Thiruvoodal Festival 2021: Arunachala

 

Thiruvoodal Festival is celebrated in the month of Thai during Pongal (which has to do with the movement of the sun from the southern to the northern hemisphere). Legend has it that the Lord in answer to a promise given to Parvati appears on this holy day (Uttarayana) to dance on one foot. He says; ‘On Uttarayana holy day, I will do the dance when the sun rises.’

The word 'Thiru' signifies; deity, sacred, holy and wealth and the word 'Voodal' actually means 'tiff' or 'petty quarrel', and represents the friction between the male and female in a love relationship which is consciously exacerbated. The distinguishing mark of Voodal is that it should arise and stay only for a brief period and not be prolonged as its focus is the bliss when the Voodal is withdrawn.

The poem Thirukkural says in the chapters dedicated to 'kama' which is concentrated on the relationship between man and woman and the establishment of household and children, that; 'The way to amplify bliss through desire or relationship is through voodal. That ever present bliss you can only see when the tension comes and is withdrawn. It is like salt to food – beyond a certain limit it is lost completely.' Thirukurral explains the tiff as 'creation of a tension, which when released you have a bliss that is always present. It is the Voodal that helps one focus upon that.'

Thiruvoodal is  unique festival enacted by Shiva and Parvati to convey social truths to their devotees. It takes place; inside the compound of Arunachaleswarar Temple, on the streets delineating the perimeter of the Temple, and on the girivalam pathway itself; by iconic representations of Shiva and Parvati. Thiruvoodal Festival is regarded in such high esteem that one of the perimeter roads has earned the special name Thiruvoodal Street by this convention.

For more information about this Festival go to this link here.

The Gods exiting Temple through the Thitti Vasal Gate

Significance of Arunachala Girivalam: 2021 Full Moon (Pournami) Dates

 

[The below narrative is taken from my website dedicated to Arunachala and available at this link]. 

One of the thousand and eight names given to Arunachala by Adi Shankara is giripradakshinapriya—the Lord who loves giripradakshina.

'Be they of lowly birth, without the advantage of learning, unable to practise the virtue of liberality, it is of no account. Those who perform pradakshina of holy Aruna, the Supreme, submit to his rule and become his devotee, will excel even amongst the most excellent . . .' [Arunagiri Antadi]

 

Arunachala southside after seasonal rains

At most holy places located on hills, the Deity is found at the summit of the Hill. But here at Tiruvannamalai, the Hill itself is the Deity (Lord Annamalaiyar) and one of the ways in which it is propiated and worshipped is by its circumambulation.

In Sanskrit this going around the Hill is called 'giripradakshina' (giri=mountain and pradakshina: Prada=giver of boons; Kshi=destroyer of Karma; Na=giver of Jnana. Also, Pra-Dakshina=going around with centre kept to the right).

'Pradakshina (the Hindu rite of going round the object of worship) is "All is within me." The true significance of the act of going round Arunachala is said to be as effective as a circuit round the world. That means that the whole world is condensed into this Hill. The circuit round the temple of Arunachala is equally good; and self-circuit (i.e. turning round and round) is as good as the last. So all are contained in the Self.

Says the Ribhu Gita: "I remain fixed, whereas innumerable universes becoming concepts within my mind, rotate within me. This meditation is the highest circuit (pradakshina).' [Ramana Maharshi: Talks with Sri Ramana Maharshi]

In the Tamil language, this process of going around, is called 'giri valam' (giri=mountain and valam=right side), inferring that one should keep the Hill to the right when circumambulating.

The Arunachala Puranam declares that:

'.... the holy Arunachala is the primal, Adi linga. The path around its base is the sacred Yoni. Pradakshina of the Hill is therefore pradakshina of the source of all lingas! So one goes round keeping to the left-edge of the path. A mere step taken, confers the benefit of a Yaga, sacrifice; two steps, the fruit of Rajasuya Yaga; and three that of Asvamedha Yaga. Going round the hill one gains in health and vigour. The hill abounds in rare herbs sought by traditional herbalists and the breeze carries the salubrious wafts from these siddha herbs to the one doing the holy round. The dust from the feet of such a person, carried and deposited in towns far away effects immeasurable purification.'

