Post No. 11,098
Date uploaded in London – – 12 JULY 2022
Contact – swami_48@yahoo.com
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I went to Tiruvannamalai Arunachaleswarar Shiva Temple, Ramana Ashram (AASHRAMAM IN TAMIL) and Seshadri Swamigal Ashram on 11th June 2022, just 36 hours before flying to London. My brother Prof.Suryanarayanan accompanied me ad we did Giri Pradakshinaam as well by car! This is not my first trip; probably third or fourth visit. This holy place became holier by the association of great saints like Sri Ramanar, Sri Seshadri Swamigal and Yogi Ramsuratkumar.
BULLET POINTS
*T V Malai is just four hours by car from Chennai. Exactly 192 kilometres from Chennai by road.
*It is representing AGNI (fire) among five elements
*The Shiva temple and the holy town not only attracted saints like Ramana, Seshadri Swamigal but also a great Hindu King Veera Vallalan (Ballala in Kannada) of Karnataka. He made T V Malai as his second capital. It happened 900 years ago.
*The temple is huge and has several places associated with Ramana Maharishi, Tamil devotional poet Arunagirinathar and Karnataka King Veera Vallalan.
(The stories are already in my blogs. Please see the links below)
*The temple has special rituals in connection with Veera Vallala (Bellalan)
*Main Shrines:
God Shiva – Arunachaleswar
Goddess Parvati – Unnaamulai Amman (Abhita Kujambal in Sanskrit)
*Sung and sanctified by three Tamil Saivite saints in Thevara hymns.
*Giri Valam (Giri Pradakshinam) is very popular here. It is a 12 kilometre journey around the Hill (Giri in Sanskrit, Malai in Tamil). Thousands of people go around it by foot. On Full moon day, the crowd swells to lakhs.
*The Giri (Anna malai) is home to several saints and Siddhas. Devotees believe saints live there even now, but invisible to ordinary men.
*Around the hills, several Shiva Lingas (Linga means symbol in Sanskrit. Linga represents formless God). Devotees stop at each Linga and pay their obeisance (See my attached map)
*Ramana Maharishi Ashram attracts a lot of foreigners.
Doing Dhyana (meditation) in silence in the hall is popular.
*A strange ritual attached to the temple is Lord Shiva himself doing the funeral rites to the great Hindu King Veera Vallala every year.
*Another strange ritual is procession of God comes through the Vallalan tower on the tenth day of annual festival (every ritual has a story behind it).
*The Eastern Tower in the temple is one of the tallest towers in South India with a height of 217 feet. It is a 11 tier tower. Thousand Pillar Mandap here shows Nayak and Vijayanagara influence. The temple has over 1000 year old history.
*There is a famous Skanda (Murugan in Tamil) shrine inside the temple. HE was the one who saved the great Tamil poet Arunagirinathar when he attempted suicide. He jumped down from the top of the tower, but Lord Skanda/ Kartikeya saved him.
*Another legend is that the poet became a parrot and now there is a tower where there is a parrot sculpture. There is a shrine for Arunagiri inside the temple
*The Kartikai (Krittika in Sanskrit) Deepa Festival attracts million devotees every year. The light that is lit on top of the Anna Malai hill is visible for miles away.
xxx
MY ASSOCIATION WITH THE TEMPLE
We had good darshan in the temple. But Seshadri Swamigal ashram where his Samadhi is located was closed at 12 noon. We went round it and peeped through the iron gate. Only 60 percent view. Ramana ashram opened at 2 pm for the afternoon darshan. We sat at the Samadhi and did meditation for some time.
There is an English woman by name Mrs Iswari Kamalabaskaran (who changed her Christian name to Iswari) in London suburb who was associated with the oldest Highgate Murugan Temple in London and Tiruvannamalai Temple in Tamil Nadu. She has written a very informative book on Tiruvannamalai with title ‘THE LIGHT OF ARUNACHALESWAR’. I TRANSLATED THE 370 PAGE ENGLISH BOOK IN TO TAMIL AS A SERVICE TO HINDUISM. I refused to accept money for the translation work. Because of this work, I came to know about the minute details of the temple and its history. That is the only temple other than my own town Madurai Meenakshi Temple, which I studied thoroughly for 25 years. (My article THE WONDER THAT IS MADURAI MEENKASHI TEMPLE is still getting hundreds of hits every day.)
Last but not the least,
There are several Tamil and English articles in my two blogs about the great saints of Tiruvannamalai written by me and my brother S Nagarajan.
The Wonder that is Madurai Meenakshi Temple
https://tamilandvedas.com › 2013/09/29 › the-wonder-t…
29 Sept 2013 — Tamil and Vedas. A blog exploring themes in Tamil and vedic literature. The Wonder that is Madurai Meenakshi Temple.
MY OLD ARTICLES ON TIRUVANNAMALAI
https://tamilandvedas.com/tag/tiruvannamalai/
Tiruvannamalai | Tamil and Vedas
https://tamilandvedas.com › tag › tiruvannamalai
3 Feb 2015 — King Vallalan was a great devotee of Lord Shiva and used to visit Tiruvannamalai, one of the Panchabhuta (five elements) Shrines.
God performs Funeral Rites: Strange Custom in Tiruvannamalai
https://tamilandvedas.com › 2015/02/03 › god-perform…
3 Feb 2015 — Tamil and Vedas. A blog exploring themes in Tamil and vedic literature. God performs Funeral Rites: Strange Custom in …
The Great Lamp Festival- Karthikai Deepam – Tamil and Vedas
https://tamilandvedas.com › 2012/11/24 › the-great-lam…
24 Nov 2012 — (27th November 2012 is Karthikai Deepam Festival in Tamil Nadu) … of the 2668 feet hill, a huge lamp is lit on the Karthikai deepa day.
—Subham–
TAGS- TIRUVANNAMALAI, RAMANA MAHARISHI, SESHADRI SWAMIGAL, ASHRAM, ANNAMALAI, VEERA VALLALAN, BALLALA, ARUNAGIRINATHAR, GIRI PRADAKSHINAM, ARUNACHALESWAR TEMPLE
Tamil and Vedas 