Tuesday, 27 May 2014
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Wednesday, 13 November 2013
Karthigai Deepam
Many festivals are celebrated at Arunachaleswarar temple in Tiruvannamalai
throughout the year. Among them Karthigai Deepam is the most significant
festival that is celebrated with pomp and gaiety at Arunachaleswarar temple.
The first day - Karthika Deepam festival begins with the hosting of the flag
signifying the commencement of the festival also known as Dwajaroghanam. In the
morning and night Lord Arunachaleswarar will be taken out on the silver vahana
for procession. The Panchamurthis(Panchamurthigal) are also taken out in the
procession. The Panchamurthigal are Lord Ganapathi, Lord Murugan, Lord
Sandeswarar, Lord Arunachaleswarar and Goddess Parvathi.These processions are
carried out on different vahanas after the Deeparadhana is done at the kalyana
mandapam.
The second day - Karthigai Deepam festival commences with the Lord
Panchamurthigal coming on Indira Vimanam the chariot of Lord Indira.
The third day - Karthigai Deepam festival the ceremony begins at night with the Lord Panchamurthigal coming in procession majestically on the Simha vahana, the chariot of lion.
On the fourth day of Karthikai Deepam the Lord Panchamurthigal comes in the procession that starts at night on the kamadhenu vahanam. The auspicious tree Karpaviruksha is also on the side of the lord. This tree is believed to grant all the wishes that the devotees seek without fail.
The fifth day - Karthikai Deepam festival begins at night. This procession on the silver rishaba vahanam is very appealing and splendid to witness. Lord Panchamurthigal goes on this vahana that is about 25 feet tall. A big umbrella with about 17 feet in diameter is carried along in the procession.
The sixth day - Karthigai Deepam festival commences with a night procession of Lord Panchamurthigal on the silver chariot that is beautifully crafted and simply imposing when it comes around the temple.
The seventh day of Karthikai Deepam festival Lord Panchamurthigal starts with the procession on the Maha ratham that is very huge and it almost occupies the full width of the road. This ratham is made of pure wood that is strong and rugged.
The eight day - Karthigai Deepam festival begins at night with the Lord Panchamurthigal going out on procession on the huge horse vahana. The speciality of this horse is that all the four legs of this horse are in the air and they do not touch the ground.
On the ninth day of Karthigai Deepam festival the devotees can witness Lord Panchamurthigal going out procession on the Kailasa Vahanam. This ceremony is mostly conducted on the ninth night.
The tenth day - Karthigai Deepam festival starts at around four o clock in the early hours and the Bharani Deepam is lit at the temple. In the evening the Mahadeepam is lit on the top of the hill at around six o clock. This is a very important ceremony during the Karthigai Deepam festival at Tiruvannamalai. Arunachaleswarar is said to be visually represented in the form of agni on the hill top. There is a very mammoth gathering on this day at the Arunachaleswarar temple to witness this glorious and sacred event. The night ceremony starts with Lord Periya nayagar going out procession on the Rishaba vahanam that is made of gold. This is another spectacular event at Arunachaleswar temple at Tiruvannamalai.
Theppal - Lord Chandrasekarar, Lord Parasakthi, Lord Subramaniar goes in the boat and this is called Theppam, since it carried out in the tank. Lord Arunachaleswarar goes procession round the hill, known as Girivalam or pradhiksahana. With this ceremony the Karthigai Deepam festival at Arunachaleswarar temple comes to a grand conclusion with the devotees taking back home some divine blessings and memories from this ancient holy city Tiruvannamalai.
The third day - Karthigai Deepam festival the ceremony begins at night with the Lord Panchamurthigal coming in procession majestically on the Simha vahana, the chariot of lion.
On the fourth day of Karthikai Deepam the Lord Panchamurthigal comes in the procession that starts at night on the kamadhenu vahanam. The auspicious tree Karpaviruksha is also on the side of the lord. This tree is believed to grant all the wishes that the devotees seek without fail.
The fifth day - Karthikai Deepam festival begins at night. This procession on the silver rishaba vahanam is very appealing and splendid to witness. Lord Panchamurthigal goes on this vahana that is about 25 feet tall. A big umbrella with about 17 feet in diameter is carried along in the procession.
The sixth day - Karthigai Deepam festival commences with a night procession of Lord Panchamurthigal on the silver chariot that is beautifully crafted and simply imposing when it comes around the temple.
