Sacred Grove

Like many countries throughout the world, India has a long history of nature worship, and that practice continues today, especially through the veneration of forest groves. These sacred groves, which are dedicated to local deities or ancestral spirits, are protected by local communities through social traditions and taboos that incorporate spiritual and ecological values.

Thousands of sacred groves remain and many villages continue to observe traditional practices.

Each sacred grove has a residing deity and folklore associated with it. They are usually dedicated to one of the following:

Village gods and/or ancient spirits;
Snake gods and/or an incarnation of Vishnu,
Shaivite gods (located in dense forests);
Vaishnavite gods (located in dense forests).

The village sacred groves are generally dedicated to Amman, the goddess of fertility and good health.

From time immemorial, certain trees and plants in India have been invested with divine attributes. Hindus have been taught to worship and revere trees and plants in the belief that it would influence their own personal well-being. Evergreen trees were regarded as symbols of eternal life and to cut them down was to invite the wrath of the gods. Groves in forests were looked upon as habitations of the Gods.

The banyan tree occupies the pride of place amongst the sacred trees of India. It has aerial roots that grow down into the soil forming additional trunks. It is, therefore, called bahupada, the one with several feet. It symbolizes a long life and also represents the divine creator, Brahma. It is invariably planted in front of temples. The numerous stems of the banyan tree are even regarded as the home of gods and spirits. It was under a banyan tree that the Hindu sages sat in a trance seeking enlightenment and it was here that they held discourses and conducted holy rituals.

The trees generally associated with sacred groves are the Banyan, Peepul and Neem trees.

In Tamil Nadu there has always been a strong tradition of nature worship and animism. Adjacent to the land of Rangammal School for the Hearing Impaired, there is a small, perfect grove with a beautiful banyan tree and a stone icon representation of Kali Ma. This sacred site has been revered by local villagers for an indeterminate time.

I was fortunately able to be present during a puja at the Sacred Grove and was able to hear about a fascinating experience one of the local teachers had at the shrine.

She told me that years back, after hearing about the Sacred Grove, she decided to visit it and pray to the representation there of the Divine Mother in the form of Kali Ma. When she arrived at the Grove there was a live cock hanging upside down from the metal frame on the left hand side of the stone icon. (The frame actually says OM in the Tamil language).

The frightened confused cock severely hurt himself on the protruding metal prongs and it got messy and nasty at the shrine. Frightened and distressed the teacher ran back to the school leaving everything as she found it. She was to learn that a black magician had tied the cock upside down at the Kali Ma icon as part of a magic ritual that he was performing for a client. For the teacher things were getting worse and worse. First the cock and now a black magician! So, believing that the place was cursed, she vowed never to go back to Kali Ma at the Sacred Grove.

Unexpectedly a mysterious, unknown stranger went to the teacher and told her not to be frightened and that he had 'spiritually cleansed the Sacred Grove and Kali Ma wanted her to come each month and perform puja there.'

Since that time now many years ago, the teacher regularly goes to the Sacred Grove. Also once a month, as commanded by the Divine, she performs worship at the Kali Ma shrine. She told me that she has found answers to all her prayers at the Sacred Grove and she knew it to be an extraordinary and powerful site where wishes come true.

Fire Starter

The greatest danger to all reforestation programmes being undertaken at Arunachala is the possibility of fire. The fires are mostly man-made. In previous years wood cutters would raze dry existing grass on the Hill to promote new growth. Sometimes the fire was caused by people out of the superstitious believe that setting the Hill alight would somehow benefit their health or prospects.

What previously was shrugged off by the Municipality as high jinks is now being taken very seriously. In this respect a 52-year-old man of Thenimalai, a suburb of Tiruvannamalai, was arrested by forest department officials for allegedly causing a fire in the Tiruvannamalai hills on Saturday, December 9th.

According to sources, unidentified miscreants set grasses and woods in the hills on fire, causing damage to the area and particularly to trees developed by the afforestation programme carried out by the Forest Department and various Non Governmental Organisations (NGOs).

Fire-fighting squads and a team of volunteers helped extinguish the fire. The miscreant Palani, who was detained for allegedly causing the fire, is said to have confessed to his offence, saying that he committed the arson, driven by the superstition that setting the hills on fire would cure stomach ache!

State Transport

P Lokanathan has been appointed as special officer for the upcoming new region of State Transport Corporation (STC).

