Destroyer of Tamas

Siva said

'I stay on the surface of the earth in the form of Arunachala. Merely by visiting it, your tamas will be destroyed.'

[Skanda Purana]

Isvara said:

Since the Lingam emblem rose high resembling a mountain of fire, this shall be famous as Ruddy (Aruna) mountain.

Many holy centres will spring up here. A residence or death in this holy place ensures liberation.

The celebration of chariot festivals, the congregation of devotees, the presentation of ordinary as well as sacrificial gifts and offerings of prayers at this place shall be a millionfold efficacious.

Hence this sector shall be greater than all other sectors, very auspicious, full of all sorts of welfare and according salvation to everyone.

Worshipping me in my supreme Lingam form at this place and performing the other sacred rites shall accord salvation.

[Sivapurana: Vidyesvarasamhita]

Catalyst

Before I came to Arunachala I stayed at Sri Sathya Sai Baba's Ashram in Andhra Pradesh. Some of His primary teachings are Discrimination (Viveka) and Self Enquiry. It is well known Sai Baba has a great love for Arunachala and has often indicated devotees should come to this place.

Once at Chennai, a Westerner wondered whether they should go to Andhra Pradesh to visit Sri Satya Baba. The person asked my opinion. I answered, 'It depends on whether you think you have good karma or bad because whatever lies in store for you will be expedited by seeing Sri Satya Sai Baba, He is Catalyst for change.'

After my own experience and also listening to those of others visiting and/or staying at this place, this even more holds true for this sacred site. Arunachala is a CATALYST and coming will change one's life, nothing will ever be the same again!

Child Labour

It was recently agreed that as a result of The All India Trade Union Congress charting out a detailed plan involving labour unions to counter the problem of child labour, a District-level workshop, comprising union representatives, would be conducted at Tiruvannamalai.

Accordingly Trade Unions will conduct dramas, street plays, rallies and meetings in an attempt to evolve public consciousness about child labour and to create awareness about the hazards to society associated with it.

But the vital role contemplated to address this problem, is that of direct intervention at schools to try and identify possible dropouts and make sure they are sustained at school.

It was emphasised official Government statistics show a softened estimate of the child labour force and that whereas NGOs estimate child labourers in Tamil Nadu to be around 1.4 million, Government statistics show it as only 120,000. It is believed that the anomaly in statistics is because the Government does not document child labourers working in hazardous industries (e.g. firework manufacturing).

Vignette

Can you possibly understand how someone can love this Mountain? It is Shiva Himself embodied here. This is a holy spot, not all the town and its people and temples, but Arunachala itself. I am bound to the mountain. I do not think you understand how potent this energy is. I do not think you understand that my faith is not in a guru or a teacher or a path, but in Arunachala Himself. It is He my heart communes with, it is He who takes all my burdens. He is alive and all powerful; His Presence imbues the whole earth and air of this place.

You can hold it in your hand like honey. He breathes you in and breathes Himself back into you. It is tangible, concrete, solid. I tell you, forget philosophy; He lifts my heart and bestows such peace and beauty, my soul is imprinted with His grace. This is not a mountain of mere, inanimate rock. You would have to come and taste for yourself. But who could describe this, you have to feel for yourself.

Transformation occurs, but it is hidden. It is a mystery. You wake up one day, and that which tormented you your whole life has softened, that which obsessed you your whole life is a whisper, a shadow. The mind cannot touch it, and there is not even any interest in calculating, comparing, labelling. It is like camphor, you can see wisps of smoke and smell the wonderful odour, but you cannot grab it and put it into a box.

Grace is free and flows as a mystery. I know nothing. I know nothing about any process. All I know is what rises up from the depth of my being, and that no words or thought can define.

[An American Devotee]

Ramana Trance

Talking about the time he lived on the Hill, Ramana once mentioned a vision he had whilst in a trance:

'I was wondering about aimlessly . . . I found at one place a big cave. When I entered the cave, I saw a number of waterfalls, beautiful gardens, tanks within those gardens, well-laid paths, fine lighting; everything there was most pleasing. As I went farther and farther I saw a Siddha Purusha seated like Dakshinamurti under a tree on the banks of tank. Around him, a number of Munis were seated. They were asking something, and he was replying to them. That place appeared to me very familiar. That is all. I opened my eyes.

