Sites near Virupaksha Cave

With kind permission from Richard Clarke, I am here reproducing part of a blog posting of his entitled 'Arunachala – New Access to Ramana Sites Below Virupaksha Cave.'

“A group of local Tiruvannamalai people have organized themselves and are doing wonderful work to clean up, repair and open up an area on Arunachala that is near to the popular Sri Ramana Maharshi sites of Virupaksha Cave and Skandanasram.

They have organized as a part of “Global Watch Trust.” You can see more about this organization at http://www.globalwatchtrust.com This site is not yet updated to include this project.

In this area, this project is cleaning trash, clearing brush, repairing and improving paths, planting, and building benches and meditation areas. It improves access to Guhai Namashivaya Shrine and an ancient Ganesh shrine, and provides a way to reach three hillside caves that are said by local villagers to have been frequented by Sri Ramana. The Trust has been given permission to do this work by The Forest Authority, Arunachaleshwar Temple and Sri Ramanasramam.

The Approach
To get to this area, start like you are going to Virupaksha Cave. Below shows where this ‘road’ meets the street, at the northeast corner of Arunachaleshwar Temple.

Walk up the road until you see, to the left, this street. Notice the blue Global Watch Trust sign on the wall.”

Continue walking following the path, and slowly making your way up to Guhai Namashivaya Shrine

Below are Carol (Clarke) and Saravan, outside Guhai Namashiva Shrine. This shrine is an important locale in the history of Sri Ramana Maharshi. This is where he provided answers to questions on slips of paper that became the second of his small books, “Who am I?” This is probably the best known of Ramana’s works.

More information can be found about Guhai Namashivaya at http://www.arunachalasamudra.org/guhainamasivaya.html

After Guhai Namashiva Shrine, directly up the hill is the path to the caves. When finished, this area will have a nice stone path in the middle, surrounded by flowers and planting on both sides. There will be benches to sit and meditate and to enjoy this place.

On the path, we pass by a small cave, big enough for perhaps two or three people to sit in.

Old Ganesh Shrine
The next feature is an old Ganesh shrine, with this water tank. This shrine has been vandalized and the Ganesh idol taken. The Global Watch Trust plans to replace this idol.

Another small cave near the Ganesh Shrine. This cave is big enough for a person to lie down and sleep, but not big enough to stand up.

Up the hill to the best of the caves
Climbing further up the path we will get to the crown jewel (I think) of this area.
I would recommend good shoes or sandals and strong legs for the next part of the journey. The path is a bit steep in a couple of places.
The path continues up the hill . . . Some of this path is a ‘fire road’ up the hill.

In the Cave
In the cave, an oil lamp has been lighted

I think this cave is a special place. The people who live on the hill below here say that Ramana stayed in this cave, I guess during what are generally known as the ‘Virupaksha days.’

We have been here just two times and already it is one of our favorite places on Arunachala.

Working on the Mountain - Global Watch Trust

Community Development
The first part of this project was a vision from Saravan as to what could be done in this area, with encouragement from the founder of Global Watch Trust, Sathya. Together they put together a plan and a team to clean up and enhance this part of the Arunachala hill to properly respect the sacred heritage that is here.

An important part of the process has been involving the villagers who live on this part of the hill. This started with a ceremony and a ‘gifting.’ School notebooks were gifted to the children in an evening ceremony that included the local villagers. The purpose of this was to educate the villagers on the importance of this area so they might not use it as a trash dump, and to enlist their help in the work to clean up the hill.

As work started, local officials came to the group. Each interaction was similar, starting with “What are you doing?” and “No, you cannot do this.” After some discussion, permission was granted. First were officials from Arunachaleshwar Temple, then the Forest Authority, then Sri Ramanasramam.

The Crew
One big part of the effort was done with a crew consisting of local volunteers and the Global Watch Trust team, shown below. Together they worked to do the major cleanup of the hillside.

So much cleaning and clearing to do
For many years this area has been used for trash. The first thing needed was to clean up the trash.

Brush has overgrown the paths and area around the Banyan tree. All this needs to be cut away, and cuttings disposed of.

