Tiruvannamalai Railway Station, May 2012

A dear friend and yearly visitor from Malaysia, asked me to check out the railway timetable for Tiruvannamalai for Deepam 2012. 

I have also had several requests from readers, to post up-to-date photographs of Tiruvannamalai railway station. 

Thus, in order to get information and photographs, I visited Tiruvannamalai railway station yesterday morning. While there I learnt that there will shortly be a new rail timetable schedule for Tiruvannamalai. Thus the schedule below may not be in operation for a long time. In addition a train schedule for Deepam, will only be published a short time prior to the Festival. 

Regular Train 

06842 (North) Villupuram to Katpadi arrives 05.45 departs 05.50 

06841 (South) Katpadi to Villupuram arrives 19.35 departs 19.40 

Weekly Train 

16779 Tirupathi to Madurai - Sunday/Friday arrives 18.25 departs 18.30 

16780 Madurai to Tirupathi - Sunday/Friday arrives 03.55 departs 04.00 

Weekly Train 

22603 Kharagpur to Villupuram - Thursday - arrives 20.25 departs 20.30 

22604 Villupuram to Kharagpur - Monday - arrives 12.10 departs 12.15 

Weekly Train 

22605 Purulia to Villupuram - Tuesday - arrives 20.25 departs 20.30 

22606 Villupuram to Purulia - Saturday - arrives 12.10 departs 12.15 

********************* 

The first photograph is the view of Arunachala when coming out of the Tiruvannamalai Railway Station. The road of the second photo, is the driveway up the Railway Station. 

Glad to see in the newly modernised Railway Station, that they kept the name board the same nice bright yellow as before. 

Although there is a brand new bridge connecting the platforms, while I was at the station I saw NO-ONE using the bridge. All seemed to prefer scampering across the tracks. Hope that changes when the tracks are electrified when the next phase of the development of the Railway Station takes place. 

The station is being maintained very well, and it was spotless on the day I visited. They even had a lady walking the tracks picking up the ubiquitous plastic from the lines. 

The new platforms are inordinately long, so glad that there is a helpful sign displayed for the engine driver! 

 Track Maintenance 

 View of the lines and station from 

the railway crossing in town. 

 The railway crossing in town. 

Chitra Poornima Girivalam

To view enlargements of below, right click on individual photographs. 

I was very eager to perform girivalam this month, as Chitra Poornima, the first full moon of the Tamil year is so very special. I set off at 5 p.m. and expected to complete the full round of the Hill by 9.30 p.m. 

Many devotees had arranged the feeding of pilgrims. And the first place I stopped at was a puja being conducted by a group from various spots in South India, on behalf of their Guru (who had attained samadhi). 

A member of the group told me that they had arranged enough provisions so that they could feed 70,000 pilgrims. The provisions included: 4,000 kg of rice, 500 kg of dhal and 1,000 litres of curd. This is the sixth year (during Chitra Poornima) that this group has arranged such a puja and feeding. 

A huge crowd was expected for this poornima, and huge it was. As so many pilgrims had arranged prasad all along the girivalam roadway, many of the roadside restaurants had little business throughout the 24 hour poornima. Though it seems like tea shops did a roaring business.

Roadside artists were in attendance. And there were beautiful coloured drawings throughout the edges of the roadway. 

 

 You could get your palm read and future foretold. 

Or just stop for a moment and enjoy a 

refreshing green coconut. 

Or even a cooling glass of sugarcane water. 

The little boy in the below photograph, is whispering his secrets and wishes into the ear of Nandi, the mount of the great Lord Shiva. By the time I reached the next statue of Nandi, I too was ready to do my own whispering! 

The mood of the pilgrims was happy, and the crowds seemed to be enjoying their girivalam enormously. Many of the pilgrims I spoke with, mentioned that it was their first time at Arunachala. 

In this respect the Arts College Car Park was filled with out-of-State cars, mostly from Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh.

 

It started to get quite dark, and time for me to put away the camera, and continue on my walk. Which did in fact take the expected time and I arrived home almost on the dot of 9.30 p.m. 