The seventh day of Karthikai Deepam festival Lord Panchamurthigal starts with the procession on the Maha ratham that is very huge and it almost occupies the full width of the road. This ratham is made of pure wood that is strong and rugged.
The eight day - Karthigai Deepam festival begins at night with the Lord Panchamurthigal going out on procession on the huge horse vahana. The speciality of this horse is that all the four legs of this horse are in the air and they do not touch the ground.
On the ninth day of Karthigai Deepam festival the devotees can witness Lord Panchamurthigal going out procession on the Kailasa Vahanam. This ceremony is mostly conducted on the ninth night.
The tenth day - Karthigai Deepam festival starts at around four o clock in the early hours and the Bharani Deepam is lit at the temple. In the evening the Mahadeepam is lit on the top of the hill at around six o clock. This is a very important ceremony during the Karthigai Deepam festival at Tiruvannamalai. Arunachaleswarar is said to be visually represented in the form of agni on the hill top. There is a very mammoth gathering on this day at the Arunachaleswarar temple to witness this glorious and sacred event. The night ceremony starts with Lord Periya nayagar going out procession on the Rishaba vahanam that is made of gold. This is another spectacular event at Arunachaleswar temple at Tiruvannamalai.
Theppal - Lord Chandrasekarar, Lord Parasakthi, Lord Subramaniar goes in the boat and this is called Theppam, since it carried out in the tank. Lord Arunachaleswarar goes procession round the hill, known as Girivalam or pradhiksahana. With this ceremony the Karthigai Deepam festival at Arunachaleswarar temple comes to a grand conclusion with the devotees taking back home some divine blessings and memories from this ancient holy city Tiruvannamalai.
Happy Karthigai Deepam....
Wednesday, 24 July 2013
Kodachadri-Sarvajna peetha
Kodachadri is a mountain peak with dense forests (altitude - 1343 metres above sea level) in the Western Ghats in South India (Shimoga Dist., Karnataka State). It is declared as natural heritage site by Government Karnataka.
The name comes from native word "Kodacha" or "Kodashi" which means hill of Kutaja flowers and "Adri" a Sanskrit word, both combined together coined the word Kodachadri. Kutaja in Sanskrit means Girimallika or Jasmine of the hill. The hilly region that is full of 'Jasmine of the hills' plants is "Kutajadri". It is also called "Kutachadri" and "Kodashi Parvatha".
Kodachadri forms a background to the famous temple of Mookambika in Kollur. It is located at a distance of 21 km from Kollur and 15 km from Nagodi village, in Hosanagara taluk. There are different routes to reach the Peak of Kodachadri and the difficulty varies highly with respect to the route chosen. However it is challenging to reach the peak in monsoon due to heavy rains that make the routes slippery. Kodachadri receives an annual rain fall of 500 cm to 750 cm and it rains for about eight months in a year.
Kodachadri seems to have attracted the attention of humankind since early prehistory. Several monolithic structures or menhirs were built here in prehistoric times. Rocks with dimensions greater than 12 feet were used in their construction. These large structure can be found just 20 Kilometers outside of Nagara-Nilsakal. A temple dedicated to the Ancient Mother Goddess Mookambika is located near the top of the peak. The temple is a popular destination for Hindu pilgrims and it is said to stand where thousands of years ago Mookambika fought and killed the demon Mookasura. In Historic times, people used to trek from Nagara state, a nearby place and Europeans trekked to the peak during 19th Century. Lewin Bentham Bowring, who served as Commissioner of Mysore between 1862 and 1870, records that Kodachadri is "clothed with splendid forests, and the ascent is very steep indeed in one place near foot....The view from the top of the hill, which has a bluff appearance from the distance, though it is as sharp as a knife in reality, is very fine, commanding a long stretch of great Ghat range, a considerable portion of Canara (Kanara), and a vide view over Malnad". He further records that, Kodachadri is visible from Merti Peak near Sringeri.
