Panther update

Further to my earlier posting of October 7, about the wild animal, thought to be a Panther, attacking livestock in the area; the latest report is that the mysterious animal, which killed some cattle in the District last week, has now been identified from footprints found in the forest, as a hyena.

Around 20 forest department personnel and 100 locals are currently in search of the animal in the Nedungunam reserve forests.

Again I repeat how sad that an area only 50 years ago replete with tigers, cheetahs, leopards, hyenas, panthers, wild antelope and even elephants has become so sanitised and cleansed of indigenous forest life, that the possibility of the presence of ONE HYENA is regarded as so inimical to man's welfare and interests; that over 120 people armed with weapons, metal traps and snares are in pursuit to catch and kill it! What a tragedy that we have come to this.

Hill Temple

A beautiful photograph to enjoy of the Arunchaleswarar Temple in the foreground and the Hill of Arunachala at the back. You can notice from this photograph how the architects from ancient times, perfectly aligned the Temple at the southeast slope of the Hill.

Yeh T'ai Poem

[This poem was written by Yeh T'ai, a Chinese Mountain Hermit. It was written about another place and another time; but the words are completely Arunachala.]


At a true site . . . there is a touch of
magic light. How so, Magic?
It can be understood intuitively, but
not conveyed in words. The
hills are fair, the waters are fine, the
sun handsome, the breeze mild;
and the sky has a new light: another
world. Amid confusion, peace;
amid peace, a festive air. Upon
coming into its presence, one's
eyes
are opened; if one sits or lies, one's
heart is joyful. Here the breath
gathers, and the essence collects.
Light shines in the middle, and
magic goes out on all side. Above
or below, to right or left, it is
not thus. No greater than a finger,
no more than a spoonful; like
a dewdrop, like a pearl, like the
moon through a
a crack like the
reflection in a mirror. Play with it,
and it is as if you can catch it;
put if off, and it cannot be got
rid of.
Try to understand!
It is hard to describe.

Work of AKSP

'Wilderness needs to be allowed to be. The wildest part of Arunachala is being regenerated by the Arunachala Kattu Siva Plantation, a group of rural men and women from villages surrounding the feet of Siva.

. . . we are contributing towards the covering of a sacred mountain with living forms so that our artesian basin will regenerate. We are engaged in this because it is our contribution to the future inhabitants of this sacred place, which we believe has an unimaginable potency entirely irrelevant to ecological considerations. We are doing this because we want to, because we believe that the maha mangalam absorbs the illusory conditioned mind.

We are encouraged to believe it a good thing for other persons devoted to Arunachala to know about our work and for this purpose have created the website:www.aksp.org.'

The Babies

This is the little dairy next to my house. It has got larger now with nearly 40 cows and lots of calves. Mooo!

Its very tragic to see how cows in South India are treated. Theirs is always a life of imprisonment. For instance in this photograph each of the cows is tied up to a railing or a peg. And thats how it is day and night, and night and day. It's so rare for cows to just be allowed to be cows and wander around.

I will keep talking with the owners of the dairy and hope to get a lifestyle improvement for the cows. But compared to other cows in this area; these little ones have a grand life! At least its nice and peaceful, the air is clean and fresh and there is lots of good grub. But my question is, 'How is it possible for man to care so much for his own comfort and so little for the comfort of others'?

Statistics

Tiruvannamalai District was formed by bifurcation of the 188 year old North Arcot District on September 30, 1989. The total geographical area of the district is 6355.61 sq kms. Tiruvannamalai and Cheyyar are the two Revenue Divisions in the District. There are 6 Taluks namely Tiruvannamalai, Arni, Chengam, Cheyyar, Polur and Vandavasi. There are 18 Panchayat unions covering 875 Panchayat villages with 1067 Revenue villages. The District has 4 Municipalities namely Tiruvannamalai, Arni, Cheyyar and Vandavasi.

Bandh

A couple of days ago Tiruvannamalai was affected by a Statewide bandh taking place in the neighbouring State of Karnataka. All Government and private vehicles, including Tamil Nadu State Transport Corporation buses, were stopped at Hosur and not allowed to continue onwards.

