Hanuman Temple, Girivalam Roadway

In response to a request from a reader of Arunachala Grace I am posting the below photographs of the Veera Hanuman Koil located off the Girivalam Roadway. The Temple which is managed by the Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments (HR and CE) Department is comparatively new, and the Chief Priest informed me that its only about 30 years old.

The Temple is set on two acres of land off the Girivalam Roadway near the Rajarajeshwari Koil. Thus far I have not been able to find out its history or the reason why a Hanuman Temple is located here at this Shiva Sthalam and if any reader has information on this Temple I would be very happy to hear from you.

A sign of the times -- a sannyasin chatting on a mobile at the Temple.

The Temple gardens have several shrines, including one of Lord Krishna and another of Lord Vishnu. There also seems to be several sadhus situated in the compound. This Temple is extremely popular with local town folk and Sundays is a day of pilgrimage and many town folk head out to the Hanuman Koil for puja and blessings.

With a little attention this Temple set in two acres of garden could be quite lovely, but currently seems to be underfunded and neglected. Need some help here Mr.Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments (HR and CE) Department!

Visiting Mooku Podi Swami

Rightclick on all photos to enlarge

Yesterday morning decided it was a good time to visit with Mooku Podi Swami. He is currently residing at the Srinivasan Secondary School on the Girivalam Roadway near Nithyananda Ashram.

I often visit the nearby Rajarajeshwari Temple, a spot that Swami Mooku Podi regularly frequents so have seen him many times. But this time I wished to sit and visit and particularly wanted to take photographs as the ones I previously posted on Arunachala Grace were out-of-date and taken at the time Swami used to spend sitting on the ice-cream fridge, inside the Deepam Hotel on Car Street.

As it was a Sunday the school was on holiday and the compound was very quiet. An absolute ideal time to visit.

Swami was wearing dirty, old rags and his clean, fresh clothes lay next to him in a heap at his side. Instead of his usual stick, he was holding in his hand a fan and other than a clean, white cloth wrapped around his head was otherwise completely naked.

I noticed Swami’s eyes were shining and very twinkling. While there he handed me two thayam stones and urged me to cast them with Arumugam the Srinivasan School watchman. There was also a young man named Prabhu visiting Swami but all through he kept silent.

A photo of thayam -- a gambling game played in Tamil Nadu

Don’t know the exact reason why Swami has chosen Srinivasan School as his present abode. It is a Secondary School started by a Jeevan Mukta at the beginning of the last century. The Samadhi of this Jeevan Mukta (i.e. Srinivasanlu) is inside the school compound.

Srinivasanlu -- Jeevan Mukta

From the upstairs verandah, where Swami was sitting, I could see Parvati Hill – which is the only place of the 14 km girivalam roadway around Arunachala, from which you cannot see the flame during Deepam.

I spent about an hour with Swami Mooku Podi and other than his occasional shout, it was a peaceful and enjoyable visit. I hope the above is enough information, for those eager to meet Swami, for them to be able locate him on the hillround roadway.

More on Mooku Podi Swami

I am reposting here two earlier links on Mooku Podi Swami as they are both still getting a lot of attention. The first post is of August 5th and entitled, ‘I am still in shock,’ and the second post is of August 6th, ‘Trip to Chennai.’

In response to the posting of August 5th, received today the following anonymous comment:

“I too had a darshan of the Swamy on 21st August. He was staying at the high school on the girivalam road at the back of the mountain. I believe he is also called mookupodi samiyar (mookupodi-snuff). Well, it goes like this: My mother wanted to do girivalam in auto. So I, my wife and my mother hired an auto outside Ramanasaramam and were going around it when my mother asked the auto driver about the whereabouts of the swamy. He said the swamy is staying in the school which is on the girivalam route and promised to take us there. We were all excited. When we reached the school, the guard said that the swamy had just left and pointed out the direction. The swamy was just 50 away. So the auto driver took us near him. Then the strangest thing happened. The swamy started shouting at us even before we got out of the auto. We were so scared we asked to auto driver to immediately vacate the place.

