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Mahapuja is the anniversary of the Mahasamadhi day of  Bhagavan Ramana Maharshi’s Mother. It is celebrated every year in the Ramanashram inside the Mathrabhutheswara shrine where the Mother’s mortal frame was buried. This year it took place on !3th June.

At the time of his mother’s passing away, Bhagavan recounted, “Mother said she would not leave me and go anywhere else. If she went anywhere she was afraid that she might die there. She was particular that she should die in my hands. She used to say, “even if you throw away my dead body in these thorny bushes i would not mind but i must end this life in your arms”.

Here is an account of the Mother’s death by Suri Nagamma in Letters: In 1922 mother’s health broke down. On the festival of Bahula Navami, which fell that year on May 19th, it was obvious her end was near. After his usual morning walk Bhagavan entered mother’s room and waited on her the whole day, even taking his afternoon meal in the room. About sunset the evening meal was prepared and Bhagavan asked the others to eat, but he himself did not. In the evening the devotees sat beside mother in 3 separate groups singing the marital garland of letters. For a further 2 hours she lay there, her chest heaving and her breath coming in loud gasps; all this while Bhagavan sat beside her, and during the last hour he laid his right hand on her heart and his left on her head. There was no question of prolonging life but only of quieting the mind so that death could be Mahasamadhi, absorption in the Self. Later Bhagavan explained, “innate tendencies (vasanas) and the subtle memory of past experiences leading to future possibilities became very active. Scene after scene rolled before her in the subtle consciousness, the outer senses having already gone. The soul was passing through a series of experiences, thus avoiding the need for rebirth and so effecting union with Supreme Spirit. The prana was absorbed in the heart and the soul was at last disrobed of the subtle sheaths before it reached the final destination, the Supreme Peace of Liberation from which there is no return to ignorance”.

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Every year in the month of March, Sri Vidya Havan is conducted in Ramanashram with great devotion and sacred energy. The Sri Chakra inside the Mathra Bhutheswara temple which was installed and consecrated by Sri Bhagavan himself is thus re-consecrated. During the Havan, Saraswathi the goddess of knowledge is invoked and worshipped with rituals and chanting according to ancient vedic doctrines. Towards the culmination, silk saris, gold ornaments, money, coconuts and lotus flowers are offered into the sacrificial fire.

The fires of the homam then leap up with greater vigour and one can almost see the divine mother dancing out of the flames and blessing all the devotees with her power. There is a tremendous wave of energy which arises around and one is well rewarded for having braved the summer heat and partaken in this hot and firy event. The many kalasams of holy water which are consecrated during the homam are then taken into the shrine through an elaborate procession and later abhishekam is performed on the Sri Chakra and the deities inside the sanctum sanctorum with these waters.

This afternoon, during a conversation regarding old Sankara Vijayam, Bhagavan asked one devotee whether it was not a fact amongst all books on the life of Sankara, Sankara Vijayam of Vidyaranya was the best. Bhagavan said with a smile, “Yes, his mental powers were very great. He was a great votary of Sri Vidya, you see. He therefore wanted to create a city in the shape of Sri Chakra and started doing it in Hampi but could not complete it. So he said that an emperor in future would rule the country and would be able to build a city in the shape of a Sri Chakra. When I told Nayana about this while i was on the hill, he made a peculiar comment, namely: ” Sri Chakrariti sona saila vapurusham, sri shodasarnatmakam occurs in Arunachala Ashtaka Stotram written by Sri Sankara. Besides this in Arunachala Purana, it is stated that this hill is reputed to be in the shape of Sri Chakra. Hence without searching for it, we have been lucky in getting this place which is in the shape of Sri Chakra. Bhagavan is the Chakravarthi (Emperor) ! If about ten houses are built around the hill, this itself is a great empire. Sankara must have intended this only … – Letters from Ramanasramam

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Maattu Pongal the third day of the Pongal or Harvest festival is the day consecrated to the cows. Everywhere, on this day, cows are bathed and decorated with flower garlands and then puja is performed to them with offerings of sweet pongal and fruits. In Ramanashram too, it has always been the tradition right from the time of Bhagavan to celebrate Cow Pongal in a graceful way. Devotees will remember that Sri Ramana was very fond of the cow Lakshmi and He used to feed sweet pongal to Lakshmi with his own hands on Cow Pongal day.