The bandh which was called by parties sympathetic to the ongoing State boundary issue between Maharashtra and Karnataka, affected all interstate traffic between Tamil Nadu and Karnataka.

The most affected were labourers from Tiruvannamalai, Cuddalore and Villupuram. More than 50,000 people from these areas on returning to Bangalore for their work, were left stranded at Hosur because of the bandh. The bandh also affected more than 20,000 Hosur-based employees, working in night shifts at various industries in Bangalore.

Thankfully the above bandh although inconvenient to many, did go off peacefully; but sometimes bandhs can become nasty and violent. In affect a bandh is a General Strike and in an important one, even small shop-keepers will not dare break open their shops for fear of reprisals from strike organisers.

It is not unheard of when a Chief Minister or important movie star dies, that a bandh will be called. Some mourning bandhs have involved extreme and tragic displays of grief even, in some cases, leading to self-immolation.

Panther

A few days ago a number of cattle were found killed at Nandhiyambadi near Chetpet in the Tiruvannamalai District. The cattle had been missing for sometime and when found in the forest the carcasses of the dead beasts bore the trace of an animal attack.

Forest officials have not put out any official word regarding the mutiliated cattle but villages suspect a panther may be on the prowl in the area.

How sad it is that in the last 50 years we have eradicated so many species of wonderful creatures in this area. Until recently there were leopards, cheetahs, tigers, wild antelopes and even elephants in great numbers throughout what is now Tiruvannamalai District.

Our success in obliterating these wonderful creatures is so excellent that the possibility of a stray panther is news. Sadly for the panther no doubt the villagers will be out on a hunting spree to catch the 'dangerous beast'!

All is One

This is an inspirational story submitted by Susan that shows how each of us are a vital thread in another person's life tapestry. Our lives are woven together for a reason and when one of us is threatened, we are all at risk. We are all involved AS ONE in this journey called life:


A mouse looked through the crack in the wall to see the farmer and his wife open a package. 'What food might this contain?' The mouse wondered. He was devastated to discover it was a mousetrap. Retreating to the farmyard, the mouse proclaimed the warning. 'There is a mousetrap in the house! There is a mousetrap in the house!'

The chicken clucked and scratched, raised her head and said, 'Mr.Mouse, I can tell this is a grave concern to you but it is of no consequence to me. I cannot be bothered by it.'

The mouse turned to the pig and told him, 'There is a mousetrap in the house! There is a mousetrap in the house!'

The pig sympathized, but said, 'I am so very sorry, Mr. Mouse, but there is nothing I can do about it but pray. Be assured you are in my prayers.'

The mouse turned to the cow and said, 'There is a mousetrap in the house! There is a mousetrap in the house!' The cow said, 'Wow, Mr.Mouse. I'm sorry for you, but it's no skin off my nose.'

So, the mouse returned to the house, head down and dejected, to face the farmer's mousetrap; alone. That very night a sound was heard throughout the house, like the sound of a mousetrap catching its prey. The farmer's wife rushed to see what was caught. In the darkness, she did not see it was a venomous snake whose tail the trap had caught.

The snake bit the farmer's wife. The farmer rushed her to the hospital and she returned home with a fever. Everyone knows you treat a fever with fresh chicken soup, so the farmer took his hatchet to the farmyard for the soup's main ingredient.

But his wife's sickness continued, so friends and neighbours came to sit with her around the clock. To feed them, the farmer butchered the pig. The farmer's wife did not get well; she died. So many people came for her funeral, the farmer had the cow slaughtered to provide enough meat for all of them.

The mouse looked upon it all from his crack in the wall with great sadness.

Invitation

I would like to invite stories, experiences, impressions, poems or narratives from devotees of Arunachala for possible inclusion in either our recently redesigned website:
www.arunachalasamudra.org or in our monthly Newsletter, Arunachala Grace News.

For new visitors, there is a monthly Newsletter; Arunachala Grace News with a free subscription facility on the left hand side margin of this Blog.

Indian Wild Boar

Body Length: 3-6.6 ft
Shoulder Height: 1.8-3.6 ft
Tail Length: 6-16 in
Weight: 91-711 lb.


