Elephant Cruelty

It was with great sadness that I learnt from Ruku’s (the elephant) handler that the rejuvenation camp for Temple elephants (including Tiruvannamalai District) did not take place in 2006 and is unlikely to occur this year, 2007.

Mudumulai elephant rejuvenation camp, 2005

Since the recent change of State Government, the notion of an Elephant one-month rejuvenation camp held in the Tamil Nadu forests, has been disbanded. It is heart-breaking news that such noble animals should be deprived of even one month a year of decent living amongst their own kinds. Instead Temple elephants have a life of drudgery, overwork and often cruelty from harsh, untrained handlers.

Hampi Elephant

When I recently spoke to Ruku's mahout, he insisted that Ruku's life is much better than most Temple elephants; and I have no reason not to believe him. There is no doubt that the mahout himself is kinder than most handlers. However a life of standing motionless on cold concrete for up to 10 hours a day for the benefit of visiting pilgrims with only a chained night on cold concrete to look forward to and always far distant from any of its own is hardly a 'kindness'.

For information about elephant news from all over the world, please visit: http://www.elephant-news.com/

For more information about the life of elephants in South India, I reproduce here a recent article from The Hindu newspaper:

Kerala elephants during procession

"Overuse, cruelty driving elephants to madness: KOCHI: Kerala, the home to most number of captive elephants, is fast becoming their torture ground as well.

Parading the animals in musth, stretching their working hours beyond reasonable limits, provocation by public and cruelty by mahouts are driving the elephants to madness.

This year, there were nearly 10 instances of animals running wild and killing two mahouts and causing widespread damage to property. In a recent instance in Thrissur, the elephant killed its first mahout when another mahout who was moving behind it stabbed the elephant with a knife.

Elephant parade

In another incident at Cherthala, a young elephant that was paraded in a temple, ran wild when someone burst a balloon near it.

While musth was the main reason for the elephants running wild, there were other factors like ill-treatment, provocation from outside elements and excitement that could upset the mental balance of the animal, said K.M. Abraham Tharakan, a veterinarian who had tranquillised nearly 135 elephants during the last 10 years.

For Dr. Tharakan, every working hour is a close encounter with death. There is every possibility that the animal hit by the dart charging towards the direction from where it is fired. There were instances in the past when the veterinarian had to run for cover after darting the animal. One less fortunate veterinarian was killed by the animal he had darted.

In the face of increasing instances of captive elephants running wild and causing death and destruction, the Forest Department issued directives to its officers to ensure that all the regulations regarding the parading of elephants were observed.

It would be an uphill task for the Forest Department to take care of the elephants in distress as it required heavy investment and huge manpower, said V.S. Varghese, Chief Conservator of Forest (Wildlife).

Temples and other religious and social organisations should desist from the practice of parading maximum number of elephants to add colour and life to festivals. People should also be aware of the stress such incidents were causing to the animals and discourage such practices, he said.

K.C. Panicker, secretary of the Elephant Welfare Association, said the incidents of elephants running wild could be controlled if the elephants in musth were not paraded.

As the musth season of the elephants coincided with the temple festival season, a section of the elephant owners make best use of this occasion to make money by letting the animals, including the ones in musth, to be paraded."

Please remember that all elephants in parades or Temples are living unnatural, unpleasant and often tortured lives. When you go to a Temple and give money to the mahout for the elephant to Bless you on the head with its trunk you are promoting the continual misuse of elephants in Temples. By visiting elephant processions at Kerala and elsewhere you are also promoting heart-breaking elephant cruelty. PLEASE SUPPORT OUR FRIEND THE ELEPHANT BY NOT SUPPORTING ITS EXPLOITATION.

Laurie Baker

Laurie Baker

March 2nd, 1917 to April 1st, 2007

Eminent architect Laurie Baker, a pioneer of low-cost, organic housing in India, died in his residence at Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala on April 1st, 2007. The British-born architect was 90 years of age and had been keeping indifferent health for quite some time. He is survived by his wife Elizabeth.

Inspired by Gandhian ideals, Baker devoted himself to popularising low-cost housing in different parts of India. Although based in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala for the last few decades, Laurie Baker's influence and inspiration can be seen in Tiruvannamalai and Tamil Nadu, where many people have modelled their homes using his principles.

For more on mud, organic housing check:
http://vidyaonline.net/download/mud_english.pdf

Laurie Baker was born in England in 1917 and after studying in the Birmingham School of Architecture became an Associate of the Royale Institute of British Architects.

