I
first got to know about Tiruvannmalai
and Ramanashram when I was in College in
Bombay. I was reading `The Razor`s Edge` a novel by Somerset Maugham, the world
famous British writer. Somerset
Maugham visited the Ashram in 1938, and later
used Ramana Maharishi as the model for the
holy man, Shri Ganesha in his novel, published
in1944.
Though
I moved to Chennai from Mumbai in 1974 I
visited Tiruvannamai , a three
hour drive by road, only recently with my Rotary group. The two day pilgrimage
to Tiruvannamalai, with four more temples
added to the itinerary, was indeed an
auspicious beginning to a New Year for me.
Tiruvannamalai-
One of the holiest temple towns in Tamil Nadu. Abode of Arunachaleshwara
located in a sprawling campus at the foot of the majestic Arunachala hills. A 1600
years old temple considered second biggest in Tamil Nadu and third biggest in
South India. With nine big and small gopurams located in the temple complex. A
sight to behold!
The group of 24 Rotarians with their spouses, some single, left Chennai for Tiruvannamalai on the
morning of 4th January, 2020 at 6.30 am. We stopped at Sathyam
restaurant in Maraimalainagar for
breakfast. Our first halt before Tiruvannamalai was Madurantakam, abode of the famous `Eri Katha
Ramar `. This 1300 years old temple is
located across the road from Maduranatakam lake considered the second
largest lake in Tamil Nadu . Sita resides in the temple
as Janakavalli which has
Kothanda Ramar as the presiding deity. The other deities enshrined are Chakrathalwar, Ramanuja,
Lakshmi Narasimha and Hanuman.
The group had
an excellent darshan of all the deities in
the temple with our guide Madhavan, a part time priest at the temple who also teaches at IIT,
Chennai. He impressed the group with his knowledge of the temple
and its history, in chaste English.
Madhavan
told us why the temple is referred to as
`Eri katha Ramar`( lake protected by the presiding deity Ramar) Once, under the British Raj, when heavy rains threatened to breach the
lake bund and inundate the temple and Madurantakam town, Colonel Blaze, the then Collector who had camped near the tank was hoping
against hope that the bunds would hold. As he was inspecting, Colonel Blaze
witnessed a miraculous sight. He saw two warriors bearing bow and quiver,
guarding the bunds. The British officer went on his knees and prayed, for he
knew it was none other than Lord Rama and his brother Lakshmana. Nobody else who was a part of the Collector's retinue saw
the Lord. After a while the vision vanished and the rain stopped. The grateful
Collector undertook the building of the shrine for Janakavalli thayar which he was opposed to earlier. Since then
Lord Rama in the temple came to be known as the Erikatha Ramar The edict with
the Collector's name citing him as a benefactor can be seen even today in the
Madurantakam temple. Madhavan also showed us the narrow tunnel with its entrance
located inside the temple sanctum which splits into two at the basement
level- one tunnel leading to the Temple
tank and another leading to the Madurantakam lake. At the landing on the
basement there is a provision for the Utsavava Murthy of the temple to be worshipped where almost hundred
devotees can witness the pujas.
After
partaking the hot `Thayir sadam` which was given as the prasadam to all
devotees that morning the group left for Tiruvannamalai. . A quick check in at the Hotel Himalaya in the heart of the town
and it was time for the group to have
darshan of Lord Arunachaleshwara.
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Arunachaleswara
Temple,
is a Hindu temple dedicated
to the deity Shiva, It is one
of the temples associated with the five elements, the Pancha Bhoota Stalas, and
specifically the element of fire, or Agni. Shiva is
worshiped as Arunachalesvara or Annamalaiyar,with his idol referred to as Agni
lingam. His consort Parvati is depicted as Unnamalai Amman. The presiding deity is revered in the
7th century Tamil Saiva canonical work, the Tevaram, written
by Tamil saint poets known as the Nayanars The 9th
century Saiva saint poet Manikkavasagar composed the Tiruvempaavai here.
Thanks to an influential local contact
that one of the members had, the group
had a special darshan of the lord seated inside the sanctum sanctorum.
The President , Secretary of the Club and a few others in the group were
presented with garlands used for the Puja. I felt blessed to receive one. The group then went around visiting other deities
in the complex. It was a challenge to identify all the nine Gopurams
standing in the courtyard of the temple.
Unfortunately the guide Abirami Kumar, an effeminate character, who was
selected through information online was a disappointment. Instead of telling us
the stories about the temple he was waxing eloquent on his own philosophies
which went over the heads of the group members .However he showed us the
`Parama padam` located in one corner of the temple complex, which is normally ignored by visitors to the
temple.
The temple is also famous for the Karthikai Deepam festival
which is celebrated during the day of
the full moon between November and December when a huge beacon is lit atop the Annamalai hill.