Results of the Team’s work
The path is repaired.
Here is a part of the path shown above that needed repair. Now it is easy and pleasant walking.

Global Watch Trust has funded the effort that you see in these pages out of their own funds. Those funds have run out, and for work to continue donations are needed. Evan small donations are a big help. Rs 1000 ($25 or 15 Euros) pays for one day’s work on the project. 40 days work have been done so far, and so much has been accomplished.

If you wish to help, donations can be made through the Global Watch Trust web site. Go to http://www.globalwatchtrust.com/ and click the ‘donate’ button. Credit Cards and PayPal are accepted. Also they ask, until their site is updated, that you also send an email to ceo@levicent.com and let them know that this donation is to be used for the Arunachala Hill project. "

Arunachala Grace News

The July issue of Arunachala Grace News will be sent direct to subscribers' email inboxes within the next couple of days. This month's issue has articles on various ecological programmes currently underway in the area, the usual round-up of Arunachala news, narratives and quotes about the upcoming Guru Poornima, the Indian Pond Heron as the featured bird and Cassia Auriculata as this month's shrub including its ayurvedic and medicinal properties. The short story featured in the upcoming issue, is a very amusing Nasruddin anecdote entitled, 'Humble'.

If you are not yet a subscriber to this FREE Newsletter, please go to the relevant sign up facility at the left hand column of this page.

India Water Portal

There is a new link under 'link friends' to the Blog of the India Water Portal. This is an excellent site with great information about the myriad issues of water, and will be of interest not just to Indians but to all conservation minded people.

Have in fact just been reading the India Water Portal Blog, and saw this interesting article - which is definitely the kind of faucet I need in this house.

Water-Saver Faucet with Measured Out-Flow Arrangement-Saves 60% Water

Fresh water to-day has become a precious commodity world wide. Water-saving, better utilization of water and avoiding wastage is becoming a universal concern. This New faucet, avoids inadvertent wastage during the usage of water for legitimate purpose such as washing of hands.

It is user friendly, Hygienic, Economical, Eliminates leaking taps, Made of recyclable material, and helps in the optimum use of water.

One of the basic problems with the commonly used screw-type faucet is that once the faucet is open to wet the hands, while the soap is being applied fresh water is continuously flowing down the drain without serving any purpose. As the time taken for applying soap constitutes more than 60% of the time in a normal hand washing cycle it can be easily understood that a large quantity of water is going to waste inadvertently. Apart from this screw-type faucet can continuously waste water if they are left open due to carelessness etc.

To continue reading this article, go to this link here.

Tiruvannamalai Development

Found an interesting narrative (reproduced below) from the book 'Day by Day with Bhagavan,' in which Sri Ramana talks about various rumours and prophecies about Arunachala. The quote is particularly interesting in that it shows a relaxed, and almost encouraging attitude by Bhagavan regarding the future development of the area, so hopefully that may allay the concerns of some devotees about the rapid expansion of Tiruvannamalai.

“In those days these Rajas used to fortify their hills and live there. See Ginjee for instance. The Ginjee fort was built on three hills. They are all in ruins. Padaiveedu nearby in this District was once a great city. Hampi was a great city and the capital of an Empire. It is said that the town was built on the model of a Sri Chakra and that there has been some slight mistake somewhere, and that is why, though the Empire flourished well for a time, it did not endure but failed.

There is a rumour that a prophecy made by Vidyaranya, earlier a Dewan of Hampi Empire and later a Shankaracharya, has declared that when again a descendant of that Empire or a successor of his in the Mutt builds a city on the model of Sri Chakra, a great Empire will again flourish with that city as capital.

Some people have even thought that the present Shankaracharya (note: the now deceased Sri Chandrasekhara Saraswati) might be the person for such destiny. Our Naina used to feel that as this town is by nature itself built on Sri Chakra model, by the Gods themselves, if only we could build houses all round the Hill and make a city of it, this will become the capital of a big Empire. He used to be always thinking and speaking of swaraj (note: self-governance or home rule i.e. from the British) dreaming and planning for it and saying what he would do when swaraj is attained. People say there was a town in the old, old days somewhere here to the South of the Hill. Who knows that will happen hereafter? Did we imagine that all these houses now here were going to be built?”

