The Great Transition Part Four

[Guest guest]

THE GREAT TRANSITION

 

 

PART FOUR

 

 

 

 

TIRUVANNAMALAI

 

 

‘It is no accident that the Maharshi made Tiruvannamalai and its sacred mountain of Arunachala his home.

Each of the spiritual centres of India has its own character and its own line of tradition; and among them all it is Tiruvannamalai (or Arunachala) that represents the highest and most direct, the most formless and least ritualistic of paths, that is the path of Self-enquiry, the gateway to which is the silent initiation.

This is expressed in the old Tamil saying: “To see Chidambaram, to be born at Tiruvarur, to die at Banaras or even to think of Arunachala is to be assured of Liberation.” “Even to think of” because in the case of the direct path physical contact is not necessary.

 

‘Tiruvannamalai is a medium sized South Indian town, 120 miles south-west of Madras. There is railway connection but journey by bus is more direct and convenient, taking less than five hours. There are very good buses, including one State Government Express bus, plying between Madras and Tiruvanna-malai.

The prefix ‘Tiru’ means ‘blessed’ or ‘auspicious’, like the prefix ‘Sri’ in thenames of North Indian towns. ‘Malai’ means ‘mountain’ and ‘Anna’ ‘supreme’, so that the name signifies, ‘The auspicious supreme mountain’.

It is an ancient town with a large and splendid temple.

There are certain yearly festivals when it is crowded with pilgrims from all over South India. Especially is this so at Karthigai (known also as Deepam), falling usually in November (it is impossible to give the exact date of an Indian festival, as they vary with the phases of the moon, like the Christian Easter).

On this occasion a beacon of clarified butter contributed by devotees and pilgrims is lit at nightfall on the summit of the mountain and burns the whole night, often indeed the whole of the following day and night also.

 

At the Ashram itself, of course, the greatest festivals are the anniversaries of the birth and death of the Maharshi (Jayanti and Aradhana), falling respectively at the winter solstice and the spring equinox.’ 3

 

 

3. Ibid., pp. 6-8.

 

End of Part Four

To be continued

 

THE MOUNTAIN PATH

(Quarterly)

Editor: Arthur OsborneL1 JANUARY 1964 No 1

Click here to donate to the Hurricane Katrina relief effort.