 

The Asta (8) Lingams plus the additional Surya and Chandra Lingams i.e. Dasa Lingams (10) are underlined in the above map of the 14 km outer Girivalam Arunachala pathway

The circumambulation path is 14 kilometres (8½ miles). Tradition has it that even today a number of siddhars are living on the hill.

There are eight lingams located at the eight directions, which provides an octagonal structure to the town of Tiruvannamalai. The eight lingams are: Indra Lingam, Agni Lingam, Yama Lingam, Niruthi Lingam, Varuna Lingam, Vayu Lingam, Kubera Lingam and Esanya Lingam. To find out more about the esoteric signifiance of the Asta Lingams around the octagonal perimeter of Arunachala which reflects the geometry of a Cosmogram, go to this link here.

To learn more about the Dasa Lingams and their relevance to the geometry to both Arunachala and also Arunachaleswarar Temple Siva Sannidhi Shrine go to links on Surya Lingam and Chandra Lingam.

There are two pathways around the Hill, the outer pathway which is the most commonly travelled and which contains Temples, the Asta Lingams, Tirthams and Shrines. And the inner pathway which winds its way through the countryside at the feet of Arunachala.

According to scriptures, the walk around the Hill should be conducted at a slow pace either in silence, reciting mantras or chanting sacred songs. As to the ritual of the spiritual round; one should abjure all thought of the opposite sex on the day of pradakshina. After bathing one wears clean white clothes, applies vibhutti and proceeds, giving alms but without accepting any. Free from fear, anger, irritation or sorrow one walks on bare feet, without using vehicles or carrying an umbrella. Without swinging one's arms about, and with a silent soft tread, one saunters like a queen in her 'tenth-month'. One bows, first to the holy Hill from each of the eight cardinal directions, and then to the Lord of that direction enshrined in the linga there. One bows mentally to the incorporeal gods and siddhas going the rounds and keeps to the side. One could keep silence of speech and mind; or one could allow thoughts to flow on to the Hill of Fire; or one could sing and listen to songs of devotional praise.

In the company of those of lofty character, one is able to halt here and there and enjoy a feast of fruit and milk. Otherwise, simple food free of flesh can be taken.

Certain days are regarded as particularly auspicious for circumambulation:-

The fruit of a Sunday pradakshina is Siva's abode (enter the solar region and attain Liberation);

that of Monday is merger in Siva-form (live happily in a world free from senility and death);

that of Tuesday is termination of debt and cyclic death (freed from all doubts and becomes Emperor);

that of Wednesday is divinity through skill in philosophy and art (attain Wisdom and Omniscience);

that of Thursday is lordship over gods and god-men (venerated by all Devas and may even become a renowned Guru);

that of Friday is lordship of the Lotus Lady (may hope to reach Vishnu's abode).

A Saturday pradakshina confers the astronomical benefits of a nine-planet conjunction in the Eleventh House (worldly success and protection against planetary influences).

The above effects are magnified if circumambulation is done on Sivaratri, New-year day, or during the three months, mid-October to mid-January. The fruits are believed to increase by a factor of one crore if done on the two solstices; or on the day the moon is in the Magha asterism during February-March; or during the pre-dawn hour; or during solar eclipse or Vidhipaada Yoga.

It is also regarded as particularly auspicious to perform "Girivalam" during every Full moon day (poornima) to coincide with siddhars' movements, and the heady perfumes of herbal plants surrounding the Hill.

Once a sadhu who went regularly around the Hill, requested Sri Ramana for a Vedantic text. A devotee casually remarked, "He only goes round the Hill. What will he do with any Vedantic text?" To which Sri Ramana retorted, "What better sadhana can there be than going round the Hill?"

