Deepam Festival Panthakal

The following photographs were recently taken in front of the Arunachaleswarar Temple Rajagopuram. The Panthakal ceremony occurs three months before Deepam (this year the first night of the lighting of the flame on top of Arunachala is December 1st). The ceremony included blessing the newly renovated Vigneshwarar Chariot which will be used during the Deepam festivities.

Railways and Tiruvannamalai

Today visited Tiruvannamalai Railway Station to check on progress of the current railworks converting tracks from narrow gauge to broad gauge and on expanding track services to include three passenger lines and one goods line. I was surprised at the lack of progress at the railworks including the development of facilities and was also unable to learn an authoritative date for the estimated completion of the railworks and commencement of services at Tiruvannamalai Railway Station.

Even though there are no rail facilities at Tiruvannamalai, the reservation office is open at the Station and one can purchase tickets for Indian Railways.

For those interested in finding out more about rail travel in India, I include an excellent link from The Guardian (U.K.) newspaper, which even though is an overseas paper, contains a comprehensive article of readers tips with numerous links. If you plan on travelling by rail in India, I strongly recommend you check it out.

On the theme of railways, below is a fascinating narrative taken from historical train archives about how Afghani fruit used to arrive in the Indian metros via the railways. Its interesting to learn that during a period that did not have many modern conveniences, trade of even perishable goods seemed to be even more efficient than nowadays. Certainly the narrative seems to portray a gentler and more peaceful time.


Fresh Fruits from Afghanistan to India!

"I fondly remember as a youngster - in late 1940's and as late as early 50's - the repeated shouts of burly, awesome Pathan vendors in our 'mohalla' in Lucknow: "Fresh luscious grapes from Chaman; red juicy pomegranates from Kandahar; "Buy them now, eat them now, lest you repent!"

These Afghani fruit vendors would come to each 'mohalla' daily almost punctually at a time “allotted” by them. And lo the kids and the grown-ups would scamper out of their homes, the first out of curiosity and the latter to strike a hard bargain with the vendors who were notorious about their prices. But whatever the virtues of the vendors, their assertion about the quality of their products was never in doubt. So with this childhood experience when I read the following lines in P.S.A Berridge's old classic, "Couplings to the Khyber: The Story of The North Western Railway" I became really nostalgic about the fruits which are certainly no more:

"Built primarily as a strategic line the Chaman Extension Railway served for many years hundreds of tons of luscious fruits --- grapes, peaches, and nectarines in particular from Afghanistan found their way to the markets of far-away cities in India. Before 1947, in the summer months, there used to run every day a train with its ice-packaged refrigerator vans destined for places as far away as Calcutta and Madras."

But the famed fruits continued to filter into India even after 1947 by road from Pakistan but unfortunately as the situation worsened and even the dribble dried up and we lost the burly Pathans and their products by early 50's.

Reverting to my nostalgia; Berridge's brief remarks led me to 'research' about the fruit traffic from Afghanistan and their train journeys to various stations in the Indian hinterland in days of yore that is before the Partition. That I took to be an unusual, novel subject for the rail fans and more so when it related to a country rated by Robert Young Pelton, the adventure travel writer, as one of the "World's Most Dangerous Places" in his eponymous book.

Let me now construct this interesting rail transportation story which has a human angle too.

Actually the grapes and all the tempting fruits came not from Chaman (4304‘) but from Kandahar (5500‘) and areas nearby some 67 miles away in Afghanistan. Chaman was in India then as the remotest corner station in the North Western Province bordering Afghanistan .It was the terminal of the strategic line viz. Chaman Extension Railway.

It sounds incredible today that adopting a crude cooling technique the perishable fresh fruits always reached the customers in perfect condition at destinations so far away covering a very long distance by road and rail that too through intense summer heat and humidity of various regions of India. The destinations were in Sind, the Punjab, United Provinces (U.P.), Delhi, Bengal, and Madras to name only a few important ones.

The distance covered by rail was itself mind boggling being around 1000 miles (1500 kms) from Chaman to Delhi excluding 67 miles by road from Kandahar in Afghanistan! It was only in 1929 that for the first time motor transport consisting of Chevrolet lorries was used supplementing the conveyance of fresh fruits from growers in Kandahar to the originating station Chaman for onward dispatch by rail to consuming stations. Each lorry carried 40 "kawaras" covering the distance in just 4 hours as against 3 days by animal transportation.

A "Kawara" was a conical shaped basket about 10" wide at the base, opening out to a 18" mouth at the top and was about 16" deep. These were indigenously made by the Afghani women at home as a cottage industry from "pilchi" wood taken from branches of cotton bushes. The "kawaras" were filled with fruits which were packed in layers between wild grass and lavender .Each such basket weighed 33 seers (60 pounds) with 22 seers of fruit. To keep the heat away ice was used in generous quantities to keep the "kawaras” ice cold till they arrived Chaman whether carried by animals or by motor lorries .

This earthy method kept the contents too fresh and unspoilt despite the intense heat in the loading season.

The export of fruits used to begin from Afghanistan to India in May every year. Apricots in "kawaras" used to be cleared from Chaman by the daily mixed train to Quetta, 176 miles away, and onward from there by corresponding connecting trains to stations in the Punjab, U.P. and Sind.

