Arunachala Temple

Lord Arunachala And Abithakujambal

Thiruvannamalai is home to the Arunachala Temple located at the foot of the Annamalai hill . Arunachala is the Lord Siva. He is here with his consort ‘Abithakujambal’ and also called as ‘Unnamulai Amman’. Both have separate chambers inside the temple. Temple complex has several separate temples for Skantha, Arunagirinathar and others.

Arunachala Temple Complex

The Arunachala Hill was Agni (fire) during Krithayugam, was Manikkam (Emerald) during Threthayugam, was pon (Gold) during Dwaprayugam and rock during Kaliyugam as per the ancient legends. On the request of Thirumal and Bramha, Arunachala who was in the form of a fire column took the form of a Sivalingam at the foot of the hill. Here the Arulmigu Arunachala Temple is located.

Arunachala Temple Golden Flag Tree

The Creator Lord Bramha and Protector Lord MahaVishnu entered into a controversy among themselves so as to ascertain who was the greatest. Lord Siva was asked to be the judge. Lord Arunachala (Siva) told them that whoever was able to see his crown as well as his feet would be termed as the greatest.

Then Lord Siva transformed himself into a Jothi (a column of fire) touching the heaven and earth. Thirumal took the avatar of wild boar and dug deep into the earth to find Arunachala’s feet but at last accepted defeat. Bramha took the form of a swan and flew to see the crown of Arunachala.

Unable to see the crown, Bramha saw a thazhambu flower which had decked Arunachala’s crown falling down. He asked the flower as to the distance of Arunachala’s crown whereby the flower replied that he had been falling for forty thousand years. Bramha, realizing that he would not be able to reach the crown asked the flower to act as a false witness. The thazhambu flower acting as a false witness declared that Brahma had seen the crown.

Arunachala became angry at the deception and cursed that Bramha should have no temple on earth and that the thazhambu flower should not be used while praying to Lord Siva. The place where Lord Siva stood as a column of fire to eliminate the ego is the Arunachala Hill.

Arunachala Hill and the Temple

Lord Siva’s wife Goddess Umadevi once playfully closed His eyes which plunged the world into darkness. All living beings suffered in the dark. To absolve herse of this sin Mother Umadevi created a Sivalingam out of sand and worshipped at Kancheepuram.

At that instance, Lord Siva ordered her to proceed to Arunachala Hills and do penance so that she could get half of His body. Likewise Mother Parvathi did penance at Pavalakundru with the help of Saint Gowthama. A demon called Makidasuran disturbed the penance of Mother Parvathi.

The Mother took the form of goddess Durga Devi and destroyed him on the full moon day of the Tamil month of Karthigai during the auspicious period of pradosham. Lord Arunachala (Siva) presented himself in the form of Fire atop the hill and merged Goddess Parvathi on the left half of his body.

Temple Tower and Tank

To commemorate this event, every year during the Tamil month of Karthigai in Kiruthigai Star, exactly at 6.00 p.m. Arthanareeswaramurthi presents himself as Jyothi Swaroopa to his devotees at the time of Karthigai Festival 10th day. It is celebrated as karthigai Deepam festival.
The ten day event culminates on the day of Karthigai Deepam. On that evening, a huge lamp is lit in a cauldron with three tons of ghee at the top of the Arunachala hill.[2] People chant ‘Annamalaiyaruku Arohara’ and ‘Arunachaleswrya Namaha’. It vibrates through out the Arunachala hill , temple and all through the town.



In next post I will meet you with some more information about the Arunachala Temple.



Transport:

Road:

Thiruvannamalai is well connected to many cities and towns in Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh by road. This town lies on the junction of the Chittoor - Cuddalore state highway and the Puduchery - Bengalooru national highway (NH 66). The TNSTC operates many bus services to the different towns and cities in Tamil Nadu.

Rail:

A railway line between Vellore and Villupuram passes through Thiruvannamalai, where passengers can board a passenger train to Vellore (up) or Villupuram (down) (traffic in this section is now closed for gauge conversion). The nearest major railway station is at Tindivanam (63 km).

Air:

The nearest airport is at Chennai 170 km.

Awesome Temples

Dear friends ,

India is a land of temples with rich heritage. Temples and Indian culture are very much interlinked. There are communities and casts which have fully devoted their time and money for temples. Maharajahs, rich trading communities and several other individuals have built awesome temples.

I hail from such a community. My fore fathers have built many temples and have contributed to the renovation of sevaral famous temples. We maintain the tradition. I want to share with you the richness of Indian Temples. You will be amazed to find beautiful temples and rich cultural background they have. Travel with me to the Amazing and Awesome Temples of India and have a glimpse of it.

I thank my parents for this golden opportunity to take the people of the world to the Indian temples.

Prayer to Guru, the Teacher to bless us:

'Guru Brahma
Guru Vishnu
Guru Devo Maheswaraha
Satchath Prahbrahma
Thasmai
Shri Guruway Namaha'

In my next post we will be visiting the Annamalaiyar Temple in Thiruvannamalai town of Tamil Nadu State in India.

See you there in Thiruvannamalai Annamalaiyar temple.