Hindu mythology also explains the significance of circumambulation, in a narrative relating that the Goddess Parvati on the advice of Sage Gautama circumambulated the Hill everyday in order to have her desires fulfilled.

Another legend says that Sage Durvasa, who cursed two vidyadharas stated that:-

"The curse cannot be lifted by any act except that of circumambulating the Arunachala Hill."

He then proceeded to relate what Siva Himself had declared in an assembly of devas and others:

"He who circumambulates with devotion the Arunachala Hill which is my form, attains a form like mine. He becomes the Lord of the entire world and reaches the highest state".

The two vidyadharas then advised King Vajrangada who was suffering,

"The Lord of Aruna Hill is a repository of compassion and His glory is great. Circumambulate the Aruna Hill on foot as a means of release from suffering".

 

2021 Full Moon Calendar for Arunachala

 

The Great conjunction: Christmas Star

 

Below is a beautiful photograph taken in the USA yesterday night which shows a herd of camels underneath the Great Conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn, which is also known as the Bethlehem Star. 

Very approriate that we can view this conjunction after 800 years during this Christmas Season. 

 

HAPPY CHRISTMAS TO ONE AND ALL

 

 

Arunachala Deepam Cauldron

Years previously the heavy Deepam cauldron used to remain at the top of Arunachala throughout the year. Nowadays cauldrons are made from lighter metals and carried up to the summit of Arunachala a couple of days previous to Mahadeepam and after conclusion of the Festival, the cauldron is brought down the Hill.

As the Cauldrons used during Deepam Festival are nowadays made from lighter materials they generally last around 10 years. The Cauldron also used in 2020 was first used in 2016 and replaced the Cauldron made in 2004.

The 2016 Cauldron (used in 2020) was created at Tiruvannamalai. It measures 5 feet in height and 3 feet in width at the top, the outside bottom of the cauldron measures 2.25 feet in diameter and cost Rs.1.5 lakhs to create.

Every year five earthen-pot lamps, representing the five elements, provide the flame for the single Bharani Deepam which fisherman carry to the top of the mountain for use as the source-light for the Krittikai Deepam. It is also they who are entrusted with carrying the Deepam Cauldron up to the top of the Hill prior to the day of Mahadeepam. 

The Deepam cauldron is hauled up the slopes of Arunachala supported by poles inserted into the cauldron’s rings. The unique privilege for taking the flame (source-light) and cauldron up the Hill and also for the actual lighting of the Deepam Flame is always given (for as long as the Hill’s recorded history) to men of the fishing caste. 

Male members of the Parvatha Raja clan light the cauldron on the summit of Arunachala. According to local belief, the Parvatha Raja clan are descendants of a king who had been blessed by Lord Shiva to light the cauldron in order to ward off a curse. The clan has three sub-divisions: Unnamulai Priyan, Pennattu Priyan and Vathathi Priyan. The menfolk from the three sub-classes take turns every year to light the cauldron.

It is said that 600kg of ghee, 100 metre of cloth and over 4 kg of camphor is used each day of Karthigai Deepam.

Once the Deepam Festival is over, the Cauldron is carried down the hill to Arunachaleswarar Temple, where puja is performed and the Cauldron is stored in the Temple compound in its damaged condition. And it will not be repaired or repainted until just before the commencement of the next year's Karthigai Mahadeepam Festival.

 

 

Cauldron created in 2016 which is currently still in use

 

Before the beginning of Deepam, the Cauldron from the previous year is repaired

 

Cauldron being repaired

 

After repair, the Cauldron is repainted

 

The 2020 Cauldron being brought down Arunachala at the end of Deepam

2020 Cauldron coming down Hill

Puja performed on 2020 Cauldron before it is stored at Temple until next Deepam

The Cauldron won't be repaired and painted until a short time before the 2021 Deepam Festival (i.e. Friday, November 19, 2021)

Winter Solstice: December 21—The Great Conjunction

Significance of Solstice

"In any given year, the winter solstice, the still point, is the most powerful time of the solar cycle. It is the conception point, the moment in which the plans for the entire year are generated from the sun to the earth. It is the parallel point to each new moon which carries and expands the original solar wave's energy through the thirteen succeeding cycles of the year.