Chitra Poornima, 2012

This year, 2012, the date of Chitra Poornima is May 5. Poornima begins 11:50 a.m. tomorrow (May 5) and ends at 09:24 a.m. on May 6 (IST).

Chitra Poornima is dedicated to Chitragupta, the keeper of deeds in the house of Yama, (God of death) and to Indra, the leader of the Devas. This full moon observance of girivalam at Arunachala, is expected to be the most heavily attended of the year (other than the Poornima over Mahadeepam).

Chitra Poornima is a day sacred to Chitra Gupta, the Keeper of Deeds. Lord Brahma created Chitragupta through the Sun God and He is considered as the younger brother of Lord Yama. Chitragupta (Chitra means picture, Gupta means hidden) represents the hidden picture of life that is vital, yet unknown. Chitragupta keeps the good and bad register of every birth and according to ancestral belief, it is he who tallies your positive karma against negative and declares the result to the Judge on High. It is believed to be the right time to gain blessings to wash away sin and accrue virtue.

Legend of Chitra Poornima

Brihaspati was the Guru of Indra, the King of the Gods. Indra disobeyed Brihaspati on one occasion and Brihaspati relinquished his role of instructing and guiding Indra. Consequently during the period of the Guru's absence, Indra committed many evil acts. When the compassionate Guru resumed his role, Indra wanted to know what he should do to expiate the wrongs he had done in his Master’s absence. Brihaspati asked Indra to undertake a pilgrimage.

One day during Indra’s pilgrimage, he had a sudden realisation that he has been redeemed from his sins. He looked around and noticed a Shiva Lingam under a Kadamba tree. Feeling sure that it was Lord Shiva who had helped him in alleviating his sins, he worshipped the Lingam. Suddenly golden lotuses appeared in a nearby pond as a manfiestation of God’s pleasure and blessing. This legend is ascribed to have occurred at Chitra Poornima, at Madurai, Tamil Nadu.

This special day has come to be known in Tamil Nadu as Chitra Poornima. It is advised that during Chitra Poornima one should remember this story. With intense faith and a contrite heart it is believed that if one admits to one’s sins and resolves never to commit such sins in the future and also pledges to always obey the Guru, then one’s previous sins will be forgiven. 

Kodikkavi of Umapathi Sivacharya

The previous posting in Arunachala Grace, narrates the part Umapathi Sivacharya played in the deliverance of a thorny Bush. In addition there are several elements connected with that story that throws light upon the custom of the flag-hoisting ceremony at most Siva Temples. 

Flag Hoisting Ceremony, Arunachaleswarar Temple

Umapathi Sivacharya was put out of caste and banned from the Chidarambaram Temple by the Dikshitars, of whom he was one, for partaking of the remanants of food eaten by his guru, Marai Jnana Sambanthar. 

The time for performing the Brahma Utsavam of the Temple approached, and the Tillai priests tried to hoist the flag on the Dvajastambha; but it could not be tied. God appeared to the Dikshitars in their dream and they were told that the flag would go up only if they brought back Umapathi Sivacharya. 

Upon the request of the priest, Umapathi Sivacharya agreed to come to the Temple and raise the flag. But when he arrived at the Temple, instead of trying to raise the flag manually, he stood beside the flag pole and sang four verses. As soon as he began to sing, the flag spontaneously began to move up the pole. By the time he had finished the fourth verse, the flag had reached the top of the flagpole. These four verses, which form part of the Saiva Siddhanta canon, are known as Kodikkavi (the Flag Verses). 

The Flag Verses 

Light dwells with darkness in same place 

One does conceal the other when strong, 

And yet darkness can’t prevail 

The Light of light of souls though shines 

The soul is plunged in Trimala. 

So that the soul may Grace attain 

I hoist aloft the holy flag 

Which is the Sat of Sat, which Bloom? 

Who is the seer? Which is light 

In darkness sure, which might, Oh Grace! 

In all the earth that owns your sway, 

That Thou mayst know, on Tower’s front, 

I hoist aloft the holy flag 

With speech and mind at any time 

His nature rare is hard to find. 

