For the majority of males it is generally safe to walk around the hill and visit the caves alone in daylight, particularly as there is always traffic and other people on the road. However there are now reports of robbery and harassment of males.
It is never safe for single women, especially vulnerable-looking foreign women to do the same, as these are considered fair-game by lots of locals for coercion, sexual harassment and robbery.
The inner path has been closed for several years now, but there are breaks in the fences that people still use.
If you fear monkeys then carry a stick or a few small stones to throw in their direction, the same with dogs. Do not smile at monkeys showing your teeth, as this is a sign of aggression in the monkey world and will bring aggressive responses.
Rape, robbery, violence and murder are not new to Tiruvannamalai. During Bhagavan's time, a lady devotee was subjected to a serious sexual assault inside the ashram just 50 feet away from where He was sitting and that led to ladies being required to leave the ashram before darkness fell and told not to go around the hill alone.
If Bhagavan saw fit to give this advice then it is clear that these situations can be avoided and that it is NOT karma, but dangerous practices that are to blame.
Whatever the case, caution should be practised by everyone, especially in relation with the hundreds of fake sadhus that proliferate here, the majority of whom are misfits and beggars who have been given orange robes by misguided devotees.
A simple case in point - several years ago I was told by local shopkeepers who operated across from the college ground, that three 'sadhus' had taken a mentally disturbed child of about thirteen years into the college grounds in broad daylight and raped her. The locals saw this and did nothing to help her, not even calling the police, because they said that they would only be tortured for money if they registered a complaint.
I asked why they didn't go to the girl's rescue themselves and they just shrugged their shoulders, saying 'what can we do?'
Personally I am certain that the police would have acted upon this, especially where a child is concerned, but local perception is different - or perhaps no-one really cares.
It is a sad fact of life that such things can happen here.
Graham
