Arunachala in December – A picture post

Namaste.

The year 2014 comes to an end, and we go for a short visit to Arunachala…. To Sri Ramanasramam (Asram).

26 December… Start off on Giripradakshinam, the holy walk around Arunachala

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Half an hour or so into the walk, we come across a shrine that’s closed… Draupadi amman temple… A Soota moment…

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An hour and a half into the ‘valam’, we come to the Adi Annamalai temple, the old temple of Arunachaleshwara, 180 degress on the other side of the mountain from the main Arunachaleshwara temple…

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A large group of Europeans are having a ceremony of sorts inside the temple, opposite the Goddess Apitakuchamba shrine. A European lady is sitting right next to the sanctum and is absorbed in meditation… This is the ‘Idea of India’ that Soota understands… Soota and friend walk around the outer ‘praakaaram’ chanting Rudram, seeing the mountain and the temple… This is heaven…

Setting off again…. A nice view of Arunachala…

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We return to the room at around 9 pm… Nidra time…

27 December…

We are up at 4 am… For the plan is to visit the big temple of Arunachaleshwara. This being the month of Margazhi, the temple opens at 3 am. We are in the temple at 5 am.

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Entering the inner courtyard, we are greeted by the sight of hundreds of pilgrims lining up in a queue…. We are late… No hope of having darshan for another hour, at the very least…

We amble around the temple, taking in the sights…

Here is a picture of devotees, in the morning darkness, lighting ghee lamps near the shrine of Navagraha… Today is Saturday, and folks light lamps for Shaneeshvara…

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We return to the Asram.. See the morning Puja… Have breakfast… Stroll around…

Some sights..

A peacock strikes a philosopher’s pose on top of a thatch roof of one of the dwellings in the Asram. Today is Shashti… the day of the month sacred for worship of Lord Subrahmanya… Who is identified with Ramana as well…

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A view of the Asram Gosala…

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After some silent time at the Asram halls, we come back to the Arunachaleshvara temple at around 10 am. This time, we somehow manage to have Darshan… Wonderful… Especially the darshan of Goddess Apitakuchamba, the consort of Lord Arunachaleshwara… Darshan of Her feet, from up close…

A few pictures from this visit to the temple.. Click and browse.

A view from inside the temple

Entering one of the gates

Patala Lingam shrine

Around 12 Noon we return to Asram for Lunch. Delicious prasadam… Blessings of Bhagavan..

Picture time..

One, of a Caucasian child posing on the Iluppai tree in the front yard of the Asram…

Me Tarzan… You Jane… Lovely…

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Signing off for the year with a little video clip… Of Deeparadhana… Puja offered at Ramana Sivalinga…

Sacred sound and light….

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Wishing all a very happy 2015!

Om!

Advent!

Happy Janmashtami to all!

Let us remember some of the great temples of Krishna!

Glory to Mathura Sri Krishna! Glory to Brindavan Banke Bihari! Glory to Dwarakadish! Glory to Nathadwara Shrinathji! Glory to Puri Jagannath! Glory to Pandharpur Panduranga! Glory to Udupi Sri Krishna! Glory to Guruvayoorappan! Glory to Parthasarathi of Tirvelikeni! Glory to Muvvagopala! Glory to Rajagopala of Mannargudi! Glory to Govindaji of Manipur! Glory to Pandava-Doota-Perumal of Kanchipuram!

Add some more?

Today, September 1, is also the day Sri Ramana Maharshi came first to Tiruvannamalai. As a boy of 16, he took a morning train from Tirukkoilur and came into Tiruvannamalai. He went straight to Arunachaleshwara temple, where, as God would have it, he went straight to the sanctum, hugged Arunachaleshwara Linga, and said “Father, I am here”…..

You can see more about the advent at by clicking here

That year (1896), Janmashtami was on Aug 31st. Young Ramana had left Madurai and was on his way to Tiruvannamalai. Morning of  31st August, he got up, hungry, in Tirukkoilur. Seeking food, he happened to get the hospitality of Muthukrishna Bhagavatar. The Bhagavatar couple were very happy to give food to this sage-looking boy, on Krishna Janmashtami. The lady of the house also gave him some sweets to take with him. Boy Ramana pledged his earrings and got some money from Muthukrishna Bhagavatar. With that he bought a train ticket the next day, Sep 1, and came, once and for all, to Arunachala!