His practice was interrupted by World War II and he became an anaesthetist to a mobile surgical team. Later he became involved entirely in the treatment and control of leprosy in West China. Trying to return to the U.K. in 1944 he had to wait in Bombay for a boat for three months at a time when Gandhi was there.

He was greatly influenced by Gandhi and returned to work in India after a very brief spell at his home in England. In 1948 he married Elizabeth Jacob, a like-minded doctor from Kerala and until the mid 1960's they lived and worked in a remote Himalayan region where they built their own home, hospital and schools and brought up their children.

It was during this period that Laurie Baker acquired his insight into the problems and actual conditions of Rural India, together with his deep appreciation of indigenous architecture. After the death of his father in England, Laurie's mother, at the age of 84 years also came out to India to share her life with the family in the Himalayas and she remained with them until her death 10 years later.

With the advent of development in that Himalayan area, the Bakers decided to move South to Kerala and chose a remote mountain area amongst the tribals to build another home and hospital. In 1970 The Bakers handed over their medical work to others and settled in Trivandrum where they continued until this day to involve themselves in a a mixture of medical, architectural and building works.

Laurie Baker was conferred Indian citizenship a couple of decades ago and was awarded the Padmashree award and served on the Board of several State and National housing projects.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laurie_Baker

Day at Temples

Today I accompanied some out-of-town friends on a tour of favoured Arunachala Temples. As the day is full moon and some special pujas were scheduled for early morning at Arunachaleswarar Temple, that is where we started our Temple tour. To begin with, it is really essential, when visiting this Temple, to buy delicious eatable prasadam to take home and share with one's friends.

On our way to the Shiva Shrine (inside the Temple compound) we passed this Thulabaram. In the case of a prayer to the Divine, a person can make a vow that in the case of the fruition of that prayer, one's weight in bananas, rice, cloth, or whatever will be offered to God. So, when one's prayer is answered and its time to honour the vow, the person sits on the scale while the other side gets loaded up equal in weight with whatever was promised.

In the below photograph a lady is rolling around the perimeter of the shrine. She is accompanied by two family members. Sometimes people will roll around the whole of the 14km girivalam path in this way. It takes a long, long time!

Next two young lads, dressed rather splendidly, arrive to carry a flower decoration (kavadi) connected to the worship of Lord Murugan.

In this picture a father has returned to the Temple with his son to offer thanks for the boy's birth. The father and mother have brought sugar canes and cloth and will carry the boy in a palanquin around the perimeter of the Shiva Shrine.

The below photograph is the flagpost of the Arunachaleswarar Temple which plays such an important role during the Deepam festival.

The Temple is like a little city as there is always so much going on. Its a wonderful place to spend time in. Here one of the Temple cows from the Goshala who has just participated in a puja inside the Compound, is being fed herbs and grasses by devotees. In the background some ladies looking on and also, behind a pillar, the outline of Ruku, the Temple cow elephant.

Time for Ruku's morning bath. I followed her and the mahout on their way to the Goshala for her morning ablutions. The Goshala is where Ruku sleeps and has her home; nice that she has lots of company with the cows and calves.

And here is one of the young calves also living at the Goshala. The Temple keep their own cows for the milk which is daily needed for various Temple pujas.

A view of Arunachala from inside the Temple. The photograph is taken from infront of the Unnamulai Shrine.

Just wandering around from one part of the Temple to another. The Temple compound is huge and although situated right inside the small, bustling town of Tiruvannamalai, is absolutely silent of traffic and outside noise.

So our time at Arunachaleswarar Temple is over (for the moment) and we now continue our tour of favourite Arunachala Temples and Shrines. We first visit Sri Seshadri Swamigal Ashram in Ramana Nagar and after visiting the samadhi of the great saint, sit outside in front of a magnficent statue of Dakshinamurti with Arunachala in the background.

The below photograph is a more detailed one of the statue of Dakshinamurti.

The next Temple we visit is the Balaji (Lord Venkateshwara) Temple. It is a new temple, still under construction, and I have made some earlier postings on it you might like to visit. The below photograph is of a new statue of an aspect of Vaishnavi which is the grounds of the Temple.

We finish off our morning at absolutely one of my favourite Arunachala Temples, the Rajarajeshwari Koil. It is small but beautifully maintained and of particular interest are the statues of the Dasa Mahavidyas. But the below photograph is of Sri Rajarajeshwari herself of which we were given special permission to photograph.