When seen too close, He dost appear 

As Ananya. His grace to get 

I hoist aloft the holy flag 

The letters five and eight and six 

The letters four and ‘va’ and ‘si’ 

These in the heart well impressed. 

The soundless one and that with sound 

To manifest them without doubt 

I hoist aloft the holy flag. 

At the end of the ceremony Umapati Sivam called all the senkundars (the weavers) and told them, ‘You are the ones who gave food to my Guru and assuaged both his thirst and his hunger. By this act you also enabled me to consume the Guru’s ucchistam. Therefore, out of gratitude, I am going to honour your community by issuing a proclamation that from now on your community will have the exclusive privilege of offering the cloth that is used in the flag-hoisting ceremony.’ 

This tradition is now followed not only in the Nataraja Temple at Chidambaram, but in most other Siva temples including Arunachaleswarar Temple, Tiruvannamalai. 

Deliverance to a Thorny Bush

In reference to my earlier posting Thorny Bush, I came upon this fascinating story recorded by Suri Nagamma of Sri Ramana’s exposition of the liberation (moksha) of a thorn bush. 

In some versions the bush is identified as Mulli (the wild eggplant). 

The story goes like this: 

 “In Chidambaram, there was a jnani by the name of Umapathi Sivacharya. He was a poet and also a pundit. As he was in an extraordinary state of spirituality, he did not pay much attention to the usual Brahmanical practices. Hence, the pundit of the place became angry with him, especially since he was a learned man and knew all the precepts of the Hindu religion and they forbade him from living in the village or even visiting the Temple. He therefore lived in a small hut built on a raised ground outside the village. 

A low caste man called Pethan Samban used to supply him with all that he required and also help him in a general way. As things went on like this, one day, when that Pethan was carrying on his head a bundle of firewood, Iswara Himself met him on the way in the guise of the Dikshita in charge of the Temple, wrote a verse on a Palmyra leaf and gave it to him telling him that it was to be handed over to Umapathi Sivacharya and then disappeared. 

Pethan gave that verse to Sivacharya, who, on opening it, found in the first line the words, ‘Adiyarkkadiyen Chitrambalavanam’ (the servant of the devotees, the Lord of Chidambaram). Immediately, he was overwhelmed with devotion and a thrill passed through his body as he read the letter. The gist of the verse was: A note from Chidambaranathan – the servant of the devotees to the person who has set up a new establishment, namely Sivacharya. It is your duty to give initiation to this Pethan Samban regardless of caste and to the surprise of all people. 

He read the letter and was overwhelmed with joy. In obedience to the orders of the Lord, he initiated Pethan into the order of sannyasi, though he belonged to the lowest caste and in due course he gave nayana diksha (transmission of power through the eyes) to Pethan, immediately after which Pethan vanished into holy light. Sivacharya himself was immensely surprised at this occurrence and only then understood the wisdom of Pethan. 

Enemies of Sivacharya noticed the sacrificial offerings and other things he was having for his initiation and complained to the Government that Sivacharya had burnt Pethan to death for some mistake that Pethan might have committed. When the king visited with his retinue to enquire into the complaint, Sivacharya showed the verse of Lord Nataraja and said that he gave initiation to Pethan and that Pethan vanished thereafter in the form of a divine light (Jyoti). 

The king was surprised and asked Sivacharya if he could likewise give initiation and moksha to the thorn bush nearby. ‘Yes. What doubt is there?’ said Sivacharya. Accordingly he gave nayana diksha to that thorn bush and that too immediately disappeared in Pure Light (Jyoti). The king was still more astonished at that and said, ‘This looks like some black magic. You said this note had been written by Lord Nataraja. Let us go and ask him.’ Sivacharya pointed out that there was a ban on his entering the Temple. The king said that would not matter as he himself was accompanying Sivacharya. Accordingly they started for the temple together. Hearing all this, all the people – the pundits, the common people curious about the whole thing and the enemies of Sivacharya who were sure he would be punished – flocked to the temple to see the strange sight. 

