~ Seven Hills of Realization ~

I have dreamt of you Venkatesha. Most of this life. Where were you oh grandeur of existence; With the holy namam showing the third eye. Where were you remover of sorrow; tester of time. Consort of the holy divine feminine - shri who you have kept in your child like heart.

Once so alone and distant - I thought that I was done for; I remained aloof and almost defiant. I thought that the sweet lord of the seven hills was not worth bowing down for. For which god I thought asks from devotees ornaments and prayer, this egoistic material thought was something which kept me back for such a long time.

And all the while Remover of sorrow and fear kept me safe and together near his heart like goddess shri.

I had the oppertunity to go to Tirupathi - arguably the most crowded and impressive temple/place of worship in the world recently with my folks. I have been there innumerable times in my life - but the difference being that this time I wished to be there. I wished to bow and pray and spend my life in sweet melody of his ways. Lord and sustainer of the universe. The keeper of heart, testing many on the way so that they can change as and where needed - to reach the feet of the primal consciousness - Narayana - beckoning each individual every moment.



The journey from hyderabad to tirupathi - overnight by train and pretty comfortable - we reached to a misty mountain bop kind of weather and remained in lower tirupathi the first day - resting and looking to make our move towards the abundant temples present in lower tirupathi.

Our first stop is the temple town of Kalahasti which is some 50Km off from tirupati. The temple is located in Tamilnadu and is a very ancient Chola/Pandya architecture; beautiful and one of its kind. The temple is dedicated to Lord Shiva - and is considered important across the country as remedy from Rahu and Ketu - the head and tale of a demon - which in astrology corrospond to the lunar and solar nodes (eclipses) which affect in turn the mind and body of a person in his life.

The thing is that since young - I have been wanting to see the temple and for one reason or none - never been able to make it. My folks know how many times I have bugged them in this regard, and never got to see the site. This was my time - we reached quickly enough and the beautiful thing being - that it was pouring ney downpouring in between as my mother was chanting shiva strotras and stopping with some beautiful intermittent sunshine - what a wonderful life!

The temple is very commercial with little or no respect to the archaelogical/cultural/mythical aspects of the site left anymore.

The temple runs on the rahu ketu pooja which brings in loads of people and big business over the year, I ofcourse am no better - My rahu is placed in a predicament in my natal birth chart - in the XII house - which hosts the collective unconsious/subconscious worlds. Thus, this means that my life would be tainted at times with some mental problems (which I have been facing on and off) – and the only teaching this would lead to is, is to have faith and not take things so seriously that they impair life itself to progress towards eternity.



We waited for a long time for the pooja to happen – and it kept raining intermittently and heavily the whole time (the temple has many inlets from the roof through which rain kept sizzling down and refreshing us with its view). Finally post the small ritual – we went to see the grand and beautiful kalahasti lingam.

The mythic story goes something like – three animals in present life (Elephant / Snake / Spider) all were shiva devotees in previous life – taken birth to worship this elusive and beautiful lingam. So the elephant used to offer bilva leaves while the snake would guard the lingam and the spider would put a net around it to protect it, and all three used to invariably get in each other’s way. And one fine day in anger – all three killed each other (Spider kills elephant who kills snake who kills spider!)

Shiva is very happy for some reason for them to kill each other (kidding!) but rather with the extreme levels of devotion each one shows and stills in this place as the great Vayu Lingam (This is one of the elemantal temples as well – for the element of Air). Hence the lingam is very thin and very tall (almost more than 7 feet up) and looks magnificent even from a far off distance.

I had a grand darshan along with my family and felt extremely satisfied (at heart) to have made the journey to see what I had been in my mind and soul wishing to see for such a long time. We headed home and called an early day with some good tamil dinner by the side (Tamil meals are probably the best in the world in terms of spice and condiments)



The next day we headed for the local temples present in tirupati – all old and now taken care of to some extent due to the beautiful site present on top of the hill (otherwise like most other indian temples – they would be relics only known to the locals and not taken care of even then).