With the advancing fruit season when grapes, peaches, apples and pomegranates were in full bloom a daily fruit train was run comprising Refrigerator Vans and Luggage Vans from Chaman to clear the fresh fruit traffic. The traffic reached its peak of 3000 "kawaras" daily in August. It continued till October after which the dried fruit traffic commenced.

Let us recall how a typical loading day started in Chaman. Till 9 a.m. Chaman would be a calm and peaceful station except few coolies were seen busy filling the bunkers of the Refrigerator Vans with ice to cool them sufficiently well in advance for the evening's loading. As the day progressed caravans of hundreds of heavily laden donkeys and mules travelling from Kandahar via the neighbourly north–western town of Spin Baldek (7 miles) in Afghanistan, each carrying 2 to 4 "kawaras" would arrive on the horizon travelling in batches of 10 to 30. The intermittent clouds of dust raised by them would sometimes give only their hazy silhouettes .

The arriving animals had decorative multicoloured trappings and innumerable bells of varied shapes and sizes around their necks literally giving them a colourful appearance, and the jingle lending a somewhat romantic touch to the otherwise monotonous environment. Reaching the destined allotted shelter (locally called "Gunj") for them near Chaman railway station these beasts of burden would instinctively go to their nominated places for unloading.

Once unburdened again instinctively the animals would leave making a bee-line across the station yard to Caravan Serai in the city. Their rightful temptation was prompted by anticipation of a well-deserved rest and big mouthfuls of welcome fodder. Along with this animal transportation several motor lorries would also arrive bringing fruit consignments in "kawaras'. So Chaman which was quite till a few hours ago would suddenly become a scene of great hustle and bustle with fruit merchants, shouting muleteers, neighing mules, braying donkeys and the noise of aimless bazaar spectators and others. By 1 p.m. the din would die down with the departure of last of the donkeys, mules, their masters and the local shoppers. But the peace was to be short lived as from 3 p.m. the pandemonium would re- surface with the start of auctions of consignments. Customarily before auction at least a couple of "kawaras" of each "kafla' or caravan were opened to test-check the quality of contents.

There were hardly ever any rejections! Then with "ek", "do", "teen" or "one", "two" or "three" the auctioneers would hammer the deals successively duly selling all the consignments. To keep themselves out of boredom and heat the auctioneers and bidders would also chitchat in between and enjoy literally the multi-coloured aerated cold drinks locally sold. By 6 p.m. more ice would be brought in by the loaders from the two local ice factories in Chaman city to replenish the morning ice-fillings in the Refrigerator Vans as most of that would melt by that time. Now labelling and dispatching of the Vans remained to be done. The labelling time was between 6.30 and 7 p.m. After that the "kawaras" would be brought from the nominated shelter, "Gunj" to the loading platform at the station where they were weighed and sorted out for various destinations and loaded in the Vans.The loading would continue till midnight!

The Vans would then be closed, shunted and marshalled destination-station wise to form the special Fruit Train It would contain consignments for many distant markets in India namely Lahore, Delhi, Agra, Lucknow, Cawnpore (Kanpur), Calcutta, Bombay, Madras etc.

The Train – the flagship of North Western Railway - would punctually leave Chaman daily at 12.50 a.m. for Rohri or farthest to Samarsata depending on the quantum of traffic! These were two important junctions .From either terminal station further clearance of Vans was done by connecting mixed or passenger trains. Delhi, where bulk of this traffic went via Bhatinda as piecemeal parcel traffic in individual Vans was still a long way being 400.44miles (600kms) away from Samarsata –the usual last terminal for this special Fruit Train.

The route of the Train from Chaman was via Gulistan and Bostan through the famous Bolan Pass to Quetta and from there via Sibi, Jacobabad, Sukkur to Rohri and finally ending most of the times at Samarsata. The entire route was steam -hauled and was on B.G. single line except with a few patches of double line as between Gulistan and Shelabagh at the mouth of marvellous Kojak Tunnel short of Chaman and the main line from Rohri to Samarsata. The entire railway system was the part of the main historical North Western Railway, which in 1947 after the Partition, was bifurcated into Pakistan Western Railway (now Pakistan Railway) and Northern Railway of India.

The Partition ended the very nostalgic story of a glorious parcel train (starting through the railways now in Pakistan) of exceptional quality fresh-fruits from Afghanistan.''

Maha Kumbhabhishekam – Arunachaleswarar Temple

As a result of an archive search, I found the below descriptive narrative of the renewal ceremony of Maha Kumbhabhishekam which took place at the Arunachaleswarar Temple in June, 2002. The narrative will be inspirational to both those who already know and love Arunachaleswarar Temple and also to those who hope one day to visit this ancient Shiva Temple. [The photographs accompanying this narrative are from recent times].



“I remember it vividly. it was 9:47 in the morning on June 27, 2002. That moment was perfectly still like a calm before a storm. What followed was a devotional frenzy that all good Tamil Nadu temple-goers know only too well.

