This is a very important form of worship of Lord Shiva, the source of cosmic energy for the entire creation.  Lord Shiva is worshipped traditionally in the form of Lingam and Abhisheka is the ritual dearest to His heart. Rudram is the highest vedic chanting in praise of Lord Shiva and is considered to be extremely powerful.

In Tiruvannamalai, the Athi Rudra Maha Yagnam has just been performed in a grand way in the big temple of Arunachaleswara from the 23^rd to the 28^th of May with the purpose of mitigating the doshas (bad effects) of the Agni Nakshatram (fire star constellation during which the summer heat reaches its peak).

The Yagnam took place inside the vast kalyana mandapam of the temple. Eleven homa kundas were erected for the purpose of the yagnam. The Rudra Homas were conducted by very renowned Brahmin priests well versed in Vedic rituals. A very beautiful Lingam covered with gold was installed specially for the purpose of performing Rudrabhishekam everyday. The Rudrabhishekams were done on an elaborate scale by the Shivacharyas. Along with the Rudra Parayanas and Rudra Homas, other related rituals were also performed. Hundreds of learned Brahmin priests took part in the ceremonies and the air was vibrant with the resounding chanting of the four Vedas and the tremendous sacred energy produced by the chanting of the Rudrams and the tending of the 11 sacred fires. 1008 Kalasams were consecrated within the Yagnam and they were taken in the end for abhishekam to the Arunachaleswara lingam inside the sanctum sanctorum.

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.

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Surya Lingam is located on the outer girivalam path about half a kilometre after Kannappa temple. This shrine has the good fortune of retaining its ancient stone mandapam structure. It is a very popular shrine although it is not part of the Ashtalingams and even on an ordinary non-festival day, there are always devotees and pilgrims worshipping the Surya lingam.
Surya symbolizes the Sun God. Surya is considered as the only visible form of God that can be seen every day. Lord Surya is regarded as an aspect of Shiva and Vishnu by Shaivites and Vaishnavas respectively. Surya is also known as Surya Narayana. Surya, the Sun God is verily acknowledged as one of the eight forms of Lord Shiva (Astamurti) and he is the lord of excellence and wisdom. The celestial body, Surya (the sun) is visible in the sky. Surya forms the major god of the Navgrahas (nine planets). He is the God of light and He is usually remembered for the brilliance and light in one’s life. The Gayatri Mantra of the Hindu Religion is also associated with the Sun God, Surya.

The Brahmin priest who performs the pujas ceremonies in the Surya lingam shrine is a fountain of wisdom and holiness. Having taken diksha from the Paramacharya of Kanchi, he has devoted his life to the service of God. In his humble abode behind the shrine he has a very elaborate puja room with a consecrated Shri Chakra mehru and many other Hindu gods. After the puja ceremony in the Surya lingam, devotees often sit at his feet in Satsangam and listen to his spiritual discourses.

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Due to the recent tropical cyclone we have disconnected the live video to Arunachala to avoid storm damage. It will be reconnected as soon as the weather permits. Lightening is especially dangerous as at can destroy our equipment. Both the adsl and power lines are a danger from severe power surges.

A-L team

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Varuna Lingam, is dedicated to Varuna, the God of the Western direction. The shrine of Varuna Lingam is situated on the outer girivalam path about 1 kilometre before the village of Adi Annamalai.

