Temple Lecture - Part 1 - Tiruvannamalai temple.

Divine moments unfold when there is a confluence of history and music – especially when the topic is about Tiruvannamalai temple.

Dr. Chitra Madhavan’s yet another informative lecture was on "The Annamalaiyar" temple, one of the Pancha Bhootha Sthalams. The hill itself is considered as a “Tejas” lingam or Agni Lingam, an iconic representation of Lord Shiva himself.

For all of us, the mere thought of Arunchala brings spiritual memories of Ramanashram, Giri valam and the SPB’s non stop music of “Hara Hara Shivane Aruchalene Annamalaiye Potri”, the 8 lingams on the Girivalam path, Vrupaksha caves, Pathala lingam temple where Ramana Maharishi meditated, and most importantly the Karthigai Deepam festival.

 

Chitra Madhavan’s lecture today focused on some amazing facts and history which I never knew before:

 

The two most outstanding traditions in Tiruvannamalai temple are :

 

1.  Lingothbhava form of representation – (In all the western walls of the sanctum of most of Shiva temples, you can see a form of Shiva standing inside the Linga) – Have you noticed the fact that in this form, you can never see the head (tip of the crown) or the feet of the Lord? – This form of Shiva is the one where Brahma and Vishnu set out to find out the Lord. Vishnu takes the form of Varaha and goes down the earth to finds the source, but cannot find him and conceding his defeat, while Brahma takes the form of Hamsam to find him up above. Half way through, he catches the Ketaki flower (Thazamboo) falling off from Lord Shiva’s tresses, and lies that had found the pinnacle. That’s why Shiva ordained Brahma never to have main temples on earth in his worship!
2. Shiva as “Ardhanadeeshwara” concept- the half-female, half-male form of Shiva

Other amazing facts :

1. The date of the origin of the temple is still a mystery. The dates are usually found by the inscriptions or referred from the hymns of the saints who have sung about the temple. From the inscriptions in the main sanctum or the core of the temple, Aditya Chola I contributed to this temple way back in 9th century; Appar, who is the oldest of the Samaya Kuravar has sung in 7th century itself, so its assumed that it existed even before that.
2. The inscriptions in this temple reveal the entire history of Tamil Nadu – The Cholas, Rashrakutas, Hoysalas, Pandiyas have been associated with this great temple. Aditya Chola I’s son Paranthaga Chola’s Kerala princess donated an everlasting lamp to this temple, this town was the capital city of Hoysalas
3. Each of the 4 gopurams, mandapams, prakarams were constructed by different kings in different time periods - the unparallel architecture contributions came from the Vijayanagara Kingdom. The lofty Raja Gopuram stands at 217 ft and a 1000 pillared hall is also notable
4. Manickavasagar composed Thiruvempavai (a part of Thiruvasagam) in this temple town during the month of Margazhi. The musical marvel, Thirupugazh was composed by Arunagiri Nathar, who was miraculously saved from the death by the Lord Murugan, and transformed him into a saint
5. The side walls on the Rajagopuram built by Krishnadeva raya has splendid engraving of divinity alongwith the royal emblem of Vijayanagara, the Varaha

 

Geetha Raja, an eminent Carnatic musician sang melodiously:

 

1. “Arunachala Nadham Smrami”, Dikshithar’s Panchalinga Kshetra Kritis in Sharadha ragam
2. MSS sang Papanasam Sivam’s song “Parathpara Parameshwara” – Vachaspathi Ragam in Tiruvannamalai, which was a master piece
3. Purandadasar’s Krithi “Shiva Darshana Nama”