Three hundred thousand devotees were packed around a 217-foot rajagopuram (one of four main outer temple towers) at the Arunachaleswarar Temple in Tiruvannamalai, South India. They had been there all morning some since the night before. Suddenly, as if in response to some orchestrated cue, everyone roared, "Annamalaikku Haro Hara," "Glory to the Lord of Annamalai." Six eagles circled over the Temple's sanctum sanctorum and abhishekams (water ceremonies) were simultaneously performed in nine towers and nine shrines throughout the temple complex. The 1,300-year-old temple was experiencing its fifth known Maha Kumbhabhishekam. It was history in the making. The last such ceremony occurred in 1976. The two before that were in 1944 and 1903.

A Maha Kumbhabhishekam is held either to formally consecrate a new Temple or reconsecrate an old one, which usually occurs at twelve-year intervals, following renovation, extensive cleaning and renewal. The rites culminate with the priests' pouring sanctified water over the temple spires, each of which resembles an inverted pot, or kumbha. Leading up to the consecration, a number of rituals are performed by the sthapati (main temple architect) in charge of the construction or renovation.

The temple at Arunachaleswarar is the second largest in India. Throughout its long history, it has enjoyed extraordinary popularity among wealthy patrons. This remains true today. Just before the Maha Kumbhabhishekam of 2002, more than Rs. 450 Lakhs was spent on Temple renovation and repair. Although a great deal of this money came from affluent donors, much was also solicited through pamphlets, posters and "door stickers" as well as from television.

All nine gopurams were repaired, renovated and repainted. The 1000 - pillared mandapam (main temple hall) was completely cleaned and even outfitted with electricity. The temple's entire collection of ceremonial utensils were scrubbed and polished. And much of the old ornamentation was refurbished with new, intricately designed carvings and designs all gold-plated.

During the ceremony itself, more than five thousand policemen were on hand to keep order. The water and fire rituals commenced in coordination with the conclusion of a nine-day annual festival featuring worship of the Hindu Goddesses Durga, Amman and Pitari. The inaugural puja was held in the newly constructed yagasala (a place of fire worship) on the evening of June 22.





During the next six days, grand homas (fire ceremonies) were conducted at 102 agni kundams (fire pits) built in the yagasala just for this purpose. Each of these homas was dedicated to a God or Goddess. Thirty-three were for Annamalai (a form of Lord Siva), 25 for Amman (a form of Goddess Shakti), and five each for Gods Vinayagar, Murugan, Somaskander and Venugopal. The remaining 24 were committed to the parivara devathas (canonized saints devoted to Lord Siva).

Three hundred Sivacharyas, 15 oduvars (traditional temple singers) and 120 Vedic scholars from all over India orchestrated the homas while 108 tavil players (temple drummers) and nadaswaram masters (temple horn players) provided appropriate festival music. The grand procession around the temple was led by Tyagaraja Gurukkal (69) and Alasyanatha Gurukkal (54), both long-time chief priests at Arunachaleswara Temple.

Doordarshan, Jaya TV and a local television channel beamed the Kumbhabhishekam live as it occurred. All India Radio also broadcast a running commentary. Dina Malar, a renowned Tamil daily, hired seven photographers to cover the event. All in all it was a grand event in Tamil Nadu, a gracious gift of upliftment to its motherland of India, otherwise deeply troubled by the darker events of 2002.

For hundreds of years, the town of Tiruvannamalai and the temple Arunachaleswara have stood foremost among South India's most sought-after spiritual destinations. Successive South Indian kings always gave great importance to them both. They dug ponds and wells—built gopurams, compound walls and prakarams (temple courtyards) and donated jewels and gold. Famous Indian kings down through history—like Rajaraja Chola, Rajendra Chola, Harihara Bukkar, Krishna Deva Rayar, as well as the kings of the Chera, Pallava, Pandya, Rashtrakotta, Hoysala and Naik dynasties—were proud to have Tiruvannamalai as part of their kingdom. Some of them even made it their capital. Even when caught in political crisis, they held onto Tiruvannamalai.

Historical details about the Arunachaleswarar Temple are revealed in stone inscriptions on the prakara walls and copper plates of the temple itself. These inscriptions, which refer to a period of time spanning a thousand years starting from 750 AD, indicate that the greatness of Arunachaleswarar was made known to the kings of the times primarily through important South Indian devotional literature like the Thevaram and Thiruvasagam.

Aruna literally means “force” and achala means “that which cannot be moved.” So, Arunachaleswarar Temple represents Lord Siva as indomitable power. And this famous Temple is now attracting an ever increasing number of pilgrims each year.”

[By Kesav Mallia, Chennai]

I Need A Home

Pooja is a young dog living at the Tiruvannamalai Animal Sanctuary and for whom they are eager to find a calm, peaceful home. She is around a year old and is a Dalmatian mix. Pooja is medium size and slender and has been living at the Sanctuary nearly since birth.She was born blind and was soon thrown out onto the steet as a puppy by the owners of the Mother dog.

On arriving at the Animal Sanctuary, Dr. Raja (the veterinary surgeon) tried treating Pooja’s eyes but soon discovered that there exists no treatment that would restore her sight. At the beginning of her life at the Sanctuary, Pooja lived in a room off the verandah with a high board partition closing off the room. To keep her company some young puppies shared her room. After about a month with developing confidence, the gate closing off her room was opened and Pooja ventured onto the open verandah with many of the other residential dogs.