I cannot make any sense of this incident. Were we not spiritually mature enough to have darshan of swamy? Or did he infact benefit us spiritually in his own mysterious way, just like Seshadri Swamigal? Maybe, he is not the one to take some karma load off us. I really dont know.”

I expect the reader of the comment would be happy to receive feedback from others who have also visited with Mottayan Swami.

For myself, hope to visit with Swami within the next week or so, at which time, if allowed will take LOTS of snaps. So check back to Arunachala Grace for my report and photographs.

Quick Update

The below is a photograph of Parvati Hill (a spur on the West side of Arunachala). Nithyananda Ashram is located at this spot on the Girivalam Roadway. I stopped by this morning on my way home from Rajarajeshwari Temple, to check out what was going on.

Lots of posters and notification of programs. Below information about a Sannyas Training Programme.

While at the ashram, there was a medical camp underway, and a number of local folk were waiting for their turn with the doctor. Nearby there was a spiritual talk in Tamil in progress that was being conducted by a visiting pundit.

I'm too sure what the building programme is at this 3-acre ashram, however will post updates as they happen.

Shirdi Sai Baba Shrine

In an earlier posting I talked about my adventure searching for a statue of Shirdi Sai Baba, that I had heard was sitting in a crate off the girivalam road near Adi Annamalai. My search was met with success and I had a nice darshan of Shirdi Sai Baba, albeit from outside the crate in which he had been delivered and was awaiting installation.

Happy to report that today Maha Kumbabhisekham was performed at the Shirdi Sai Baba Shrine, which will be known as, ‘Akshaya Shirdi Sai Baba Mandir’. For those who wish to visit the Shrine, it is located at Kubera Mannupillai Garden, Kosalai Gramam, Girivalam Road, Adi Annamalai.

I hope to soon visit the Shrine myself and thereafter post photographs on Arunachala Grace.

For more information of the extraordinary saint, Sri Shirdi Sai Baba, please visit the official website at this link here.

A Father's Love

Radha Ma Ashram

Radha Ma invited me to come and visit the recently built Narasimha Temple on the grounds of her Ashram. I love my gardens and my Temples, so didn't need to be asked twice! The below photographs show the lovely Ashram garden which 4-5 years ago was just a patch of scrub land.

The below photographs are of the Temple area.

At this time I wasn't allowed to take a photograph of the actual Narasimha statue inside the Temple, but outside is a well known photograph of the Vishnu avatar, upon which the statue inside the Temple is modelled. The statue was crafted by artisans in Mahabalipuram and the installation ceremony was performed by priests from the Parthasarathy Temple, Triplicane, Chennai where the god Narasimha is worshipped.

Outside the entrance to the Narasimha Temple are paintings of GajaLakshmi and Kamadhenu.

Below is a photograph of Sarada Devi from inside Radha Ma's quarters.

Tale of Narasimha

"Few of the thousands of stories found in Hindu mythology have as much beauty, poignancy, and moral and intellectual daring as the tale of Narasimha, the man-lion who is the fourth incarnation or avatar of Vishnu. The circumstances under which Vishnu descends to earth in the form of Narasimha are to be found in the fact, as enumerated in the Puranas, that in his previous incarnation as the boar, Vishnu had killed the asura or demon Hiranyaksha, and consequently filled his elder brother, Hiranyakashipu, with a burning desire for revenge.

While commanding the asuras to create havoc on earth, Hiranyakashipu himself prepared for the battle with Vishnu by practicing the most severe austerities, the effect of which was that he acquired the most tremendous powers. For scores of years he stood still on Mount Mandara, and though ant hills, grass, and plants grew on his body, he would not stir; the rivers and oceans trembled; the volcanoes roared and the earth shook; and the astral bodies went astray. The fiery smoke emanating from Hiranyakashipu’s very head left a massive trail of destruction, and the panic-stricken devas or gods, led by Indra, finally made their way to Brahma’s abode. Warning him that the worlds of his own creation would soon become extinct, the devas pleaded with Brahma to intercede, whereupon Brahma, declaring himself pleased at the immense austerities practiced by Hiranyakashipu, agreed to grant him any boon, hopeful that he would cease to terrorize the world and the devas.

