Chennai is a big bustling City with lots of excellent restaurants, shops and other facilities that are hidden away from the maddening Crowd.  Like any place in India, Chennai has its dose of religious and spiritual places, but why visit them without any backstory or without direct access to first-hand Knowledge?

With a spiritual guide there is also no language barrier as the guide will find for you the best resources, views and stories for your spiritual trip.

I was lucky enough to meet one by chance while I was wondering through the beautiful and wild Theosophical Society Headquarters gardens in Chennai. James, who had been handed down some very interesting Hermetic and Brahmanism practices by his Grandfather, found me there and guided me round the wild gardens, the ancient temple relics and the exciting library of ancient manuscripts. The spiritual manuscript library – with some scrolls dating back thousands of years – was closed when we arrived. But James persuaded the Librarian to open it for me. Although the library was small there were some amazing artifacts there, old scrolls, Egyptian prayers on papyrus paper. Many probably hold the secret of our history. James was both very knowledgeable in this area and about good places to eat in Chennai, as well as many other spiritual destinations.

One day we got up early and got on the bus from Chennai to Tirupati in the Chittoor district of Andhra Pradesh. Tirupati is a series of seven hills of temples. The most visited temple in the world is located here, the Venkateshwara Temple receives over 40 million visits a year. Its Golden Dravidian style Temples stand out in an array of amazing temples in a courtyard of shrines and paraphernalia useful to the pilgrims.

James gave me an in-depth understanding of the Temple, who was represented there in the main shrine – The venerable Venkateshwara is an incarnation of Vishnu, a Deity residing here said to help us in the Kali age and save us from the perils of this dark age. The Venkateshwara Temple and charity also receives the biggest donations compared to most other temples in the world.

We gained special access due to his knowledge and friendliness with the security there and spent the night in the Temple area.

As a long-term traveler to India – I traveled there for some three years on and off – I can vouch for James. He was one of the most knowledgeable, kind and spiritual beings I met in India. His ancient history knowledge of the places we went to were astounding, as well as his methods of cleansing and clearing areas for spiritual practice.

For more information about a spiritual trip in Tamil Nadu, Chennai or Andhra Pradesh contact James on Tel +91 (0)904 206 9962.