In more detail the enigmatic and disarmingly sweet smile of the Goddess.

A happy and well blessed morning visiting at some of the wonderful and inspirational Arunachala Temples.

True Indigo

Indigofera Tinctoria bears the common name 'true indigo'. The plant is one of the original sources of indigo dye and has been naturalized to tropical and temperate Asia. Today most dye is synthetic (which is cheaper and easier to produce) but dye from Indigofera Tinctoria is still available and marketed as natural colouring.

True indigo is a shrub, one to two meters high and has light green pinnate leaves and sheafs of pink or violet flowers. The plant is a legume, so it is rotated into fields to improve the soil in the same way that other legume crops such as alfalfa and beans are. The plant is also widely grown as a soil-improving groundcover.

Tamil Nadu has a long, rich heritage in the use of natural dyes (drawn from mineral sources) in both Temple and Cave paintings. Binding materials like clay and rice husk used to be applied as a natural paste on rock and Temple walls to support the paintings done in natural dyes, made over it.

The production of 'indigo cakes' is currently being developed in Tiruvannamalai. The process includes cultivation of the plant Indigofera Tinctoria, its harvesting, fermentation and then the production of 'indigo cakes'.

The dye is in fact obtained from processing the plant's leaves, which are soaked in water and fermented in order to convert the glycoside indican naturally present in the plant to the blue dye indigotin. During this process plant leaves are gathered in huge pits, weighed down using wooden poles, and soaked in water. The leaves are left thus to ferment. Later three to four people men stamp on the water-soaked leaves continuously for many hours until the water, which is green to start with, slowly turns into the rich blue of indigo.

The precipitate from the fermented leaf solution is mixed with a strong base such as lye, pressed into cakes, dried, and powdered. The powder is then mixed with various other substances to produce different shades of blue and purple.

Waking Life

Language

This particular video clip is a conversation exploring the relationship between language and functionality taken from the robotoscoped and animated 2001 film, Waking Life. The film is a unique way of presenting issues such as; reality, free will, our relationships with others and the meaning of life. The title is a reference to George Santayana's maxim that "Sanity is a madness put to good uses; waking life is a dream controlled."

The film, which is about a young man in a persistent lucid dream-like state, follows its protagonist as he initially observes and later participates in various philosophical discussions. The man eventually comes to the realization that he is dreaming and that he is unable to wake up and by the end of the film, he fears that he might be dead.

If you cannot see the video, please activate 'cookies' on your browser at tools>internet options:

Great Invocation

From the point of Light within the Mind of God
Let light stream forth into the minds of men.
Let Light descend on Earth.

From the point of Love within the Heart of God
Let love stream forth into the hearts of men.
May Christ return to Earth.

From the centre where the Will of God is known
Let purpose guide the little wills of men;
The purpose which the Masters know and serve.

From the centre which we call the race of men
Let the Plan of Love and Light work out
And may it seal the door where evil dwells.

Let Light and Love and Power restore the Plan on Earth.

[The Great Invocation]

Arunachaleswarar Temple

Arunachaleswarar Temple at the foot of Arunachala, Tiruvannamalai, is one of the largest (27 acres) and oldest Temples in South India. The tallest tower (Gopuram) of the Temple is 13 stories (60 metres) high.

The Temple occupies a special place in the Saivite realm and is regarded as one of the Pancha Bhoota Stalams (one of the five great Temples associated with the five basic elements). Arunachaleswaraar is related to the element Fire and the other four Temples are: Tiruvanaikkaval (Water), Chidambaram (Space), Kanchipuram (Earth) and Sri Kalahasti (Wind) respectively.

The mythlogy surrounding the Temple goes that after Shiva promised his effulgent form would shine forever as the eternal immutable Arunachala, the Gods Brahma and Vishnu asked that He moderate the effulgence of the Hill, to make it more bearable. They thus requested Shiva should make his eternal abode at Arunachala in the form of a Shiva Lingam on the eastern site of the Hill. The Lord agreed and immediately appeared in the form of a Shiva Lingam. To house the Lingam, Arunchaleswarar Temple was gradually formed around it. The Lingam is now situated inside the Shiva Sannidhi of the Temple.