The Maatu Pongal celebrations in the Ramanashram consist of 3 different ceremonies. First the Nandi (bull mount of Shiva)  in the Mother’s shrine is decorated in a spectacular way. He is adorned with garlands of vegetables, fruits, sugarcane, grass, flowers. Vadais and other tasty sweetmeats. Then an elaborate Aarathi puja is performed by the priests with devotees looking on with rapt admiration. The next event takes place at the Samadhi (tomb) of the cow Lakshmi which is located outside in the open courtyard beside the dining hall. A group of devotees  are assembled here and the statue of Lakshmi is bathed with milk abhishekam and then a puja is performed with the photo of Bhagavan fondling Lakshmi placed in front. The ashram ladies sing many beautiful hymns in praise of Lakshmi describing her devotion to Bhagavan and other touching episodes in her life like how she used to give birth to a calf every year right on Bhagavan’s birthday. This creates a wave of devotion among the group and many devotees are moved to tears to listen to the words about the cow Lakshmi’s unusual and rare bhakthi to her Master and how, even though she was in the body of an animal she behaved like a deeply spiritual human being .

The third event takes place in the cow shed of the ashram, called ‘Goshalai’. Inside, it is nicely cleaned and beautifully decorated with flower garlands and sugar cane and turmeric plants. In the centre, a lovely white cow (believed to be the descendant of Lakshmi) and her calf are decorated and honoured. A puja is performed to them by the ashram priests with the same respect and energy as they would to a deity in the temple. The president  and his wife feed the white cow with sweet pongal from their own hands and the cow and calf eat it with quiet relish. It is an enchanting scene and one feels transported to times of yore when cows were considered as godly beings and people treated them with respect and devotion. Let us follow the example of Bhagavan Ramana and recognize and respect the Divine Being in every fellow creature on this earth.

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The birth anniversary of Bhagavan Sri Ramana Maharshi is celebrated as Ramana Jayanthi in the Ramanashramam every year. The date is calculated according to the Hindu almanac and thus takes place on the Punarvasu star day in the month of Maargali or Dhanur (Dec-Jan). This year it took place on Monday 9th January. The main puja of the day is the Maha Ekadasa Rudhrabhishekam and it is performed on a grand scale in the shrine of Sri Ramana’s Samadhi. Apart from this,  the ashram had a number of other special events like bhakthi chantings, music concerts and spiritual discourses on the life of Sri Ramana.

The highlights of this year’s Jayanthi celebrations were the splendid floral decorations over the samadhi shrine and in front of Ramana’s statue in the new hall. They were made with real flowers and had been arranged very beautifully, thus drawing the eye of every devotee who entered the hall. It must have taken a lot of painstaking work for many hours and one cannot but exclaim in praise of the wondrous beauty of these flower festoons and kolams which transformed the plain hall into a place of splendid celebration.

The music concert in the evening was held in the fantastic new auditorium and this was yet another pleasant surprise for devotees. Built in the style of a roman amphitheatre, this auditorium is cool and airy, has great accoustics and seems well equipped in lighting and sound systems. So it was really enjoyable to sit inside and listen to the lovely, melodious songs in praise of Ramana rendered by the troupe from the Ramana Maharshi centre for Learning in Bangalore. Thank you Ramanashram for this wonderful Jayanti and  thank you Ramana for lighting the light of Truth in all our hearts !

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Devotees of Arunachala are well aware of Giri Pradakshina but what is Atma Pradakshina? To find out let us go back to  a certain day in May 1946 when Bhagavan was still present physically in the ashram. On that day, Sundaresa Iyer, a devotee who used to bring food for Bhagavan came and bowed before him. Bhagavan asked him, “Did you go around the hill by way of pradakshina ?” “No,  said the devotee.” To this Bhagavan said, “last night when people were going out for giri pradakshina because of the moonlight, he also started to go. But he felt he could not complete the round. When they were starting out after telling me, he went around me quickly. When I asked him why he did so, he said, I am afraid I cannot go round the hill. So I have gone around Bhagavan.” “Go round yourself. That will be Atma pradakshina”, so saying Bhagavan began laughing.

