Sanctum Abode - Vellingiri

After a very long time, back to blogging with a post about the mystique and the divine - The Vellingiri Hills. The Vellingiri hills, considered the Southern Kailash, is one of the important and sacred pilgrimage destinations in the country. The Vellingiri Hills, a part of the Western Ghats, is about 30 kms from Coimbatore city. There are a lot of public transport facilities available to Vellingiri foothills. The prime deity is Lord Shiva in the name, Velliangiri Andavar, meaning Lord of the Silver mountains. The Vellingiri hills is a serene and a beautiful place where nature could be seen at its best. Along withe beauty a lot of legends are associated with the Vellingiri hills, one such is from the Mahabharatha.

The pilgrimage starts during the full moon in the months of April/May, that is, the Chitra Pournami - full moon in the Tamil month of Chithirai. Chithirai being the first month of the Tamil year and the full moon in this month is exceptionally bright, people start on a pilgrimage trip abode the Vellingiri hills to worship Lord Shiva. It comprises of seven hills, and the seventh hill being the place where Lord Shiva is abode.

The Vellingiri Hills is full of serenity and divinity spread across the seven hills. One can feel the finesse of the tranquility of the Vellingiri Hills, only by being there. The hills host a lot of springs that are freezing chill even on the hot summers day. There are springs with names that are quite intriguing and interesting. The Kai Thatti Sunai (The Clapping Spring) has an interesting belief behind it, the force of the water increases if one claps near it, though I have not felt personally when I tried. And there is the Aandi Sunai at the end of the sixth hill which is a bigger one.

The Vellingiri hills has many legends associated with it, especially from the Mahabharatha. Not only is the hills, but also the places nearby Coimbatore.
There are places in the hills called the Draupadi Palam (Draupadi Bridge), Bheeman Kali Urundai (Bheema's handful of found in the shape of a ball), Andi Sunai (Andi Spring - the place at the end of the 6th hill were Arjuna conducted his penance).

One interesting story is that, when the Pandavas were in exile into the forests, they ventured out into the country in disguise. They were travelling near the place called Dharapuram, and one of the Dhuryodhana's men identified the Pandavas and went on to inform Dhuryodhana. The place where the Pandavas is called Kandidam [Kanda (Found) + Idam (Place)], which later got transformed and now called as Kundadam. When the Pandavas came to know that they were identified by Dhuryodhana's men, the retreated back into the Vellingiri forest. The place where they turned back and retreated is called Tiruppur [Thiruppu - (turn back) + Oor - (Place)], this name still exists.

Now lets view some of the serene and beautiful pictures of the Velligiri Hills

The mist covered serene Vellingiri Hills

Another view of the mist covered serene Vellingiri Hills

Nature at its best

Ravichandran on his ascent to worship Lord Vellingirinathar

Sathiyaraj, Kannadhasan, Satish on their ascent (The bamboo sticks are used for balance while climbing the steep hills and rough surfaces)

Kannadhasan, Sathiyaraj, Satish, Ravichandran on the divine expedition

The arduous climb, but still, people are quite determined

In the hands of Mother Nature

Illustration of the need for the bamboo stick

At some places, step are carved out of large rocks.

The Kai Thatti Sunai (The Clapping Spring)

Kannadhasan testing the Kai Thatti Sunai and quenching his thirst

Satish and Ravi lifting the Bheeman Kali Urundai (Lifting is a hoax though :) )

Guys pointing our destiny of the mission, the seventh hilltop

Another view of the Seventh Hill

The rugged terrain

Gunasekaran at the end of the Sixth Hill

Kannadhasan and Ravi near the Aandi Sunai (The place Arjuna conducted his penance)

Sathiyaraj, after courageously immersing himself in freezing waters of the Aandi Sunai

View of the Siruvani Dam, claimed to have the world's second tastiest water

Another view of the Siruvani Dam from atop the Seventh Hill

The Crescent shaped moon, we made this expedition when it was nearing New moon

Pradeep and Gopinath taking a short rest at the top of the Seventh Hill

Pradeep and others have a small break at the top of the Seventh Hill

So does Sathiyaraj at the top of the Seventh Hill

Watching the beauty of sunrise from above the hills, another reason to reach the hilltop early at dawn

Another view of the sunrise

Valiant and happy after climbing to the destiny

The rejuvenated team after worshipping Lord Vellingirinathar

The first climb for us (Pradeep, my brother, and myself)

Preparing for the descent

The descent, notice the view of the beautiful view of the hills at the background

Tired and exhausted at the end of the journey

The divine place that made it happen

The more we go to Vellingiri Hills, the more we explore the mystique and the serene beauty of the hills along with its divinity. Lets explore this divine place and worship Lord Shiva in the Kailash of the South.