Kodachadri is visited by locals and Keralites in large numbers since long time. Sage Adi Shankara is said to have visited this place, meditated here and he also established a temple at Kollur. A small temple called Sarvajnapeetha, built with stone is dedicated to Adi Shankara at the top of Kodachadri. Some of the pilgrims from South Indian states who visit Kollur take a trek to Kodachadri also. Dr. K. Shivarama Karantha, noted writer of Udupi District trekked to Kodachadri in 1940s and appreciated the natural beauty of this place by placing Kodachadri as most beautiful of three mountain peaks of coastal Karnataka (the other two being Kuduremukh and Kumara Parvata)
Sarvajna peetha
Sarvajna Peeth is a small temple like structure near the peak where Adi Shankara meditated. This small structure bears a name which is similar to Sarvajñapīṭha, also called Sharada Peeth of Jammu and Kashmir. which was visited by Adi Shankara during his long spiritual journey, where he defeated other scholars in philosophical debate and opened the southern door of the temple. Another temple is located near travellers' bungalow and is believed to be the moola sthana (the origin) of Sri Mookambika Devi. From this spot, it is a 2 km trek to the peak. Just below the peak, an almost vertical path leads to a small cave called Chitramoola, from where the Mookambika temple of Kollur is visible.
hara hara sankara jaya jaya sankara
The name comes from native word "Kodacha" or "Kodashi" which means hill of Kutaja flowers and "Adri" a Sanskrit word, both combined together coined the word Kodachadri. Kutaja in Sanskrit means Girimallika or Jasmine of the hill. The hilly region that is full of 'Jasmine of the hills' plants is "Kutajadri". It is also called "Kutachadri" and "Kodashi Parvatha".
Kodachadri forms a background to the famous temple of Mookambika in Kollur. It is located at a distance of 21 km from Kollur and 15 km from Nagodi village, in Hosanagara taluk. There are different routes to reach the Peak of Kodachadri and the difficulty varies highly with respect to the route chosen. However it is challenging to reach the peak in monsoon due to heavy rains that make the routes slippery. Kodachadri receives an annual rain fall of 500 cm to 750 cm and it rains for about eight months in a year.
Kodachadri seems to have attracted the attention of humankind since early prehistory. Several monolithic structures or menhirs were built here in prehistoric times. Rocks with dimensions greater than 12 feet were used in their construction. These large structure can be found just 20 Kilometers outside of Nagara-Nilsakal. A temple dedicated to the Ancient Mother Goddess Mookambika is located near the top of the peak. The temple is a popular destination for Hindu pilgrims and it is said to stand where thousands of years ago Mookambika fought and killed the demon Mookasura. In Historic times, people used to trek from Nagara state, a nearby place and Europeans trekked to the peak during 19th Century. Lewin Bentham Bowring, who served as Commissioner of Mysore between 1862 and 1870, records that Kodachadri is "clothed with splendid forests, and the ascent is very steep indeed in one place near foot....The view from the top of the hill, which has a bluff appearance from the distance, though it is as sharp as a knife in reality, is very fine, commanding a long stretch of great Ghat range, a considerable portion of Canara (Kanara), and a vide view over Malnad". He further records that, Kodachadri is visible from Merti Peak near Sringeri.
Kodachadri is visited by locals and Keralites in large numbers since long time. Sage Adi Shankara is said to have visited this place, meditated here and he also established a temple at Kollur. A small temple called Sarvajnapeetha, built with stone is dedicated to Adi Shankara at the top of Kodachadri. Some of the pilgrims from South Indian states who visit Kollur take a trek to Kodachadri also. Dr. K. Shivarama Karantha, noted writer of Udupi District trekked to Kodachadri in 1940s and appreciated the natural beauty of this place by placing Kodachadri as most beautiful of three mountain peaks of coastal Karnataka (the other two being Kuduremukh and Kumara Parvata)
Sarvajna peetha
Sarvajna Peeth is a small temple like structure near the peak where Adi Shankara meditated. This small structure bears a name which is similar to Sarvajñapīṭha, also called Sharada Peeth of Jammu and Kashmir. which was visited by Adi Shankara during his long spiritual journey, where he defeated other scholars in philosophical debate and opened the southern door of the temple. Another temple is located near travellers' bungalow and is believed to be the moola sthana (the origin) of Sri Mookambika Devi. From this spot, it is a 2 km trek to the peak. Just below the peak, an almost vertical path leads to a small cave called Chitramoola, from where the Mookambika temple of Kollur is visible.
hara hara sankara jaya jaya sankara
Sunday, 7 July 2013
My Travel: Sri Aurobindo Ashram
Sri Aurobindo Ashram
The Sri Aurobindo Ashram is a spiritual community (ashram) established
at Pondicherry, in the Indian territory of Puducherry, by Sri Aurobindo on the
24 November 1926 (Siddhi Day). At the time there were few disciples staying
with Sri Aurobindo. Sri Aurobindo subsequently decided to withdraw from public
view for continuing His spiritual work and handed over the responsibility of
the Sadhaks (spiritual aspirants) and the Ashram to His spiritual collaborator
The Mother, earlier known as Madam Mirra Alfassa.
