The Arunachala Connection

According to the occultist Kenneth Grant, Arunachala constitutes the most powerful concentration of spiritual energy on the planet. From the ancient Hindu scripture The Skanda Purana we have these verses:

Arunachala is the most sacred holy place of all. It is the heart of the world. Know it to be the secret and sacred heart-centre of the God Shiva. Meditate then that in the Heart of Arunachala surges the spirit glory, within which is contained all the worlds. I ordain that residence within a circle of thirty miles of this Mountain shall alone suffice to burn off all defects and blend a person with the Supreme Spirit.

In spite of the undoubted majesty of Arunachala many comparisons and similarities have been ascribed to other sacred sites around the world.

Mt Tamalpais
Mt Tamalpais in Marin County, California, (U.S), has sometimes been referred to as a physical and geographic mirror-image and spiritual counterpart of Arunachala. Stones from Arunachala have actually been placed on Mt. Tamalpais as many saints have claimed throughout the ages that walking around Arunachala is highly efficacious for Self-Realization.

Mt Shasta
American Indians believed that Mt. Shasta was of such immense grandeur that its existence could only be attributed to the Great Spirit. They also believed that an invisible race of little people lived on its slopes as guardians. If you tried to climb the mountain and were found to be an unworthy person, they would throw you off to your death! They also have legends of Bigfoot and other mysterious beings and forces connected with the mountain.

This tallies to many of the myths associated with Arunachala. That brilliant lights, which seem to be under intelligent control, are sometimes seen to sail about Arunachala. Legend also states that there lies a city inside the mountain which is inhabited by yogic adepts. Upon death if you are not quite high enough to merge with the Supreme Spirit then you might at least go to live inside Arunachala. The adepts from inside Arunachala can change their shape to any human or animal form and travel incognito in the outside world. This is similar to the stories about the Lemurians from Mt. Shasta.

Machu Picchu Mountain
Ramana Maharshi said that as Arunachala was the top of the spiritual axis of the earth that there had to be another mountain corresponding to it at the opposite side of the globe. Major Chadwick writes:

He used to say that Arunachala was the top of the spiritual axis of the earth. There must, he said, be another mountain corresponding to Arunachala at exactly the opposite side of the globe, the corresponding pole of the axis. So certain was he of this that one evening he made me fetch an atlas and see if this was not correct. I found, according to the atlas, (that) the exact opposite point came in the sea about a hundred miles off the coast of Peru. He seemed doubtful about this. I pointed out there might be some island at this spot or a mountain under the sea.

The closest known power site which would nearly be in an opposite position to Arunachala is Machu Picchu. It was thought that the city represents an immense mystery of the Inca civilisation and that Machu Picchu Mountain was known as sacred to the Incas from ancient times. There are also parallels between the Machu Picchu site and the Shakti culture as the Incas worshipped Machu Picchu as the manifestation of the Divine Mother. It has been stated that:

On the psychic plane, multiple individuals with siddhic/occult capacities have separately asserted on visiting Machu Picchu that the city is a place where the feminine aspect of the Universe is especially palpable.

In conclusion we are possibly confronting here a dual pair of balancing opposites i.e. Shakti, Machu Picchu and Siva, Arunachala.