Tiruvannamalai - Ancient Panchboota Shiva shrine

In Tamil language, "Anbe Sivam", means "Love is God" meaning, being compassionate, loving and serving fellow human beings is considered akin to God. 

Tiruvannamalai is a beautiful and ancient temple town dedicated to Lord Shiva. It is named after the central deity Annamalaiyar or Lord Arunachalam. Its in Tamil Nadu, about 200kms south east of Bangalore and 100kms west of Pondichery. It took me almost 8 hours to drive on my motorbike slowly from Bangalore in day and night through forested areas with lots of breaks.

The temple complex covers an area of 25 acres, and is one of the largest temples in India. It houses four gateway towers known as gopurams. The tallest is the eastern tower, with 11 stories and a height of 66 m (217 ft), making it one of the tallest temple towers in India.

How ancient is this location? It predates Lord Rama in Tretha Yuga. Conservatively speaking over 10,000 years old. Tiruvannamalai has been ruled by the Pallavas, the Medieval Cholas, the Later Cholas, Hoysalas (thier capital), the Vijayanagar Empire, the Carnatic kingdom, Tipu Sultan, and the British.

I was born exactly on Karthigai Deepam day. The Karthigai Deepam festival is celebrated during the day of the full moon in December, and a huge beacon is lit atop the Annamalai hill. The event is witnessed by three million pilgrims. pilgrims circumnavigate the temple base and the Annamalai hills in a worship called Girivalam.

Apart from other temples, there are 8 important shiva temples facing 8 important directions on the (side) path of Girivalam. All the Shivlings of these 8 temples are believed to have formed naturally. 

The Ashtalingams are: Indra Lingam (East), Agni Lingam (South East), Yama (Ema) Lingam (South), Niruthi Lingam (South West), Varuna Lingam (West), Vayu Lingam (North West), Kubera Lingam (North), Esanya Lingam (North East). Each of these celestial devas got freed from their curse by worshipping lord Shiva at these exact locations.

I had the good fortune to visit each of these 8 lingams yesterday (xmas 2019) while completing my Girivalam, in an auto, of 14kms around the mountain.

Etymology:

In Tamil, the word Arunam means red or fire and Asalam means hill. Since Shiva manifested himself in the form of fire in this place, this name Arunachalam came to be associated with Annamalai hill and the town.

Legends associated with this shrine

In Hinduism, Parvati, wife of Lord Shiva, once closed the eyes of her husband playfully in a flower garden at their abode atop Mount Kailash. Although only a moment for the gods, all light was taken from the universe, and the earth, in turn, was submerged in darkness for years. Parvati performed penance with other devotees of Shiva, and her husband appeared as a column of fire at the top of Annamalai hills, returning light to the world. He then merged with Parvati to form Ardhanarishvara, the half-female, half-male form of Shiva. 

The Annamalai, or red mountain, lies behind the Annamalaiyar temple, and is associated with the temple of its namesake. The hill is sacred and considered a lingam, or iconic representation of Shiva, in itself.

Another legend is that once, while Vishnu and Brahma contested for superiority, Shiva appeared as a flame, and challenged them to find his beginning and end. Neither Brahma nor Vishnu could find the source and accepted Lord Shiva as the supreme. 

The temple has numerous shrines, with those of Annamalaiyar and Unnamulai Amman being the most prominent.

The Annamalaiyar temple is one of the Pancha Bhoota Stalas, or five Shiva temples, with each a manifestation of a natural element: land, water, air, sky or fire In Annamalaiyar temple, Shiva is said to have manifested himself as a massive column of fire.

When I did Girivalam, Enroute, i saw so many Siddars or Saints, who have renounced the world and live on the alms of others mostly in meditation. These men and women have no worldly possessions but are so blissful. I Envy them. I took a photo with one of them.

Lastly, I visited Ramanasramam, the ashram which was home to modern sage and Advaita Vedanta master Ramana Maharshi from 1922 until his death in 1950. His samadhi shrine continues to attract devotees from all over the world. Yesterday I met devotees from as far as Canada, Denmark to nearby Japan and Singapore.

Anbe Sivam, or love is god. So wonder its universal and so many people from across India and world come to this remote town. 

NAMA SIVAYA.

With inputs from Tamil books, my friends and wikipedia.

25-Dec-2019
Tiruvannamalai 



with Sadhu 

Girivalam 

Lights for ultimate Jyoti Shiva 

Dancers before NATARAJA (king of dance)

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