I went to the beautiful Manga Rama and Kodanda rama temple – the former being at the periphery of the town (which has become very very big as on date – commercialization of gods and men rampent like no place in the world as in india). The manga rama temple is where Vishnu comes as a bachelor and stays and prays to the lord of wealth – Kubera for help to marry his grand beautiful gentle consort – Lakshmi. Kubera then lends him dowry cash for a successful marriage and to repay the amount with interest – the lord of all takes rest on top of the hill where he wishes his devotees well and in return gets sums unthinkable by any to be given to an idol! (it is now the second richest temple/place of worship – post discovery of his counterpart mode – Lord Ananta – padbanabhaswamy in trivandrum who has amassed secret treasure through his devotees with time!)

The other temples were equally beautiful – the Kapila temple dedicated to lord shiva and goddess kamakshi – where these two come to bless and marry the beautiful couple into union, located on the slope of a natural flowing waterfall coming from the top (and perennially), the place looked powerful – but dismayed with the human dirt which has accumalated in the water pool with time – spent time here getting restored before going to the ISKCON conning temple for some food and then headed back for rest time.,

The next day early morning we set out to the top of the hill on our cab – we picked a guy who works with the TTD office and who would help us with a quicker darshan than possible (as we were leaving on the same day and a six to ten hour wait is simply impossible – for my folks). The ride up was extremely serene – the hill is taken care by TTD and also forest department and forms part of the nallamalai ranges (dark forests of Andhra Pradesh). We reached and changed quickly into our dhotis (I did not wear anything to cover my chest – and found out that I was perhaps one in a million who had nothing to cover myself on the cold mountain )

The wait lasted for three hours where my parents and I stood patiently and talked and discussed life as well as others who were there in the line (most of the folks dedicate their hair to lord venkateswara – as a symbol of offering their head and their most respected part of body to the god as a token of their love!) So these folks of course look pretty funny and our conversations continued as we inched (literally) towards the beautiful sanctum sanctoram.



The temple is small in area and has history of being a Lakshmi temple before hand – the idol of the lord is around 11 feet high and there is no confirmed sculptor for the same – the story is that it was found in this manner at a site which is couple of kilometers from the present day temple. The god materialized his form into stone and the same was found by a shepard – till date the shepard family is the one who is authorized to open and close the temple gates though the priests are the ones who do the formal pooja and the informal looting of the cash.

Till recently tirupati was the richest and even after padbanabhaswamy’s treasure discovery it remains in the top richest in the world – but unfortunately a lot of money and beautiful jewellery has gone missing over time and recently discovered findings speak that the mukut and the precious jewels adorning the lord’s face had been stolen and replaced with less costly imitations in the past 10-20 years. Shocking as this god is one who takes such matters very very seriously and attracts punitive action to those concerned. There is not a single person who comes in his presence who does not ask for something in turn – and once delivered – what we had promised to give balaji must be done and promptly – he is one who takes our tests all of our lives – giving us misery and love at the same time. He makes our life complete – with constant trials and tribulations – with victory in humility at his feet and unbounded love in the heart. Such a god is a rarity to find!

The temple still looks the same – but when I entered the inner sanctom with the pushing and what not happening (you do not need to use your own force once you enter the temple premises – you will be whisked away by the pressure of men women children behind) I saw the god and he was looking a bit lack lustre – perhaps because the previous day was deepawali and might have included extended ornamentation. But thankfully got to see the lord for a long time (don’t think much – long time means maximum 5 seconds in front of this beautiful idol!)

Came out and took prasad and then moved on to the the place where the lord descends and sends forth the idol to be worshipped – this is unique as there are 2 stones touching each other – which forms an arch structure – even more unique is the fact that these are sedimentary and igneous rocks together – and only 3 of such kind are present in the world! This is the arch through which the lord manifests himself, a bit further away is where his footsteps were once found in stone (but unfortunately through rampant carelesseness by devotees – the original stone has got disfigured – the photo of which remains, the place is called Chakra Padam). The feet of the lord like stature seem to be over 15 inches or more atleast. Huge feet !