Varuna, according to Hindu mythology, is the Guardian of Cosmic Justice and the Lord of the Sky. In the days of yore, He may have been one of the most revered and powerful deities of Vedic India. Varuna is a dual god known as Mitra-Varuna, the former ruling the day and the latter the night, but slowly the names became synonymous. Scholars agree that Varuna was a sky god like Ouranos; in fact the two names are derived from the same linguistic root.  Legend has it that it was Varuna who found the sun, hidden in the cosmic waters and set it in the sky. He is praised as the king of kings, the one responsible for making rain. It is believed that repentance and service to Varuna washes away your accumulated sins (sanchita karma). In later myths, Varuna is described as the Lord of the Waters. This is a focus on his powers of inducing dropsy, as well as the Vedic description of him as the god who satisfies the thirst of his followers. Varuna’s power over the water as well as the geographical conjunction of ocean waters with the sky at the horizon made sure that his water aspect would remain, even when his people cast him down from the sky. His names like Jalapati, ‘Ruler of Waters’ and Yadapti, ‘Lord of Aquatic Animals’ reflect this changed reality. He rides a makara, a fabulous animal with the head and front legs of an antelope and the body and tail of a fish. Best of all, he is supposed to live in a house with a thousand doors, as he is always accessible to man.

Today the Varuna lingam shrine attracts very few people and ranges among the less popular ashtalingams. An unfortunate attempt at renovation has resulted in the destruction of the old stone paving and ancient facade and led to the complete concretization of the floor with the cement façade, all of which give the temple an unattractive modern appearance although the lingam dates back to the 12^th century…

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The 60th anniversary of Bhagavan Sri Ramana Maharshi’s Maha Nirvana was honoured in Ramanashram on Tuesday 11th May. Every year this day is celebrated as the Aradhana festival with great devotion and respect.

Sri Ramana attained Maha Nirvana on April 14th 1950 and devotees may wonder why Aradhana is being celebrated in May. This is because, religious and spiritual anniversaries are usually observed according to the astrological constellation and so the day of commemoration may vary from year to year in lieu of the appearance of the constellation.  The Tamil calendar has a cycle of 60 years with a name for each year. The present year is called “Vikruthi” and 60 years ago, it was in this same year of Vikruthi in which Sri Ramana left his mortal frame and attained Samadhi.

This year, in the Ashram,  the usual Aradhana programme was observed. The morning began with special chanting of Ramana sthuthi panchagam and Aksharamana malai after which the Brahmin priests commenced the Rudra japam in preparation for the grand Ekadasa Mahanyasa Rudra abhishekam in the shrine of Ramana’s samadhi which was the main event of the day. Breakfast, lunch and dinner were served to one and all and devotees partook happily at all the meals.

In the evening there was a vocal music concert rendered by Smt.Ambika, a singer from Bangalore, hailing from a family of Ramana devotees. She sang songs in praise of Ramana in Tamil, Telugu and Sanskrit, many of them being compositions of present day devotees.

May the Divine Grace of Ramana be showered over the whole world on this Aradhana !!!

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This is the full moon in the month of Chithirai in conjunction with the Chaitra or Chitra constellation. It is a one of the special full moons of the year and the word chitra means brilliant or colourful from which the term chitrakar is derived meaning painter-artist or magician.

On this full moon night, the legend of Chitragupta is narrated among families.

Chitragupta is the Hindu god, who is assigned with the task of keeping a complete record of the good and bad deeds of human beings and after their death, judge them whether they should go to hell or heaven, depending on their actions on the earth. In some beliefs, Chitragupta is the creation of Lord Brahma and the younger brother of the god of death, Yama. According to Hindu mythology, Brahma is the creator of the whole world. He first created sixteen sons from different parts of his body. Then lord Brahma created his seventeenth son Chitragupta from his belly. Chitragupta is also called `Kayastha` as he was created from the Kaya(body) of Lord Brahma. He is a divine incarnation in human form. Chitragupta has eight sons namely Gorh, Mathur,Bhatnagar, Saxena, Asthana, Srivastava, Ambastha and Karn. The Hindu religion believes in the cycle of life, death and rebirth. It is believed that those who have done misdeeds in life have to take rebirth after a punishment period in hell to complete their life cycle. The primary duty of Chitragupta is to create a log of the lives of all human beings. After the death of each creature, Chitragupta judges and decides whether they will attain ‘Moksha’ or go to heaven for their good-deeds and get redemption from all worldly troubles or receive punishment for their sins in another life form or in hell.

