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PSM Photowalk 2

The Theosophical Society (TS for short), founded in 1875, is a worldwide body whose primary object is Universal Brotherhood based on the realization that life, and all its diverse forms, human and non-human, is indivisibly One. The TS imposes no belief on its members, who are united by a common search for Truth and desire to learn the meaning and purpose of existence by engaging themselves in study, reflection, purity of life and loving service.

The international headquarters of the TS is in a 260 acre wooded land, called the 'Huddleston Gardens', on the south bank of the Adyar River. It is a unique place of natural beauty and an island of serenity in an otherwise disturbing environment that is a metropolis. Visitors almost invariably experience a feeling of deep tranquility and purity.

The campus is a nature-lover's delight with its various gardens and wooded areas which are a haven for a number of resident birds like the owl and woodpecker as well as migratory birds, including the pink flamingo. Other forms of wild life like lizards, snakes, jackals, wild cats, mongooses and hares are also seen here. Apart from various woods, there is an avenue of mahogany trees called 'Founder's Avenue' with trees planted with soil and seeds brought from around the world.

A number of colourful gardens are also found around the estate - like the Blavatsky Gardens, Olcott Gardens, Besant Gardens and the Damodar Gardens. The 'Garden of Remembrance' is a hallowed spot on the campus where the ashes of prominent members of the TS are buried, including that of Dr. Annie Besant.

The campus also hosts a spectacular botanical wonder, popularly referred to as the 'Aala Maram' or the 'Great Banyan Tree', a 450 year old tree that spreads out in an enormous canopy of leafy branches that throw down hundreds of aerial roots. This tree, one of the oldest in India, has a canopy circumference of 251.65 metres, roots at a height of 12.2 metres and an area of 4,670 square metres. Sadly, the central trunk died a few years ago.

A number of smaller shrines of the various religions dot the estate that is in keeping with the theosophical theme of the 'unity of all religions'. The shrines include The Buddhist Shrine, Church of St. Michael and all Angels, The Zoroastrian Temple, The Sikh Shrine among others.

Thanks to Prof A Chandrasekaran, a PSM member and a person closely associated with the TS, PSM members were able to go on Photowalks at the TS on 15 and 16 Aug 09 and experience all the enjoyment and bliss that comes by just being on the campus. The walks started at 6.30 am and went on up to about 9.30 am.

The groups (both led by Prof Chandrasekaran):

15 Aug 09 - Shanmugham, Damodaran, Ottakoothan, Naseef Gafoor, Muhammed Riyas, Lakshmanan, P K Shankar, Anish, Ratan, Bhagya, Suyraprakash

16 Aug 09 - Sripad, Samyak, Saravanan, Srirama Raja, Narasimhan, Jagadeesh, Srinivasan, Venkatakrishnan, Sridhar, T K Ramkumar, Prabhakaran, Raghu, Vivekanand, Pradeep, Sanjay Chigurupati

Posted Aug-17-2009