Here Bhagavan narrated a relevant story: “Once upon a time, Lord Shiva wanted to teach a lesson to his son Subramanya who fancied himself to be a great sage; so Lord Shiva sat on the top of Mount Kailasam with Parvathi, holding a wonderful fruit in his hand. Seeing the fruit, both the sons of Lord Shiva, Ganesh and Subramanya each asked their father Shiva to give it to him. To this Shiva said that he would give the fruit to whoever of them got back first after going round the whole world. With confidence and pride that he would win the race, Subramanya started immediately riding on his favorite mount, the peacock and began going at a fast pace, frequently looking behind to assure himself that his elder brother Ganesh was not following. What could poor Ganesh do, with his huge belly? His mount was after all a mouse. So he thought it was no good competing with Subramania in the race around the world, and instead went around his parents Lord Shiva and Goddess Parvathi, bowed before them and claimed the reward. When they asked him to justify his action he replied, “All the worlds are contained within you; so if I go around you, it is as good as going round the whole world.” Pleased with his reply, Shiva gave him the fruit and Ganesh started eating it with pleasure.

In full confidence that he would be the winner, Subramanya completed his world tour very fast and flew back to Kailash to claim his reward, the fruit from Shiva. To his consternation he found Ganesh sitting there and calmly eating it. Enraged he shouted and asked how that could be, it was unfair and he never saw Ganesh going around before him. So Lord Shiva patiently explained to Subramanya what had happened and how Ganesh came to claim the reward. After hearing this, Subramanya felt ashamed and and realised how full of vanity and pride he was. He bowed humbly before his parents and asked to be pardoned. That is the story.

The significance of this tale is that the ego which goes round like a whirlwind must get destroyed, and must get absorbed in Atma. That is the meaning of Atma Pradakshina”  finished Bhagavan.

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The grand festival of Navarathri has just begun. It is a time of worshipping the Goddess Parvathi in all her different forms notably Durga, Lakshmi and Saraswathi. Navarathri is celebrated elaborately in the big temple of Arunachaleswara, in Ramanashram and Yogi Ram ashram as well as in a few Goddess Shakthi shrines on the girivalam. In some brahmin households, they hold a Golu which is an exhibition of statues of all the gods and goddesses of the hindu pantheon displayed according to mythological order on a range of wooden steps called the Golu padi which often number 5, 7 or 9. Children are usually on holidays at this time and take a lot of interest in this arrangement. They go about dressed as Radha or Krishna to participate in different Golus and sing bhajans in favour of the Goddess. The traditional prasad distributed is Sundal, a dish made of  many sorts of grams and pulses cooked and seasoned tastily.

In Ramanashram, on the evening of Mahalya Amavasai, the goddess Yogambika was taken out of the Mother’s shrine and borne in procession around the shrine and the samadhi hall of Sri Ramana. Then She was borne outside to take darshan of Arunachala after which she was brought inside the Mothers shrine through the main entrance and installed in a splendidly decorated shrine right in front. Here she will stay for the next nine days and nights and be decorated differently each evening according to the legendary form that she chooses to manifest on that day. Hundreds of devotees throng the ashram already in eager anticipation of the next nine days.

Navaratri is a festival of nine nights dedicated to the Goddess Shakthi (Parvathi or Amba) in her different manifestations. The legend of Navarathri starts with the penance of the Goddess on the slopes of Arunachala. Separated from her Lord (due to having playfully closed his eyes with her hands), the Goddess yearns to be reunited with Him. The great sage Guatama advises her to perform penance on the slopes of the holy Hill Arunachala and accordingly she comes here and sits in Tapas (penance). She follows the various scriptural injunctions and exhibits her devotion to the Lord in various ways. During the nine days of penance she manifests  herself each day in one of her different forms. On the tenth day she assumes a terrifying form of Mahishasura Mardhini, slayer of demons and vanquishes the evil demon Mahisha on the slopes of Arunachala. Thus this festival is of particular significance in Tiruvannamalai since it was here, millions of years ago that the first Navarathri actually happened.