[Day by Day with Bhagavan
Pages 116-117]

Monkey Business

Some weeks ago it was reported in State newspapers that politicians are beginning to turn a very serious gaze on the subject of monkeys and the possibility of developing certain programmes to send straying monkey groups back into the wilderness. When I hear these sorts of things, it makes me very nervous, because remembering the horrific dog round-ups of yesteryear, one wonders exactly how such monkey programmes would be conducted and monitored.

Apparently the Forest Minister for Tamil Nadu recently announced to the Assembly that residents of urban areas in the State, 'need not worry as his Department was working on a plan to ensure the animals didn’t get too close to people and homes.'

Langur Monkey

As an example, he cited Tiruvannamalai District, saying that hordes of monkeys constantly make their way into neighbouring towns and settlements. He believes the situation is being created by the 'superstitious belief of people who worship the monkey as Hanuman, offering it food and thereby encouraging the monkeys to leave their forests and head for nearby towns.'

Opposition DMK leader Pannerselvam interrupted the speech, saying: “Monkeys are our ancestors and we worship them only to ensure no harm is done to them.”

Bonnet Macaque Monkey

Good for him and glad that the monkeys are getting some kind of support in the Assembly. As for Tiruvannamalai there are two resident species common to the town and area, the Bonnet Macaque Monkey and the Langur (Hanuman) Monkey. The Langur is very shy and mostly seen on the east side of Arunachala Hill and the Bonnet Macaque is an absolute rascal and definitely not shy or retiring. I have already made lots of postings about my little friend the Macaque – what a naughty one!

Yummy Sapota

Recently found out that Papaya is not indigenous to India and is an import from Mexico, but was even more surprised to learn that lovely, delicious Sapota is also not native to this country and hails from Central America. The Sapota tree is commonly cultivated throughout Thiruvannamalai District and can often be seen in gardens and compounds. I even planted some sapota seeds a few weeks ago, and eventually hope to have my own fully grown fruit-bearing trees – yummy!

The tree grows to 60 ft and yields large quantities of fruit twice a year. The Sapota has a high latex content and does not ripen until picked. The fruit is about the size of a potato, greenish-brown in colour, and rough-skinned, the seeds are black and resemble beans, with a hook at one end that can catch in the throat if swallowed. Inside, the pulp is sweet, tasty and soft and been compared to caramel.

As well as fruit, the tree produces strong, long-lasting timber which is often used for cabinet making. Its sap, which becomes solid when boiled, provides a type of non-elastic rubber used for making shoe soles. It is also used as chewing gum (chicle) and in fact Chicle gum was even known to the Aztecs.

Pushparatheshwara Temple

Named Gnayiru after the Sun God, the village (which is on the way to Chennai) has numerous legends, one of which is connected with Tiruvannamalai. The God Surya who was estranged from his wife Chayadevi came to propitiate the Lord at the Arunachaleswarar Temple. While circumambulating the shrine he saw a light which fell on him by way of blessings and then moved away. Intrigued, he followed the light till it reached the village of Gnayiru where it fell on a Linga and vanished. Surya was pleased at the happening and for Shiva's (Lord Pushparatheshwara) Blessings, afterwhich Surya returned to his wife.

Surya, the Sun God

Since the Sun God is said to have bathed in the pond, it became known as Surya Theertham and there is also a Surya Shrine in the Temple. People visit the Pushparatheshwara Temple in the hope that they will be cured of eye related disorders and ailments, relief of pains and that the Lord will shower prosperity on them.

Another legend explaining the history of Pushparatheswara Temple tells of a king and ardent devotee of Shiva, who during his travels went looking for red lotuses to propitiate the God. The king found a pond of red lotuses in the village of Gnayiru and struck by the beauty of one of the flowers went into the pond to pluck it.