It is a general belief that on this night, any religious act of absolution like bathing in sacred waters or pradakshina around a holy mountain will propitiate Chitragupta who may obliterate the records of one’s bad deeds as a result. Hence millions come to Tiruvannamalai on this night to do giri pradakshina.

Interestingly, the nakshatra Chitra is placed under the protection of Tvastr, the divine carpenter of hindu mythology who supposedly crafted the living creatures, It is believed that he is also associated with the fire and lightning bolt of Indra as well as serving as priest to the Asuras.

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The deity of this festival is Lord Somaskanda, a form of Shiva and Parvathi, usually found in a shrine on the south-western corner of the main temple of Lord Arunachala. From the first day of the festival upto the ninth, every night around 10 o clock, the gods are brought outside to the third courtyard of the temple, installed in a special palanquin and there ensues an elaborate procession-celebration of the Gods in the form of ten splendid, event-filled tours around the

Makila trees lasting till well over midnight. The significance of the “Makila tree” (mimusops elangi) : the tamil verbe makil means to enjoy, to desire and the noun makilchi means joy, exultation or ecstasy. Makiltaran is one of the names of the god Kama. The word makila is often pronounced makuta meaning crown and refers to the coronation of Shiva as the sovereign of the universe.

After coming out of his shrine, Somaskanda is installed on the first pandal just in front of the golden flag pole facing the main shrine. Here the Gods are placed under a lovely canopy of fragrant cooling roots called vilamichaiver vimanam (vilamichai root canopy) hand-made by artisans specially for this occasion, and worshipped with offerings of flowers, diparadhana (waving of lights) and karpuraratti (burning of camphor) with the accompaniment of the temple musicians on their mridangam and nathaswaram.

Next the Lord is brought to the second pandal, the panneer mandapam, where he is greeted at first with the lovely fragrance of panneer (rose-water) which is sprinkled copiously from the top. An offering of diparadhana is made and the priest sthanikar climbs on the pedestal and sits at the feet of the Gods.  Along with the kalasams Soma and Kama,  the Gods are decorated with garlands. And then to the delight of the already excited spectators, the Gods perform a frenzied ritual-dance in front of the mirror placed on the adjacent gallery, with the musicians playing accompaniment with great  fervour. Now the Gods settle down under the panneer mandapam to witness a series of elaborate rituals whose significance should not be lost. The showering of flowers on the Gods by the Gandharva Kanni (the virgin-nymph) is enacted by a puppet activated by strings attached from the adjacent gallery terrace. In a very beautiful show which is enthusiastically cheered by all the spectators both old and young, the lovely gandharva kanni puppet comes many times, seemingly out of thin air, and showers buckets of rose and jasmine flowers on the Gods. It is indeed a marvellous spectacle! Then a priest pours a pot of water with five vilva leaves in front of the deities and makes an offering of lights. During all this time, the stately temple elephant stands in attendance, donned in its festive robes. In the past it would gently fan the Gods with a venchamaram (sacred white fan made of peacock feathers and silk).

After these rituals, the ten processional rounds take place and the gods are borne on their palanquin ten times around the makila trees enclave led by the elephant and accompanied by the musicians and singers and followed by devotees. At the completion of each round, the gods dance in front of the mirror and then remain seated under the panneer mandapam where they receive two floral showers by the Gandharva kanni and diparadhana (light) offering.

The significance of the Gandharva Kanni (celestial virgin nymph) : The Gandharvas are celestial beings and also musicians. They are the guardians of Soma, the divine nectar of immortality and divine teacher of the Moon who is also called Soma. They are the parents of the first human beings, the brother-sister couple Yama and Yami. The Gandharvas are attributed with a mystical power over women and the right to possess them. They are invoked in traditional hindu marriage ceremonies and in the brahmin tradition, the bride who is to be married is supposed to belong first to Soma, to Gandharva and to Agni before becoming the wife of a human being. A gandharva marriage is a marriage of love (not arranged). The chief of the Gandharvas is Chitraratha. The wives of the gandharva men are usually celestial damsels, apsaras. In the present festival, the appearance of the Gandharva kanni would mean to manifest, in a nubile form, the expression of desire and the virtue of union as well as the other elements which are associated here-in (flowers, fragrance, music).

