THIRUVANNAMALAI

Significance of Worshipping Asta Lingams in Girivalam, Tiruvannamalai

 In most of the holy places the Deity is found atop the hill. But here the Holy hill itself is the Deity (Lord Annamalaiyar) and is worshipped. "Arunam" means sun and denotes the red colour of fire. "Asalam" means "Giri" or "malai" (mountain). Thus "Arunachalam" means the HOly hill which is rd in colour. The Holy hill is 2668 fi. high.

The Annamalai Hill was Agni (fire) during Kirthayugam, was Manikkam (Emerad) during Threthayugam, was Pon (Gold) during Dwaparayugam and rock during Kaliyugam.
There are eight lingams located at the eight directions and provides an octagonal structure to Thiruvannamalai Town. The eight lingams are: Indra Lingam, Agni Lingam, Yama Lingam, Niruthi Lingam, Varuna Lingam, Vayu Lingam, Kubera Lingam and Esanya Lingam. The Adi Annamalai Temple glorified in Dhevaram is located on this path.

The circumambulation path is 14 kilometres. History has it that even today a number of siddhars are living on the hill. It is auspicious to perform "Girilvalam" during every Full moon day which would do immense good. It is because during Full Moon Day siddhars movement would be there and the whole atmosphere would be filled with perfumes of herbal plants. This will provide peace of mind and good health to body. It is a proven fact that on every Full moon day lakhs of devotees circumambulate the Hill and get all benefits by praying to Lord Annamalaiyar .

The circumambulation path has been provided with sodium lamps at the expense of 12 lakhs donated by cine artist Thiru Rajinikanth. This benefits pilgrims who perform circumambulation during night times. On behalf of Town administration bore well pumps are erected to supply drinking water to pilgrims. Moreover for the benefit of the devotees during special occasions annadhanam is performed by Sri Agasthiar Ashram,and so many donors. Milk is distributed by certain well wishers.

Indra Lingam:(East)
This is the first lingam while the hill circumambulation, worshipping this lingam yields healthy and wealthy life.

Agni Lingam:(South East)
This is the second lingam, It placed near The Lotus tank, This is the only lingam placed on right side of the circumambulation path, all other lingams are placed on left side, It occupies the South East direction, worshipping here retrieves us from all diseases and to face challenges of life.

Yema Lingam : (South)
This is the third lingam, and next to Agni lingam and 3 kilometer away from the Rajagopuram, and it occupies the South direction, it also has a holy tank called "Simma Theertha", it is believed that, worship of this solves economical problems.

Niruthi Lingam : (South West)
This is the fourth lingam, while we see the peak of the holy hill Arunachala, it views accompanying of two parts of mountain and shows 'Sivan' and 'Sakthi' together. It placed in south west of Arunachala. It also has a holy tank nearby, called "Sani Theertha", worshipping here relieves us from our difficulties.

Varuna Lingam : (West)
This temple placed West of the hill Arunachala, this is the fifth lingam. It is 8 kilometers away from the Rajagopuram. One of the holy tank called "Varuna theertha" is here. Workship of this temple retrieves from crucial diseases and promotes ones social status.

Vayu Lingam : (North West)
The whole world is made up of Earth, Water, Fire, Air and Sky. no living creature can survive without Air. While reaching this temple we feel the pleasantness of spring and get peace of mind. it is placed in Northwest direction. Worshipping here is of confers boon on ladies and children.

Kubera Lingam : (North)
This is the seventh lingam. Almost all of the devotees , who comes for circumambulation, worship here by soaring coins and currencies on this lingam. Worship of this lingam grants economical growth, and promotes peace of mind. It is placed in North direction.

Esanya Lingam : (North East)
This is the eighth and last lingam. Here gets peace of mind ability to concentrate mind on God works out his way to heaven.

OM NAMASIVAYA - The “God Supreme” in Saivaism was referred to as “God Siva”. He in the Saivaism that developed and practised in Tamil Nadu - known as “Tamil Saivaism” was of three aspects. The “formless” (Aruvam in Tamil), of “semi-form” (Aru-Uruvam in Tamil), and of “human forms” (Uruvam in Tamil)

A RARE TAMIL INSCRIPTION FROM CHINA

This Tamil Language inscription was found in China.

It was found about 500 miles north of Canton, in a place called Chuan Chou. This is a port city. It was an important port city in the ancient times also. Normally, the Tamils used to sail to Ta Kua Pa in the west coast of Thailand.
They would then take an overland journey across the Isthmus of Kra to other ports like Nakon SiTammarat or Songkla. These ports were on the east coast of Thailand. From there they would sail on to one of the ports of present day Vietnam. Then they would sail northwards to Canton.

