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Ramanashram and Ahta Lingam in Girivalam

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Ramanashram and Ahta Lingam in Girivalam Ramanashram and Ahta lingam in Girivalam Ramana Ashram At Ramana Ashram, I was welcomed by the melody of peacocks. I went in and prostrated in front of Sage Ramana's Samadhi. An inexplainable peace surrounded me. There was a hall where he lived with His photographs. I went in and found many foreigners seated so beautifully, either in Padmasana (the lotus pose) or Sukasana with their spine erect, in meditation. I, too, meditated there for a while and came out. I saw people looking skywards, with camera. I then realized that it was the peacock in a tree. But then someone signalled to me 'see here' and I was taken aback with what I saw. A beautiful peacock, spread out its wing and was posing for us. I took photos of both of them. 1 I read on the internet that on the day when Sage Ramana Maharishi left for his heavenly abode, the peacocks kept on lou-louing and stopped abruptly when he left his body. They kept a great silence after that! The darshan of the Arunachala mountain from the Ashram is Eru Pancha Mukha Darshan. It is for all those who have committed sin out of circumstances. It helps them not to get in to the same trap again. The mind will wander when you sit and do japa but if you do pradakshina that mind will remain one-pointed even though the limbs and the body are moving. It is known as sanchara samadhi. The Lingam (also, Linga, Ling, Shiva linga, Shiv ling, Sanskrit िलङ्गं , meaning "mark" or "sign") is a representation of the Hindu deity Shiva used for worship in temples. The Lingam has also been considered a symbol of male creative energy or of 2 the phallus. The lingam is often represented with the Yoni, a symbol of the goddess or of Shakti, female creative energy. The union of lingam and yoni represents the "indivisible two-in-oneness of male and female, the passive space and active time from which all life originates". A complimentary theory suggests that the Lingam represents the beginningless and endless Stambha pillar, symbolizing the infinite nature of Shiva. Etymology The Sanskrit term िलङ्गं ', transliterated as linga, has diverse meaning ranging from gender and sex to philosophic and religions to uses in common language, such as a mark, sign or characteristic. Vaman Shivram Apte's Sanskrit dictionary provides many definitions: A mark, sign, token, an emblem, a badge, symbol, distinguishing mark, characteristic; A false ... Giri Pradakshina Girivalam is the path around Arunachala and the performance of Pradakshina, to go around the hill on this path, is one of the principle activities prescribed for devotees, to seek the blessings of Lord Arunachaleswarar at Arunachaleswarar Temple or Annamalaiyar Temple in Tamilnadu Whether undertaken as an act of devotion, duty, or to achieve boons or blessings, millions of people have made and continue to make this action a part of their spiritual experience. Bhagavan Sri Ramana Maharshi on Giri Pradakshina: 3 One of the devotees asked Sri Ramana “several people here go around the hill frequently. What is its greatness?” Bhagavan then recounted the following story: It seems Amba who was doing tapas went around the hill on the day of the Karthigai star in the first quarter of the night. Immediately after the darshan of the holy beacon (deepam) she was absorbed in Lord Siva. Bhagavan said to a devotee: “The word pradakshina has a very precise meaning. The letter pra stands for removal of all kinds of sins; da stands for fulfilling desires; the syllable kshi stands for freedom from future births, na stands for giving deliverance through jnana.” Bhagavan himself used to frequently go on pradakshina of Arunachala hill for several days at a stretch and used to advocate the practice to spiritual seekers saying, “what better sadhana can there be than going round the hill?” Hindu mythology also explains the significance of circumambulating the hill. The story goes that Parvati on the advice of Sage Gautama worshipped Arunachala. She circumambulated the hill everyday in the company of Her friends with the aim of getting her desires fulfilled. She adored the Lord of Arunachala and gave herself to Him mentally. She thus practiced penance in the prescribed manner. Finally she was absorbed in Arunachala. Another story says that Sage Durvasa, king of sages, once cursed two vidyadharas. They then beseeched him to be merciful, forgive their trespasses and redeem them from his curse. To which Durvasa unequivocally stated, “the curse cannot be lifted by any act except that of circumambulating the Arunachala hill”. He then proceeded to relate what Siva himself had declared in an assembly of devas and others: “he who circumambulates with devotion the Arunachala hill which is my form, attains a form like mine (saroopya). He becomes the Lord of the entire world and