Special days of the festival: The special days are the 3rd, 5th, 8th and 10th days. On the 3rd day, the birth of Kama is supposed to happen, (this was enacted by a temple danseuse disguised as Kama in the olden days).

The 5th and 8th days: On the 5th day, during the 3rd round, Somaskanda makes a halt in front of the main Dakshinamurthi statue under the Makila trees and two priests perform simultaneously one puja to each of the deities with food and light offerings, the synchronisation of the pujas highlighting the unification of the two divine forms.  After the 10th round, Somaskanda is taken inside the Kalyana mandapam where he is divested of silks and jewellery and re-adorned in a new alamkaram made entirely of flowers and green leaves (spring costume).

When the Gods come back outside, the entire lights of the temple are switched off and the Gods make a special tour of the 3rd courtyard with only the light of flaming torches made of rings of plaited straw thereby representing the olivu-vattam, circle of light which designates the moon (Soma).

On the 8th day, Somaskanda is taken inside

the Vasantha mandapam which is at present the temple
administration office and after changing to spring costume, brought outside and again all the lights are switched off and the same olivu vattam tour takes place but this time in the opposite or anti clock-wise direction (apradakshina). Thus the Gods arrive from the left side whereas his musicians

and singers come from the right and they meet in front of the main pandal. In the olden days, the devadasis danced the pinnal-kollattam and one of them, disguised as Kama, was bound in cords.

The 10th and final day: Around 10 o clock in the morning, after the uchikala ritual, Somaskanda and the Goddess go outside the temple on procession in palanquins. They are accompanied by the Astra Deva and the Palikkai. The procession winds its way up to the Ayyankulam, a sacred reservoir of water inside the temple of Arunagirinathar. Here the Teerthavari ritual takes place according to tradtion and the palikkai is thrown inside the water after the Astra deva,s holy dip in the water. The Gods return in procession to the big temple late in the evening. It is the full moon of Chitra. Somaskanda first performs a salutation dance in front of Sambanda Vinayaka while the Goddess is taken inside the shrine. Somaskanda is then borne to the Vasantha mandapam and installed on the front porch where he
is worshipped with diparadhana and karpurarathi. And there he sits beaming benevolently at the crowds of devotees who are thronging at his feet. One would never imagine the terrible events that would follow. Lo and behold! Kama appears and starts to wield his bow and aim his flowery arrow at Shiva. Depicting this, a giant effigy of Kama made of straw holding a huge bow and arrow festooned in flowers is brought in on a wheeled contraption and placed facing Somaskanda. A string is tied connecting the two deities. Then with the help of the priests a fire cracker is lit at the hand ofSomaskanda where it instantly takes off and whizzes down the string and reaches Kama and BOOM! Kama explodes into flames and is immediately wheeled back to the Makila trees enclave where he gets burnt up entirely. A magnificent display of fireworks then takes place in the temple courtyard, enthralling the crowds. After this Somaskanda is borne back into the temple and installed in his shrine.Thus Kama is destroyed by the wrath of Shiva in the festival. However, according to legend, Kama is later on resurrected out of the ashes after his consort Rathi appeals to Shiva and begs him to restore her husband. The death and resurrection of Kama represent the spiritual truth of how after the ego is destroyed, one is reborn as pure eternal Being. The fact that the flames from the third eye of Shiva burn Kama signifies that the third eye of Jnana (knowledge) in one’s heart  must be opened in order for the ego (ignorance) to be destroyed for no darkness can prevail when the light of knowledge shines.

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