It is indeed significant that Sri Ramana came from Tirukkoilur to Arunachala. For one, he took the same route taken by Tiru Jnanasambandar, the child Saiva saint, Nayanmar. His songs on Siva form the first three volumes of the Tirumurai, the most holy treatise of Siva Bhakti. Also, Tirukkoilur is the birthplace of Divya Prabandam, the most holy treatise of Vishnu Bhakti. It was in a narrow room of a home here, that the mudal Alwars, the first three Alwars, had the divine vision of Vishnu. So spectacular was the vision that Peyazhwar sang:

திருக்கண்டேன் பொன்மேனி கண்டேன், திகழும்
அருக்கன் அணி நிறமும் கண்டேன் – செருக் கிளரும்
பொன் ஆழி கண்டேன்,புரி சங்கம் கைக் கண்டேன்
என் ஆழி வண்ணன்பால்,இன்று

I have seen Shree! I have seen Golden form! I have seen the brilliance of the Sun! I have seen the golden discus (chakra) that  churns the battlefield! I have seen the hand that holds the conch! Today, I have seen the One who is of hue of the blue ocean!

The three Azhwars sang of Vishnu in 100 verses each, and so was Divya Prabandham begun.

Thus it is that Tirukkoilur is the very fount of Bhakti.  Tirukkoilur literally means ‘the town of the holy temple’.

And coming from there to Arunachala, from Bhakti kshetra to Jnana Kshetra, therefore, reminds one of what Sri Ramana has said.

When Dilip Kumar Roy, the great Krishna Bhakta, asked Ramana about the relation of Jnana and Bhakti, Ramana told him  – Bhakti Jnana Mata – Bhakti is the mother of Jnana…

And yes… The great Arunachaleshwara temple of Tiruvannamalai… Right behind the sanctum-sanctorum of Arunachaleshwara, is the shrine of Venugopala!

Happy Janmashtami to all!

Hare Krishna!

Walking around Siva

23^rd Feb 2009.

Mahasivaratri!

Evening, sometime after 6 pm… Approaching Tiruvannamalai… The Sun is a big ball of red, going down in a hurry in the horizon…  It is the dark night of the month… The twilight hour is hazy… A break in the trees provides us a good glimpse of Arunachala – the Hill that is Siva.

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7 pm… Reach Sri Ramanashramam… The hall in front of Sri Ramana Maharshi’s Samadhi is packed choc-a-bloc with devotees. We first go to mothers shrine – the temple of Mathrubhuteshwara. Then to Bhagavan Ramana’s shrine… The first puja of the evening is nearing completion. The abhisheka is over. Priests are completing the floral offerings to Ramaneshwara Mahalinga – the Sivalinga in Ramana’s Samadhi…

On the wings, a group of young students from the Ashram Veda Patashaala wait for their cue.

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9:30 pm or so… Set out on Girivalam… Also known as Giripradakshina, this is the circumambulation of the Arunachala mountain – a walk of around 14 kms or so, around the holy hill…  We join a steady stream of people doing the walk… The night is warm… Shankar, my girivalam companion has the right idea. He is in dhoti and a light upper cloth… I decide to follow ‘suit’, and shed my long shirt… The night is moonless.. But the silhouette of the mountain is visible, as a darker shade of black, ‘courtesy’ the city lights on the other side.

First stop is at the shrine of Yama Linga – one of the eight lingas around the hill – this one, in  the southern direction… There are ever so many Siva temples in this region…  And tonight is the holiest night for all of them…

Sometime around 11 pm, we reach Adi Annamalai temple… The early temple of Arunachaleshwara, at the foothills of the mountain… Curtains in the shrine… Around two score devotees are waiting for Darshan… A lady is singing Kolari Padigam – a sacred song of Siva, composed by the child saint Tirujnana Sambandar more than a thousand years ago…

She goes on to sing other Tevaarams, Tamizh songs of Saint devotees of Siva… We wait for darshan… I then request the lady to sing Sivapuranam… ‘Namachivaaya vaazhga…” she starts, and many other devotees join in… The atmosphere is charged with Bhakti…And just then, the curtain opens… Radiance! The Aarati of the Lord begins… This is it!