reaches the highest state”. He then advised King Vajrangada whose mount attained liberation because he rode on it and performed circumambulation. When he saw his horse attain liberation easily, he was greatly pained that he had done a great misdeed by going round the hill on a horse. The two vidyadharas (celestial beings) appeared before him and said, “the Lord of Aruna hill is a repository of compassion and his glory is great. Circumambulate the Aruna hill on foot as a means of release from suffering”. The king heeded their advice and with great zeal and devotion he performed circumambulation and attained liberation. Girivalam literally means circumambulation of the hill – in Tamil language, 4 “Giri” means “Mountain” and “Valam” means “Circumambulation”. It is said that proceeding one foot bestows equal benefit of Yagam (a ritual of sacrifice), second foot offers the benefit of Rajasuya Yagam and the third foot gives the benefit of Aswamedha Yagam (horse sacrifice) and continuing further provides the beneficial of all Yagams. Girivalam is sometimes referred as “Malaivalam” by the people in Arunachala. The Sacred Arunachala Hill It is said that the 2668 ft high Arunachala Hill was Agni (fire) during Kirthayugam, Manikkam (Emerald) during Threthayugam, Pon (Gold) during Dwaparayugam and rock during Kaliyugam. The total circumambulation path is 14 km and it is auspicious to perform Girilvalam during every full moon day. You can see numbers of Siddhars on the hill during the day. There are eight lingams, eight nandis more than 350 tanks and many mandapas around the Arunachala hill. There are eight lingams located at the eight directions and provides an octagonal structure to Tiruvannamalai Town. Each lingam represent one direction are The Ashtalingams or Eight Lingams around Arunachala Hill Devotees come across eight lingams known as Ashtalingam (Ashta Lingas) while walking around the hill. They are set at different locations and each lingam signifies different directions of the earth. These Asta lingams are named as 1) Indra Lingam or Indra Linga (direction East) 2) Agni Lingam or Agni Linga (direction – South East) 3) Yama Lingam or Ema Linga (direction – South) 4) Niruthi Lingam or Niruthi Linga (directon – South West) 5) Varuna Lingam or Varuna Linga (direction – West) 6) Vayu Lingam (direction – North West) 5 7) Kubera Lingam (direction – North) Esanya Lingam (direction – North East) These lingams are believed to have been installed by various gods and they have dominant Navagrahas. Praying to each lingam brings various benefits, conferred by the respective Navagraha. Nandi in the top of the hill that has been formed Along side of the girivalam path we will find many Mutts, small temple, Ashrams. Some of them are • Ramanashram • Yogi Ramsuratkumar (VisiriSamiyar) Ashram • Sri Seshadri Swamigal Ashram • Ancheneyar Temple • adiannamalaiyar Temple Indra Lingam ( East ) This is the first lingam on the Girivalam and has east as its main direction. Said to be installed by the celestial king, Lord Indran, Indra linga is dominated by the Navagrahas, Lord Surya and Lord Shukra (Venus). Devotees are blessed with long life and with prosperity, on worshipping Indra lingam. Dominant Navagraha : Sun and Sukiran . Agni Lingam :(South East) This is the second lingam . Located near the lotus tank, Agni Lingam is the second lingam to worship on the Asta Lingams in Girivalam. Agni Linga faces the south-east direction. This is the only lingam found on the right side of the path, while all other lingams are on the left side. Worshipping this lingam helps the devotees to get relieved from diseases, to maintain good health and also helps to face any challenges with ease in their lives. Lord Chandra (Moon) is the dominant Navagraha of Agni lingam. 6 Yama Lingam : (South) The third lingam on the Girivalam and next to Agni lingam and 3 kilometer away from the Rajagopuram, the Yama lingam occupies the south direction. Ruled by the red planet, Mangala (Sevvai or Mars), the Yama lingam is said to be installed by the God of Death, Lord Yama. There is a holy tank called Simma Theertham. Devotees get rid of their financial constraints on worshipping the Yama lingam. Niruthi Lingam : (South West) This is the fourth lingam on the Girivalam and its direction is South East while we see the peak of the holy hill Arunachala, it views accompanying of two parts of mountain and shows 'Sivan' and 'Sakthi' together. Lord Rahu (Raghu) is the dominant graham of Niruthi lingam. This lingam was installed by Niruthi, the King of Giants. A holy tank called as Sani Theertha is located nearby. Health, wealth and fame are the beneficial aspects of this lingam. It is also said that those couples who are worrying about not having a children will get children by worshipping Niruthi linga. Varuna Lingam : (West) This temple placed West of the hill Arunachala, this is the fifth lingam.
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