2017 Navaratri Alangarams at Tiruvannamalai—Days 1, 2 and 3

Each year Navaratri commences on the first day (pratipada) of the bright fortnight of the lunar month of Ashvin. The Navaratri festival or 'nine day festival' becomes a 'ten day festival' with the addition of the last day, Vijaya-dasami (day of victory) as its culmination. Today, Saturday September 30, 2017 marked that tenth day of Victory.

A legend explaining the origin of Navaratri is that Adi Shankaracharya gave upadesa at two primary locations during the installation of a Sri Chakra at Srisailam (Andhra Pradesh) and at Koolurmugambika (Karnataka). At the time of the installations he directed women folk to worship the Goddess and seek her blessings for wealth, prosperity and long life for their husbands and overall happiness in the family. 

This Festival is celebrated in a wide variety of ways, depending on region, local history and family influences. Some see it as a way to commune with one’s own feminine divinity. A widespread practice honours the Goddess in every woman by inviting young girls to the family's home, feeding them and offering new clothes. During the Festival, women also perform tapas and selfless acts. 

Families in Tamil Nadu traditionally prepare in their homes a kolu, an exhibition of small dolls, figurines and small artifacts on a stepped, decorated shelf. At least one murti of Shakti must be present, as well as wooden figurines of a boy and a girl together to invoke auspicious marriages. To view photographs of the 2017 Navaratri Kolu Display at Yogi Ramsuratkumar Ashram at Tiruvannamalai go to this link here. To view photographs of the 2017 Kolu Display in a private house go to this link here.

In South India the Goddess is worshipped in three forms. During the first three nights, Durga is revered, then Lakshmi on the fourth, fifth and sixth nights, and finally Saraswati until the ninth night. Durga ("invincible" in Sanskrit) is the epitome of strength, courage and ferocity. Her devotees approach Her, sometimes with difficult penances, for those qualities and for the protection she Bestows. 

A more gentle worship is observed for Lakshmi also called Annapurna "Giver of food," Lakshmi is the Goddess of abundance, wealth and comfort. She is the ever-giving mother, worshipped for well being and prosperity. A traditional way of invoking Her is chanting the Sri Suktam. In Her honour, food is prepared and offered to neighbours and all who visit, thus strengthening community ties. On the full moon night following Navaratri, it is believed Lakshmi Herself visits each home and replenishes family wealth. 

The last three days of Navaratri, exalt Saraswati, the form of Shakti personifying wisdom, arts and beauty. Her name literally means "flowing one", a reference to thoughts, words, music and the Saraswati River. Mystically Saraswati is believed to be the keeper of the powerful Gayatri Mantra, which is chanted during the festival to invoke Her supreme blessings. Devotees meditate for days on this mantra alone, as it is considered the door to divine wisdom. 

Tiruvannamalai has many beautiful Temples dedicated to the Divine Mother. The below photographs are of alangarams on the 1st, 2nd and 3rd days of the Shakti Goddess during this 2017 Navaratri Festival.



Navaratri Alangarams—Day One

Angalamman Temple near Market

Angalamman Temple near Government Veterinary Hospital

Kamakshi Temple on Thirumanjana Street

Goddess Soudeshwara, Tiruvannamalai

Goddess Vasavi, Tiruvannamalai

Navaratri Alangarams—Day Two

Adi Kamakshi Temple near Bus Stand

Close up of Goddess at Adi Kamakshi Temple

Angalamman Temple, near Market

Angalamman Temple near Government Veterinary Hospital

Close up of Goddess, Angalamman Temple near Hospital

Unnamulai Temple on Car Street

Durgamman Temple near Bus stand

Kamakshi Temple on Thirumanjana Street

Close up of Goddess, Kamakshi Temple Thirumanjana Street

Gangaiamman Temple, Tiruvannamalai

Ramana Ashram

Soudeshwara Temple, Tiruvannamalai

Vasavi Temple, Tiruvannamalai

Navaratri Alangarams—Day Three

Angalamman Temple near Government Veterinary Hospital

Gangaiamman Temple, Tiruvannamalai

Kali Temple, Chengham Road

Kamakshi Temple Thirumanjana Street

Ramana Ashram

Seshadri Ashram

Soudheshwari Temple, Tiruvannamalai

Unnamulai Temple, Car Street

Vasavi Temple, Tiruvannamalai

Close up of Goddess, Vasavi Temple, Tiruvannamalai

[With thanks to Professor Hari Prasad for photographs]

2017 Navaratri Kolu Display at a Tiruvannamalai Home

The below photographs are of a Kolu (i.e. Divine Presence) display taken in the home of Dr. K. Shanthi, Assistant Professor in the Department of Botany, Arts College, Tiruvannamalai. 