But the closer he got to the flower the farther it moved away. Frustrated with his attempts to pluck it, he threw his sword at the flower. The sword found its mark on a Shiva Linga which was being guarded by the lotus. Blood started spurting from the Linga and the whole pond turned red. There was a blinding light and noise. Witnessing this spectacle, the king turned blind. His horse ran amuck.

The king repented his action and prayed to Lord Shiva, who returned his eyesight and instructed the king to build a Temple at the bank of the lotus pond.

Sri Pushparatheshwara Temple

A different story tells that Surya (the Sun) cursed by Lord Brahma, comes to Earth looking for a place to pray to Lord Siva. He chanced upon a beautiful pond, filled with huge lotuses, some of which even had 1,000 petals. Fascinated, Surya ventured into the water to offer his prayers. Touched by Surya's devotion, Lord Siva appeared as a Lingam on one of the lotuses and cured him. Filled with joy and gratitude Surya built a temple for the Lingam, in Gnayiru (Sun) Village.

It is said that the village used to be home of Kanva Maharishi. At the Temple there is also an altar for Sangili Nachiyar, the wife of Tamil saint-poet Sundarar. Sage Sage Agastiyar (author of Aditya Hridaya Stotram) is reputed to have stayed at Sri Pushparatheswarar Temple.

Sri Nannagaru and Devotees

So, tomorrow morning, Thursday, 26th June, Sri Nannagaru leaves Arunachala after a 10 day visit. As is usual, many of his devotees from Andhra Pradesh travelled with him. While here, Swami gave daily spiritual discourses in Telegu (his native language) to his devotees and visitors. It is expected that Sri Nannagaru will return to Arunachala this upcoming August for a short stay.

"I first came across Sri Nannagaru in Ramanashramam at Tiruvannamalai, in the last days of 1993. A friend had told me that a guru was giving darshan near the library that evening. Arunachala and Sri Ramana's cave were sufficient for me, I thought; I felt no particular attraction for the darshan of yet another guru. It happened that the library was next to my room, however, and as I returned from the cave that evening I saw a crowd of westerners outside sitting in silence before a man who was sitting in a chair. At his feet were a bevy of well-dressed Indian women. They were all gazing at the man intently. The man's eyes were drifting slowly from one person to another. I couldn't help feeling that he looked like the cornershop grocer. Every now and then he let out a prolonged belch, and rubbed his stomach.

I sat down, intending to stay until the first mosquito arrived. In moments I was aware of the depth of the silence in the group around me. Sri Nannagaru kept gazing at one individual after another, sometimes resting his eyes on a person for minutes on end. At the same time he would raise his right hand in an open palm blessing. My body became as still as stone. All thought of going anywhere vanished. All thoughts of any kind vanished. His look was one of the most tender commpasion, of a lover to his beloved; yet there was not sense of anybody doing anything wanting anything, trying to creat some effect; just the innocent and empty gaze of love, available to all, and yet intensely personal, it seemed, with each individual. His body seemed to carry no tension at all: his whole being flowed unobstructed out of his eyes. After half an hour or so, he silently bowed, and got up to go to his room. Nobody moved, and the silence continued for several more minutes."

[From Travels through Sacred India

By Roger Housden]

King Harischandra

On my way home by autorickshaw I noticed work is underway desilting and deepening the Simha Tirtham, (which I nickname the Sphinx). As this is one of my favoured spots around the Hill, immediately decided to check it out. Took some nice snaps and will post them with information in a day or two. But for now want to mention the shrine of Harishchandra adjacent to the Simha Tank.

First off - below is a photograph of the patron of the newly renovated Harischandra Shrine who kindly showed me an album of very nice photographs of the Abishekam recently performed at the Shrine. Originally burial and burning grounds were located well out of Tiruvannamalai town limits, but as the town has grown, things are now very different. Interestingly the whole area occupied by Ramana and Seshadri Ashrams used to be burial grounds.

This shrine is located off the Chengam Road, about a half kilometre west of Ramana Ashram and it is the place that burial and cremation groups stop on their way to the burning grounds. Traditionally at the place of the Harischandra Shrine, the vehicle carrying the corpse has to turn around and thereafter reverse the last couple of hundred yards to the cemetery/ghat.