Going around the temple, we come to the shrine of Apithakuchambal – the consort of Arunachaleshwara. There She is – and we fill in our eyes… Going across to the Nandi in front of that shrine – we sit down near his ear… And chant the Rudram… Our chant is frequently drowned by the sounds of the temple band – the Nadaswaram and the drums… There is joy everywhere…

We get back into the dark night… Walking around the hill, we stop once in a while, peer at the mountain, visit a little temple or two… Entering the open-air Panchamukha Linga shrine, we prostrate to the holy hill. The five peaks of Arunachala are visible from here…

Past 1 am, we are back in town, and enter the big temple of Arunachaleshwara… Throngs of pilgrims… So many people, yet so much peace… So many sounds, yet so much silence…

Here’s a of picture…

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Many pilgrims are staying over in the temple for the night. Some are asleep in the temple courtyard…

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Long queues lining up for having darshan of Arunachaleshwara… We walk around the sanctum… settle down in the corridor to the west, and chant the Chamakam…

After Darshan of Apithakuchamba, we take leave…

Walking on, we come to the shrine of Seshadri Swamigal, the great sage, who was a contemporary of Sri Ramana…

And then around 3 am, we are back at Sri Ramanashramam… Abhisheka is in progress…

The students of the Veda Patashaala are chanting some part the Veda… The holy sounds reverberate around the hall… Shankar is mesmerized…  Sitting right next to the shrine sanctum, eyes closed, taking in the chant of the Vedas, he dives into his heart…

After the puja, we get back to our room to catch a few hours of shut eye.

Loud cries of peacock bring in the morning… After a bath, I go up to the terrace for my japa… A whole pack of peacocks are walking in the terrace. I walk across to the adjacent terrace, to find a greeting of God…

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We take leave of Tiruvannamalai at around 10 am…

A farewell picture of the hill that is Siva…

Annamalaikku Haro Hara!

tamaso maa jyotir gamaya – 6

Time is around 9 am or so… Dec 7th, 2008.

The Navaratri Mandapam is a large hall, where ceremonial deities of the day are being stored. At one end of the hall, around twenty knowers of Veda, are sitting in two rows…During every Karthigai festival, in Arunachaleshwara temple, Veda parayanam takes place. Groups of Vedic scholars assemble and chant the Veda, from 8:30 am to around 12:30 am, every day – a group each, for each Veda.

I take a short video on my lil camera… Have a look and hear Sri Rudram from Yajur Veda being chanted as krama parayana, in the Navaratri Mandapam…

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In the middle of the hall, the Rishabha idol, the bull that bore the Lord, is parked…Munching a bunch of leaves…

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And now, the mouse that Vinayaka rode on…

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At one end of  the Navaratri Mandapa, the utsava moorthy (procession idols) of Lord Arunachaleshwara are parked – resting after the Rishabha Vahana procession…

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And here’s a close up of the primary deities – the ones who rode the Rishabha in the procession… Annamalai, Unnamulai, and the little Skanda (top of whose crown can be seen in the middle, hidden in the dresses)…

As I sign off on the last day of 2008, here’s wishing all a happy 2009. Hope you had a look at the video in the beginning of this post.

Annamalai-kku Haro Hara!

                               – To be concluded –

tamaso maa jyotir gamaya – 5

Sometime after 8 a.m, Sunday 7th Dec…

We enter through the southern portal of the great temple… Spreading  over 25 acres, this , I think, is one of the largest temples in our country…

View, as we step in…

The low wall on the right of the picture above, is the enclosure of one of the many ponds in the temple.

