A Message from a devotee from Tiruvannamalai - Only for Information and not for discussion

[Guest guest]

Namaste:

 

This message is forwarded only as information for interested members. Please

do not discuss the merits and demerits of the proposal by the Archeological

Survey of India to take over the temple of Lord Arunachala. All that we know

is that Shankara established the Maths to protect the Hindu temples and keep

the temples as a place of workship for all people. We can certainly hope that

the orginial intent of the temple will prevail in spite of current controversies

 

Warmest regards,

 

Ram Chandran

 

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- Thu Jan 09 06:07:43 2003

Return-Path: <whyviswanath

 

Dear Shri Ram Chandran,

 

Kindly post the attached report in your advaitin discussion group so

that we can all empathize with the pain being felt by devotees at takeover of

the temple of Lord Arunachala by the Archeological Survey of India

 

Thiruvanammalai.

 

With kind regards,

Viswanath

 

 

Tiruvannamalai – searching for its lost glory.

 

There have been many a report recently regarding the Temple Town of

Tiruvannamali and the resistance to the takeover of the temple of

Lord Arunachala by the Archeological Survey of India, with

conflicting statements emanating from various sides, all of whom have

some vested interests in having their say in the running of this

ancient town. However, here is an unbiased report from a devotee

whose only motive – if it can be called so – is in the to preserve

the sanctity of this pilgrim town.

 

American Geologists state that the Arunachala Hill is the most

ancient and the oldest of earth's crusts, which even the Himalayas

are young compared to this. This has been confirmed by satellite

pictures of the earth taken recently and is on the records of the

Geological Survey of India and similar institutions in the USA. The

Purina's, the Korma Purina especially, is full of praise of the Hill,

tracing its origin to the manifestation of the Divine to humble the

pride of Vishnu and Brahma, and it is believed that the Hill and the

Lingam in the temple of Lord Arunachala, are the first to manifest in

the universe.

 

In the last century, Bhagavan Sri Ramana used to speak often of the

Hill, recalling his encounters with wild cheetahs, tame as a lamb in

his sacred presence and refer the famed `Ingoli' tree of the

Ramayana, as one of the treasures of this ancient forest which the

rays of the sun found it difficult to pierce. He used to refer to the

Hill as the Heart of the Universe, and as being much more sacred than

even the Holy Kailash or Meru, which are merely the residence of

Siva, whereas the Hill Arunachala, is Siva Himself, a manifestation

of Grace Abounding. The Paramacharya, the Sage of Kanchi, used to

worship the Hill with great reverence and solemnity during his visits

and did pradakshina of the Hill in 1921, 1946 and 1947.

 

One would therefore expect the citizens of this town to guard the

Hill and its environs as a sacred trust, a priceless gift of God and

Nature, to be preserved, protected and passed on to the generations

to come. Not only have they failed to do so, but on the contrary,

have been doing everything to desecrate, destroy, mutilate its

beautiful face and figure with ugly structures and have illegally

occupied the space on and around the Hill, resulting in exploitation

and plunder of its trees. In fact, there are public toilets and shops

in and around the temple, resulting in chaos and causing impediment

to free and easy access to the devotees.

 

Lakhs of people have been circumambulating the Hill on `Deepam' day

in December every year from time immemorial and also on every Full

Moon day. This means prosperity and business for the people of this

town, who should therefore go all out to protect the Hill. But what

is actually happening is that the residents of this sacred town

themselves have systematically destroyed the flora and fauna on and

around the Hill. They have cut the rocks to provide stone for putting

up concrete monsters, built houses on the eastern and southern spurs,

destroyed trees on the Hill and made it a barren rock radiating heat.

Attempts by concerned people from India and abroad to plant trees and

flowering bushes, under the umbrella of the Annamalai Reforestation

Society, has met with only limited success as a result of the

periodic bush fires / forest fires generated by dealers in charcoal,

firewood and grass.

 

Legal battles and threats of physical violence have been launched

against steps to protect the environment; to prohibit unauthorized

constructions; to limit the height of authorized constructions in

such a way that they do not hurt the eyes of the lovers of God and

nature; to prevent the mushrooming of commercial establishments and

wine shops; and to stop the blaring of loudspeakers from video/audio

shops. Even those who profess to be the champions of the temple and

the devotees are not seen protecting the facilities provided by our

forefathers for the common man.

 

"Chatrams" were provided as facilities for the old and the infirm and

others to take rest during their pilgrimage. In fact, all the

choultries or dharma chatras, including an ancient Veda Patasala and

the Anna Chatram, have been forcibly occupied, sold or rented out by

the politically powerful as shops and commercial establishments.