As the two entered the Temple, and out of regard for the king when Arathi (waving of lights) was offered to Lord Nataraja, it was found that on either side of the Lord there stood Pethan and the thorn bush. The pundits were surprised and, out of fear and remorse, fell at the feet of Sivacharya requesting him to pardon them for all their faults. They subsequently brought him back into the village with due honours. [This story is found in Chidambara Mahatmyam].” 

Arunachala Hill Fire

On Friday evening (April 20th) a fire broke out on the Hill slope directly behind Ramana Ashram. Many people had recently remarked on how dry Arunachala was looking. Which was a consequence of very hot days since mid February and the lack of a substantial water table because of the meagre rainfall last season thereby depriving moisture to the plants and trees.

Photograph of Hill Fire night - April 20, 2012

The fire devastated vast tracts of greenery on the Hill, starting on the south slope and spreading eastwards and upwards. A group of volunteers and some forest personnel were on the Hill throughout the night in an effort to beat out the flames with bunches of green plants and tree branches. Although there were fire lines on the Hill created by gaps between the foliage, the fire crossed many of these fire lines because of strong winds. 

Dry lemon grass which caught fire on the Hill was instrumental in the speed and ferocity of the conflagration. Sadly large tracts of greenery planted over the years and also newly planted saplings have been destroyed. 

The Remarkable Pied Kingfisher

One of the most fascinating birds found locally at Tiruvannamalai is the beautiful Pied Kingfisher. One can see these birds around jheels, water tanks and ponds around the Hill. Even now several of the birds visit a small pond of stagnant water on the Samudram Erie. 

To view photographs and find out more about this remarkable agile, hovering bird, please visit my blog Arunachala Birds at this link here.

In the meanwhile take this opportunity to view the below superb BBC Wildlife video of the Pied Kingfisher which demonstrates its unique way of fishing. 

The bird hovers stationary for considerable periods, 10m or so above the water, ‘standing on its tail’, and hurls itself, wings pulled in at the sides, at fish coming up within striking depth. On emergence with the quarry, the bird flies off to a convenient rock where the victim is battered before being swallowed. 

Happy Earth Day – April 22, 2012

Earth Day, which marked the beginning of the modern environmental movement, was founded on April 22, 1970 and now is celebrated on that day throughout the world. 

The purpose of Earth Day is to promote awareness and appreciation for the Earth's environment. Nowadays Earth Day is celebrated in over 175 countries every year. 

To read more about the origins of Earth Day go to this link here: 

To find out more about the Earthday Network, and how we can take positive actions that count, go to this link here.

Prayer for Peace 

Oh Lord God almighty, may there be peace 

in celestial regions. 

May there be peace on earth.

May the waters be appeasing. 

May herbs be wholesome, and may trees and 

plants bring peace to all. 

May all beneficent beings bring peace to us. 

May thy Vedic Law propagate peace all 

through the world. 

May all things be a source of peace to us. 

And may thy peace itself, bestow peace on all, 

and may that peace come to me also 

Link for prayers for peace from other cultures

Chithirai Ursavam Panjangam Padithal

The year of 2012 has so far been very auspicious in Tamil Nadu, as we have been able to celebrate it four times. First on the traditional Western-centric January 1st and then during Pongal (during which period the State Government has been trying to officially but unsuccessfully relocate the beginning of the Tamil Year). And the last two New Year celebrations occurred this month on the 13th and 14th of April. The double date a result of it being a leap year in 2012. 

The priests reading the 2012 alamanac (Panjangam Padithai) are from our own Arunachaleswarar Temple. This reading which takes part at the beginning of the Tamil New Year in April, tells about weather, harvest, wealth and auspicous dates for the upcoming year. And shows the Vedic Hindu Astrological calendar with information about the position of celestial bodies. 

The below photographs are of Chithirai Ursavam Panjangam Padithal, and celebrate Chithirai i.e. the first month of this Tamil year. Ursavam is a Festival (generally lasting 10 days) which is celebrated on behalf of anyTemple.