From the arch like structure – I moved forward and making my mother rest at a comfortable place went downhill on foot where in between the jungle – a small rivulet cuts through – thought to be very holy water – people drink and spray it on themselves to cure diseases and misfortune, the other side rises again and one can goto visit a secret small shiva temple which really looks secluded and pretty. My father and I went and spent a moment in peace before returning to get my mom and leave via cab down hill.

Down hill the journey was mellow with the one stop at the beautiful iconic idol of Hanuman – the entire hill is extremely beautiful to say the least. Even if completely rummaged with human beings.

I had a beautiful darshan and the lord blessed me with his presence - this was not some form of superstitious belief or blind faith but an understanding of the power of the lord who removes his lover's sorrows.

Go towards the divine hills - discover and rejoice, there is no place like it, there is no time standing still like my beautiful lord of the seven hill!

Peace and Love

Land of Lakes–Warangal Oasis (Kakatiyan despair!)

 

The central part of India – called Deccan plateau – a flatbed with few high rising hillocks is one of the prettiest and perhaps underexplored parts of the country (cause well its so accessible, no one bothers visiting it). Being close to Hyderabad, had an opportunity to drive down 150 odd km to the former capital of kakatiyas – Warangal. Now in telengana district and laid to ruins, the place in former days was the seat of human power and surrounded by thick semi arid forests of lore.

Visiting the beautiful old Jain temple on the way (dedicated to Lord neminath and adinath) with a stopover, finally reached Warangal on a sultry hot day (pre-monsoons Indian subcontinent is one pile of sweat). Put up in a government lodge and freshened up to go out and check out the beautiful ruins within the city. Could see the thousand pillared temple and other artefacts (but none of them looked really glorious to be frank – especially compared to other parts of fame in India); and before I knew it – it was evening time.

Headed to the the large (and perhaps man made lake) called Durgam Cheruvu – where on its banks lies the beautiful and powerful shakti pith for mother goddess – patron goddess of Warangal and kings. The deity looked so immense and beautiful, I was really without any words; one of the largest deities in size I have seen; covered in vermillion and yellow sari. She looked divine and powerful. Saw that in front of her there is a small Shri Yantra – and it struck me that perhaps Adi shankara would have been there – to install the same. Checked with the temple priest and he confirmed that it was not perhaps adi but one of the shankaracharya’s and currently the temple was overseen by adi shankaracharya.

Spent the evening twilight in peace and some meditation (albeit with the mosquito biting furiously). My mother and I felt very happy – and I particularly that I was with my own mother in a power place witnessing a beautiful sunset on the lake. We saw many a fisher folk on the lake – working together to try to net – to catch some fishes (but I really couldn’t see any one of them get any – perhaps cause they were laying the nets – or perhaps they were all drunk and there were no fishes in the lake!)

Had an early local dinner at our hotel (cause Warangal is really not well known for any tourist amenities – like hotels/restaurants etc). The food was spicy telugu rice material (as this area is mainly non-vegetarian and I am not!) and I gulped it down with loads of water and went for an early night’s rest.

Spent the next day travelling to close by lakes of lore – first visiting the very famous Ramappa temple – which is one stand alone temple very far inside and away from Warangal. The temple was of great importance in the past and the black marble idols looked glorious (even today ramappa is the host for famous dance festivals in the region; as it was in the distant past during kakatiya dynasty’s rule)

The temple is in ruins – and it looked initially like cause of an earthquake (it was confirmed by the priests that invasion after invasion and an earthquake and of course the unmentioned neglect of the locals was the reason). It was a hot day but still could spend time to walk barefoot and check out the various compartments within the temple premise before packing off and moving another 20km in our car to see the ramappa lake. The lake is humongous – and a forest lake lodge made by government stands for folks who want to stay there – the place looked pristine but like a ghost town – no one was living there – and I really wouldn't say its the safest vacation getaways – with the naxal and unemployment influence. No one was inhabiting any of the 10 huge beautiful lodges on the banks of the lake – and even the restaurant was barren.