More to come, until then...

Continuing Companions

Many philosophers and saints have spent their lives in finding out the answer to the question who/what accompanies us throughout the life and after. Hinduism firmly believe on the philosophy of rebirth so that soul gets reborn again and again until it attains salvation. Some say that the physical body that a soul takes is just a shell and nothing goes with the soul. Many of us even would have heard the great verses by the great Tamil poet of recent times, Kaviarasu Kannadhasan, that goes like this.



"Veedu Varai Uravu
Veedhi Varai Manaivi
Kaadu Varai Pillai
Kadaisi Varai Yaaro?"

meaning - When a man dies, his relatives and friends come till his home. His life partner (wife) come till the street. His children come till his body is cremated. But nobody knows who/what will accompany that soul after that.

Veedu - Home
Varai - till, until
Uravu - relatives, friends
Veedhi - Street
Manaivi - Wife
Kaadu - Forest, Burial/Cremation ground
Pillai - Son/Children
Kadaisi - End
Yaaro - Interrogative pronoun indicating Who?

However the well known siddhar Pattinathar (circa. 11th Century) has an explanation to this question about who the companions are? His song goes on the same lines as above.



"Aththamum Vaazhvum Agathumattae Vizhi Ambozhuga
Meththiya Maadharum Veedhi Mattae Vimmi Vimmi Iru
Kaithalam Mael Vaithu Azhum Maindharum Sudukaadu Mattae
Patri Thodarum Iruvinai Punniyam Paavamumae"

meaning, Wealth and Relations coming till the home. Women - The wife - with their attractive eyes come till the street. The children who cry keeping their hands on the body come until the cremation grounds. The two things that accompany are the sins and the good deeds that a person does during his life.

Aththam - Wealth,Relations
Vaazhvu - Living
Agam - Home
Mattae - Till
Vizhi Ambu - Attractive Eyes (Vizhi) striking the view like an arrow (Ambu)
Meththi - Praise
Maadhar - Women
Veedhi - Street
Vimmi - Spasmodically gasping while crying
Iru Kai - Both hands
Mael Vaithu - Keeping on top
Azhum - Crying
Maindhar - Children
Sudukaadu - Cremation ground
Patri - Clasp
Thodarum - Continue
Iruvinai - Two karmas
Punniyam - Good deeds
Paavam - Sin

Pattinathar has so much to be said about him, that it will take up a few posts to fully cover and convey his sayings. To give a brief about Pattinathar - He was a highly influential and a very rich businessman, who attained realisation/enlightenment by his own son who was none other than Lord Shiva incarnate. The one verse by his son made Pattinathar attain realisation about the existence of a soul and its ultimate path. The verse is



"Kaadhatra Oosiyum Vaaradhu Kaan Kadai Vazhikkae"

This has two meanings that can be interpreted. The first, The needle with a broken eye, will never make its way to the market. The second, which was the culmination of Pattinathar's realisation, means that even the useless needle with a broken eye would not accompany in the human's last journey

Kaadhatra - Kaadhu refers to Ear, however in this context it refers to the eye of the needle
Oosi - Needle
Vaaradhu - Will not be coming
Kaan - See
Kadai - Shop, Market, Last, End
Vazhi - Path, Destination

The wealth earned, the people whom relationships are built, even their wife and offsprings would not accompany during their final journey. His intention is not get dejected in life that nothing is going to come with us in the final journey and why should one put in efforts to gather wealth. But to make a note that the good deeds and the sins are the ones that we have with us in all our lives. So we need to minimize the sins that we commit and increase the good deeds that we perform. So setting our expectations low, will avoid unnecessary desires which is the root cause of all troubles and tribulations that a person goes through and is the thing that pushes a man to committing a sin. And the belief is that if you commit less sins and more good deeds, you will be reborn as something better than what we are now. Be it for the reasons of rebirth or not, let us try to avoid committing sins in our lives.