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In the year 1896, on the first of  September, Sri Ramana as a young lad of sixteen, arrived at the feet of the Holy Mountain. About a month earlier, in mid-July, he had already had his first death-experience and attained the highest truth which he called later ‘Self-Realisation’. After this he became indifferent to his boyhood life, studies, play etc and began to seek solitude. Due to this, his elder brother taunted him and the young boy Ramana understanding the truth behind his brother’s rebuke, left his parental home leaving a note that he was going in search of his father. With this farewell note he left Madurai for ever.

Right from the time he left his house, a series of miracles took place and Arunachala mysteriously guided the youth to his final destination. It was Arunachala who delayed the train’s departure so that Ramana could board it and later on appeared in the form of a Maulvi in order to give the lad directions to reach Tiruvannamalai and then, lo and behold, actually granted divine dharshan to the boy in the form of a column of effulgence in the temple of Ariyanainallur.

Not many people know that the doors of the Arunachaleswara temple which were closed habitually at the time of his arrival, started to open one by one of their own accord just as Sri Ramana entered. Indeed is there any doubt left that the Son had thus returned to his Father’s house?

Who can describe what Ramana felt when he saw the Hill for the first time? In his own words: “I came up here and saw, and found thou stood as a Hill, But who then is the seer … no seer then remained. No mind survived even to say that I saw this, or even to say I didn’t.”

Like last year, this year also, on September 1^st in Ramanashram, the Madurai Ramana Kendra conducted a series of parayanams (religious chanting) at the Samadhi shrine and at the Mothers shrine, as a way of commemorating Advent. Devotees participated in the chanting and thanked the Gods for bringing them to the Abode of the great Master whose Eternal Presence continues to thrill millions…

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This month, an eminent devotee of  Ramanashram conducted the Athi Rudra Maha Yagnam in Tiruvannamalai. The venue of the Yagnam was the Oye Mantapam on Tiruvoodal street. Hundreds of talented brahmin priests well versed in  vedic procedures and rituals took part in and performed this Athi Rudra yagnam with great devotion and power. A tremendous wave of sacred energy was created resultantly and the Mountain Arunachala and Lord Shiva himself seemed to be present at the chantings and listening to the Rudrams with intense pleasure.

As one is told, the Lord himself is a great fan of the Rudram chantings and this is one sure way to draw his interest and attention. Sage Satapatha in his treatise “Maharnava Karma Vipaka” listed four types of Abhisheka procedures compatible with Vedic and scriptural lore. They are Rudram, Ekadasa Rudram, Maha Rudram and Athi Rudram – each being more potent than the preceding one. Of these, the most potent form of Athi Rudram. It involves 14641 Rudrams (Rudram is a combination of Namakam and Chamakam given in Rudradhyayam in the 5th Prapathakam of the 4th Kanda of Krishna Yajur Veda Samhita). Namaka recited once along with recital of Chamaka once constitutes one Rudram. Recital of 11 Namakas along with one Anuvaka of Chamaka at the end of each Namaka, thus completing one Chamaka constitutes Ekadasa Rudram. Recital of 11 Ekadasa Rudrams is Laghu Rudram or Rudraikadasini. Recital of 11 Laghu Rudrams is one Maha Rudram. Recital of 11 Maha Rudrams is one Athi Rudram. Therefore, in Athi Rudram 14641 Rudrams include 14641 Namakams and 1331 Chamakams.