We saw a beautiful ruined temple on one its banks and I spent time to see what the interior looked like – it was a smaller replica of the ramappa temple – same style of sanctum – even the gandharvas and idols mapped on the stone pillars were same! All in ruins, I was tempted to take a small souvenir for myself – but remembered that these are objects and experiences of blessings and curses. Better to be left unto themselves. Walked around the back of the temple – and saw a wonderful grand reservoir – where water was flowing nay gushing out at incredible speed from the lake – perhaps a dam, for the water to be pushed into a particular direction. Wonderful to see water flowing at such maddening pace! Chaos amidst perfection. Never to be missed i must say!

We travelled from here another 40 odd kms to the next biggest lake in the region – called lachnavaram – truly a delight if not for the hostile looking environments and people around – our car was temporarily stopped by little kids – who were imitating their jobless seniors in a mock way – stopping the road with a block and trying to throw stones on the car – and our driver was indeed a bit shaken up. The lake is deep within jungle – and is surrounded by naxal influence. We didn't spend much time – but the lake had a number of small islands in between connected by bridges – the place is well known for migratory birds which come from as far as Siberia during the Indian winters – to nest and chill.

We spent some time in the hot mid day sun appreciating the natural wonder of a lake and started off on the long way back to hyderabad. Journey back uneventful but overall a beautiful getaway at minimum turbulence – to see the once mighty empire fallen unto dust – as usual; as always.

Peace

 

Dark Dance Haunts Chidambaram~

The holy pose which Shiva upholds tonight, not for the faint of heart, not for the spiritually blind. He raises his leg up and stomps the ground and sky at once.
He is the shining nataraja, the keeper of the sacred dance. The shaker to the hypnotic drums. His matted hair glistens like the sun and his third eye opens possibilities beyond our comprehension;
Yes Yes he is in the fervent mood tonight. Dancing and laughing and forgiving our trespasses like a million times before…. through towards eternity.
He resides inside the Akasha-Lingam at chidambaram. The akasha is ether, the subtle formation of the gross phenomenon which our senses perceive as the world and everything in it. There is no linga at chidambaram. There is only the mirage of the real deal. The linga is nothing, representing the subtle element of consciousness. The akasha is the prana in most refined form. Prana coming down and showing infinity.
And as we stare at the empty nothing- which is where the akasha linga stands as it has for timeless years before. I understand that my brain shall never comprehend. The extent and impact that the ether has had on my personal self. The prana which has moulded me as a vile human being is the same prana which is now bowing down before the infinite self in front above and beneath!
My father and his family have spent long periods of time in chidambaram and ever since I remember, my father has sung praises of the size and grandeur of the temple located in the blessed city. Where there has been homage paid to dance and art since time immemorial. (it has remained a centre for art and learning since its inception)
Its not just another temple but a huge, grand town in itself, and I kid you not. The temple is fortified(with huge walls that tower) and is humongous. There are huge parapet walls which enclose almost an entire city within itself. Yes the only difference remains that the city does not host any humans, Its the refuge of the gods who have come since eons to see the holy and powerful nataraja take form and dance the world away to creation and dissolution. The sanctum is unique to the chola architecture that it towers like a vimana/craft/alien rocket to the sky…. something that every temple in this region can boast of.
The sincerity of the devout and the ascetic can be seen here. The temple hosts people from all over the world who have come to give themselves up to the grace of the eternal all powerful dance (many foreigners come here too over the entire year to learn dance and also spend time meditating on the ether linga).
This dance is perfect, this dance is unique. Its the dance that only a master can indulge in. Its the dance absolutely not for the weak. Yes I mean it. The dance which the master like you and I too once shall indulge in; is what creates and sustains this world; and in its peak.. most aesthetic moment- it shall destroy- implode everything of any value back into nothing. This is shiva ananda murti present in this holy ground. Shiva dancing back to ash and void this entire play of ignorance~