Leslie Robinson, Director and Founder of The Tiruvannamalai
Animal Sanctuary with young Pooja

To begin with the other dogs were harsh with Pooja but quickly they began to understand that her clumsiness (like stepping on top of their heads whilst sleeping) was due to her blindness. Now all her companion dogs are very patient and loving towards here. The Animal Sanctuary are looking for a sweet home for young, blind Pooja. Perhaps an older settled person with no kids would like to welcome this sweet young dog into their life. Why not come at visit her at the Animal Sanctuary on Chengam Road next to the Arts College – half a kilometre west of Ramana Ashram.



You can really make a difference in the life of a dear animal. Below is my own sweet Victor (one of my six doggies) who I adopted from the Animal Sanctuary some time back. The before photograph was taken soon after he was confiscated from his owners and the next photograph, 18 months later during one of our daily walks and swims at Samudram Erie.

Victor Before

Victor After

Visiting Mooku Podi Swami

Rightclick on all photos to enlarge

Yesterday morning decided it was a good time to visit with Mooku Podi Swami. He is currently residing at the Srinivasan Secondary School on the Girivalam Roadway near Nithyananda Ashram.

I often visit the nearby Rajarajeshwari Temple, a spot that Swami Mooku Podi regularly frequents so have seen him many times. But this time I wished to sit and visit and particularly wanted to take photographs as the ones I previously posted on Arunachala Grace were out-of-date and taken at the time Swami used to spend sitting on the ice-cream fridge, inside the Deepam Hotel on Car Street.

As it was a Sunday the school was on holiday and the compound was very quiet. An absolute ideal time to visit.

Swami was wearing dirty, old rags and his clean, fresh clothes lay next to him in a heap at his side. Instead of his usual stick, he was holding in his hand a fan and other than a clean, white cloth wrapped around his head was otherwise completely naked.

I noticed Swami’s eyes were shining and very twinkling. While there he handed me two thayam stones and urged me to cast them with Arumugam the Srinivasan School watchman. There was also a young man named Prabhu visiting Swami but all through he kept silent.

A photo of thayam -- a gambling game played in Tamil Nadu

Don’t know the exact reason why Swami has chosen Srinivasan School as his present abode. It is a Secondary School started by a Jeevan Mukta at the beginning of the last century. The Samadhi of this Jeevan Mukta (i.e. Srinivasanlu) is inside the school compound.

Srinivasanlu -- Jeevan Mukta

From the upstairs verandah, where Swami was sitting, I could see Parvati Hill – which is the only place of the 14 km girivalam roadway around Arunachala, from which you cannot see the flame during Deepam.

I spent about an hour with Swami Mooku Podi and other than his occasional shout, it was a peaceful and enjoyable visit. I hope the above is enough information, for those eager to meet Swami, for them to be able locate him on the hillround roadway.

A New Life

A beautiful morning at the Animal Sanctuary nestled at the feet of Arunachala.

And below the monkey cage which by the time you read this will be completely empty.

And here is one sweet monkey, unknowingly saying goodbye.

And the younger female monkey is being embraced on what will be her last day at the Sanctuary.

Goodbye little dear.

And all Dr. Raju will have to remember you by is your favourite toy -- a little monkey.

Late yesterday night the monkeys were sedated and taken by van on a journey -- one that would take nearly 10 hours by road. They were accompanied by a friend and worker from the Sanctuary and were on their way to a new life of freedom. The daylight breaks at the Mudumalai Wildlife Sanctuary.

And the monkeys' new life begins.

For nearly a year these two young female bonnet macaque monkeys have resided at the Animal Sanctuary at Tiruvannamalai while gradually recovering from traumatic incidents in their lives. One of the monkeys became paralysed after a bout of tetanus and the other was injured from her time with street performers.

While gradually returning to full health their home has been a cage at the Sanctuary but after they were both given a clean bill of health, the Animal Sanctuary arranged their relocation to an Animal Refuge bordering the Mudumalai Wildlife Sanctuary in the Nilgris District of Tamil Nadu.

The young monkeys will spend time at the Animal Refuge while being slowly educated into living a free and independent life within the Wildlife Sanctuary. And what a time they’ll have as the Mudumalai Wildlife Sanctuary is 321 sq kms and comprises flat land, open grassland, lakes, valleys and swamp. A New Wonder-filled Life.

Goddess Ankalamma

Yesterday evening during a shopping expedition to town, I paused to view a very nice procession of the Goddess Anakalamma parading through town on a chariot. On talking with a couple of bystanders, I learnt that this Goddess has a shrine on the way out of town on the Sathanur Dam roadway. The procession was in celebration of the Navaratri Festival.

As I am not familiar with this Goddess, I was interested to learn more. I was particularly delighted by the garlanded bow and arrow the priest took from the Goddess and (as her proxy) shot little wooden arrows into the watching crowd. I assumed that it was in some way associated with Kama the God of Love, however I was soon set right by some friendly bystanders who assured me that it was nothing to do with Kama but signified the Veera (power and strength) of the warrior Goddess.