On the final day, at the culmination of the yagnam, the Pooranahruthi was performed and the sacred waters from the yagnam were transported in pots to the Ramanashram premises. Here an elaborate Abhishekam was performed over the Samadhis of Sri Ramana and his mother with the sacred waters. Devotees were caught in a surge of spiritual energy as the waters came cascading down the Lingams to the accompaniment of the resounding chantings of the Rudrams. This is indeed a rare spectacle and we are fortunate to live in Tiruvannamalai and witness such an ancient and sacred ritual being performed so beautifully according to the vedic tradition and in the holy presence of the Divine Mountain and Bhagavan Ramana.

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The death anniversary of  Sri Ramana Maharshi when he attained Brahma Nirvana is celebrated as Aaradhana festival in Ramanasramam. This year this day fell on Saturday, 30th April and it was celebrated with many beautiful rituals and ceremonies and music programmes in the Ashram. In the morning there took place the grand puja called the ‘Ekadasa Mahanyasa Maha Rudrabhishekam’ performed over the Samadhi of Bhagavan which the brahmin priests did with utmost devotion and expertise. In the evening, Smt.Ambika Kameshwar rendered a vocal music concert, singing her usual repertoire of Ramana songs. Hundreds of devotees participated in all the events and partook of all the free meals with great enthusiasm.

Sri Bhagavan Himself considered both life and death in this body as mere thought forms. In this regard, an old devotee S.S. Cohen recalls this from the master’s teaching in his book Guru Ramana: “Life is miserable because it consists of nothing but thoughts. When death strikes down the body, the dreamless, thought-free state prevails for a brief period, but soon thinking starts again in the dream – ‘astral’ – world, and continues till a full ‘waking’ takes place in a new body, after another dreamless lull. This daily cycle of waking and sleeping is a miniature of the cycle of life and death in man and the universe, of alternation of activity and rest. The substance of the former is thoughts and sensations, and of the latter the peaceful being from which these arise. To transcend birth and death we have, therefore, to transcend the processes of thought and abide in the Eternal Being… But the Jnani, the Self-Realised man, whose mind has already ceased to act, remains unaffected by death; it has dropped never to rise again to cause births and deaths. The chain of illusion has snapped forever for him… It is now clear that there is neither real birth nor real death. It is the mind which creates and maintains the illusion of reality in this process, till it is destroyed by Self-Realisation.”

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Sri Vidya Havan was celebrated in Ramanashram on Friday 18th March this year. This is a grand fire ceremony puja performed in order to re-consecrate and re-sanctify the Sri Chakra Mehru which was installed by Bhagavan Ramana himself inside the sanctum-sanctorum of His Mother’s shrine. During the Havan, Sri Vidya or Saraswathi, the goddess of knowledge and wisdom is invoked and worshipped with special rituals and chanting according to ancient vedic doctrines. Towards the culmination of the Havan, silk saris, gold ornaments, money, coconuts and lotus flowers are offered into the sacrificial fire. The fires of the homam then seem to leap up with greater vigour and engulf everyone in a tremendous wave of sacred energy.

Here is an excerpt regarding Bhagavan’s views about the topic of Sri Vidya and Sri Chakra taken from  “Letters from Ramanasramam” on 21st May 1947:

This afternoon, during a conversation regarding old Sankara Vijayam, Bhagavan asked one devotee whether it was not a fact amongst all books on the life of Sankara, Sankara Vijayam of Vidyaranya was the best. Bhagavan said with a smile, “Yes, his mental powers were very great. He was a great votary of Sri Vidya, you see. He therefore wanted to create a city in the shape of Sri Chakra and started doing it in Hampi but could not complete it. So he said that an emperor in future would rule the country and would be able to build a city in the shape of a Sri Chakra. When I told Nayana about this while i was on the hill, he made a peculiar comment, namely: ” Sri Chakrariti sona saila vapurusham, sri shodasarnatmakam occurs in Arunachala Ashtaka Stotram written by Sri Sankara. Besides this in Arunachala Purana, it is stated that this hill is reputed to be in the shape of Sri Chakra. Hence without searching for it, we have been lucky in getting this place which is in the shape of Sri Chakra. Bhagavan is the Chakravarthi (Emperor) ! If about ten houses are built around the hill, this itself is a great empire. Sankara must have intended this only …

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