Girivalam
Taurus Moon
As expected thousands of devotees thronged Tiruvannamalai on Tuesday night (May 1st) to perform circumbulation of Arunachala and have darshan of Lord Annamalaiyar at the Big Temple (Arunachaleswarar Koil).
The period of this month's Poornima began at 2 p.m., Tuesday and continued until 3.57 p.m., Wednesday. However due to the heat and bright sunlight, a large number of devotees waited until after 5 pm Tuesday to start their Hill giripradakshina.
As mentioned in a previous posting Poornima during the month of Taurus signals the birth of the Buddha, and after Karthigai Deepam festival attracts the largest annual gathering of pilgrims and visitors to Tiruvannamalai.
Some new arrangements designed to make giripradakshina easier for devotees were unveiled for the first time this month. These arrangements include the opening of a newly laid tiled pathway on part of the girivalam roadway from Anna Arch to Abhaya Mandapam. Also fire service personnel took measures inside Arunachaleswarar Temple to mitigate the distress of bare footed devotees walking on the scorching stone flooring inside the Temple premises.
This was my third Giripradikshana and I must say the crowds were simply humungous. The last time I went for the Pradikshana it was raining in torrents and there were only two souls including me in the pitch dark! This being a regular event one would expect good arrangements to be made for transport. I had to somehow find my way back to Bangalore by bus. I found the makeshift bus stand but the situation there resembled a relief camp. Finally I took a cab from Chengam all the way to Bangalore. Hope things get better next time around :-)
ReplyDeleteIts all very mystifying at the beginning. Of course rain and the dark makes everything even more complicated. I hope next time you have better luck in getting back home to Bangalore. Once you get the hang of it, it will all come easier. Maybe you could come with a more Tiruvannamalai experienced chum to help you out to begin with. Good luck next time anyway.
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