There is an air of deep mysticism around the Temple and it has been been known for its long association with Yogis, Siddhas, and the well known spiritual savant Ramana Maharishi. The origin of the Temple dates way back in time, although much of the Temple structure as seen today, is a result of building activity over the last one thousand years.

To read more stories adapted from the Skanda Purana about the mythology of Arunachala, please visit this link.

Celestial Power

Earlier cultures were interested in the movements of celestial bodies as it was noticed that there were cycles in the power of sacred sites connected to the orbits of the sun, moon, planets and stars.

In this respect, certain sacred sites demonstrate regular periods of increase in their emanations of geophysical energies that seemingly correspond to the orbits of celestial bodies. In the case of Arunchala the moon has extraodinary relevance in both its new moon and full moon stages. According to the anthropologist Martin Gray:

'There is a great galactic symphony of subtle forces playing upon our planet by virtue of the cyclical orbits and particular positions of numerous different celestial bodies relative to the earth. The power places, because of their profound energetic resonance with different celestial frequencies, are ideal portals where humans may access those forces.'

Shiva Lingam

"All stones in that place [Arunachala] are lingams. It is indeed the Abode of Lord Siva. All trees are the wish-granting trees of Indra's heaven. Its rippling waters are the Ganges, flowing through our Lord's matted locks. The food eaten there is the ambrosia of the Gods. When men move about in that place it is the earth performing pradakshina around it. Words spoken there are holy scripture, and to fall asleep there is to be absorbed in samadhi, beyond the mind's delusion. Could there be any other place which is its equal?"

[Arunachala Puranam]

Rose-Crowned Glory

"After an all night train journey, I arrived at Tiruvannamalai just as the sun was clearing the horizon. The stars were fading out of the sky and the gopurams of the temple were silhouetted against the perfect cone of Arunachala Hill. It rose three thousand feet out of flat terrain and being so close it completely dominated the scene. The summit was at that moment hidden in a cloud which deepened to a crimson coronet as it caught the first rays of sunlight. Ten minutes later the display was over and the heat of the day began. I had seen the Taj Mahal by moonlight and the vast expanse of the snow-clad Himalayas stretching for a hundred miles, but in all India I never saw anything to equal this first glimpse of the holy hill, rose-crowned by the glory of the morning light."

[Hunting the Guru in India, by Anne Marshall]

The latest Government, Tiruvannamalai survey puts the height of Arunachala at 2,668 feet. As it is the only sizeable peak in the area Arunchala always seems larger than it actually is. But to get an idea of just how wee the Hill is; Mount Shasta is 14,161 feet, that is over 6 times the size of Arunachala. And Mount Everest at the Himalayas is 29,035 feet. So in this case size really doesn't matter!

Newsletter, April issue

The April issue of Arunachala Grace News is being sent out this week. If you wish to receive a free copy of this newsletter please subscribe on the left hand margin of this Blog, underneath the 'email logo'.

This month there are articles on the area's new Animal Shelter, Sacred Groves, a Proposed Bird Sanctuary, Tulsi, Seasonal Time Cycles as understood in Ayurveda, a children's project known as "Alaigal" and the usual Arunachala Tidbits, short stories, poems and nuggets of information.

Area's seismic past

An undocumented inscription has been recently found on the compound wall of the fifth prakaram, in front of the Elephant Shed at the Arunachaleswarar Temple, which throws light on the seismic character of the region.

A rectangular stone on which a Tamil inscription is engraved is part of the compound wall. The first three lines of the inscription reads: "Prabava varusham aadi matham 16-il bookambamakayil mathil adimattamaga vizhunthu pokayil." Which states that the compound wall completely fell down due to an earthquake on the 16th of the Tamil month Aadi in a Prabhava year.

The last three words of the inscription starting from the half of the third line is somewhat ambiguous, but has something to do with the reconstruction of the wall. Experts have said that the rudimentary style of writing of the inscription suggests that it may be around four hundred years old (i.e. early part of the 16th Century).

There is no mention of this inscription in previous books relating to inscriptions at Arunachaleswarar Temple, thus it is believed to be especially important in that it undermines all previous assumptions of seismic activity in this region.

Though the year in which the tremor shook the Temple City has been mentioned in the inscription as 'Prabhava', first of the 60-year cycle in Shalivahana calendar, it could not be clearly determined in which Prabhava year it was supposed to have happened.