During the last assembly session the Government announced the formation of a new State Transport Corporation region based at Tiruvannamalai.

Though Tiruvannamalai District was formed nearly two decades ago, there is no separate State Transport Corporation division for this District. As buses from the Vellore, Villupuram and Kancheepuram divisions are operating their buses in certain parts of this District, the Government decided to form a separate region based at Tiruvannamalai to bring the entire District under one administration.

Wasteland

It was recently announced that the Government would help farmers improve their waste lands. In this respect if a small farmer wishes to get wasteland improved by the Government, they need first apply to the respective Tahsildar (local land official) with details of the land.

The Tahsildar would in turn, send a report to the Director of Agriculture with full details about the land and then Department officials would decide on the nature of improvement and take up the work after consulting with the farmer.

Levelling of the land, removing bushes, setting up bunds, conducting soil tests, digging bore wells and providing pump sets would be some of the general improvements. Only lands which have been uncultivated for more than five years would be considered for improvement.

Deepam Security

Now that the day of the lighting of the Deepam flame is over and the crowds have receded we can look back and be grateful at how orderly the huge function proceeded.

Everything changes with time. Procedures at airports are becoming increasingly long drawn out, CCTVs are now a way of life in most major Western cities and ubiquitous passes and permissions become ever increasingly divided into more exclusive and security-rated categories.

The last few years have not been happy ones in some Temples here in India and it is only appropriate that proper security was observed at Tiruvannamalai during this important and busy Festival. And yet, it seems so strange compared to just a few years ago, when everything was simple, relaxed, spontaneous and stress free.

This year nearly 6,000 police personnel (including reserve police, Tamil Nadu special police force and regular police from various State zones) were deployed at this year's Karthigai Deepam to ensure the safety of a million pilgrims during the climatic lighting of the Maha Deepam at dusk on December 3rd.

For the first time this year all Temple Staff, including priests had to wear identity cards. All entry points to the Temple were monitored by Close Circuit Television (CCTV) and by crime experts (from all 30 Tamil Nadu State Districts) and designated entrances were allocated to visitors to Temple.

During the Maha Deepam Festival 16 criminals were arrested for their involvement in various criminal activities including theft. And 41 people, who became lost in the huge crowd, were reunited with their families with the help of police. Traffic was well managed soon after the Deepam festival concluded and no traffic congestion was reported.

One could say COMPLETE SUCCESS.

Ramana Video

I am posting this very nice compilation of Archive Films and Photos of Ramana Maharshi produced by Arjuna Deva. If you can not see anything, please enable 'cookies' on your browser at Tools>Internet Options.

Cultural Programme

In a previous post I mentioned the extraordinary work being done by the Rangammal Memorial Rehabilitation Society set up by Sylvia Wright. As part of that Society, in 1992 The Rangammal Memorial Higher Secondary School for the Hearing Impaired was established here in Tiruvannamalai. The school has a high reputation for academic and cultural excellence. It is totally free of cost and currently has 200 residential and 36 non-residential pupils. There is no charge for food, board or study books.

I recently returned on a second visit to the school and spent some happy time with the children and staff. During my visit I was able to watch the children practise a dance routine they were preparing for a cultural function associated with 'The World Disabled Day' to be held December 3rd at Chennai.

In the below photograph the children are preparing different sequences of their programme. Both the youngest and the oldest at the school are being represented. The children are wearing their school clothes, but I was assured by Madam Krishnabai (the Headmistress of the school) that very colourful and elaborate costumes were being prepared for the kids to wear during their programme at Chennai.

I sat and watched the whole routine the kids were preparing. Of course I (like the audience in Chennai), watched the children perform to music. Their movements and gestures were so perfectly timed to music that it was difficult to believe that most of them are completely deaf. It was a joy to watch their happy, jubilant faces while they were dancing. One teacher sat in front of the children with a large drum and the kids took their cues from the timing of the beating of the drum and also from various hand signals made by the teacher. It was a truly breath-taking performance.

A total of 65 children representing Rangammal Memorial Higher Secondary School for the Hearing Impaired travelled to Chennai to participate in the programme. Needless to say the kids won and after a brief stay at Chennai returned triumphantly to Tiruvannamalai with their trophy shield and wonderful memories.

Transformer Failure

The prolonged failure of an electric transformer at Vedanthavadi village, Tiruvannamalai District, has left around 200 acres of paddy and peanut crops to wilt as irrigation motors have came to a halt for the last two months.