Subsequently, after some time, when I saw Arunachala Purana in Sanskrit, I found . . . slokas which describe that cave and that Siddha Purusha, and so I was surprised that what had appeared to me in a trance was to be found in that book. So I wrote their translation in Tamil . . . its meaning is:

Though you are in the form of a fire, you have kept away the fire and have taken the shape of a Hill, mainly to shower your blessings on people. You are always living here in the form of Siddha. That cave that appeared to me is in you with all the luxuries of the world.'

[Letters by Sri Nagamma]

Ladies-at-work!

How nice and cheerful these ladies are! And how difficult to believe they are doing such hard manual work wearing tight blouses, lovely saris in over 90 f degrees - and are still jolly and smiling!

Here are the four ladies cutting up thorny bushes for sale to the local hospital. The hospital use the fast-burning branches for cooking giant pots of rice and sambhar. Everyday these ladies come out into the conservation area to do the hard, unpleasant work of cutting up gnarled pieces of thorny bushes. Its hot, hard work.

Flower Worship

Worshipping Lord Aruna with white lotuses on Thursdays results in the worshipper reaching the highest wisdom.

Shiva Worship

In the Sivapurana sages enquired of Suta:

"Everywhere deities are worshipped only in their image. How is it that Siva is worshipped in the form of the image and the lingam"?

Suta explained that Siva alone is glorified as nameless and formless (Niskala) since He is identical with Supreme Brahman. He is also with embodied form (Sakala). Thus, he is both Sakala and Niskala. It is in his nameless and formless (Niskala) aspect that the Lingam is appropriate. In the embodied form (Sakala) aspect the worship of his embodied form is appropriate.

Since Shiva has the Sakala and Niskala aspects He is worshipped both in the Lingam and in the embodied form and is called the highest Brahman. Other deities, not being Brahman, have no Niskala aspect anywhere.

Nandikesvara said:
Since Shiva has the bodiless aspect in virtue of His being the Supreme Brahman, the Niskala Linga, in conformity with the Vedic implication, is used only in His worship. Since He has an embodied form as well, His embodied form is also worshipped and accepted by all people. According to the Vedas, the embodied form alone is to be used in the worship of other deities who are only individual souls embodied. Devas have only the embodied aspect in their manifestation. In sacred literature both the Lingam and the embodied forms are mentioned for Shiva.

[Extract from the Siva Purana, Vidyesvarasamhita]

Merchants

As is always the case around Indian Temples, merchants set up stalls and small shops to sell their wares. These particular merchants are selling bangles, sacred threads and different sorts of puja miscellaneous.

Rickshaws

Action is finally being taken to regulate the autorickshaw trade. Unlike cities such as Chennai, Tiruvannamalai rickshaws neither use meters to standardize fares or comply properly with regulations regarding overloading.

However, this Friday, August 11, 52 auto rickshaws were booked near the Easanya Lingam (east side) in Tiruvannamalai for overloading vehicles with excessive numbers of school children on their way to school.

Auto rickshaws are designed for a maximum of three (small size) passengers at the back of the vehicle with the driver sitting solo in the front. But in many cases drivers have been ferrying children to school mornings and evenings cramming over 20 kids willy-nilly into the vehicle.

Fortunately authorities have now decided this perilous situation needs to be addressed and have started to take the necessary steps to ensure the safety and well being of local school kids.

Next let us hope the authorities start insisting drivers install and USE meters thereby standardizing fares!

Massage Therapist

This is Suresh Raj with his lovely wife and young child, Jacob. He met his wife in Chennai at a Pentecost Church and they made a love marriage (that means not an arranged marriage) in August, 2005. Suresh is the only ayurvedic massage specialist in the Arunachala area, and consequently much sought after. He specialises in blood circulation and nerve and spine massages.

He says Ayurvedic Massage is mainly concerned with spine work and thus very helpful in cutting paranoia and fear. It helps the body to revitalise and energetically feel better. Suresh believes the energy field at Arunachala (like Lei Lines) is conducive to Ayurvedic Massage.

He is so sensitive that when he touches people he can immediately tell if the client is bad or troubled, as it affects his own breathing by making him short of breath. Of course I just had to ask Suresh Raj whether most of the clients who come to him at Tiruvannamalai are good, adjusted people? Happily (or diplomatically?) he answered, Yes!