More to come, until then...

Elusive Illusions - Maayai

Maayai - Illusions in life - is an elusive term that reflects the unsteady state of human life. Philosophers and Saints who achieved realisation say that everything around us and we ourselves are the facets of illusion or illusion itself. But that definition does not seem to give a complete insight or understanding to a layman about what Maayai actually is. This is where our great epics - The Ramayanam and The Mahabharatham - come to deal with such situations. Though the mainline of these epics is well known to the world, there are many stories/legends that come along with the mainline of these epics. They ancillary legends are called the Upakadhai meaning stories that form as an ancillary part. They line and the situations mentioned in these Upakadhai are a bit different from the main epic, but the characters involved in the Upakadhais are the same as those in the main epic.

Well, lets get back to our Maayai concept. Though people have explained pages and pages of things about this, the Upakadhais explain it in a very simple manner that whole concept is understood to people of all categories. One such story comes from Mahabharatham. The story goes like this.

Once Naradhar had the same question that we have started here. What is Maayai? He asked various people and saints he knew, but nobody gave him an answer that was so satisfactory. So he wanted to know a concrete answer to that question. Finally he went to Lord Krishna and asked the question. Lord Krishna promised to give him an answer so concrete that Naradha would completely understand what Maayai was. Lord Krishna also told Naradha that He will take him somewhere the next day to show and explain what Maayai was. Naradha agreed.

The next morning, Lord Krishna and Naradha started very early that Naradha could not find time to take his bath. On the way, Naradha found a pond and said to Lord Krishna that he will be back in a few minutes after taking his bath immersing himself in the pond. Lord Krishna agreed to it and asked him to be back quickly as they would be late to where they are heading. Naradha consented and went ahead to the pond. This is when the Omnipotent Being, Lord Krishna, got prepared to unleash the Maayai. When Naradha immersed completely inside the water, Lord Krishna unleashed Maayai and thats where things started for Naradha.

Then later, both were walking for a long distance. Lord Krishna felt very thirsty and asked Naradha to go get some water in house that visible at short distance from where they were. Until then Lord Krishna said that he will take rest under a tree.

Naradha went to that house to get some water. When he went inside the house calling for people in there, a beautiful and charming young lady appeared from the house and asked what he wanted. He was taken aback by the beauty of that girl and he lost himself. He fell madly in love with that girl and wanted to marry her. Naradha completely forgot about Lord Krishna asking water. He was completely obsessed that only girl's beauty was in his eyes.

He wanted to marry her and spoke to his father saying that he was Naradha, son of Brahma, The Creator. The girl's father consented to Naradha marrying the girl. The wedding was over and the couple lived happily ever after for twelve years. They had 12 children and the family became big and so was its burden. The family was getting into poverty as Naradha could not manage such a big family. Every day was painfully bad because of the increasing poverty.

One day rains poured heavily that started to cause floods in that area. Naradha with all his family members was sitting together in the old dilapidated hut. He grasped as many children as the others cuddled together. Slowly the flood waters began to rise and washed away Naradha's home and children. He grasped to the hands of as many children as he could and took a few in his shoulders so that they could be in safety. When the floods washed them, Naradha caught hold off a branch of a tree and stayed in safety with a few children on his shoulder and in his grasp. Slowly the floods started to gain speed and washed away all the children. Naradha was exhausted, that he could not move or hold on anymore and the floods were continuously rising and he was immersed completely.

And then he mustered his energy to pull himself out of water and with a big gasping sound for a breath of air, he came out of the water. And then he realised, that he was in the pond that he immersed himself to take bath. He was shocked to see that he did not move out of the pond and yet he had the pleasurable and worst experiences in life. By then he heard Lord Krishna saying, "Naradha, why is it taking you 45 minutes to immerse yourself and take a bath?" Naradha was more shocked when Lord Krishna said this.

He came out of the pond and asked Lord Krishna about all this. He said that he had spent 12 years of life that was peaceful and miserable, but how come just 45 mins have passed. Lord Krishna smiled at Naradha and told - "That is Maayai (that 12 years of his life)". Naradha fell at his feet.