On getting home I did some research on this fascinating Goddess and below write about some legends associated with her -- particularly those associated with her at the nearby Melmalaiyanoor Temple (35 kms east of Tiruvannamalai) to which the Goddess was supposed to have travelled, after leaving Arunachala.

Goddess Ankalamma is also known as Angalamma, Ankamma, Angamma, Ankali, Angali, Ankala Parameswari and Angala Parameswari and is worshipped in Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka.

She is said to be one of the Seven Matrkas (Sapta Matrikas) and is also considered to be a form of goddess Ankali or Kali. Ankamma is considered to be the mother of the Trimurtis (i.e. Brahma, Vishnu and Siva) but like many Tamil popular deities, she seems to have originated as a fierce guardian figure. In the rituals dedicated to her she is appeased with blood. Ankamma also means Parvati, the consort of Shiva (in Telegu "Ankamu" means "Lap"). Hence Ankamma means the divine consort of Shiva who sits on the lap of Shiva.

It is held that that this Goddess has 1000 eyes and each red dot of kumkum indicates one eye of Goddess Ankamma. The devotees of Ankamma believe that the Goddess keeps a protective watch on her devotees through her one thousand eyes. Ankalamma's shrines are generally located outside villages in groves of trees and often in the form of simple stone structures.

One of the most famous Ankamma Temples is Sri Angala Amman Temple at Melmalaiyanoor, 35 Kms east of Tiruvannamalai. One of the fascinating legends of this temple is as follows:

Legend of Melmalaiyanoor

“With power of mantras and boons from Lord Shiva, Brahma performed a yaga to save the Gods and men from two demons known as Sandobi and Sundarar. Through this yaga Thilothama came to life as an apsara.

Attracted by her beauty not only demons but Brahma also followed her. For her protection she went to Kailash. As Brahma had five heads, Parvati mistook him for the five-headed Shiva and fell at his feet. But when Parvati realized the truth, in anger she prayed that Shiva would destroy the fifth head of Brahma. Shiva fought with Brahma and cut off his fifth head. But Brahma’s fifth head grew back. Shiva cut off Brahma's head nine hundred and ninety nine times and became fatigued. He made the nine hundred and ninety nine heads into a garland and wore it and then again cut off Brahma's fifth head which this time did not grow back. Shiva was affected by sin due to this.

The Goddess Saraswati, wife of Brahma cursed Shiva to have no food or sleep, and that his hunger and thirst could only be satisfied by bone. After this Shiva roamed the world. Saraswati was also cursed Parvati to become ugly, and that crane and peacock birds were to become her dress and her assistants were to be demons.

On hearing this, Lord Vishnu instructed Parvati that her ordeal would end when she became a snake in Melmalaiyanoor.

To win relief from these curses, the Goddess Parvati roamed around the world until she met the sage Kapil at Tiruvannamalai and took a bath in the Brahma Tirtham. From Tiruvannamalai, Parvati proceeded to Thazhanur where she stayed overnight and then moved onto Melmalaiyanoor.”

To read more of this legend go to this link here.



Below is an interesting narrative explaining the history of the Village Goddess and how that role has adapted over the years to fit changing times.

History of the Village Goddess

“Till about a hundred years ago, village goddesses as localised forms of Devi - the Goddess - constituted the single most important category of deities worshipped in the Indian countryside. In contrast to the great gods who were linked to the Universe as celestial space, goddesses were tied to the world and the earth. Bhudevi, for instance, was earth divinized.

The divinity rubbed off on the village goddesses as well. They were the presiding deities of their little kingdoms, their sovereignty being coterminous with the boundaries of the settlement. They were responsible for the protection of the populace within the village precincts. Agricultural production and human reproduction were also dependent on their grace. Thus Village India was dotted with countless shrines of Mata, Amman, and so on.

Whatever their local name or form, all village goddesses shared certain common features. The vast majority were represented without male consorts. Though not necessarily unmarried, they stood alone in their temples. The Tamil village goddess Angalamman, for example, was depicted both as an auspicious married woman with sons, and as a virgin without husbands. In both cases the male consort was absent.

Goddesses could stand and act alone because they embodied shakti, the energising power. Such single goddesses, however, were generally perceived as dangerous, quickly angered and bloodthirsty. They demanded animal sacrifices as appeasement, a trait which further set them apart from the great deities of Hinduism who., were, all vegetarian.

But in the modern era, village goddesses underwent a metamorphosis. Dietary reform now became the rage. The brahmanical commitment to vegetarianism was elevated to an all-India ideal. Overnight, Mahatma Gandhi made it the new moral imperative. By making all Hindus pure and superior, he struck a powerful blow at caste inequality.

The emphasis on vegetarianism had a telling effect on the position of the village goddesses. This triggered off a reform of village goddesses. They were either made vegetarian, or, if they still demanded animal sacrifices, abandoned. The overall result was a marked decline in the popularity of village goddesses.”

To read the full article by Meenakshi Jain go to this link here.

Navaratri 2009

There are many stories about the origin and mythology of Arunachala presented in various scriptural texts, and in particular in the Skanda Purana, from which many other scriptures have been based. To read more about some of these stories click on this link here. To visit a Durga resource page to this link here.