The Indian wild boar has a brownish coat that is coarse and bristly, usually turning with age. Their wartless head is long and pointed with upper canines forming tusks that curve out and upwards. The lower canines are like razors, self-sharpening by rubbing against the upper canines.

Wild boars rest in tight groups with bodily contact. The resting place is used several times before being abandoned. These are excellent swimmers, and have been seen swimming up to 6-7 kms. The main diet of this animal is seeds, roots, tubers, fruits, nuts, carrion, eggs and insects.

Their Life span is 21 years. Sexual Maturity is gained usually at 18 months. Their mating occurs round the year. An adult male is solitary animal. Just prior to giving birth, the female isolates herself and builds a large nest lined with vegetation. Maternal families have on average 20 members, but can be of a maximum of 100 animals.

Solar fencing

Over the past several years many farmers have made complaints of extensive damage caused by wild boars in the Radhapuram reserve forest area and demanded Government action to protect their lands from the boars. The wild boars are thought to be damaging crops such as groundnut (peanut), sugarcane and root vegetables in the forests around Tiruvannamalai.

In response to demands of fencing or trenches to control the movement of the boars around the village of Keel Vanakkambadi near Tiruvannamalai, the Forest Department has initially erected 2km of solar fencing (that means a solar powered electric fence) at a cost of Rs.320,000/- in the Radhapuram reserve forest area.

A representative from the District Forest Office said that the low voltage power passing through the fence would be a deterrent to wild animals, however he assured the community that the current was not of sufficient voltage to pose a threat to people. It is expected that more solar fences will be added in the area.

As far as the above goes my sympathy is not completely with the farmers. I too experience problems with some of the local farmers because of my four dogs (picture above). The culture of 'no fences' has come about probably because of the expense of erecting separating barriers or walls between fields. In the same way I imagine the farmers of the above have open boundary farms; so my suggestion is take responsibility and if you don't want boars on your farm; build your own fence!

Rapid urbanisation has made local farmers aware of the increased value of their land, so if they are proposing to charge land robber prices when they eventually sell their land as building sites a year down the road, then don't bleat 'this is agricultural land' now and expect a whole lot of sympathy.

One would expect farmers to have a better understanding of ecology and the natural order of things. In this respect the wild boar plays a very vital role in the ecosystem. It prefers areas with thick vegetation and is found in reed beds as well as scrub and forest areas. As we extend the scope of our cultivation we also invade the natural habitat of many species.

Our own actions are forcing wild boars and other creatures to get close to human habitats because their own environment is being appropriated by us. Instead of just putting up an electric fence (albeit solar powered!) perhaps this is the time for local communitites to examine their own place in the ecosystem!

Which future?

Arunachala has been a lodestone since time before mind and this will no doubt continue. A realistic prognosis for the future of Thiruvannamalai is towards a chaotic city with a beautiful mountain in the middle.

The mountain in the middle of the future Thiruvannamalai will be as sacred a natural lingam as it has always been, and provided that the Greening is sustained consistently, the area is sufficient to support a healthy wilderness, particularly if safe corridors are conserved between Arunachala and adjacent wilderness areas. [Apeetha Arunagiri]

This is the other aspect of Arunachala which Apeetha Arunagiri refers to above when she talks of, '. . . the future of Thiruvannamalai is towards a chaotic city with a beautiful mountain in the middle'.

Agriculture

Agriculture is the main stay of the economy of Tamil Nadu. It provides livelihood to 65% of the State's population and is responsible for 62% of employment in Tamil Nadu. The total area under cultivation is 314,623 Hectares (one hectare is 2.471 acres).

The important cultivations of the Tiruvannamalai District are paddy (rice), groundnut (peanut), sugarcane and redgram. Another important feature of the district is that it has a Reserve Forest of 106,653 hectares. Items taken from the forest include Sandalwood, Eucalyptus, Bamboo and Tamarind.

The District livestock total (including Buffaloes, sheep and goats) is about 1.6 million and Tiruvannamalai District is a State leader in milk production.

The photograph above is of my neighbour's farming land which is used in crop rotation: rice, groundnuts (peanuts), root vegetables, sugarcane and sunflowers. The dog in the middle of the field is mine: that's no vegetable!

