seems to pour in liquid shape from the sky.
The last Sunday in July sees many thousands of pilgrims follow the route of Saint Patrick up to the summit of Croagh Patrick, on the west coast of Ireland. I chased across the continents from the slopes of Ararat to be there in time. This site offers a virtual pilgrimage up the slopes of Ireland's Holy Mountain. Croagh Patrick
The name of one mountain prompted me to start my mountain pilgrimage- Arunachala. Rising above the plain in Tamil Nadu, India, in Hindu terms it is the holy of holies. While Mount Kailas in Tibet is seen as being the abode of Shiva, Arunachala is viewed as being Shiva himself (with Parvati the supreme goddess joining him as the mountain's feminine side). The traditional approach is to walk, barefoot, around the mountain, though in late November / early December pilgrims trail a route to the summit, where Shiva keeps his promise to appear every year as a blaze of light. Arunachala
Arunachala, an ashram's perspective
Arunachaleswar Temple - A whole series of temples and courtyards wrapped around each other leads pilgrims to the sanctum sanctorum, the god Arunachaleswar as a lingam, at the heart of the temple. The whole temple complex is laid out at the foot of the mountain Arunachala, as a living offering.
Saving Arunachala - The mountain's preservation as a Sacred Centre
Not far from Arunachala, in the nieghbouring state of Andhra Pradesh, are the sacred hills of Tirupati. Vishnu appeared here as his 10th and last incarnation, and left an image of himself as a statue that is housed at the centre of the main temple complex. Tirumala - the official Tirupati temple site
On the outskirts of Madras lies a hill famous for being the final home of St Thomas, the doubting apostle who brought news of Christianity to India. Stations of the Cross lead up to the summit, where a church contains relics as bizarre as any in the Hindu temples - yet if you come from a Christian culture, they are disarmingly familiar. St. Thomas Mount
Adam's Peak, also known as Sri Pada, rises above the rainforests of Sri Lanka. A giant footprint on its summit has been claimed as belonging to Buddha, Mohammed, Shiva ... and of course Adam, the spot where he landed on being flung out of Eden. The view from on top might do Eden proud ... the ascent and descent belong to life after the fall!Adams Peak - Sri Pada
My own sacred mountain journey. paused in England, and a temporary home on the cliffs at Birling Gap. I lived in one of a series of coastguard cottages, the ends ones of which had already tumbled into the sea. The rolling cliffs just barely class as sacred hills, though I include them for a profound episode that occurred there. View pictures here Birling Gap, Seven Sisters and Beachy Head
To save or not to save? The cliffs are seemingly doomed to be swept away by the tides. Locals seek to protect them. Birling Gap (Save The Gap)
Guadalupe Peak, the highest point in Texas, took my life and turned it right around. Click these sights for a series of pictures - sit quietly in front of one of the most sacred spots on earth. Pictures from the summit of Guadalupe Peak, 2000
More pictures from Guadalupe Peak
Texas Travel Guide - Guadalupe Mountains National Park - Guadalupe Peak
A collared lizard is the star of my chapter 'Chaco Canyon' - share something of his view down across the ruins. Ruins of Pueblo Bonito
Chaco Culture National Historical Park & World Heritage Site - Chaco Canyon
These next two sites offer a series of pictures along the walk into the Sierra Nevada from Mosquito Flats. Choose yourself a series and build of the world's finest mountains screensavers on your own computer! Webshots Community - Little Lakes Valley
If you're tempted to hit the Sierra and try the walk out for yourselves, here's a guide. Sierra Wilderness and Trails Information
Just one image from Mount Tecate, also known by its Indian name of Cuchama. Indian youngsters were led up here to spend the night naked on the summit then step down with their vocation in life. As final images from my own mountain journey go, it's curiously fitting. Moonset over Cuchama
People met along the way
I travelled to Arunachala thinking the mountain had one guru associated with it Ramana Maharshi. On my first walk into town I was shown to be wrong, and led to the most revered of the current spiritual leaders, Yogi Ramsuratkumar. On my weeks in the town it became ever clearer that this mountain has a living tradition of holy men and women associated with it - the Yogi has himself since died. Yogi Ramsuratkumar - Godchild Thiruvannamalai India
A websearch brought up this item ... my first acquaintanceship with Hilda Charlton. It tells of her own meeting with Yogi Ramsuratkumar, though you might be intrigued to follow through and discover more about the life of Hilda Charlton herself. Hilda Charlton meets Yogi Ramsuratkumar
Ramana Maharshi's ashram is at the foot of Arunachala, on the pradakshina of ritual circumabulation of the mountain. One of the most luminous spiritual figures of the twentieth century (he passed away in 1950) it's worth making a pilgrimage to this website at the very least, to look at him ... and maybe pose his central question to yourself, "Who Am I?" Ramana Maharshi - official ashram site
Realization.org: Ramana Maharshi Foundation UK
Finding this site gave me the utmost delight in recreating the journey of On Sacred Mountains as a virtual trip (the visit is the principle feature of my chapter on Tirupati). I met Chinna Jeeyar Swami by chance at a festival he was hosting at the foot of the sacred hills of Tirupati and was welcomed most happily into his fold. Since them his reach has gone international - the head of a religious order, he is viewed as one of the world's top Hindu spiritual authorities. Hear his talks online - and check his schedule, for he may well be coming to a place near you. Chinna Jeeyar Swamiji's home page
My chapter "White Cliffs" also includes my first meeeting in Germany with Mother Meera. I've failed in finding an online picture of the local sacred mountain Blasiussberg, and Mother Meera curiously has withdrawn her own website, but here's a sample of writing about her which includes a very simplified biography and some fine pictures Mother Meera - an article ... or indeed Visions from Madanapalle - A look at Mother Meera's new hometown in India (my own article from the LA Weekly)
Maezumi was the teacher of my partner James - my meeting with him, at the Zen Mountain Centre, formed the perfect coda to my mountain journey. These pictures capture him well. Taizan Maezumi Roshi
If you're in LA, trot round to the ZCLA in Korea Town and sit with the folks there awhile. Till then, browse their website and meet with more of Maezumi. ZCLA Archives - Maezumi Roshi
I spoke with Frank Waters shortly before he died, thanking him for the lead his writings gave me in understanding my experiences on Guadalupe Peak. He is one of the true heroes of sacred mountains. And of course James's own site! James K. Thornton
Other sites to show you the way to mountains and further sacred places
International Year of Mountains 2002 Home
the Mountain Forum Homepage One of the most worthy of the mountains sites, sharing concern for mountain communities and with a real awareness of the sacredness of mountains
Banff Centre for Mountain Culture home page
International Year of Mountains 2002 - UK edition
www.mountain-climb.comWelcome to The Climbing Dutchman, the guide to climbing in Holland and abroad.
The International Mountaineering and Climbing Association
This is a fabulous personal site from a true pilgrim Places of Peace and Power
David Godman has been resident in Arunachala for many years - he has brought out a steady flow of fine books about the spiritual figures in the region, and the mountain itself. This seems the best place to obtain them if you are interested: David Godman's Homepage