However as we are currently celebrating the 2009 Navaratri am posting below the story of ‘The Fight with Mahishasura,’ as it pertains to Arunachala mythology.


The Fight with Mahishasura

"In this story Brahma relates how the demon Mahishasura was attracted to the beautiful Goddess Parvati and how he was lured to meet his end.

The devas, oppressed by the demon Mahishasura, who had taken the form of a buffalo, came down to earth and took refuge in the Goddess. They piteously told her about their sufferings and how they lived in fear and were compelled to obey all Mahishasura’s commands. They could do nothing, as the demon Mahishasura was invincible having obtained a boon from Siva that no man could kill him.

Hearing their cry of fear, the Goddess assured the devas of her protection and vowed to kill the great asura by strategy. Hearing such words of assurance the devas returned in peace to their abode. After they had left, Parvati manifested herself as the resplendent delusion Mohini (enchantress) and appointed four Bhairavis to keep watch on all four sides of Arunagiri, ordering them to admit only those who came to worship Arunachala and were tired, hungry and thirsty. Then after appointing strong men to guard the boundaries of Arunachala, extending to two yojanas (24 kilometres) the Goddess continued her penance at the ashram.

While Parvati was engaged in penance, there was no type of distress at all. The rains were plentiful, crops grew and the trees bore abundant fruits. Animals antagonistic to one another gave up their previous animosity, and neither external nor internal enemies prevailed. All the sages became content and praised the Goddess, who day and night continued to perform severe penance.

One day the demon Mahishasura, far from his own place, entered the forest of Arunachala whilst hunting animals. The animals then took refuge in the ashram of the Goddess and the asuras, chasing them, were denied entrance as it was a place of penance for Parvati. After entering the ashram, disguised as birds, the asuras seeing the Goddess soon returned to Mahisha praising her enchanting beauty. The demon, stricken with lust, disguised himself as an old man and entered the ashram, where he was told that the maiden of the ashram was doing penance in order to obtain a valiant husband, capable of performing great deeds.

After Mahisha spoke of his glories, the Goddess said she would become the wife only of a valiant man: ‘If you are such a man, display your strength. If you fail, admit that you are weak.’

On hearing these words Mahisha became enraged and sprang towards the Goddess with the object of killing her. At his approach Parvati transformed herself into Durga, the fiery and invincible Goddess. On seeing this, the demon made himself into the size of a mountain and gathered his vast armies from all quarters. But the Goddess was offered weapons and missiles by Brahma, Visnu, Siva, the dikpalakas, devas, mountains and seas. With many hands blazing due to the multitudes of arms, missiles and weapons, Durga, the great Maya, wore a coat of mail and immediately rode on her vehicle, the lion. Unable to bear her effulgence and seeing her terrible form, the demon Mahisha fled.

Knowing that the wicked Mahishasura could only be killed by subterfuge, the Goddess sends a monkey-faced muni named Suraguru to the demon. The demon becomes enraged on hearing the muni’s message from Parvati of abandoning adharma and following the path of righteousness. Thereafter the demon, gathered his armed forces and surrounded Arunagiri. The ensuing battle ended when the Goddess pierced the demon with her trident and cut off his head."

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Ramana Ashram is currently engaged in very beautiful daily functions and observations of the 2009 Navaratri Celebrations. Above is a photograph of The Goddess Durga battling Mahishasura as portrayed in one of their functions. To view more of the celebrations at this year’s Ramana Ashram Navaratri click on this link here.

Arunachala Google Earth

With thanks to Google Earth for this amazing satellite photograph of Arunachala. Right click to view an enlarged version

Iron Ore Project Rejected

For the lovers of the environment and the sanctity of this vicinity the good news is that a proposed mining project that would have adversely affected the Arunachala area has been summarily rejected. For earlier information on this venture check an earlier posting on Arunachala Grace here.

A Supreme Court panel (CEC) rejected the proposed joint venture iron ore mining venture submitted by JVSL (Jindal Vijayanagar Steel Ltd) and Tidco (Tamil Nadu Industrial Development Corp Ltd). The joint venture was to sell iron ore produced at reserved forests in Tiruvannamalai and Salem Districts to Southern Iron and Steel Co. Ltd (Siscol), to manufacture pig iron and coke.

CEC said in its report:

“…the permission sought for the felling of 222,397 trees of spontaneous growth in 325 hectares of reserved forest in district Thiruvannamalai for the implementation of the iron ore mining and pelletization project by Tamil Nadu Iron Ore Mining Corp. Ltd or Timco may not be granted.”

The Supreme Court panel also pointed out that the regional office of the Ministry of Environment and Forests too had recommended that the project not be cleared. In terms of environmental impact, CEC said implementation of the project could affect water and air quality in Salem. And in Tiruvannamalai, it noted that the forest area has

“several species of endangered flora and fauna” and “the use of 325 hectares of undisturbed reserved forest for iron ore mining and pelletization project far outweighs the financial benefits that may accrue by way of reduced cost of raw material for Tamil Nadu...”

The Ministry of Environment and Forests cannot give any clearances in relation to the project unless approved by the Supreme Court so now the only option remaining for the joint venture group is that they file an appeal with the Supreme Court against the recommendations of the CEC.