It is reported that the event is witnessed
by three million pilgrims every year. On the day preceding each full moon,
pilgrims circumnavigate the temple base and the Annamalai hills in a worship
called Girivalam, a practice
carried out by one million pilgrims yearly. It is a 14km walk around the Hills
from the temple which takes about four hours to complete. While on the right of the Girivalam road you have the
hills , on the left there are 8
important shiva temples facing 8 important directions. All the Shivlings of these 8 temples are believed
to have formed naturally. Out of our
group of 24 only six had the energy and commitment to go for a Girivalam by
walk. The rest were content to do
Girivalam sitting in the bus which reached the hotel using the girivalam
path. This happened after the group finished visiting the world famous Ashram
located in Tiruvannamalai.
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Sri Ramana Ashram, also known as Sri
Ramanasramam, was home to modern
sage and Advaita Vedanta master Ramana Maharshi from
1922 until his death in 1950. It is situated at the foot of the Arunachala hill,
to the west of Tiruvannamalai, where thousands of
seekers flocked to be in his presence during his life time. His samadhi shrine continues to attract devotees
from all over the world. When we visited
the Ashram, a special ritual was in progress at the main prayer hall. We saw hundreds of foreigners from different
countries floating around the complex. It is important to note that Ramana`s
philosophy did not recognize any religion. So the Ashram is open to devotees
from all religions.
Paul Brunton, an
American writer, published the book A
Search in Secret India based on his visit to Ashram in which
he describes how he was compelled by the Paramacharya of
Kanchi to meet Ramana Maharshi who was not a religious saint where as
Paramacharya represented a religious sect and hence could not accept Paul as a
disciple. Brunton calls Ramana
"one of the last of India's spiritual supermen",
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Next morning after an early breakfast
at the hotel, we checked out and decided to have quick darshan at three temples
on our return journey to Chennai. The
first halt was .Adhirangam
Ranganathaswamy temple or Ranganatha Perumal Temple
dedicated to Vishnu located in Adhi
Thiruvarangam in Tamil Nadu, The temple is considered as Periya
Perumal temple, because the image of
presiding Ranganathar is larger than the one found at Ranganathar
Temple at Srirangam. This 2000 years old temple finds
mention in the Sanskrit work Skanda Purana. I felt truly blessed to have the darshan of Ranganatha Perumal a day
before Vaikunat Ekadashi, which is celebrated in a big way by devotees all over
the country.
The second temple on our list was Ulagalantha Perumal Temple or Trivikrama Temple
dedicated to Vishnu located in Tirukkoyilur, Tamil
Nadu,.
It is one of the 108 Divyadesham where
Vishnu is worshipped as Ulagalantha Perumal and his consort Lakshmi as Poongothai. The temple has an eleven-tiered rajagopuram with a height of 192 ft
(59 m), the third tallest temple tower in Tamil Nadu, after the one in Srirangam
Ranganathaswamy temple and Thiruvannamalai Annamalaiyar Temple. The presiding deity, has an imposing image made of Tharu wood with
foot raised. Unlike other Vishnu temples, Perumal is sported with Sankha in
his right hand and Chakra on his left in this temple.
The third and the last temple the group
visited was the Kripapureeswarar Temple (also called Arutkondanathar or Thiruvennainallur temple) in Thiruvennainallur,
dedicated to Lord Shiva. We reached the
temple just in time before it was closed for the afternoon. The presiding deity
in this temple is revered in the 7th century Tamil Saiva canonical work, the Thevaram, The temple is closely
associated with Sundarar, the saivite saint of
the 8th century. Inside the temple complex we found an old dome shaped granary where the villagers in the old days
stored their harvested grains. Many selfies
were clicked by the group members using the unusual granary in the
background.
As we were walking
back to the bus from the temple a mobile
sales van announcing the sale of small sambhar onions at Rs 25/- a kg going
around the village streets caught the attention of the group. Needless to say
that the entire quantity of the onions stocked in the van were bought by the
group. For the city folks who were buying onions at Rs.140/- per kg, it was a steal! I am sure
that the next day almost every family would have had Onion Sambhar on its menu.
In addition to
spending some quality spiritual time at the temples, the group had its fun
moments in the bus, travelling from Chennai to Tiruvennamalai and back. There
were plenty of jokes, interesting anecdotes, singing sessions and some
spiritual discussions too. The find of the trip was a green Rtn Sathyanarayanan
who impressed every one with his nowledge of Hindu philosophy and temples and
rituals that the group spontaneously conferred the title `Sadguru
Satyanarayananda` on him.
On the whole it was a
soul satisfying trip enjoyed by all. I am eagerly looking forward to the next family outing of the Club.
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