Bharani Deepam Meaning

Below is a rare photograph of the 2011 Bharani Deepam flame which was taken directly outside the Siva Sannidhi at Arunachaleswarar Temple.


Right Click below photograph to view enlargement

The below narrative is an extract explaining Bharani Deepam.

To read the full report go to this link here:

Bharani Deepam in 2011

“The all-pervading quiet of early morning is suddenly disrupted by a mad clamor of thunderous sound. Ringing bells, pounding drums and piercing nagaswarams (temple horns) almost overpower the belting voices of hundreds of devotees who are singing songs in praise of Siva, the Lord of Arunachala. It is 4:30 am on the 8th December, 2011, and the main sanctum sanctorum of the massive Tiruvannamalai Siva temple in Tamil Nadu is packed with souls who have been waiting all night for this moment.

The chief priest has just finished a simple ritual called bharani deepam and now ceremoniously waves a huge camphor flame in the direction of nearby Arunachala mountain. Although he is chanting Sanskrit slokas, he cannot be heard amidst the deafening furor of devotion that surrounds him. Finally, he touches the flame he is holding to the wicks of five huge, earthen, ghee-filled pots, representing the sacred elements earth, air, fire, water and ether.

As these five flames loom up with red-yellow light, the famous, one-day, South Indian festival of Krittika Dipam officially begins. A single flame is then taken from the pots and kept burning in the Temple throughout the day as a symbol of the merging of manifestation back into God, the one source of all. This single flame is referred to as the Bharani Deepam.

Around 10:00 a.m. this Bharani morning, a group of fishermen were blessed by a priest in a ceremony at the Temple. Amidst ringing bells and temple music, the priest gave the fishermen a lamp in a protected container that has been lit from the Bharani Deepam in the Temple.

This lamp, also called Bharani Deepam, is taken to the top of the Hill by fishermen from hereditary fishing families. Others of the same hereditary fishing family will remain at the Temple and this evening light the Deepam flame outside the Arunachaleswarar Siva Sannidhi.”