In the below photograph, the iconic representation of King Harischandra.

The below legend of this king of ancient Hindu religious texts, explains his connection with burning and burial grounds and why he is so scrupulously placated by the relatives of the deceased.

Legend of Harishchandra

Harishchandra, a king of ancient Hindu religious texts, is renowned for two unique qualities, the first being, he kept his word and never went back on what he uttered as a promise. The other being, he never uttered a lie in this life. As he stood to his principles through dire and difficult circumstances, he has become a symbol of courage, piety and justice.

The legend goes that the sage Vishwamitra once approached Harishchandra and informed him of a promise made by the king during the sage's dream to donate his entire kingdom. Harishchandra was so virtuous, that he immediately made good his word and donated his entire kingdom to the sage and walked away with his wife and son.

Since, the entire world was under the sage after he donated his kingdom, the king had to go to Benares, a holy town dedicated to Lord Shiva. This was now the only place outside the influence of the sage. But, the sage, proclaimed that for an act of donation to be completed, an additional amount as Dakshina (honorarium) had to be paid. Harishchandra, with no money in his hands, had to sell his wife and son to pay for the Dakshina. When the money collected still did not suffice for the purpose, he sold himself to a guard at the cremation ground, who was in charge of collecting taxes for the bodies to be cremated.

Harishchandra and his family is sold into bondage and separatedPainting by Raja Ravi Varma

The king, his wife and son had to sustain tremendous hardships doing their respective chores. The king helped the guard cremate the dead bodies, while his wife and son were used as household helpers at the house of the Brahmin. Once, the son had been to the garden to pluck flowers for his master's prayer, when he was bitten by a snake and he died instantly. His mother, having nobody to sympathise for her, carried his body to the cremation grounds. In acute penury, she could not even pay the taxes needed to cremate him. Harishchandra did not recognise his wife and son. He asked the lady to sell her golden Mangalasutra and pay the tax. It is at this instance that his wife recognises the man as her husband. She has a boon that her husband only could see her Mangalasutra. Harishchandra then came to her and recognised her as his wife and was stung by pangs of agony.

But, Harishchandra, was duty bound by his job to perform the cremation only after the acceptance of the tax. So, he asked his wife, if she was willing to undergo further hardships and stand by him in this hour of calamity. The faithful wife readily gave assent. She had in her possession only a sari, a part of which was used to cover the dead body of her son. She offers half of her lone dress as the tax, which Harishchandra could accept and perform the last rites of his son. When she proceeded to remove her dress, miracles happened.

Lord Vishnu, Indra and all Devas and the sage Vishwamitra himself manifested themselves on the scene, and praised Harishchandra for his perseverance and steadfastness. They brought his son back to life. They also offered the king and his wife, instant places in heaven. The virtuous king, refused saying that he cannot leave behind his subjects, and asked for a place in heaven for all his subjects. But the gods refused, explaining that the subjects had their own Karma and they have to undergo them. The king was then ready to forego all his virtues and religiousness for his people, so that they could ascend to heaven leaving him behind. The gods, now immensely pleased with the unassailable character of the great king, offered heavenly abodes to the King, the Queen and all their subjects.

The sage Vishwamitra helped to re-populate the kingdom and installed Harishchandra's son as the king. Interestingly the legend of Harischandra was the model of Truth that Mahatma Gandhi took as his inspiration throughout his life.

Breakfast and Monkeys

Yesterday I was out and about very early in the morning and instead of returning home decided to head into town for a nice breakfast. The day was a very auspicious one for weddings and most of the restaurants in Tiruvannamalai were inundated with large groups from wedding parties, having tiffin and coffee. My favoured and very excellent autorickshaw driver, Gandhiban, took me off the beaten track to a small, quiet restaurant were I was happily able to satisfy my cravings for pongal, masala dosa, vadai and coffee and a good read of the daily newspaper. Delicious - and well worth the drive into town. And also such a relief to eat undisturbed by my own six doggies at home, who are happiest when they eat food taken from my own plate.

I really liked the selection of photographs and religious icons displayed behind the cash register at the Hotel, excellent.