Aim
A complete method of Integral Yoga that would
transform human nature to divine life. In Sri Aurobindo's yoga, the highest aim
is the being of one, without the renunciation of life in the world. Such a
fulfillment of the consciousness, the urge for perfection, must not be confined
to few individuals but must extend to the masses, leading to a new type of
being that is "eternal, self-existing, and inalienable".
Sri Aurobindo lays the foundation of his inquiry
by focusing on the contradiction between the mundane human existence and the
human desire to acquire a divine perfection in life. By introducing the
category of evolution, he wants to resolve the paradox of the human being's
delimited consciousness and his desire to be identical with a divine form.
Apart from study of Sri Aurobindo's and The
Mother's writings, there are no specific disciplines recommended, but rather
the practice of Integral Yoga means that every sadhak should follow whatever
spiritual techniques they feel guided to from within.
Anyone can start this quest at any time. There's
no fixed method,no rituals and no discourses / training as such. It's the only
self-practice to reach the highest, eternal state and the continuous help will
be sourced only from Divine and no one else.
Sri Aurobindo's teachings have influenced not
just Indian thought, but also is established throughout the World, thanks to
books and regional centers. It is also a contributing element in Integral
philosophy.
The Mother
Mirra
Alfassa (21 February 1878 – 17 November 1973), also known as The Mother, was the spiritual
collaborator of Sri Aurobindo. Her full name at birth was Blanche Rachel Mirra Alfassa. She came to Sri Aurobindo's spiritual retreat on
29 March 1914 in Pondicherry, India. Having to leave Pondicherry during World
War I, she spent most of her time in Japan where she met the Nobel laureate
poet Rabindranath Tagore. Finally she returned to Pondicherry and settled there
in 1920. After 24 November 1926, when Sri Aurobindo retired into seclusion, she
founded his ashram (Sri Aurobindo Ashram), with a handful of disciples living
around the Master. She became the spiritual guide of the community. The experiences of the last thirty years of
Mother's life were captured in the 13-volume work The Agenda. In those
years she attempted the physical transformation of her body in order to become
what she felt was the first of a new type of human individual by opening to the
Supramental Truth Consciousness, a new power of spirit that Sri Aurobindo had
allegedly discovered. Sri Aurobindo considered her an incarnation of the Mother
Divine and called her by that name: The Mother. When asked why he called her
the Mother, Sri Aurobindo wrote a seminal book The Mother by introduction to
the Mother's outstanding Personalities,portions and embodiments of her
divinity. That's how she came be known as The Mother.
Sri
Aurobindo
Sri Aurobindo (Sri Ôrobindo) (15 August 1872 – 5
December 1950), born Aurobindo Ghosh
or Ghose (Ôrobindo Ghosh),
was an Indian nationalist, freedom fighter, philosopher, yogi, guru and poet.
He joined the Indian movement for freedom from British rule, for a while became
one of its influential leaders and then turned into a spiritual reformer,
introducing his visions on human progress and spiritual evolution.
Aurobindo studied for the Indian civil service at
King's College, Cambridge. After returning to India he took up various civil
service works under the Maharaja of Baroda and started to involve himself in
politics. He was imprisoned by British India for writing articles against
British rule. He was released when no evidence was provided. During his stay in
the jail he reputedly had mystical and spiritual experiences, after which he
moved to Pondicherry, leaving politics for spiritual work.
During his stay in Pondicherry, Aurobindo evolved
a new method of spiritual practice, which he called Integral Yoga. The central
theme of his vision was the evolution of human life into a life divine. He
believed in a spiritual realisation that not only liberated man but also
transformed his nature, enabling a divine life on earth. In 1926, with the help
of his spiritual collaborator, Mirra Alfassa ("The Mother"), he
founded the Sri Aurobindo Ashram. He died on 5 December 1950 in Pondicherry. He
was the first Indian to create a major literary corpus in English.
His main literary works are The Life Divine,
which deals with theoretical aspects of Integral Yoga; Synthesis of Yoga,
which deals with practical guidance to Integral Yoga; and Savitri, an epic
poem which refers to a place in the Mahabharata, where its characters
actualise integral yoga in their lives. His works also include philosophy,
poetry, translations and commentaries on the Vedas, Upanishads
and the Gita.
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