There are four points during the year in which the archetypal energies of the sun "come through" to us to bring consciousness along step by step. These four points are the solstices and the equinoxes.

Each of these moments, which last three days, are "neutral force" channels of tremendous power. They are literal doorways to the infinite, alchemical cauldrons in which we can bathe ourselves with unconditional love and pure spiritual energy, and into which we can place our intentions. They are "time-outs" from normal reality.

Whatever gets cooked in the winter solstice cauldron becomes the blueprint for the entire year which is reaffirmed and brought along to completion by the other three central points. If we carefully align with the intentions of the universe during the winter solstice we can be picked up by the rising tide of spiritual energy and carried forward, supported by the power which spirit has brought to earth at the moment of the "rebirth of the sun" when it joins with the earth.

The sun and moon are always in a changing relationship with each other and the earth, the cauldron in which we are always being alternately "cooked" and "cooled" by them. At the winter solstice; the sun, yang, spiritual, masculine energy is at its lowest ebb, pausing before it pulses forward just like the tide having flowed out to sea pauses, and then begins to aggressively move out toward shore once more. This alignment of the sun with the most inner and contracted (yin) point in its cycle is the same as the moment of the new moon in which the sun's yang and moon's yin move into perfect alignment with each other and the earth, joining and harmonizing their energies with their combined force.

As we step into the solstice we should not carry into it anything from the past and instead let the purity of the Oneness fill us and allow the spirit to decide what is in our highest good. As human beings we have goals, things we want to create, states we wish to experience. All that can be placed into this great moment with great passion as our heart's desires and released in trust. "

[By Alexander]

 

The Great Conjunction

 

The Solstice is a time where the veil between dimensions is thin. It is also a time where we are more open and connected with the energies of the Earth.

 

In 2020, December 21st, stands out as being a potent day, not just because of the Solstice, but also due to a very rare alignment taking place this year known as the Great Conjunction. The great conjunction occurs every twenty years or so, and is when both Jupiter and Saturn align at the same degree of the zodiac. The great conjunction represents a changing of an era, and a time where we shift our way of viewing the world. As our world view changes, so too does society and the way we choose to approach things. 

 

While the great conjunction happens every couple of decades, the 2020 alignment opens the door to an even bigger cycle. For the last 200 years, Jupiter and Saturn have been aligning only in earth signs, but this year, on December 21st, 2020, Jupiter and Saturn will align in the air sign of Aquarius.

 

The great conjunction is a key point on this transition into the Age of Aquarius, and is destined to bring many ‘Age of Aquarius’ themes into our lives. The great conjunctions now switching to air signs will give us a focus towards the collective, and a more community-based approach. Humanitarian efforts will be important, and technology will be favored. We will see more things created online than in the physical world. 

 

December 21st, 2020 is a good day to get clear on what you wish to focus on, and to connect with your own spirituality and heart-focused intentions.

 

 

The Christmas Star

The year 2020 will end with a special astronomical event: the closest great conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn in 397 years. On December 21, the two planets will almost touch in the sky. As Jupiter and Saturn will rendezvous just a few days before Christmas forming what will look like a single bright object in the sky, the 2020 great conjunction is sometimes also called the “Christmas star” or “Bethlehem star.”

The December 21, 2020 conjunction will be the closest great conjunction since July 16, 1623. At the great conjunction of 1623, Jupiter and Saturn were slightly less than 0.1 degrees apart. However, this event would have been difficult—although not impossible—to observe since the two planets were near the Sun.