-- and lots more --

So, after a delicious breakfast decided to stop off at the Animal Shelter on the way home to see how sweet Baby (the injured monkey) was getting on. To read more about the Animal Shelter, click on this previous posting about them. The first thing I noticed is how beautiful the shelter's garden looks - and what a perfect play paradise for all the resident doggies.

Dotted around the shelter, are lots of individual huts in which dogs can chill out and escape from all that alpha male posturing. The below photograph (home to the little fellow peeping out) looks positively inviting - something out of a desert island movie.

In the next photograph you can see Arunachala in the background peeping out over the foliage and trees.

And here is little Baby. Looking fantastic and like a total different monkey from the sad little tyke that was brought into the Shelter close to death just a few months previously. To see her photographs and read the story check this link.

Freddie her pal (who is checking out the keeper's pocket for snacks) was also rescued from a group of dogs, but fortunately was not seriously injured, and only sustained a relatively minor leg injury, which has now happily completely healed. Both Baby and Freddie are very young and separated from the respective family groups, so it might be quite sometime before they will be able to succeed independently in the 'real world'. So, for now their blue enclosure, each other's company, a place of safety and a time to grow strong and healthy. That seems like a very good thing for two special monkeys!

The last photograph is of Dr. Raju, one of the two vets at the Animal Shelter. To check out the website for the Arunachala Animal Sanctuary, click this link here.

Photographs of Arunachala Girivalam

From some excellent photographs taken by Richard and Carol Clarke of girivalam (walking around Arunachala Hill) check out this link here.

Jain sites in Tamil Nadu

Over the last three months, two rock art sites, two caverns with Jaina Beds, and Dolmens have been discovered nearby this area of Tamil Nadu. The discovery of Jaina beds confirmed the earlier view that the area was once a prominent centre of Jainism. The presence of rock art sites and dolmens shows that the area had been under continuous human occupation for 3,000 years.

On June 1st, 2008, researchers found a big cavern with Jaina beds and rock art on a hillock called Pancha Pandavar Kal, near Vadagal village located 15 km behind Gingee fort. The hillock is part of a chain of hills in the area. The team found a series of Jaina beds on the floor of the cavern and pre-historic paintings on the boulder surface opposite the beds.

Jaina beds found in a cavern

The beds are about 2,000 years old. Raised “pillows” had been hewn out of the rock-floor at one end of the beds. Channels were cut to drain out rainwater from the beds or the floor was scooped out to collect rainwater.

The rock art (about 1,000 B.C.) consists of a painting of a deer (three feet by three feet) done in white kaolin with outlines in red ochre and smaller drawings of deer and lizard on the adjacent rock surface, as if to contra-distinguish their size. The paintings are believed to have been done by pre-historic men hunter-gatherers, who used to live in the cavern. Which much later were occupied by Jain monks.

Jaina Beds have also been recently discovered at Thirunarungkondai, Paraiyanpattu and Melkudalur and remains of Jaina Temples at Melmalayanur near Tiruvannamalai, Tirunarungkondai, Melsithamur and Thondur.

Varakh (Edible Silver Foil)

This posting comes about as a result of an email I received from a regular reader of Arunachala Grace, Yoges from Malaysia. As a vegetarian and lover of good Indian sweets, she was concerned about news she had read about Varakh, edible silver foil sweets which are much appreciated in India and around the World. I read Yoges' information with interest and also did some research on the Web, and found that information about non-vegetarian Varakh is readily available on diverse sites such as 'Jain websites' and 'Beauty without Cruelty'.

As mentioned previously sweets in this country are a very important part of everyday life. Sweet shops such as the one below located on Car Street near the front of Arunachaleswarar Temple, do excellent business in trying to satisfy the community's sweet tooth and the demands of functions, festivals, holidays and birthdays. Generally sweets are selected by the customer and thereupon packed in half kilo or kilo boxes.