Shiva here is in bliss and the tandav/cosmic dance he plays is ananda/blissful to say the least. The one who comes here in search for the soul, in desperate need for the feet of shiva consciousness, will not go back disappointed. He has seen you and everyone else who has entered the holy sanctum. He has begun the never ending dance and will sustain us in balance through terrible/ghora nights like these.
I spent time looking at the architecture on the walls and the sanctums, massive effort to build a city within a city. The tamil saivite kings doing a marvellous job as usual to build something out of this world, the number of structures to the various deities apart from the central dome itself is incomprehensible; even to an experienced temple tripper like myself.
The master here is worshipped not in his linga form (the akasha linga is not a linga at all, its emptiness which is generally covered by a metal linga to denote the ether element present here. The central deity is the bronze glistening statue of the most awesome dancer of the world. The euphoria which I felt looking at the deity first time was beyond words. The nataraja is full of consciousness and power. This translates into freedom for those who have come to give themselves up and rest at Shankara’s feet.
I am not religious, the temple is the same to me as a place of commerce or a place of death. Because that is what nataraja is projecting in the first place, a dance so blissful that nothing remains in a web of illusion. one can and does have the right to dance free, and dance over the oh so many real maya/illusions one experiences or seems to experience.
There are many vishnu and shiva worshippers who sit and contemplate for years together, though I was afraid of the seeming commercialized vibes of the place, nothing to put my spirits down ever happened during my visit. The people who I saw there had genuinely come to pray, come to sell the trinkets of the masters outside and sincerely do worship for the lord of the universe. There is a sort of calm and repugnance towards the mundane and material world when one enters a shiva temple… no matter where it may be; the presence of the linga (and in this case… absolute nothing of a linga) calms the world into submission at the ascetic feet of the maha-deva~
I was immersed for sometime in peaceful being as I saw the afternoon arthi and worshipping coming to a close, The sincere smile on nataraja’s face was more than enough to convince me of the love that this place exuded. Its just a feeling, many can feel it. many wont and would discard it as some placebo of the brain, but for me its just being… being which exists in bliss looking at the ananda tandava of the greatest dancer of this cosmos.
Chidambaram is where true dancers come to get inspired. This is where saints and rishis for long have sat looking and gazing at empty yet completely filled ether; the soul and undercurrent of this creation. This is where this same consciousness comes alive and to the fore with power and grace. This is where the dancer merges with the beat of the drum and the melody of music. The dreamer and dream becomes one and none. This is the holy land of chidambaram.
I am devotee to the dance and the dancing master. I love to dance, love to lose myself within the beats and tune and also in the infinite silence between the beats. I know that dance is everything worth anything its salt in this creation. If you don’t know of dance, or don’t like to dance then you have missed the entire point of bliss. The pointless and all prevalent bliss which none of us in our daily rut and mundane chores ever seem to care about or even acknowledge.

But the dance is addictive, its sensual and its complete. Its the union of the male to the female. Its the entire creation experiencing and expressing without judgement or face. Its what has been or is irrespective of dimensions, labels or any other fact.
Visit chidambaram and get invigorated once again to dance without care. Yea; Dance like no one’s watching! Cause no one is!
Peace

The Elemental Union in Sand at Ekambreshwara

Tamilnadu state of India has 5 major centers/temple regions dedicated to powerful lingas worshipping the 5 natural elements. It is ancient worship of the elements in the form of solidified lingas. Concentrating their natural power into stone and into the place where the temples may have been constructed.
The 5 Temples are: (in no particular order)
1) Ekambreshwara: At the very famous and dis-reputed town of Kanchi. This represents the earth element
2) Jambukeshwara: This representing the Water element. I haven’t seen this place yet.
3) Arunachaleshwara: At the holy town of arunachala, where the natural mountain is the real shiva woshipped as such for eons now.
4) Kala-Hasti: Representing the air element, legends of a spider and an elephant worshipping together for a lifetime at the same shiva linga, which is considered to be very old.
5) Chidambaram: Representing the subtle ether element. The dancing tandav master Shiva is in his glorious dancing form worshipped here. Dance and creative love for the divine has been encouraged and propagated from here since a long time.
The Union in Sand and Stone:

