Yatra · A Pilgrimage to Mother India · Julia Grant-Scott

Part I · Days 1–4 · initiation

Rajasthan — the colour, the heat, the dust.

राजस्थान

Jaipur · Jodhpur · Pushkar

We land in Jaipur — the Pink City — and are welcomed with a candlelit dinner and an opening sound meditation with Jac Høja. We practice yoga in a Maharaja haveli.

We move to Jodhpur — the Blue City — and immerse in colour, spice, and heat. We arrive in Pushkar — the only place on earth where Lord Brahma is worshipped. We bathe in the sacred lake. We offer flowers. We receive.

— Rajasthan · the pink city

Hawa Mahal · Jaipur

The Blue City · Jodhpur

Pushkar · the dust

Part II · Days 5–8 · descent

Tamil Nadu — the sacred mountain, the silence.

तमिौनाडु

Tiruvannamalai · Auroville

We fly to Pondicherry and make our way to Tiruvannamalai — the sacred city at the foot of Arunachala, the mountain that is Shiva himself.

On Maha Shivaratri — the holiest night of the year — we do not sleep. We walk the Girivalam, the 14 km circumambulation of the mountain, in the light of thousands of oil lamps, chanting, offering, surrendering. We practice Ashtanga in Auroville every morning — inside the community built as an experiment in human unity.

— Arunachala · the silent mountain

Arunachala · dawn

Maha Shivaratri · oil lamps

Auroville · matrimandir

Part III · Days 9–13 · landing

Goa — the ocean, the exhale.

गोवा

North Goa · private villa · the Arabian Sea

We arrive in Goa — and we exhale. Five days in a private villa in North Goa. Morning yoga. The ocean. Fresh fish and mango and coconut water.

Surfing if you want it. Silence if you need it. Music in the evenings. The Arabian Sea at sunrise. A final ceremony — and then, home. Carrying India inside you.

— North Goa · the landing

Palms · villa

Spices · markets

Spice · turmeric · cardamom