Well that is one fine story that explains a subtle concept in a simple manner. These stories are not only easy to understand, but they also contain a great message that does not need any special learning to understand it. Though these stories might sound like a fairy tale suitable for children, they explain concepts that have been explained in Physics (Concept of time dilation as in this story), Management etc. These stories have to be interpreted correctly that they will serve a greater purpose to every aspect of human life.

Let us find out and preserve these Upakadhais as we do with our epics so that they are not only interesting to hear, but also mention the various facts of our lives.

More to come, until then...

Awesome Avinashi!!!

After a long time, a post about Avinashi in the month of Chithirai seemed appropriate. Avinashi is one of the celebrated Shaivite temples and is considered as the first of the seven Thevaram Sthalams in the Kongu region. The temple is a about 40 kilometres from Coimbatore and a few kilometers from Tiruppur. The word Avinashi means indestructible and the sanctum sanctorum Lord Shiva stands as the indestructible force here. The temple is also known by its various names, Karunaiyaathaal Kovil (Merciful Mother's Temple referring to Goddess Parvathi the consort of Lord Shiva), Dakshina Varanasi (Varanasi of South), Thirupukkozhiyur. The temple is over 1500 years old and has been sung by Manickavaasagar, Sundaramoorthy Nayanar, Thirumoolar and Arunagirinathar in their respective works.

There are inscriptions that the temple received a lots of endowments from the Cholas and Pandyas. There is even a legend that Sundaramoorthy Nayanar on his way to Thiruvanchikulam to meet the Chera King, Cheramaan Peruman, Sundarar happened to visit Avinashi. While walking through the streets of Avinashi, he heard conflicting voices from two of the opposite houses one blooming with happiness and joy and the other with a gloomy and melancholic voices. Sundarar came to the know the reason for the discordance. He came to know that the incident took place some three years ago, when two boys of the same age went to bathe in a nearby tank and one of them devoured by a crocodile that emerged from the tank.

The surviving boy had his "Upanayanam" (A thread ceremony to mark the beginning of studenthood) held. And so there was joy in that house. While on the other house people were sad because had their boy been alive, they too would be celebrating his "Upanayanam" too.

Sundarar was able to understand the pain of the worrying family and he sung out a soulful song, praying to Lord Shiva to resurrect the dead child. Lord Avinashiappar heeded to Sundarar's prayers. The empty tank started to fill in with water from which emerged the crocodile and regurgitated the child as a fully grown boy of 8 years. And there filled happiness in the other home to as their boy was brought alive. There is a sculpture in the Kodimaram (flag mast) and inside the temple explaining this incident. There is even a temple for Sundaramoorthy Nayanar nearby and the tank, called the Thamaraikulam, from which he revived the boy. The temple is on the shores of the Thamaraikulam and this event is commemorated during the 'Mudalai Vaai Pillai' Utsavam on Panguni Uththiram.

The most special thing of all is the temple's car. It is one of the biggest cars in South India. Same as Thiruvarur, Avinashi boasts the biggest car and the auspicious festivals that are held as done in Thiruvarur. The Avinashi car is known for its fine wooden carvings. The old car was destroyed in the recent fire accident, and a new one was built. The car festival is conducted during the month of Chithirai called the Chithirai Thiruvizha.

Some of the pictures of this magnificent temple.

The majestic Avinashi temple Gopuram

Another view of the temple Gopuram

Close up view of the temple Gopuram

Side view of the temple Gopuram

The view of the Amman Temple Gopuram

A close view of the Avinashiappar Temple Gopuram

Gopurams and Vimanams from inside the temple

The temple Gopurams and the Vimanams

The main temple Gopuram from inside

The Chandikeshwari Temple and the Vimanam of the Amman temple

Old inscriptions on stone

View of the outer prakaram

View of the outer prakaram and the main Gopuram

Another view of the outer prakaram and the main Gopuram

The majestic Avinashi Temple Car in all its grandeur and splendour

View of the Temple Car from the side

Another view of the temple car

Avinashiappar Car and the Amman Car

View of the intricate carvings on the car

Another view of the intricate carvings on the car

Another view of the intricate carvings on the car

Lets try to visit this magnificent Temple for this Chithirai Festival and look the car in all its grandeur and splendours and get the blessings of Lord Avinashiappar.

More to come, until then...