I Love Cricket

Well, whatever else happens in India, there never seems to be a diminution of love for that game cricket! This photograph is of playing fields adjacent to the Government Arts College on the Chengam Road. The area is used as a public thoroughfare and of course the ideal spot for lots of lads to get in a quick game of cricket after school. The background of this particular game is rather more spectacular than most sporting venues!

Red Flowers

If one worships the Lord of Aruna with red flowers on Sunday he will prosper and gain sovereignty.

Monkey Games

Two types of monkeys live at Arunachala. The less frequently seen is the Langur, and the more common is the Bonnet Macaque (pictured above).

Most of the Bonnet Macaques are socialised and the females and young uns will even take food directly from people. They are smart, inquisitive and seem to have a cheeky sense of humour! There are still some Macaque colonies on different parts of the Hill, but other groups have found life as scavengers on the pradakshina path and in town, much more to their liking.

Bonnet Macaque monkeys are also very mischievous and seem able to find trouble wherever they go! One day I watched a group of them tease some peacocks quite mercilessly; they just would not leave them alone. Eventually a peacock would have enough and take a flying leap into a nearby tree with its long tail fanning out behind; invariably one of the monkeys would jump up and grab some tail feathers as a trophy!

Obviously the peacocks weren't that distressed because they kept coming down from the trees and the whole game started up again! It all seemed like serious family rough-and-tumble!

Hidden Glory

. . . when I was living in the Virupaksha Cave, I closed my eyes. I felt I was walking on the Hill itself towards the north-east. I saw at one place a nice flower garden, a big temple, a fine compound wall and a big Nandi. There was a strange light. It was extremely pleasant. As I was looking at all these, it was time for Puja. The bell was rung and immediately after that I opened by eyes.

Sri Ramana Maharshi
Letters from Sri Ramanashramam by Suri Nagamma

Mahans

Photograph above of the Temple in Palani (Lord Muruga Temple, Tamil Nadu) which fulfills ones prayer and a visit to Vaitheeswaran Temple (Lord Siva Temple, Tamil Nadu) cures all kinds of diseases.

Similarly, today many undertake pilgrimages to Ayodhya the birthplace of Lord Rama, Mathura the birthplace of Lord Krishna and Kaladi, the birthplace of Adi Sankara. The birthplace of a Mahan, the place where he lived, and everything connected with him, all become pure and holy. Mahatmas purify the whole world by their actions and very Presence.

If these above mentioned places are Holy then what to speak of the glory of Tiruvannamalai?

Vallala Maharaja

There once lived a King, Vallala Maharaja, who was deeply devoted to Lord Arunachaleswara and renovated and built a huge tower in Arunachaleswarar Temple called Vallala Maharaja Gopuram. As the King was heirless he prayed to Lord Shiva for a son. The Lord said that He (the Lord) would Himself be his son. True to His word, the Lord performed the death rites for this King as one of the duties of a son is to perform annual sraddha (death) services for the deceased father.

Even today after 600 years, on every Masi Makha (the Tamil month Masi when the star Makha is on the ascent) the anniversary of the day of the death of the King, the Lord (i.e. Lord Arunachaleswarar Temple) performs the annual sraddha (death) rites for the King!

The tradition of the Lord (murti) going to the nearby village Pallikondanpattu to perform the annual death rites is followed scrupulously by Arunachaleswarar Temple. This goes to show the glory of Lord Arunachaleswara is also the glory of the Temple.

Note: This is the direct entrance and exit between the Fifth and Fourth Prakarams. The Vallala Maharaja Gopuram was built between 1318(AD) and 1343(AD).

Local Museum

The State and Local administration have allocated a total of Rs.15 Lakhs to the development of a Museum at Tiruvannamalai. The buildings, currently under construction, will be situated on Chengam Road (near Ramana Ashram).

At the beginning the Museum will be comprised of three blocks; namely historical, biological and zoological sections. But depending on availability of exhibits, these classifications may be later adjusted.

The District Collector of Tiruvannamalai, Sathyabratha Sahoo said:

Tiruvannamalai is famous for hills and temples. We can display various historical evidences relating to the monuments along with the descriptions. We have many excavated objects from Chengam Taluk, which can also be placed.

Rare species of plants available in the district can also be displayed in the museum.

We are planning to run the museum either with the help of municipal staff, self-help groups or NGOs. (non-governmental organisations).

Behave!

Arunachala is a place singularly earmarked for the righteous among Shiva devotees. Those who enter the place with wicked ideas will be plagued by many diseases.