I went last year to Kamakshi, as the goddess here is worshipped as much if not more in devotee volume compared to the holy Earth Linga of Ekambreshwara here. The goddess’ temples is independent (unlike most other temples where the shakti sanctum lies within the shiva temples) and through time this place has cultivated infinite legends but the most pertinent among these is the one -when adi-shankara found this place (the original shankaracharya), the goddess’ energy was present somewhere in a cave nearby and the power exuding this entire place was just too much to handle or be worshipped by masses. Sankara made a shakti pit/peeth- consisting of the shri yantra to worship the goddess in a benign form. The power here intially to my understanding was immense, and it was toned down through the use of a yantra (most places use yantras to amplify the effect of natural energy). The region also corrosponds to the shakti peeth of the goddess where her divine navel supposedly fell (one of 52 such other sites where sati power is present).
The reason why power here is toned Down has a reason as per my understanding, Kamakshi and ekambreshwara are located in a power full place. The legend is that this is the place where Shiva weds Parvati who comes down to earth as a beautiful 16 year old virgin- known as tripurasundari or even sodasi. She is virgin paramount energy. This place hosts the exact moment where Power/Shakti comes alive to look for the keeper of herself and her force. That is shiva.
Parvati does tapas here, and the idol made in the little temple show the goddess sitting in a lotus posture (with both legs bent), indicating her extreme power and energy. She is a yogin beyond classical imagery here. That is why this force feminine is known as the ‘one who is beautiful in all three worlds’, any world or dimension, she is the epitome of beauty and power. She is gorgeous, She is ripe and she is a powerful mother waiting for her partner. The partner who will wed her into this web of life.
Ekambreshwara temple is a humongous site. Its a huge temple and most of it is just architectural delight. There is no stone unturned, something very characteristic of shaivite kings in this region (chola chola and the like), who with devotion and power towards consciousness built massive structures unimaginable until seen with one’s own physical (or mind’s eye). The temple hosts a very old mango tree as well, which is the supposed site where shiva meets parvati and unites in wedlock. The tree is very peaceful to sit under, though its a lot shrivelled to look at (atleast when I last saw it), but the calmness is not imagined or concocted at such a benign beautiful location.
Ekambreshwara is a very unique shiva linga. (atleast according to me). To my knowledge or its limits, the iconography of the god shiva depicts a man who is immersed in practices which are psycho-kinetic in nature. Heating himself and his body/mind physically doing this for years, leads to Shiva to be constantly cooled (the classic imagery of water source ganga flowing from his head depicts this). Hence every linga made for worship contains a dhara on top. Something which pours water on the union of shiva-shakti as the linga. There is ofcourse the exception-
In ekambreshwara there is no dhara, as the linga is made of a particular sort of sand, the local priest told me that it was made from some sort of pheromone of the sevet cat, which might constitute parts of the linga, but I saw the linga and it looked very unique in its own way, Long tapered and most definitely made of some water soluble material. I did not know at that time that this represented the place where Parvati made this linga out of sand and meditated on it for eons until shiva descended from his own trance pulled to his love.
The esoteric Representation:
This place to me represents the Muladhara-chakra. The base chakra of the human anatomy, where the sleeping kundalini sleeps around a so called svayambu (self made) linga. The rising kundalini wakes up and then we can see ‘her’ in all her glory, in her benign yet powerful radiant and beautiful form as the virgin energy looking for her other half. The linga becomes the union of shiva consciousness and Kamakshi/Tripurasundari Power. This is what people at kamakshi must have felt, when they built the grand idol and the shri yantra forever capturing (or trying to) the eternal beauty of the feminine (the youth, virility and fertility- all for which kamakshi is known for- granting boons to finish kama/desires once and for all to reach her).
The place is very crowded due to the presence of the kama-kothi peeth established by following shankaracharyas over time. The place hosts over a thousand old temples in a few kilometer radius (it is also known as a temple town across south india). But the shine and grace of goddess and the strength and stability of the Sand/Stone god of consciousness are the reasons why this place till date comes alive in the hearts of devotees of life wherever they may be,
They always come back to the golden feet of Devi Kamakshi~
Peace