Electric Problems Tiruvannamalai

Tiruvannamalai is now suffering during this hot, sweltering summer, with up to 10 hours of power cuts a day. As in the rest of the State, many schools and businesses in Tiruvannamalai District have now organized their days around power outages. 

The current power crisis in Tamil Nadu (and throughout India) is a complicated issue, and to find out more, read the below informative and interesting article:- 

How Tamil Nadu's electricity problems can be solved 

“It is a sweaty problem. Scheduled power cuts of longer duration are a certainty in the coming months in Chennai and elsewhere in the state. 

Smaller industries will likely be hit harder thanks to the proposed load shedding. Already people have had to face scheduled daily power cuts, one hour in Chennai and up to eight hours in the districts.

Load-shedding, a term one normally associates only with Kolkata is now a way of life in the state.

In the 80s and 90s, water scarcity kept citizens of Chennai awake and got them to preserve every ounce of drinking water. 

That situation has changed now, and water supply and management has not been a problem in the last few years. 

Can power supply pull off a similar success story? 

At present, it appears to be a daunting task.

Power deficit, which was around 1500MW in 2009, has more than trebled in the last three years. In fact, three years ago, going by official statements, on paper, it seemed as if it was only a matter of time before the state became 'self-sufficient' in 2011 and a state with surplus power in 2012.” 

To read more go to this link here:

Morvi Guest House Compound Project

In an earlier posting I gave an update on construction progress of the new Library inside the main compound of Ramana Ashram. 

Subsequently I recently visited the building project currently being undertaken at the Morvi Guest House Compound on Chengam Road.

Demolition of all buildings inside the compound was affected last year and construction is well underway on this enlarged accommodation facility for Ramana Ashram. 

 

Originally this project was set for completion by April 30^th, 2012, but as can been seen by the photographs (which were taken last week), progress has not been as rapid as expected.

To look at earlier photographs, go to this link here. 

From what I understand once the new Library has been completed inside the main compound of Ramana Ashram, the books of the current library will be relocated to the new facility, and the current building demolished.

The historical central building of the Morvi Guest House is being preserved and will eventually be surrounded by guest rooms divided into three categories: 20 single occupancy rooms; 20 double occupancy rooms and 12 family cottages with living room and bedroom. 

Right outside the Morvi Guest House Compound runs the busy Chengam Road, which rather unexpectedly on the hot Summer’s day, was surprisingly quiet.

Battery Car in Temple

“A battery car service was launched at Sri Arunachaleswarar Temple here on Thursday, April 5th. The purpose of the electric car is to carry the old and disabled between Rajagopuram and the golden flag mast, free of cost. The electric car, which can accommodate seven, costs about Rs. 3.75 lakh and was purchased from Temple funds. If necessary, more such vehicles would be launched. 

On a suggestion that a battery car service could also be introduced for Girivalam during non-Pournami days to keep the path pollution-free, he said that the idea would be considered. Official sources said that battery car services would soon be launched in four more Temples, including Tiruvarur, Tiruchendur, Palani and Tiruttani.” 

I personally think running motorised vehicle inside the Temple is a poorly thought out idea. It can hardly be safe, and it certainly does not fit in with the atmosphere and ethos expected in such a grand, powerful Temple. Why be so modern – if special facilities are needed for the old and disabled, provide a free wheel chair service! Do we really need golf carts zipping around the compound of Arunachaleswarar Temple? 

And don’t even get me started on the kind of funfair drivers that will get hired to drive the vehicle. And does one really believe that it is the old and disabled that will be the primary occupants of the carts? And one more thing to spoil as the vehicle path in the map above, shows it driving through all the pretty gardens inside the perimeter wall of the Temple, which will mean a nasty disturbance for the bird life and monkeys inhabiting the area -- as I have no doubt that the state-of-the art vehicle has a very old fashioned, noisy, Indian volume horn attached!

Recent Postings

To view some new postings on Arunachala Birds, read about the wonderful songbird, the Oriental Magpie Robin, and the colourful Common Hoopoe.

Oriental Magpie-Robin

Common Hoopoe

To those interested in finding out more about property values in Chennai, visit Arunachala Land at this link here.