Arunachala - Tiruvannamalai - Intersection of Girivalam and Velore Roads, and the arch to Pachaiamman Koil Temple.
Temples and Shrines along Arunachala’s Outer Pradakshina* Route - By Richard Clarke: Living in the Embrace of Arunachala.Blog
(*) Pradakshina, or in Tamil, girivalam, is the sacred walk around the holy hill Arunachala.
30th November, 1947
[...] It was about 2 a.m.... Everything was quiet, and he (Kunjuswami) again began reminiscing to us:
“Another time, during summer, after supper we started to go round the hill. There was good moonlight and by the time we reached this place, it was as now about 2 a.m. All the people in the town were asleep and it was very quiet. Being summer, all the windows of the houses were open. All the shops were closed and locked; only the watchmen were patrolling the streets. Bhagavan, pointing this out to us, said,
‘‘Do you see how still the whole town is? The streets, the houses and the lights are there, but all the people are asleep except the watchmen. Hence it is all quiet. But when the day breaks, everyone will get up and there will be activity on all sides. That is like ‘savikalpa samadhi’(*).
Do you see those big houses and small ones? The windows are open, but the one who sees is sleeping. That is like the turiya (*), or Fourth State. It could be said that the state of the Realized Soul is also the same and could be given as an example. It appears as though the eyes see; they, however, sleep peacefully.”
After listening to this story, we reached our homes.
Excerpt from: Letters from Sri Ramanasramam, by Suri Nagamma - Letter 162 (pdf)
* Samadhi - Holding on to the Supreme State. When it is with effort due to mental disturbances, it is Savikalpa Samadhi. When these disturbances are absent, it is Nirvikalpa Samadhi. Remaining permanently in the primal state without effort is Sahaja Samadhi.
* Turiya - The state of wakeful sleep, (jagrat-sushupti) that is, the state in which we remain ever awake to the real self and ever asleep to the unreal world of multiplicity. Pure Consciousness.