The transformer, which feeds power to irrigation pumps in the village, developed a snag two months ago and since then power supply remained disrupted resulting in crops withering without water, said villagers.

When village members contacted the Electricity Board, they were told that it would take another 15 days for the transformer to get repaired. Since there is no power supply in the line to the pumps, burglars have been stealing the electric cables.

This sad story is very much a throw-back to yesteryear. My own experience is that the infrastructure in this area has improved immensely. However, one does get isolated rural pockets that perhaps have (thus far) not benefited as much as their urban brethern. Overall things are getting better here and perhaps worse in more developed countries. We are certainly experiencing changing times as it seems like even Western countries are no longer able to rely on the effective working of their own infrastructure.

Wonderful World

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What It Is: Arunachala

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Virupaksha Cave

Of all the caves on Arunachala undoubtedly Virupaksha Cave and Skandashram Cave are the most famous. Of the spacious Virupaksha cave it is of extraordinary importance in the history of Arunachala. From time immemorial this cave has been occupied by Saints and Siddhas but the actual name of the cave comes from Sri Virupaksha who hailed from Mallikarjuna, in the neighbouring State of Andhra Pradesh.

It is believed Sri Virupaksha occupied the cave during the same time period in the 6th or 7th Century that the great Namasivaya and Guru Namasivaya lived in adjacent caves lower down the Hill.

Virupaksha performed great penance in his cave and when he attained liberation he left his body reduced to a heap of aches on the cave floor (the ashes are reportedly now placed under a brick dome on top of a rectangular pedestal facing the entrance).

There is a space with a bench-bed (built by Sri Ramana himself) in the front of the cave. Ramana Maharshi lived I this cave from 1899 to 1916 during hot summers he would move to the cooler Mango Tree Cave and in 1916 Bhagavan and his devotees moved up to the larger Skandashram.

Nowadays the Virupaksha Cave is managed by Ramanashram and thus kept in good order. It is open throughout day hours and many pilgrims take the opportunity to meditate inside the cave. It is reported by many that the energy and power in Virupaksha Cave is so intense that it is difficult to meditate there for long periods of time.

Arunachala Friends

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AKSP Report

Two consecutive years of good rains the like of which have not been seen by Arunachala for decades has made the Hill this Deepam, 2006 present a luscious luxuriance unprecedented at least within the last thirty years.

For three months leading up towards Deepam, rain has fallen most days. Locals of the unsophisticated culture see this wetness and discomfort as a sure sign that Arunachala Siva very much likes his new green 'duds' better than the old brown ones, even if 'It' is the Fire Lingam of South India!

We have not had an appreciable fire for two summers, thanks to the community participation fostered very largely by our two District Forest Officers (DFOs), Messrs. Pasupathiraj and Mani, who have recently been transferred and were tremendously encouraging and helpful to all engaged in the Greening of Arunachala. In fact The Arunachala Kattu Siva Plantation owes its very existence to these excellent DFOs.

Arunachala now has a new DFO (District Forest Officer), Mr.Yuvalraj. Mr.Yuvalraj will be promoted to Conservator around this time next year, which means that he will be sent elsewhere within a year from now. Then it will be opportune for us to meet the incoming DFO, introduce our project, and request him to encourage and support us. Our continuance is always dependent upon the discretion firstly of our local DFO, secondly of our Conservator in the Divisional Headquarters in Vellore, and thirdly of our Principal Chief Conservator in Chennai.

This is the way it has to be because forests are so desperately in need of protection, not only just at Arunachala and in India, but also internationally; Forests are our lifeline.

The Arunachala Kattu Siva Plantation has permission to plant on the Hill within the area designated Reserve Forest; this area is off-limits to other than Forestry Department personnel unless special permission is given. Very Good Reasons promote this structure. Within this special permission which we have been given, we in turn honour the original, cognitively competent considerations behind it. The Arunachala Kattu Siva Plantation is very happy to be planting on Reserve Forest because in this way we are enabled to work without disturbance.

Nevertheless, if we re-forested the entire hill, with a forest that flourished for decades and replenished the underground water table to surface level, then despite our intentions on behalf of the generations to come: within ONE summer night the entire forest could EASILY, be destroyed by one match at the hand of ignorance.