Dr. Shanthi’s native place is Cuddalore but she settled in Tiruvannamalai after marriage and now has two children of school-age. Well done to Professor Shanthi that in spite of a multitude of work and family duties, to have taken the time to create such a beautiful Kolu display. 

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Preparations for Kolu begin well in advance. Many families have dolls dating back from several generations and between each year’s celebration, the dolls are carefully wrapped and packed in large trunks. The figurines can be simple or very complicated and based upon marriage occasions, musical instruments, shops, current affairs, Gods and Saints, or depictions of the Epics and Puranas (i.e. Mahabharata, Ramayana, Krishna Leelas etc.). 

Kolu had a significant connection with the agricultural economy of Ancient India. In order to encourage de-silting of irrigation canals the Kolu celebration was aimed at providing demand for clay that was needed for the celebratory dolls. It is believed that the tradition of Kolu has been in existence from the reign of the Vijayanagara kings. 

For more information about Kolus visit my earlier posting at this link here.

Traditionally in the evening of the conclusion of Navaratri i.e. Vijayadasami (the day of Victory) the dolls from the ‘Kolu’ are symbolically put to sleep by laying them horizontally and Kalash (a small pot made up of silver or brass containing rice, sticks of turmeric, toor dal and a rupee coin—with coconut and mango leaves at the mouth of the pot) is moved towards the direction of the North to mark the end of that year’s Kolu Festival. 

2017 Navaratri Kolu Display at Yogi Ramsuratkumar Ashram

Navaratri is a major Festival celebrated throughout India each year around late September or early October. This year the nine day Festival started on Thursday September 21, 2017 and ended on Friday September 29, 2017. Dasami (Day of Victory) fell on the 10th day, i.e. Saturday, September 30, 2017. 

Navaratri is not celebrated as lavishly at Tiruvannamalai as in other parts of India. Perhaps one reason is that many people at this place are busy anticipating the upcoming Deepam Festival. 

One very fascinating aspect of the Navaratri Festival, is the Kolu (Tamil=Golu) which means “Divine Presence”. This celebration incorporates the exhibition or display of dolls and figurines at home and in some cases at Ashrams and public halls. 

Kolu figurines can be simple or very complicated and based upon Gods and Saints, depictions of the Epics and Puranas (i.e. Mahabharata, Ramayana, Krishna Leelas etc.), Demigods and National leaders, marriage occasions, musical instruments, shops, current affairs and scenes from everyday life; such as shops, bus stop, cars, street scenes etc. 

Historically Kolu had a significant connection with the agricultural economy of Ancient India. In order to encourage de-silting of irrigation canals the Kolu celebration was aimed at providing demand for clay that was needed for the celebratory dolls. It is believed that the tradition of Kolu has been in existence from the reign of the Vijayanagara kings. 

Below are photographs of the very elaborate, beautiful Kolu display at the ashram of Yogi Ramsuratkumar. There are many sections including displays depicting the abodes, life and legends of various Gods and Goddesses. 

Greetings from Lord Ganesha

Statues of the Gods displayed on different levels of display

Different aspects of the Goddess

The above photograph shows the loving details of all the displays

The display available to view while the Ashram was open

The section on Krishna Leelas was beautifully exhibited

Display of the Pancha Sthalams

Yogi Ramsuratkumar Ashram

The Navaratri Display at Yogi's Ashram gets more elaborate each year

Arunachala with attendant Gods and Goddesses

Major Siva Sthalams in the Country

This year the Ashram displayed a large section dedicated to Lord Rama

Making a bridge of stones to Sri Lanka

Musicians played traditional music in the Auditorium

Support Arunachala Grace Network

Dear Arunachala Friends, this is Meenakshi Ammal author of Arunachala Grace. Let me tell you how things are going with the Arunachala Network. 

To begin with since its inception and up to the current time the Network has received over 2 million visitors. Around 70% of those visitors reside in India and the remaining 30% from countries from all around  the world.