Telemedicine

The Tamil Nadu hospital system may not have helicopters or in fact even that many ambulances but at least efforts are being made by various NGOs and Hospital Trusts to ensure communities distant from metropolitian areas have more access to speciality care.

In this respect, the Kanchi Kamakoti Childs Trust Hospital is attempting to 'break the time-barrier, the cost-barrier and the distance-barrier' in paediatric healthcare with the recent launch of a telemedicine facility. Their new resource is intended to make speciality care more accessible to rural patients.

Apart from allowing videoconference consultation between village primary healthcare centres and specialists in the City, their programme will also aid the training of personnel in remote areas. It is also hoped that it will be helpful in the case of sick babies unable to tolerate the strain of travelling to Chennai for specialist care.

The scheme will allow long-distance post-operative check-ups for outstation patients. The programme envisages links in Tiruvannamalai, Tirupati, Chittur, Arakonam, Chengalpet and Kumbakonam within the upcoming 3-6 months.

A second phase of this enterprise will involve a mobile centre equipped to provide telemedicine facilities across the State.

Intention

'...a potent transformational power is available at sacred sites. While that power will automatically touch anyone who comes into the locality of the sites, we can actually amplify the transformational power of the sites through our own consciously held intention.' [Martin Gray]

In other words we all experience Arunachala in different ways. Maybe that's the reason some people can live here all their lives and remain ostensibly unchanged, whereas others come for a few weeks and experience great transformation.

And what exactly is this 'intention'?

'In the universe there is an immeasurable, indescribable force which shamans call intent, and absolutely everything that exists in the entire cosmos is attached to intent by a connecting link.' [Carlos Castaneda]

So, if we come to Arunachala with a strong objective, the power of the Hill's transformational power will also be amplified and augmented.

In this respect pradakshina is prescribed as the best way of doing this. As it focuses the mind, helps one develop an intimate connection with the Hill, gives the benefit of breathing the Hill's aromatic and powerful herbs and combines in the actual activity every aspect of the mind-body organism.

Heart of World

In the Dravidian region of South India there is the place called Arunachala dearest to Siva. ARUNACHALA IS TO THIS WORLD WHAT THE HEART IS TO THE WHOLE BODY. It is everything for Shiva. For the benefit of the world, Shiva took the form of a mountain and settled himself as Arunachala. If other places are abodes of Shiva, Arunachala is the absolute form of Shiva himself.

[Extract Arunachala Puranam]

Stone Carver

Here is a picture of a stone carver. As you can see he is very talented; as they all are. Many either have a stall by the side of the road or by the pathway leading to Skandashram.

I don't understand why but sometimes it seems Westerners have a mental block when it comes to these carvers and prefer to purchase the identical item in a shop at three times the price. For myself, it seems what they produce is in no way inferior to similar items in the speciality shops. The carvers will make statues to order and all are beautiful. Fascinating to watch them, day by day, sitting on a bench next to their stall, chipping and hammering away.

Recycling

India is a country of recycling. Nothing goes to waste! Your trash is truly someone's treasure. Generally the first one to go through the garbage is the rag picker who sorts out everything into categories: plastic, bottles and metal items. The next visitor is the wandering cow; which is a common site throughout the streets of Tiruvannamalai. Then the dogs come and jump inside the waste receptacles to have a good dig around. And finally young kids and scally-wags have a final check around to see if anything has been missed! Of course black pigs are always invited to the game to have a good sniff around the waste receptacle which is usually a large circular concrete tub. Root around dear little piggies. And who said recycling is a modern day concept?

Job Scheme

The State of Tamil Nadu has been criticised for the slow utilisation of funds regarding the development of job schemes in six districts; Tiruvannamalai, Cuddalore, Sivaganga, Villupuram, Nagapattinam and Dindigul.

The funds are allotted by the Union Ministry of Rural Development under the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme. Of the Rs.98.89 crore (USD 22 million) released to Tamil Nadu, only 5% has been spent and the State has been asked to improve its performance as Tamil Nadu has the slowest fund utilisation out of all Indian States.

Not much financial support comes to the agricultural areas of Tamil Nadu; so when it does come it would be nice if the Mandarins in charge make sure it goes quickly to where its supposed to go!