No matter how green we see the garments of Arunachala Siva from year to year, we just have to remember that in the summer months of the climate of the Fire Lingam, when 'Its' body is tinder and there are many excuses for arson, all could well be lost within one night and all the efforts towards the Greening would be rendered pure unadulterated vanity.

[By Apeetha Arunagiri]

For more information about the Arunachala Kadu Shiva Plantation and Apeetha Arunagiri please check out their link at: http://www.aksp.org/

Horse Fair

One of the largest horse markets of Tamil Nadu, which usually assembles at Tiruvannamalai during the Karthigai Deepam festival, is fading into history as the number of horses coming for sale decreases each year.

Traders and brokers, who thronged with different horses to the market, attributed the diminishing trade to the depletion of the horse population in the State, as horse chariots, once a popular mode of transport, are becoming obsolete giving way to two wheelers and automobiles

"The number of horses that arrived to the shandy this time, is around 500, when compared to around 2,000 horses, a few years ago," recalled a Tiruvannamalai-based horse trader. Horses from areas such as Gudiyatham, Ambur, Cuddalore, Chidambaram, Mayavaram, Salem, Erode, Harur and Mathanappalli were brought to the Tiruvannamalai Bullock and Horse fair, however sales was not encouraging.

A trader from Ambur said he was the last chariot-operator from his town, but as everyone now opts for auto rickshaws, he wanted to get rid of his business. Another trader from Guidiyatham complained that a tax of Rs.120/- for each horse was charged at entry points into town. Many traders feel exorbitant charges are detrimental to the fair which assembles once a year. Increase in transportation expenses and local taxes also added to the woes of the traders.

However such tourist areas in Tamil Nadu as Kodaikanal still rely on horse driven chariots as a mode of transportation. Horse riding and rearing also has followers in the State. The price for a young horse is around Rs.4,500/- (U.S.$100) and for an older one Rs.7,000/- (U.S.$160).

The Government has organised a free medical camp near the shandy for treating ailing cattle and administering vaccines to horses and cows for diseases such as foot and mouth and anthrax.

Mooji Retreat

Mooji visits India at least once a year sharing satsang. This year, a silent Retreat will be held from 7th to 24th December 2006 in Tiruvanamalai at venue Sri Nannagaru Ashram. The Retreat will be followed by satsangs in January 2007 which will be open and free to all. Information will be posted on this Blog regarding details of the open satsangs.

Mooji was born Anthony Paul Moo-Young January 29th, 1954 in Port Antonio, Jamaica. In 1969, he moved to the UK and is presently living in Brixton, London. Mooji is a direct disciple of Sri Harilal Poonja, the renowned advaita master, or Papaji, as his followers call him.

Since 1999, Mooji has been sharing satsang in the form of spontaneous encounters, retreats, satsang intensives and one-to-one meetings with the many seekers who visit him, from all parts of the world, in search of the direct experience of truth.

Mooji shares satsang in Brixton, London, where he lives. He also travels regularly to Ireland, Wales, Italy and India where he conducts satsangs and retreats.

http://www.mooji.org/

Chockapaanai

As part of the celebrations during Karthigai Deepam, people in the evening, throng to witness the lighting up of the 'chockapaanai'; in which the stems of dry palm, coconut and kamugu are burnt symbolising famine and drought be removed from society.

Some believe that the remains of 'chockapaanai', which are placed along the pathway of agricultural land is a symbol of prosperity. Palms which are well-known and extensively cultivated, have always had an important role to humans. According to reports, had the date palm not existed, the expansion of the human race into hot and barren parts of the world would have been much more restricted.

The date palm provides a concentrated energy food and also creates an amenable habitat for people to live in by providing shade and protection from desert winds. The date palm also yields a variety of products for use in agricultural production and for making baskets, trays and for decoration. Practically all parts of the tree serve some useful purpose or the other.

An indication of the importance of palms is that they are mentioned more than 30 times in the Bible and at least 22 times in the Koran.

Human use of palms is as old or older than civilisation itself, starting with the cultivation of the date palm by Mesopotamians and those in the Middle-East over 5,000 years ago. Some examples are of Rattan (a climber of Sri Lanka and Southern India), whose stems are used extensively in furniture and baskets and Palm sap which is sometimes fermented to produce the alcoholic beverage, palm wine or toddy.

Unfortunately, palms have been threatened by human intervention and exploitation. The greatest risk is destruction of habitat, especially in the tropical forests, due to urbanisation, wood-chopping, mining, and conversion to farmland. Palmyra, which is declared as the 'State Tree' of Tamilnadu, helps prevents soil erosion and protects natural wealth especially during disasters like tsunami.