Here is a picture taken, facing this pond-wall…

 

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We first have darshan of Annamalai Swami – the Arunchaleshwara deity…. and then Unnamulai Amman – the Goddess Apitakuchamba…

Coming out of the Goddess’s sanctum, we walk in the southern direction, and come to a small shrine, where several Vedic scholars are chanting the Sama Veda.

A view, looking North from this shrine… The most holy Arunachala Hill is seen in the backdrop…

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On the right of the picture above, you would see a row of ‘garage’ like structures. One of them is open…

So what are is housed here? Lets see…

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A group of people are straining to pull out a big mount…An elephant! A silver elephant! Must be weighing tonnes! The pachyderm is aloft two stout wooden poles that are carried by some twenty people…

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Later today is the Aruvathimoovar festival… The festival of the sixty three great Siva devotee saints – the Nayanmaars… Sixty three idols will be carried by young school children, on a procession outside the temple. And in that procession, Lord Arunachaleshwara will be riding this silver elephant…

Here’s another pic…

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We are looking for the place where the place where Yajur Veda Parayana is on… We ask the Sama Veda group… We come to know that Yajur Veda parayana is on at the Navaratri Mandapa….

Next stop : Navaratri Mandapa…

                                      – To be contd –

tamaso maa jyotir gamaya – 3

Then comes the King….

Lord Arunachaleshwara and his consort Apitakuchamba, and son murukan, ensconced on the bull Nandi…. The great Rishabha-vahana…This is the chariot carrying Somaskanda, Lord Siva accompanied by his consort Uma and his son Skanda… The skanda idol is so small that it is hidden among the garlands…

Below is another picture of the Rishabha-vahana…

Notice the chief-priests dressed in ceremonial finery.

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Another picture, that shows them, close-up

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The procession moves slowly. They stop every ten or fifteen yards or so… People come out of houses nearby and approach the chariots, and watch with reverence, folded hands, the Aarti (lights) being waved before the Gods… And they offer flowers and such… And accept Vibhooti and Kumkuma…  The atmosphere is electric, soaked in a silent kind of joy… People young and old, rich and poor, all line up as one family, all children of Arunachaleshwara-Apitakuchamba…  जगतः पितरौ  वन्दे पार्वती-परमेश्वरौ ॥

After the chariot of Arunachaleshwar-Apitakuchamba, comes another chariot, that has the Lady, Goddess, Mother Apithakuchamba, all by Herself, sitting on a throne atop Nandi, the bull. Oh, how beautiful she looks… Dressed in blue, her face dripping with compassion, her feet clearly visible, bestowing her blessings to all ….

We saw the picture of chief-priests, who sat in the main chariot…

In the chariot of the Mother though, the folks who are sitting, enjoying themselves are quite different. Oh yes, these are the young kids… With vibhooti on their foreheads, joy-riding, they are having the time of their life, riding with Mother Apitakuchamba….

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Bringing up the rear of the procession is the idol of Chandikesha…the devotee saint who oversees all that is offered to the Lord… whose permission devotees take, before taking away any Prasadam from the temple…

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After seeing the Chandikesha chariot, I walk back to the main chariot of Arunachaleshwara-Apitakuchamba-skanda… A group of college boys are standing in a chain, to keep the crowds from spilling on to the chariot… Some men, devotees, their foreheads swathed in Vibhooti, are chanting the Tamizh Tevaaram… Another is chanting the Sri Rudram of the Vedas… A devotee is holding aloft a torch that burns Sambarani powder that emits wonderful fragrance as it burns. The fragrant smoke wafts in the pre-dawn sky…

 

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So that was a photo-stream from 7^th December, morning…

Today is 11^th December… The finale of the great festival… The Bharani Deepam Day… Annamalai-kku Haro-hara! Happy Karthigai Deepam! May there be luminance always! May all be happy! ॐ शान्तिः शान्तिः शान्तिः ।।

Om! Peace! Peace! Peace!

Today, Dec 11th, is also the birthday of the great poet Subhramanya Bharati… And on this day of Karthigai,  I am reminded of his song…

செந்தமிழ் நாடெனும் போதினிலே -இன்பத்
தேன்வந்து பாயுது காதினிலே…

And as a little Deepam ‘special’, come join the Rishabha-vahana procession, feel the pre-dawn breeze, the wafting fragrance… as the picture comes alive, in a little video shot below… Enjoy….