 

Front Page of Arunachala Samudra Website

Arunachala Grace Network is comprised of a website:

http://arunachalasamudra.org

And  five supporting Blogs.

http://arunachalagrace.blogspot.com

http://arunachalaland.blogspot.com

http://arunachalabirds.blogspot.com

http://arunachalamystic.blogspot.com

http://arunachalasatsang.blogspot.com

As well as being the author of the Website I also author and maintain the five supporting Arunachala Blogs. Sumathi at Chennai continues her brilliant work as Webmaster for the Arunachala Samudra website. 

In order to take advantage of better terms, conditions, maintenance, and a larger content capacity to accommodate the growth of the site, the Website’s Server was recently transferred to a new Dedicated Server and Hosting Company.

 

To get the website even to its current level has been a long journey. Researching information, facilitating interviews, translating Tamil narratives and material into English, purchasing copyright photographs and material to be used on the sites, arranging and taking additional photographs and/or videos at various events etc.

Over the last few months my Webmaster and I, have been reformatting and recoding the Arunachala Samudra Website thereby making it accessible to all internet devices. The restructuring work is 90% complete and the fixed headers and navigation bars, photo galleries, flash drivers, plug-ins and audios can now be accessed by all internet devices i.e. computer, android, smart phone and tablet.

All that remains to be done in this particular upgrade—is to reformat existing videos already onsite and create a new Video Gallery section on the Website. After the video work has been completed from thereon we will be uploading new information, photographs and features to the Website.   

The thought behind the creation of Arunachala Samudra website, has been not only to make an archival record of this Holy Sthalam (and the people of it) but also eventually to have programmes on site that make visiting the Arunachala Samudra website an interactive, immersive and spiritually uplifting experience. 

Arunachala Darshan from Ayyankulam Theertham

I have over 200,000 photos on my computer hard drive connected with Arunachala and Tiruvannamalai. Now that the website has a large content capacity with the new Hosting Company, discussion is underway on how to create a photo archive on a dedicated section of the Website.

The speed of the Website development depends on the financial support from friends of Arunachala. If you wish to help with this service to Arunachala, for your convenience a PayPal donation function is available on the left column of this Blog page.

For any queries and/or additional information regarding alternative donation methods, you can get in touch with me direct at:

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For those who wish to help in other ways by donating articles, narratives, audios, videos and/or photographs of Arunachala please also get in touch direct.

With Arunachala Light and Grace

Meenakshi Ammal

One Bedroom House Up For Sale

I recently posted on my Arunachala Land blog, a posting about a newly built, economical, one bedroom house up for sale by the builder. The house comes equipped with bore-well, 1000 litre overhead tank, outside and inside water filtration system, a/c in bedroom and fitted bathtub in bathroom. To read full particulars of the house, and to view lots of photographs go to this link here. 

Darshan of Arunachala from house-roof

Samudra Eri Beginning to Fill Up

The below photographs are of the Samudra Eri two evenings ago. The water catchment area is beginning to fill up nicely during this monsoon season.The ugly desecration and damage of sand quarrying can be hidden by cool waters and the beauty and peace of the area is once again remembered. 

We Need to Start Making Decisions

We are used to heavy deluges as Tiruvannamalai lies within a monsoon area . . . which means we get about 95% of our annual rain in 6 weeks. However things have deteriorated in the last 10 years, as man's greed impels him to build without regard to tried and tested methods of harnessing flood waters. 

Hundreds of years ago people of this place devised brilliant systems of catchment areas, canals, and massive holding tanks which would hold and conserve much of the monsoon rains and then evenly distribute those waters throughout the area over the hot summer months. Unfortunately many of those massive water holding tanks are not being properly maintained, canals are being blocked/diverted and water catchment area are undergoing industrial level sand quarrying in the dry season . . . all of which results in uncontrolled flooding during the monsoon. 

A recent Court Judgement regarding the widening of the Girivalam Roadway dealt with some of the ecological problems that financial interests are creating in this area. 

The below photographs were taken in the dry season and are of the once beautiful pristine Samudra Eri (around 650 acres) which is the largest water catchment area adjacent to Arunachala. 

To read more fully about the desecration of Holy Arunachala  in this Kali Age, go to my earlier posting at this link here. 

The once pristine Samudram Eri undergoing industrial level sand quarrying

Decisions need to be made about the man-made problems we are creating in the area

The whole 650 acres is pock-marked by sand-quarrying of up to 40 feet in depth