Pandurangan, a 94-year-old Tamil pundit, closely associated with Temples and their traditions, said that he had heard about an earthquake that hit Tiruvannamalai from his ancestors. But he never came across any reference about this inscription in any of the books that documented the temple inscriptions. According to him, the quake could have occurred over 400 years ago because if it was within 200 years then he would have heard more about it from his elders. Experts have concurred with the Pundit, and all agree that the tremor must have happened around 400 years ago.

Swami Abhishiktananda

In an earlier posting I mentioned the ban on non-Indians wishing to take darshan of the Lord at Jagannath Temple, Puri, Orissa. I would mention that there are Temples currently in South India that also maintain such a policy. And yes, in olden days, even here at Tiruvannamalai, there were restrictions against non-Indians visiting the Arunachaleswarar Temple. At the moment I don't have details of the history of the ban, but once I have that information I will post it.

Now the once 'trickle' of non-Indians visiting Arunachala and Tiruvannamalai, has become a veritable 'flood'. But it wasn't always like that. Due to lack of information and difficulty of travel, it has only been since the 20th Century that Westerners have visited and/or stayed at Arunachala in any great number. Such notables include; Paul Brunton, Somerset Maugham, Maurice Frydman, Arthur Osborne, S. Cohen and Swami Abhishiktananda.

Swami Abhishiktananda was born Henri Le Saux 30th August, 1910, at St. Briac in Brittany in France. At an early age he felt a vocation to the priesthood and in 1929 he decided to become a monk and entered a Benedictine Monastery. Eventually his attraction to India, which started as early as 1934, came to fruition in 1948 when he joined Fr. Monchanin in Tamil Nadu where they both started up a small ashram at Tannirpalli, Tiruchirappalli District. It was there that Swami Abhishiktananda started to learn Tamil and Sanskrit and immerse himself in the Indian life-style.

Swami at an Arunachala cave

However it was in 1949 when he visited Tiruvannamalai and Sri Ramana Maharshi, that his life was to take a decisive turn. He later refers to that time:

"I regard this stay at Tiruvannamalai as being at one a real retreat and an initiation into Indian monastic life."

The periods which he spent at the foot of Arunachala and in its various caves were all between 1949 and 1955. However, during those years his permanent residence was at the ashram of Shantivanam which he had co-founded in: "an attempt to integrate into Christianity the monastic tradition of India."

But of Arunachala, he was to say: ' . . . the South (Arunachala) is my "birth-place".' And of his own spiritual experience at the sacred Hill, he was to later write:

"Anyone who is the recipient of this overwhelming Light is at once petrified and shattered; he can say nothing, he cannot think anymore; he just remains there, outside space and time, alone in the very aloneness of the Alone; it is an unbelievable experience, this sudden revelation of Arunachala’s infinite pillar of light and fire."

Swami's later years at his Ashram

At the end of his last visit to Tiruvannamalai in March, 1956, Abhishiktananda gave his assessment of the significance of Arunachala for himself:

"I think the best description of my real condition since Arunachala would be to compare it with the dawn;"arunodaya", when even before the sun has risen, the sky is already aglow. Light, peace and bliss. The birds are already singing, my heart too is singing. Joyful expectation of the appearance of the glorious orb."

GM causes 'breakdown'

Previously mentioned in an earlier posting are the isolated attempts of groups of farmers to reintroduce and strengthen traditional farming in Tiruvannamalai District.

Sadly throughout the South, there is evidence of farmers rushing to act as 'testers' for GM companies. In this respect in today's Independent (U.K.), the following article appeared relating specifically to Andhra Pradesh but which doubtedlessly applies to agricultural areas elsewhere in South India.

Genetically modified crops have helped cause a "complete breakdown" in farming systems in India, an authoritative new study suggests. The study threatens to deal a fatal blow to probably the most powerful argument left in the biotech industry's armoury, that it can help to bring prosperity to the Third World.

Professor Glenn Davis Stone, professor of anthropology and environmental studies at Washington University in St Louis, Missouri, has spent more than 40 weeks on the ground in the biotech industry's prime Developing World showcase, the Warangal District of the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh.

The industry claims that local farmers have adopted GM cotton faster than any other agriculture technology in history. It argued at the prestigious Biovision conference in Lyon this month that the rapid spread proves that the technology is working for farmers.

Professor Stone's study, published in the February issue of the journal Current Anthropology, demolishes this argument. Extensive interviews with the farmers proved that they are plumping for the GM seeds because they are new, hyped and locally fashionable, without having time to see if they produce better crops.