Its too earlier for us to open the champagne bottles in victory but perhaps not too early to bring them up from the cellar in preparation . . .

For a fuller newspaper report check this link here.

Arunachala Grace

I am very eager to develop the information resource Arunachala Grace Network, which comprises the website, Arunachala Samudra, the blogs: Arunachala Grace, Arunachala Birds and Arunachala Land. As well as these online resources there is also a regular FREE Arunachala Grace Newsletter which is sent direct to the email inbox of its subscribers.

Over the last couple of months there has been limited posting on the Blogs and also a delay of the Newsletter. To be able to give my proper attention to the development of this Network its necessary to ask for your financial support. The amount of such support determines the speed and extent of the Network’s development. I had hoped this year to provide a ‘live stream’ of the ‘Lighting of the Flame’ during the upcoming Deepam Festival on this Network’s website, Arunachala Samudra, but thus far lack the resources to do so.

There is an easy-to-use ‘PayPal’ facility on the left column of this page for the convenience of those that wish to donate. If you wish to remit your donation using another method please email me at the ‘contact’ facility at the top left hand of this page.

Thank you.

Sri Brahmam

Many pilgrims and visitors who come to Tiruvannamalai have the wish to meet saints, sages or sadhakas more advanced than themselves who they hope will resolve doubts and inspire them on their spiritual journey. In this respect I am including below an extract entitled ‘Spiritual Journey’, giving a short biography of Sri Brahmam (V.V. Brahmam) which appears on his website:

Spiritual Journey

"Sri Brahmam was born in 1944. Since childhood he always questioned the purpose of life, knowing that everybody will eventually die. When he was about six years old, the mantra "Om Nama Sivaya" arose naturally in him and kept repeating inside spontaneously at all times.

At the age of 25 he saw a photograph of Ramana Maharishi at a friend's house. He was strongly attracted and immediately travelled to Tiruvannamalai to the Ramana Ashram at the foot of the Arunachala Hill. So far he hadn't read any books about spirituality and hadn't met any spiritual teacher or guru. He was a very pure young man - he hadn't been influenced by duality of the world, since the mantra was always repeating inside.

Once he arrived at the Meditation Hall of the Ramana Ashram, he sat in front of Ramana Maharishi's photo. In his heart he fully surrendered to Ramana and gave up all his desires. A strong force pulled him inwards, his breath and thoughts stopped and silence and peace filled him completely. After he got up, thoughts gradually came back, but inside there was no attachment to them.

This state was new to the young school teacher. He went to Sauris Ma, whom many people regarded as an enlightened being and was told that his Self-Realization was completed. His life was transformed. Within the following period of his life the remaining tendencies, desires and attachments were destroyed by the grace of the Self for ever. Only the Self remains.”

Sri Brahmam is readily available to meet with sadhakas and pilgrims to Arunachala and even though he has an Ashram in Tadpatri, spends many months of the year at Arunachala. For contact information please check out his website:


In an interview with Premananda, Sri Brahmam was asked the following question on ‘Mental Structures’:

“What about vasanas, the tendencies of themind? Must these be removed before Self-realisation can become permanent? Is it enough to achieve a sattwic (peaceful) state of mind and to know one’s vasanas so that they no longer bind? How to remove the vasanas?”

To watch a video of his answer to this question please click on the following link.

More on Mooku Podi Swami

I am reposting here two earlier links on Mooku Podi Swami as they are both still getting a lot of attention. The first post is of August 5th and entitled, ‘I am still in shock,’ and the second post is of August 6th, ‘Trip to Chennai.’

In response to the posting of August 5th, received today the following anonymous comment:

“I too had a darshan of the Swamy on 21st August. He was staying at the high school on the girivalam road at the back of the mountain. I believe he is also called mookupodi samiyar (mookupodi-snuff). Well, it goes like this: My mother wanted to do girivalam in auto. So I, my wife and my mother hired an auto outside Ramanasaramam and were going around it when my mother asked the auto driver about the whereabouts of the swamy. He said the swamy is staying in the school which is on the girivalam route and promised to take us there. We were all excited. When we reached the school, the guard said that the swamy had just left and pointed out the direction. The swamy was just 50 away. So the auto driver took us near him. Then the strangest thing happened. The swamy started shouting at us even before we got out of the auto. We were so scared we asked to auto driver to immediately vacate the place.

I cannot make any sense of this incident. Were we not spiritually mature enough to have darshan of swamy? Or did he infact benefit us spiritually in his own mysterious way, just like Seshadri Swamigal? Maybe, he is not the one to take some karma load off us. I really dont know.”

I expect the reader of the comment would be happy to receive feedback from others who have also visited with Mottayan Swami.

For myself, hope to visit with Swami within the next week or so, at which time, if allowed will take LOTS of snaps. So check back to Arunachala Grace for my report and photographs.

Shh! The quietest building in the world

The below story about ‘the quietest building in the world’, appeared in the world news last week and raises some interesting points. The story states that the reason for the room is to provide an environment for nanotechnology studies which, because of the microscopic size of the materials involved, require a complete stillness to facilitate the success of experiments. The developers of the room have been careful to ensure that its architecture prevents the penetration of echo and sound waves inside the building and that its environment contains almost zero vibration, acoustic and air movements.