A straight sail would be a longer distance which would take them across the Bay of Bengal, Straits of Malacca, Gulf of Siam, and South China Sea. They would have to sail around the Malay Peninsula. This would have increased their journey by more than a thousand miles and would have taken up several more months. Apart from Canton, the Tamils had gone to other places also and
established their own colonies. The merchant guilds like 'Thisai Aayiraththu AinnuuRRuvar' was very active around this part of the world.

In Chuan Chou, there was a Sivan Temple. In that temple, an image of Siva was consecrated under the 'Firman' - royal orders of 'Sekasai Khan'.
This was done for the health of 'Sekasai Khan'. Sekasai Khan' in this inscription is the name of Kublai Khan himself. His full name was Kublai Sekcen Khan. Sekcen Khan became Sekasai Khan in Tamil. The Sivan Temple was known as ThiruKathaleesvaram and the Lord of the temple was known as

ThiruKathaleesvaram udaiya Naayanaar.

The person who executed the order was Thava ChakkaravarththikaL Sampandha Perumal. It was done on the Chithra Paurnami day of Saka Era 1203 - 1281 AD. This was during the rule of Kublai Khan who came to power in 1260 and ruled until 1294 AD. Now, something about Kublai Khan and the Mongols.........

The Mongols were a loose group of tribes wandering around the Cental Asian grasslands with their horses and cattle. They were warlike.
               

At one point of time, a great leader among them rose. He united all the Mongols and made them into a powerful force. He was also a clever strategist. He conquered Persia, Central Asia, Russia, parts of Europe, parts of Middle East, and China.     

No single man till today has conquered so much land with his armies within a short period of time.He was elected as the Grand Khan, the supreme leader of the Mongols. After his death, there were problems of inheritance. After Chengiz Khan, the Mongol Empire was divided into four parts of which China was one. The others were Persia, Russia and Europe, and the original homeland of Mongolia itself. One of them would be elected as the Grand Khan or Khan of Khans. 
               

Kublai Khan was the grandson of Chengiz Khan. He was the third son of the fourth son of Chengiz Khan. Kublai became the Grand Khan of all Mongols. He took China as his part of inheritance and ruled from there. He built Beijing and moved the capital there. He also had a summer capital. His country was big, wealthy, and prosperous. He was mighty and powerful. His armies were immense, powerful, and invincible. Only on two occassions, his armies failed. One was a naval expedition to Java which did not take place.
               

The other one was huge naval invasion of Japan. Due to a freak storm known as Kami Kaze, the ships were all destroyed. Whatever was left of his army was killed off by the Japanese. Although he was a Mongol, he did not Mongolise the Chinese; neither did he force any change in administration. He only made it smoother and more efficient. His rule of thumb was efficiency. He revolutionised communications and postal systems. His espionage services were superb.

              

In spite of all this, he never learned Chinese. He started an Imperial Dynasty called the Yuan Dynasty. He ruled during the time when the Imperial Pandyas were ruling Tamilnadu and Kerala. The Pandyas were on very close friendly terms with the Great Kublai Khan. At the time that the inscription was inscribed, Kublai Khan was very ill. Marco Polo, the Venetian traveller spent seventeen years at the court of Kublai Khan. When he found that the Great Khan was getting old and sickly, he got permission and left China.
It should be noted that he temple was consecrated according to the Firman of the Emperor.

The word, 'Firman' is used in the inscription. 'Firman' is a Royal Order, instuction, or proclamation. When the Mongols captured the Middle East, Persia, and Central Asia, they adopted words and traditions of these regions.
          

The last line of the inscription is in Chinese characters. Chola types of statues were also found in the temple site. This is a rare inscription in Tamil which is found outside TamilNadu.

Sri Nandi Devar - Sri Nandi Devar is one of the foremost of the 18 yoga siddhas. He has been directly initiated by Lord Shiva himself and some of his contributions include medicine, kaya kalpa & Alchemy. Some of his eminent disciples are Thirumoolar, Patanjali, Dakshinamoorthy, Romarishi (Kayilay Kambilisattamuni) & Sattaimuni.

OM NAMASIVAYA

Maha Kumbabishegam1 - 25.03.2012

MAHA KUMBABISHEGAM - 25.3.2012 - ARULMIGU AGORA VEERABATHIRAR - SANGGILI KARUPPAR ALAYAM