                       – To be contd –

tamaso maa jyotir gamaya – 2

7^th December, Sunday, morning, some minutes before 3:30 am.

We are on the road, driving towards in direction of the great Arunachaleshwara temple. Traffic policemen are up and about and we stop and seek directions.

“Where is Swami now?” we ask, to find out where the Lord’s procession has currently reached…

“Round the next corner”, we are told. We turn that corner, and ask again…

We are driving on an outer road, going anti-clockwise, so as to meet the procession of the Lord somewhere along  the way – the procession would be coming clockwise…

And then seeing the density of people rising, we know that the trail is hot now… We get off the car and walk, along the road just outside the big temple wall. The utsava-moorthy (the Festival Idols) of the Gods will be coming down the road, towards this direction…

And while we wait to meet the procession, let me share some brief information about the concept of ‘moola’ and ‘utsava’ idols…  The main idol in the temple sanctum is called the ‘Moola’ or ‘Moolavar’. That idol, in South Indian temples, is usually made of select varieties of stone, often black stone… The idol is sculpted by special architects and craftsmen, called Stapathis… They follow a time honored tradition… A stapathi working on making an idol, is involved in an act of great Tapasya (spiritual effort)… They observe a lot of austerities as they work… When the idol is done, they then have a ceremony for ‘opening the eyes’ of the idol… This is a very sacred ritual… The idol is backed by a Yantra – a geometric design, two or three dimensional . The moolavar idol and the yantra are installed in the shrine in the temple.  Then on an auspicious day, the kumbabhishekam is performed… For a certain period, holy waters brought from various rivers and holy ponds, are kept in pots (kumbha)… Vedic homa (fire rites) are performed… The waters are charged with Mantras appropriate to the deity….  Then, on the day of kumbhabhishekam, the waters are poured on the deities… This is an exhilarating event…  Every twelve years or so, the temple is renovated, repairs and improvements done, and the Kumbabhishekam is conducted afresh…  

With the completion of kumbhabishekam, the deity-energy is now “live” in the temple.

Other than the moolavar, most temples also have utsava-moorthy. These are beautiful idols, usually made of precious metals… They are mobile, taken out on processions on ‘festival’ days with much ceremonial fanfare… The idols, all decked up, are taken around the temple and town, the Lords surveying their sovereign… People throng to see these processions…  We are now waiting to see one such procession… Where Lord Arunachala and other deities of the temple are out on their rounds…. Later today is the Aruvathimoovar festival, where in Siva temples all over this part of the country, the utsava-idols of the sixty three Saiva saints (Nayanmars) will be carried in procession… That is another incredible experience…

Coming back to our morning meet with the Lord…

The  weather is very pleasant, a little nip in the air. A gentle breeze is blowing. People are lined up along and on the road. The great temple is to our left, and the gopuram (tower) is lit up.

And there in the distance, we see the procession of the Lord.

We walk ahead and meet the procession.

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The lead-car carries Ganesha, the lord who removes all obstacles. He is standing on his vehicle, the Mooshika, the mouse… He looks so beautiful… The Lord is in Gold and the huge mooshika (mouse) is of silver…

I join some people and take some vibhooti (holy ash) from a young priest who is sitting in front, in the Ganesha cart.

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The next car carries his younger brother, Murukan a.k.a Karthikeya, the Lord who carries a spear, and rides a peacock…

 

 

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Then comes the King….

[Just hang on there Shival ji 🙂 ]

                                   –  To be continued –

Arunachala – Another picture post

Peacocks at Ramanashramam….

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Went with Ravi and family to skandashramam on Arunachala hill.

heres what the trail looks like…

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Relaxing in the hill, on the way to Skandashramam….

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Ravi, family pic… inside Skandashramam….

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View of the magnificent Arunachaleshwara temple, from the hill…

One more view… From near Skandashramam…

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Santosham!