Instead of maintaining these ancient structures and making sure that

they serve the purpose for which they were built, they have been

encroached upon by `influential' citizens and converted into hotels,

tea shops, cattle sheds and firewood godowns. One of them has even

been bricked up and converted into a private temple!

 

Sacred tanks – dozens of them – meant to collect rainwater, for the

benefit of man, beast and bird and to recharge the ground water level

in this water-starved town do not serve their purpose any longer.

Some of them have been filled up and rendered useless and on these

houses have been built, and the rest have been silted up, their

inlets blocked by debris and vegetation. One of the tanks, considered

sacred and located opposite the temple, `Chakra Theertham' has been

silted up and its very existence forgotten thanks to unauthorized

constructions. This had been de-silted at great effort and cost, and

the Sankaracharya of Kanchi had personally inspected the work and

appreciated the efforts to restore the tank for the use of pilgrims.

But once the tank was restored, the shop and encroachments reappeared!

 

As explained earlier, the town's sudden and booming prosperity is

purely due to the milling crowds seen on Full Moon days and on

government Holidays and weekends presenting an appearance of

permanent festivity. But no steps have been taken by the Civil

Administration or the `concerned' champions of the devout to preserve

the facilities, leave alone adding to them.

 

The `Girivalam' route is full of unauthorized structures, including

wine shops and butcheries, and constructions all of which have

reduced the space available for walking – walking undertaken as a

meditative and religious act. The peaceful atmosphere has been

totally destroyed by the decibel levels generated by the shops

selling lottery tickets and audio and videocassettes, at every step

around the Hill. Gone are those days when people went around the Hill

with a contemplative mind, singing bhajans or songs from the

sacred `Thevaram', `Tiruvachakam', chanting hymns and so on. Much

less can one hear the chirping of birds – the gift of God and of

Nature – in the early mornings, because trees have been uprooted and

birds deprived of their habitat? What is more, pious pilgrims shudder

to hear the bleating and wailing of lambs, goats and chicken being

slaughtered openly in the numerous shops on the route especially

between Pey Gopuram and the Chengam Main Road. Shops openly display

their `wares' – bloodstained headless, skinned, and exposed flesh –

on either side of the road without any attempt to hide them from

public view. Much more nauseating is the spectacle of these

struggling animals being slaughtered on the public road itself.

 

In earlier days one could avoid the crowded streets with their

screeching lorries buses and vans and hordes of cattle, and seek the

peace of the `Inner Path' to go round the Hill. There are three such

paths, marked out and cleared of thorny bushes and stones, a service

rendered by some of the devotees of Sri Arunachala and of Bhagavan

Sri Ramana. But they are no longer available or usable. Houses have

come up on the eastern and southern slopes. There is no drainage for

these houses. The entire area is a vast sewage tank, open and full of

rubbish. The remaining space is used as on open toilet. Discarded

limbs of slaughtered animals are freely dumped on and around the

Hill, and wild dogs, vultures and pigs fight for the leftovers.

 

All these only show the apathy of the townspeople who should actually

be concerned with the protecting the environment and the sanctity of

the place and ensuring the welfare of the pilgrims. Their present

outcry against the take over of the temple by ASI is merely because

the stranglehold of some people on the affairs of the temple, its

vast property, precious jeweler and the resultant control of the town

would come to an end. Most of them have been engaged in land-

grabbing, extortion and illegal development of real estate. Cashing

in on the boom in pilgrim traffic, investments have been made in land

whose price is skyrocketing. An acre of land purchased for Rs. 500 is

now being offered at a fancy price of Rs. 6 Lakhs. These land sharks

are shocked over the attempts to take over the affairs of the temple,

because their acts of greed and exploitation will get exposed. If

restrictions are imposed on construction in specified areas so as to

protect the Hill and its environment, the height of building is

limited, a green belt is provided and the public road around the hill

reserved for pedestrians, then all this would destroy their dreams of

becoming millionaires overnight.

 

It must be mentioned here that this temple town is a Spiritual and

International Pilgrim Centre, where people of all religions and faith

come, go around the hills and pay their obeisance to Lord Arunachala.

Some of them have even settled down in this holy town for decades.

 

In conclusion, it would suffice to say that if the ASI takes over the

Temple Town, all these problems will be solved and this ancient abode

of Lord Shiva, nay, Lord Shiva himself, would then be restored to its

pristine glory.

 

 

 

 

--

 

Please make a note: My ISP (Internet Service Provider) has changed the address

from cox.rr.com to cox.net. Consequently my email address is changed to

rchandran instead of rchandran

 

Ram Chandran

9374 Peter Roy Ct.

Burke, VA 22015-4249

Email Address:rchandran

Alternate: ramvchandran