Such is the tapas, the fire of Hiranyakashipu’s sacrifice and discipline, that even the gods must render him obeisance. Much like Ravana, his fellow asura, Hiranyakashipu receives from Brahma a boon that he shall "never be killed by these means: the striking and throwing weapons of my enemies, thunderbolt, dried tree-trunks, high mountains, by water or fire." Drought, fire, earthquakes, thunder, hurricanes, and all other manner of natural calamities: from all these he shall have immunity. Most decisively, Hiranyakashipu appears to have clinched his immortality when it is agreed that he shall "not be slain in heaven, on earth, in the daytime, at night, from neither above nor below", and most importantly neither by man nor animal.

Emboldened by the boon, Hiranyakashipu and his asuras lose no time in bringing the entire world under their jurisdiction, dominating the devas, and creating a reign of absolute terror. Hiranyakashipu’s own son, Prahlad, is a devoted follower of Vishnu, and his father’s ceaseless efforts to make him abandon his faith do not bear fruit. He is subjected to much pain and suffering; asuras are let loose at him; and he is thrown down a cliff. Yet Prahlad outlives all these attempts at terminating his life. Immensely pleased by his devotion, Vishnu at last decides to intercede directly. Descending to earth in the form of Narasimha, Vishnu appears before the complaisant Hiranyakashipu. As half man (nara) and half lion (simha), he is neither man nor lion; he springs out of a pillar; he strikes at twilight, when it is neither day nor light; and he attacks Hiranyakashipu at the threshold of his palace, under the arch of the doorway, neither on earth nor in the sky. Narasimha throws Hiranyakashipu upon his thighs and rips apart his bowels with his claws.

The tale of Narasimha speaks to the critical importance of liminality in forging any kind of emancipatory politics or theology. It is at the cusp, in the moment of liminality, in the state of in-betweenness, that ignorance is defeated and knowledge is acquired. If we go only so far as common-sense logic appears to take us, we might not travel very far at all. The tale of Narasimha is also there to remind us of the risks which we must take if we seek to be true moral agents."

Dancing Baba

It is believed that at any one time rishis and saints inhabit spots at Arunachala. Sometimes these holy people are in disguise and living invisible lives as beggars, madcaps or nondescript people. In this respect saints like the one pictured below who was known as 'dancing baba' and the 'walking no talking swami,' breezes through our lives for an instant in ways that changes and inspires.

Dancing Baba was run over by a motorcycle on the girivalam roadway near the Hanuman Temple in the second week of December 2008. His body was preserved in a samadhi constructed at the place he met his end. It is reputed that in the morning of this death whilst taking 'chai' at a roadside tea stall, he informed several people that it was the day of his departure when he was ordained to leave the body.

Excerpt by V. Ganesan

"There is a person whom I call the walking no talking swami who goes round Arunachala whenever he happens to be there. It is a pure joy just to look at him. Alone he dances around the mountain day and night!

Once, I confronted him saying; "Swami, You are ever immersed in ananda. Why don't you give us the perennial ananda in which you are always soaked and saturated?" He burst out laughing. Then he gesticulated in a powerful way, pointing his hand towards Arunachala, as if to convey, "What else is there, except ananda? That which IS, is only ananda. Everyone is submerged only in it, as if under a deluge of water. Also who is to give ananda and to whom?" He laughed again.

Waves of ecstasy reigned and looking at him, instantly filled me with bliss! This experience of bliss was the direct blessing of the walking no talking swami. And it happened without a word, sans explanations or discussions."

Face Unveiled

As promised in this earlier posting the face of the Chathur Muka Statue has finally been unveiled. Although the painting was completed sometime back, we were compelled to wait to see the magnificent face of the statue. And here it is:

Grrrrr........