So my question is what about thought? And just because ‘thought’ cannot be registered on a sound meter does that mean it doesn’t affect the environment? Is the difference between spirituality and worldliness – that the ‘world’ only believes in that which is measurable and related to the senses? Is the room really silent? Doesn’t every person that enters the room bring in a plethora of ‘noise’ in their thoughts? And how can ‘noise’ from thoughts affect substance? What do you think?

Read the below story to find out more about the ‘silent room’.

“A vibration-free nanoscience lab in the heart of a British city is being hailed as the quietest building in the world.

This highly distinctive, $21 million University of Bristol building opened on Monday and features an atrium dome that is shaped like a ‘bucky ball’, a molecular structure (resembling a football) composed entirely of carbon atoms.

Designed by Capita Architecture, the building also features self-cleaning glass and a basement that houses the ‘low noise’ area with a suite of ultra-low vibration nanoscience laboratories anchored to the rock below. Although technically complex, it has become ‘the quietest building in the world’ in terms of vibration performance.

Nanotechnology is the study of the manipulation and control of matter on an atomic and molecular scale. Materials studied are usually between one and 100 nanometers in size - up to one one-hundred-thousandth of the thickness of a piece of paper.

Because of the size of the materials involved complete stillness is essential to an experiment's success.”

Vintage Photographs

Below are some interesting archival photographs of India taken around 1918. The first photograph is of a peak of the Girnar Mountain (Gujarat) which shows a rather interesting pathway to the top of the peak.

Some years back there was discussion at Tiruvannamalai amongst officials, regarding the possibility of making a special access path to the top of Arunachala complete with viewing platform on the Hill summit. Fortunately that never happened, however there are many sacred peaks and hills in India that have special pathways or cable cars extending to the peak. Palani is one example of a very famous pilgrimage site that has such ultra modern facilities.

I personally like the older times at Arunachala, when there weren't even lights on the rutted, narrow, rustic girivalam roadway. Nowadays the paved girivalam pathway has state-of-the-art electric lighting and is wide enough to accommodate the width of two very large trucks or buses. Oh dear!

The next photograph is of men shoeing a bullock at the side of the road. This is exactly the same way its done nowadays and throughout Tiruvannamalai its a common sight to see a bullock lying at the side of the road being fitted with new 'shoes'.

Blacksmiths and metal workers are also in abundance and you can often see them with their tools, burning up scrap metals at the side of the road.

Nataraja at Elephanta Cave, Bombay

The above is an archival photograph of villagers pounding rice. In more rustic spots, its still done like that.

Permaculture Design Course, Arunachala

In 1989 John Button arrived at Tiruvannamalai to help initiate a project to reforest the sacred mountain Arunachala. The work conducted under the aegis of the Annamalai Reforestation Society (ARS) could be considered the catalyst to the current and ongoing greening of the Hill. Nowadays there are happily many organisations both NGOs and Governmental engaged in the reforestation of Arunachala.

To find out more about the history of the current reforestation at Arunachala and its surrounds, read an earlier posting on Arunachala Grace entitled, ‘Give yourself up to the Mountain,’ which is a first person narrative by John Button.

John Button, an Australian, has worked with Permaculture for over twenty five years, first in Australia, and for the last fifteen years in India, South East Asia, continental Europe and the Canary Islands. He has worked in the role of designer, implementer, teacher, consultant and project co-ordinator, in climates zones including dry tropics, rainforest sub-tropics, Mediterranean, temperate and alpine. He has broad, practical experience, having built several houses, planted many gardens and orchards, and many thousands of trees. He is an active campaigner for environmental and social justice.

John Button and Dr (Agron) Francesca Simonetti will be offering a ‘Permaculture Design Course’ at the Annamalai Reforestation Society in January, 2010. Full details and information of the course below.

Permaculture is the art and science that applies patterns found in nature to the design and construction of sustainable human environments. It is a design approach for harmonising the individual characteristics of landscape (landform, climate, soil, water, vegetation, animals) with the needs of the people utilising it, in order to create a system that is both productive and sustainable in the long term.

This course follows the internationally recognised curriculum for the Permaculture Design Certificate, basis for a Diploma of Permaculture.

Fun, stimulating, surprising, fulfilling.

Maximum emphasis is given to participant involvement, including demonstration, hands-on activities, group work, practical design exercises throughout. An intensely wonderful two weeks, with the time format likely to run beyond the specified times for those interested.

Facilitators:

John Button - Playing and working with Permaculture for almost 30 years in Australia, South East Asia, India and Europe as educator, designer and implementer of diverse successful applications of the art of Permaculture

Dr (Agron) Francesca Simonetti – agronomist, dancer, dreamer, restorer of antiquities and explorer of new horizons, works and plays with passion and clear vision.

Take a fresh look at your world – make a difference!

Enquiries:

johnnaturedesigns@yahoo.com

http://www.johnbutton-permaculture.net/

Photographs of the secluded and peaceful Annamalai Reforestation Society Farm, venue for the Permaculture Design Course.