"There is a rapidity of change that farmers just can't keep up with," he says. "They aren't able to digest new technologies as they come along."

He adds that the rapid uptake "reflects the complete breakdown in the cotton cultivation system".

[The Independent
25 March 2007]

Sandblasting Ban

Further to a sandblasting posting early on this Blog, and to give more information about the previous process used for Temple renovation and cleaning at Arunachaleswarar Temple, the following is a history of the current sandblasting ban in affect in South Indian Temples.

In 2002, concerned at the incalculable damage done to priceless and ancient sculptures and the structural stability of various Temples, the Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments Department placed a blanket ban on sandblasting which hitherto had been adopted to clean icons and walls. The Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments Department declared that finer aspects of sculptures and idols were getting damaged or flattened after sandblasting. In this respect they issued a directive as a sequel to objections raised by conservationists, historians and culture-lovers in the context of sandblasting work done at Meenakshi temple, Madurai.

Intended to remove oily substance or whitewash, sandblasting is a process of spraying sand at high air pressure on sculptures, walls and pillars. Though it gives a "clean look" immediately, delicate features of the sculptures such as face, nose or lip gradually become flattened. Inscriptions also get obliterated and sandblasting also wears out bas-relief sculptures and removes the skin of granite stones on walls, leading to cracks. The stability of a structure is affected through the process of sandblasting and leads to gaps between stones which encourages the growth of fungus and vegetation.

Serious sandblasting damage has already been observed at the Ramanathaswamy Temple, Rameswaram, the Vedapureeswarar Temple, Vedaranyam, the Parthasarathy Temple, Chennai and the Thyagarajaswamy Temple, Thiruvarur.

Experts have advised that expediency cannot be a decisive factor in dealing with historic monuments such as Temples. In this respect currently replacing sandblasting, is the use of diluted chemicals for cleaning sculptures. Besides using chemicals, traditional poulticing methods such as sandalwood paste and ‘vibhuthi’ for sculptures in interior parts of Temples and application of fermented rice-flower paste for the rest can be adopted, advise experts.

Jagannath Temple

Happily at Tiruvannamalai there are no Temples, Shrines or Ashrams out of bounds to any caste or nationality.

However, a few weeks ago there was controversy at the Jagannath Temple, Puri, Orissa, regarding a man of foreign ancestry, who wanted to take darshan of the Lord inside the Temple. The man was refused and forcibly removed from the Temple.

After the incident at the Jagannath Temple, the man of foreign ancestry was interviewed by a local TV station and in the interview the man raised many interesting and relevant points about Temples and caste in India and for this reason, I think many might be interested in hearing his learned and intelligent observations.

The Jagannath Temple is a famous Hindu temple dedicated to Jagannath (Krishna). It is located in the coastal town of Puri in the state of Orissa. The name Jagannath (Lord of the Universe) is a combination of the Sanskrit words Jagat (Universe) and Nath (Lord of). The Temple is an important pilgrimage destination for many Hindu traditions, particularly worshippers of Krishna and Vishnu and is particularly famous for its annual Rath Yatra, chariot festival where huge and elaborately decorated chariots are used for the procession of the three main Temple deities.

The huge Temple complex covers an area of over 400,000 square feet, and is surrounded by a high fortified wall. It contains at least 120 Temples and Shrines. It is one of the most magnificent monuments of India. In modern times the Temple is busy and functioning. It has over 6000 priests, along with 14,000 other employees serving as their assistants and attendants waiting on the Jagannath deity, as well as pilgrim guides.

The Temple is selective regarding who is allowed entry into the grounds. Most non-Hindus are excluded from its premises, as are Hindus of non-Indian origin. Buddhist, Jain and Sikh groups are allowed into the Temple compound if they are able to prove their Indian ancestry.

Now watch the video:

Magnetic Mountain

"I have seen a new thing. There is a magnetic mountain which attracts all living beings. The moment one thinks of it, it controls (decimates) the actions of all beings who think of it and attracts them towards itself. Not only it attracts to itself but makes them motionless. How wondrous is the power of this magnetic mountain which takes such sacrifices. Oh Jeevas! Attain liberation by realising the nature of such Arunagiri." [Sri Ramana Maharshi]

In the above, Sri Ramana gives his interpretation of 'Arunagiri Yogi Vijayathe' in the Arunachala Purana. The interpretation suggests that a magnet attracts iron which is in physical proximity. But the magnetic mountain of Arunachala, attracts any being which thinks of it regardless of how far the being is. Further it makes the being devoid of action in the same way Arunchala Hill is.