And to remember just how magnificent the original is, here is the companion identical statue situated just off the Girivalam Roadway near the Rajarajeshwari Temple. The statue also has a large tirtham (tank) attached. As of this time the statue has not been painted -- and lets hope it stays that way!

Sparsa Hotel Update

Probably the most important quality for a Tiruvannamalai Hotel, Resort or Ashram is its location and view of Arunachala Hill. In this respect the new Sparsa Hotel has a wonderful vantage point set off from the girivalam roadway.

'Sparsa' is a chain of eco-friendly resorts with the first Hotel already open here at Tiruvannamalai and with work currently in progress on additional resorts at Kanyakumari, Chidambaram and Kumily. The resorts are operated by the Auromatrix group which is an established Hotel and Resort Company.

Even though many choose to stay at Ashrams or more rustic facilities, its good that comfortable and facility-laden Hotels are becoming available here at Tiruvannamalai and thereby providing safe and luxurious amenities to both the first time visitor to India and to those wishing for greater comfort and increased security and privacy.

As the Hotel is operated by an established Hotel group the service and maintenance at Sparsa is markedly better than at other Tiruvannamalai Hotel.

Office Management



Security


Pool and Garden Maintenance

All the facilities at the Hotel are reserved exclusively for guests except for the restaurant which welcomes visitors. Below one of the waiters is demonstrating an old fashioned curd churner.


Waiter


Restaurant

Arunachala Grace will be maintaining a 'direct link' on this page (view the box banner on the left hand column) to Sparsa Hotel, in order to facilitate easy bookings and reservations. Also will soon be posting a slideshow montage of the Hotel and its facilities.

Simha Tank Renovation

In this earlier posting about King Harischandra, I mentioned work currently underway at the adjacent Simha Tank. The Simha Tank is one of my favourite spots around the Hill, as I very much like the iconic statue of the Lion standing sentinel at the front of the Tank. As previously mentioned the tank is being desilted and deepened. It probably will be difficult to believe but over the last few rainy seasons the water level of the tank actually overflows onto Chengam Road, and makes the spot look like a negative edge pool (i.e. infinity swimming pool).

In the below photograph, work continues on the inside of the tank, and very smart it looks too with its reinforced brick walls.

Hats off to the engineers for not damaging the abundant number of trees surrounding the tank.

However, we definitely have run into a problem with the Lion Statue and wonder who has sanctioned its new 'theme park' paint job?

I'm not surprised that they have covered his head - they probably want us to get used to him bit-by-bit. Surely showing him to us at one time would be too shocking!

Here he is again and in the below photograph one can get an idea of his head from the small opening at the edge of the cloth covering - Oh dear!

In addition his feet have also received a pedicure.

Below is a photograph of the Simha at the beginning of the tank renovation and also before his 'theme park' make-over. In comparison the new version looks ridiculous and its symbolic gravitas has been quite obscured.

I include here an earlier posting made about the relevance and symbolism of the Lion Tank.

"There are many religious and historical monuments at Arunachala but perhaps one of the most enigmatic is the wayside sphinx that appears in two places around the pradakshina road. Each sphinx stands next to a water tank (tirtham).

The sphinxes appear to have the head of a lion but, according to scholar Stella Kramrich, in fact are composed of three faces: the face of man, the face of the lion representing the Sun or Supreme Spirit, and the face of the dragon who, as the Destroyer of the Universe, stands for Transcendental Wisdom. Stella Kramrich further suggests that all three are superimposed on, and hence overwhelm the just discernible Death's head underlying them.

Speculating further on the history and meaning of the sphinxes, M. Bose writes in her book, 'The Hill of Fire':

. . . Today, these enigmatic sphinxes are used as mere shrines at which pilgrims, after taking a bath in the tank, make their offerings to Arunachala. But did they have a more important function in the past? For their symbology suggest that in long-forgotten rites they may have been gateways to the Sun, places of initiation where the neophytes, after being cleansed of sin and animal nature, received the highest knowledge that led to immortality in the Sun."