Tuesday, October 25, 2011

Tiruvannamalai Girivalam

The Arunachaleswarar temple at Tiruvannamalai is a very ancient temple in Tamil Nadu.This has great reputation among all Shiva devotees since Arunachalaeswar is prayed here in the form of fire, fire being one of the five elements that composed this universe. The other four elements of the panchaboothas are vayu, akash, jalam and earth.This beautiful temple is located at the foot of the Annamalai hills that falls under the Tiruvannamalai district This god being believed to be part of the hill, hence it is also called as Annamalayar among its devotees. Every full moon day of the month Girivalam is undertaken by the pilgrims. Lakhs of devotees participate every month in this healthy ritual. This word Girivalam is the origin of the tamil word giri meaning hill and valam means coming around. Hence coming around the hill is called as Girivalam in Tamil. To come one full round (Girivalam) the road round the hill, it is around 14 kilometres.It is believed this hills took different forms at different period of time and age. During the krutha yuga it was in the form of fire. The next treta yuga it took the form of emerald. In  dwapara yuga it existed in the form of gold.In kaliyuga it in the form of rocky hill.
At Arunachaleswarar temple there are eight lingams known as Ashtalingam. They are positioned at different locations and facing various directions. Each lingam signifying different directions of the earth. These lingams are named as Indralingam, Agnilingam, Yamalingam, Niruthilingam, Varunalingam, Vayulingam, Kuberalingam and Esanyalingam
The first lingam on the Girivalam is the Indra lingam and this lingam has east as its cardinal direction. It is said to be installed by lord Indra the celestial king
The second lingam on the Girivalam is the Agni lingam. This faces the south east direction. The uniqueness of this lingam is that it is the only lingam that is placed on the right side of the path on which one goes Girivalam on the full moon night every month. 
The third lingam on the Girivalam is the Yama lingam. This lingam signifies the south direction. It is said to be installed by the god of death Yama.
The fourth lingam on the Girivalam is the Niruthi lingam. The cardinal direction is South East. This was installed by the king of the giants
The fifth lingam on the Girivalam is the Varuna lingam. This lingam signifies the west direction. This lingam is installed by the Varuna god who is the creator of rain on this earth. 
The sixth lingam on the Girivalam is the Vayu lingam. This lingam is placed facing the north west direction. Vayu lingam is installed by the god of air himself known as Vayu . 
The seventh lingam on the Girivalam is the kuberalingam. This faces the northern direction.  kubera or the god of wealth has installed this lingam.
The last lingam on the Girivalam is the Esanya lingam. And this lingam faces the north east direction. The god that installed this lingam is the Esanyan.
other attractions of tiruvannamalai are 
Skandashramam in Thiruvannamalai town is located on the north side of the Arunachala hill where the famous Arunachaleswara temple exists. This ashram is also near to the renowned Ramana Ashram. This is one of the caves where the saint Ramana spent his period of stay in Thiruvannamalai. Virupaksha Cave , arunachaleshwara temple, satnoor dam, seshadri swamigal ashram, ramana ashram, gingee fort.