The Rolls Royce of sweets is Varakh, a sweet covered with edible gold or silver foil. Naturally one would assume that in Indian sweet shops, one would automatically be always purchasing vegetarian sweets, but according to the below article, and corresponding articles of reputable vegetarian orientated organisations readily available on the Web, this does not seem to be the case. So, to understand exactly what you are purchasing when you buy Varakh sweets throughout India vegetarians should read the following narrative.

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“Can Vegetarians have sweets topped with Varakh (Edible Silver Foil)??"

"A couple of years ago, Indian Airlines, the domestic air-carrier of India issued instructions to its suppliers to supply sweets without silverfoil called VARAKH. Do you know why??? Silver is widely used for various purposes in the market today. Silver is considered precious and its utility is enormous. The reason behind this is that silver reflects back 95% of the light energy that falls on it.

The silver foils used for edible purposes is called VARAKH So what's so special about VARAKH? This is what I would like to bring to your notice. If you keenly observe this VARAKH under a microscope don't be perturbed if you happen to see traces of blood, stools and saliva of a cattle or ox.

VARAKH is a silver foil and we have no second questions on this, but to prepare this VARAKH important parts of the Cattle/Ox is made use of. Intestines of Cattle/Ox are obtained from the slaughterhouse. This is obtained after butchering to death the cattle/ox for beef and the part, which cannot be consumed: the intestines are pulled out of the animal and handed over to the manufacturers of VARAKH. Before handing over the intestines, they are washed in the slaughterhouse to get rid of the blood and other remains on these intestines in the limited facility that is present in the slaughterhouse. We are not sure how neatly this job is carried out. Intestines are cut into small pieces and then are bound together as pages in a notebook.

A silver block is placed in the middle of these bound intestines, and the hole thing is placed in a leather bag and sealed. Experts, who know how to make VARAKH, pound the bag with wooden sticks, till the entire bag flattens out. The silver block would by this time be turned into silver foil.

This Silver foil would now be separated from the intestine pack and will be placed on paper. This is VARAKH, which reaches the market ready for use. Even staunch vegetarians, who shy away from egg, unknowingly consume this as a part of sweet, pan and arecanut. Some unknowingly consume this because of the additional taste that VARAKH provides. Now the question is "Why the intestines of the cattle/ox? Why not something else?" The reason behind using the intestines of the cattle/ox for preparing the VARAKH is because of the elasticity of the intestines. They do not get cut even after a severe pounding.

This aspect is brought out in the magazine "Beauty without cruelty" and the Television show of Maneka Gandhi, "Heads and Tails". In India, an estimate indicates that 275,000 kilos of "VARAKH" is consumed. Can you estimate how many cattle/ox are sacrificed for just a bit of taste? If you are as surprised as I am, after reading this article please inform as many as possible so as to ensure that we unknowingly don't consume beef.”

[Courtesy: Taranga Magazine
Authors: Nafiza Joseph and Shailaja N Raj]

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For vegetarian lovers of Varakh, my online research also found this fascinating website Kanishka Varakh - 'Serving vegetarian needs in a humanitarian manner'.

The below photographs are from their website and their products are 100% vegetarian Varakh.

They say: "Kanishka Varakh is produced using an innovative procedure that utilizes 100% purely VEGETARIAN means to produce the most pure silver and gold foil or Varakh as opposed to the ordinary varakh otherwise available."

-- and --

THIS IS THE ONLY PROCESS IN THE WORLD that is capable of producing truly vegetarian Varakh untouched even by human hands. The procedure excludes every process of animal component contamination as well as human contamination by touching.

You couldn’t make it up!

A State Government official who tried to get a transfer through the backdoor was conned by officials in Coimbatore.

The lady wanted a transfer to her native Tiruvannamalai District, but couldn’t get it as there was a ‘price tag' for transfers in the Department. A temporary staff member working under this lady happened to be a politician's daughter and thus volunteered to help -- but for a price. The lady desperate to move back to Tiruvannamalai District, paid Rs.30,000 to the temporary worker to arrange the transfer –- but it did not materialize. Amazingly the lady asked for a refund in lieu of the failed transfer, and in fact was reimbursed Rs.20,000. Only in India would a Government official ask for reimbursement of a failed bribe – you couldn’t make it up!