Protecting the Aged

The increasing prosperity of India is also, in part, sadly contributing to the disintegration of its social framework. Whereas in previous times, families would take responsibility for the extended members of their unit, nowadays, one parent children are sent to orphanages and aged parents are often heartlessly abandoned.

Because of the decline in familial responsibility to aged parents, the Central Government in Delhi have introduced a Bill aiming to protect the aged. Under the provisions of the 'Maintenance and Welfare of Parents and Senior Citizens Bill', 2007, a person responsible for the upkeep of parents over 60 years of age, can attract a maximum of 3 month's imprisonment and a fine of Rs.5,000/- or both, if they fail to take care of them. The proposed Bill is expected to provide effective care and protection for senior citizens against ill treatment inflicted by their own wards and also offers them a speedy and inexpensive legal framework for redress.

Maintenance, as referred to in the Bill, includes; provision for food, clothing, residence, medical attention and treatment. The legislation also provides for the setting up of Tribunals in rural areas that will decide on complaints by the aged. The Tribunal will have the power to revert property to the parent in case of abuse and order payment of maintenance, depending upon the children's earning capacity.

State Governments are also expected to create and maintain Old Age Homes in a phased manner beginning with at least one in each District to accommodate 150 indigent senior citizens.

According to Government figures, more than 80 million people in India are over the age of 60 years. Over the years, there have been many cases of severe abuse when children force old and sick parents to give up their savings or sign over property into the child's name. Also, many older people, particularly widowed women, are forced to spend their late years alone, exposed to emotional neglect and lack of physical and financial support.

Tamarind Tree

The Tamarind tree, which is very common all around Tiruvannamalai, has many superstitions surrounding it. Locals believe that the neighbourhood in which the Tamarind tree grows becomes unwholesome, and that it is unsafe to sleep under it owing to the acid the tree emits during the moisture of the night. Another superstition about the Tamarind is that few plants will survive beneath it and that it is harmful to both people and animals to sleep under it, because of the belief of the corrosive effect that fallen leaves from the tree has in damp weather.

Maybe because of the supposed health dangers attributed to the tree, there also exists the common village superstition that the Tamarind attracts ghosts. For this reason it is uncommon to see this tree planted on private land. It is more often seen on the sides of public roads, where it provides effective, cooling shade to travellers.

Regardless of the bad associations of the Tamarind, it is essential in Indian cooking, so the tree must never be too inaccessible for harvesting purposes. The tree tolerates a great diversity of soil types, from deep alluvial soil to rocky land and porous, limestone. It also withstands salt spray and can be planted close to the seashore. The Tamarind can be grown just about anywhere and also because of its deep root system, can withstand the hot summer days of South India very effectively.

Arunachala Unity

[Extract from Eight Stanzas on Sri Arunachala by Sri Ramana Maharshi and believed to be composed around 1914-15].

"Thou dwellest in different religions under different names and forms. If they do not come to know Thee, they are indeed the blind who do not know the sun. O Arunachala the great! Thou peerless Gem, abide and shine Thou as my Self, One without a second!

As the string in a necklet of gems, it is Thou in Thy Unity who penetratest all the diversity of beings and religions. If, like a gem when it is cut and polished, the impure mind is worked against the wheel of the pure mind to free it of its flaws, it will take on the light of Thy Grace and shine like a ruby, whose fire is unaffected by any outward object. When a sensitive plate has been exposed to the sun, can it receive impressions afterwards? O benign and dazzling Aruna Hill! Is there anything apart from thee?"

Describing how he composed this poem, Ramana Maharshi said:

"The only poems that came to me spontaneously and compelled me, as it were, to write them without any one urging me are the 'Eleven Stanzas to Sri Arunachala' and the 'Eight Stanzas to Sri Arunachala'. In respect of the 'Eight Stanzas' . . . I started to go round the Hill and that day, before I got back to Virupaksha (cave), I wrote six of the eight stanzas."

In this poem Ramana stresses the inclusive comprehensive nature of Arunachala: "Thou in Thy Unity who penetratest all the diversity of beings and religions". Perhaps this is one of the reasons that Tiruvannamalai has little experience of communal or religious unrest and also why its population is currently 30% non-Hindu (i.e. Christian and Muslim)?