The last time that the two planets were easily observable when separated by less than 0.1 degrees was almost 800 years ago, during the great conjunction of 1226.

 

To watch an online streaming video of the Great Conjunction of 2020, go to the video below.

 

 

 

 

To read more about the esoteric and spiritual opportunities of this time, visit this link here.

 

 

2020 Karthigai Deepam Arunachaleswarar Temple: Theppal Thirthotsavam

 

Day 1:  Sri Chandrasekhara Theppal

Day 2:  Parashakti Theppal

Day 3:  Lord Subramanya Theppal

 

Brahmostavam is intended to teach us the way to divine self-realisation. One of the last of the celebratory observances during Karthigai Festival is Thirthotsavam which literally means "water festival". Three days are allocated at the end of Karthigai to celebrate this "water festival".

Ordinarily the "water festival" is celebrated at Ayyankulam Tank (in front of Arunagirinathar Temple—the third oldest Shiva Temple at Arunachala). The "water festival" is representative of a sadhaka’s plunge into the higher realms of consciousness—and typifies an entering into samadhi—the goal of religious aspiration.

This year, due to the restrictions imposed because of the current pandemic, the 3-day "water festival" was not conducted at the Ayyankulam Tank but at the Brahma Tirtham located inside the Arunachaleswarar Compound.

The Theppals for the Gods are floating structures made up of drums and timber and decorated with lights, flowers, religious paintings and silken buntings. Lights are installed around the perimeter of the tank and focus lights placed at strategic points. When the murtis of the Gods come to the Tirtham, they are placed lovingly on the float which then pushes off and completes an allocated number of turns upon the Temple Tank.

Devotees sit on the steps of the tank to take darshan of the God on the Theppal. Thereafter the deity of that day is taken in procession of Arunachaleswarar Temple.

 

Below are photographs of the Lord Murugan Theepal, celebrated on the third day of the "water festival".

 

 

 

 

Arunachala Karthigai Mahadeepam: 29 November, 2020

 

 

"The Mountain had become an immense lamp, from the top of which glittered the bright Flame. OM."

 

 

 

Ardhanarishvara—Arunachaleswarar Temple: November 29, 2020

 
 

Significance of Ardhanarishvara

There are many subtleties and esoteric meanings connected with the mythology and legends of Arunachala. One of the most famous being that of Ardhanarishvara—a form of the Divine which is particularly celebrated at Arunachala and not more so than during the festival of Deepam.

"At the mystic hour of dusk when devotees have gathered in the courtyards and roofs of the Temple, the deity Ardhanarishvara is brought out and placed on the stairs of the Temple close to the big Deepam. This is the only day of the year that this particular Deity is ever moved. It is most auspicious.

In the Deepam Festival the union of Shiva and Parvati in the form of Ardhanarishvara is reflected. Once the Goddess in play covered the eyes of Lord Shiva with her hands, and thus the whole world was plunged into darkness. However, Shiva opened his third eye on the request of the Gods, and light was restored.

Goddess Parvati was ashamed of her behaviour, and retired from Mount Kailasa to Kanchipuram to do penance and purge herself of her sin. Shiva then directed her to go to Tiruvannamalai to worship him there. Parvati became an anchorite and did severe penance and performed girivalam around Arunachala with deep concentration on the holy name of the Lord.

Shiva was pleased and told Her that she was now relieved of the sin of causing the untimely pralaya (destruction of the world). He blessed Her saying, 'Come and unite with me,' and disappeared into the Hill.

On Kartikeya day the Lord appeared as a blazing light, a jyoti on the top of Arunachala and asked Parvati to circumambulate the hill. She did so, and when she rounded the western side of the hill, Shiva appeared on his white bull and blessed her. When she rounded the hill on the north-western side he absorbed her into the left half of his body. Thus came into being the form of Ardhanarishvara, the deity that is represented as half male and half female."