As per Tamilnadu Palm Products Development Board's 15-point programme, awareness is being created not only as to the nutritious value of the edible products of the palm, but also to develop and fully utilise an industry of palm products.

[By R Gomathy Sankaravel]

Deepam Events

As expected approximately a million pilgrims witnessed the lighting of Karthigai Deepam on top of Arunachala at dusk, Sunday 3rd December. As the festival coincided with a holiday, crowd turnout was bigger than in previous years.

Earlier, Bharani Deepam was lighted inside the Temple on December 3rd, at 4 a.m., to symbolise the unification of the five elements (water, fire, earth, ether, air).Thickly packed devotees inside the Temple had a glimpse of light on the earthen lamp.

In the evening, the Festival began near the golden Flag Mast inside Annamailayar Temple. First, idols of Vinayagar, Murugar, Annamalayar, Unnamulayamman and Chandikeshwarar were taken out from the Temple and placed on the Mandapam in front of the flag mast.

Simultaneously, Aganda Deepam in front of the Flag Mast and five torches were lit. On seeing the lighted torches in the Temple, men at the peak of the mountain lit the Deepam Cauldron.

DEEPAM 2006

For your enjoyment this Deepam day a compilation of photographs to show the sequence of events that lead to the lighting of the Deepam on the top of Arunachala each year.

Early in the morning of the lighting of the Deepam Cauldron, hordes of pilgrims start their trek up the side of Arunachala so they can witness the actual lighting at dusk. Many bring ghee (clarified butter) which is the only fuel used inside the Cauldron, as an offering to the Sacred Hill. From down below it is easy to watch the column of devotees climb up the Hill.

Men, women, and children make their way up the slope. The first day, the actual lighting, is the most popular but in fact all through the 10 days the Cauldron will be kept alight, pilgrims climb the slope with the ghee that they personally wish to offer to the Flame on Arunachala.

Some bring small packets of ghee, others bring enormous tin containers. The top of the Hill near the cauldron is slippery and slick from the empty containers and spilled ghee.

Swathes of cloth are soaked in ghee and packed tightly into the Cauldron. The cloth will be the wick for the giant light.

Once the ghee saturated cloth has been wound and packed into the Cauldron then blocks of camphor (the lighting agent) are smashed into crevices and openings left by cloth folds.

The taper then needs to be prepared. The actual light itself has been brought up that morning from the Arunachaleswarar Temple.

Finally its time to light the giant vat with the taper, which itself has been lit by the flame brought up from the Arunachaleswarar Temple.

The crowd is densely packed at the top of the Hill and its hot and risky to be so close to the Cauldron. But the fervour and devotion of the pilgrims is such, that such matters as health or safety are hardly considered.

The brilliant flame blazes upward and outward.

From down below we view Arunachala Deepam Beacon 2006, which was lit at dusk this evening, December 3rd at around 6.05 p.m.

Deepam Peace

Blessings of Peace and Light from Arunachala, today December 3rd, the day of the Lighting of the Deepam Flame on the Sacred Hill.

Deepam Eve

Yesterday I made my way homewards tracking down the main thoroughfare, Chengam Road. Here are photographs of Deepam preparations to be held the next day (3rd) when a million pilgrims are expected.

There are always thousands of sadhus and sannyasins visiting or staying at Arunachala at any one time. But for Deepam there is a positive innudation of sadhus coming to Arunachala from all over India.



As well as food for the spirit, there is also plenty of food for the body too! Hundreds of mobile tent kitchens have been set up and also stalls selling favourite eatables are packed around the outer pradakshina pathway.



There is a joyous and jolly atmosphere in the air. Even the packed lorries coming into town with pilgrims from afar are filled with happy, waiving visitors.



Every year during the Deepam Festival, Tiruvannamalai plays host to a large cow and pony fair. During which farmers from all over Tiruvannamalai District bring their working bullocks and ponies for market.




Hawkers of all sorts of bric-a-brac roam the streets on the lookout for customers to purchase their items.



Fruit wallahs wait by the roadside next to their mounds of green coconut, sugarcane and bananas.

The vendors and shop owners are ready. They have planned well. Preparations are complete. Everything is in place. They only await tomorrow and the million expected for the day of Deepam and the lighting of the flame on top of Arunachala.