Mar 31, 2005 12:25 PM
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(Updated Mar 31, 2005 12:25 PM)
The Thejo Sthalam (among the panch boothams the Thejo means ‘Fire’, one of the five elements of nature) Tiruvannamalai immediately brings into our memory the most popular ‘GiriValam’.
What is GiriValam:
Girivalam is commonly performed on the Pournami (Full Moon) Days which comes once every month and also on special occasions like Shiv Raathri (on this day which comes once in a year different poojas are done for Lord Shiva throughout the night and the devotees spend their time at temples actively taking part in the Bhajan sessions etc.).
GiriValam is the practice of the devotees of the Lord Shiva going around the Hill (Annamalai Mount) which approximately is about 16 Kms. The devotees go bare foot singing bhajan songs and slogams of Lord Shiva. I have been taking up a GiriValam with my mother for many years (I don’t know when exactly it started) whenever possible.
Tiruvannamalai is the only holy place in Tamil Nadu which is famous for the GiriValam. During the special sacred days aforesaid, at a time, around 3 Lakhs of people would be performing the GiriValam and hundreds of special buses would be operated on all these anticipated GiriValam days. During these days, there would also be many snacks and tiffin centres found around the Temple, which sell good homely Idlis and Dosas at very reasonable low cost.
Famous Temple at Tiruvannamalai (Siva-Paarvathi Temple) :
The most famous temple at Tiruvannamalai is the Arunachaleswarar Temple and the Lord Shiva worshipped at this temple is called “ANNAMALAIYAR”. The Goddess (termed by us as ‘Ambaal’) here is “UNNAMULAI AMMAN”. Like the other temples of South India, in this temple also, you can find Free Queues and Special Tickets Queues for Darshan of the Lord. Generally the Main Lord Shiva’s situate is overcrowded but you could always manage, standing in the queue would certainly never be unpleasant.
Story of Lord Shiva at Tiruvannamalai:
The most popular ancient story briefing the Greatest Power of the Deity at Tiruvannamalai is that, Lord Shiva assumed the Form of a very huge (unimaginable) column of Fire which despite their excessive great powers, Lord Brahma and Lord Vishnu failed to trace.
Stay Spots at Tiruvannamalai:
Facilitating decent and economical accommodation to the thousands of devotees, there are lot of very good Hotels (Lodges) at Tiruvannamalai. The following are some of the very neatly maintained such lodges around the main temple :
• Devi Lodge
• Sri Aruna Restaurant - Lodge
• Hotel Akash
• Modern Cafe
• Abhirami Lodge
• Abhirami Hotel
• Deepam Hotel
• Sri Deepam Restaurant
• Muruga Lodge
• Modern Cafe Annex
There are even lot more hotels / lodges which charge a very nominal rent with a number of attenders aiming at the comfort of the tourists.
Cleanliness at Tiruvannamalai:
Jus’ imagine a cluster of about 2 Lakhs people tightly hitting each other and going around the temple on GiriValam days. Obviously the crowd includes a small child to very aged people. To swab the tiredness of the devotees there are lot of stalls selling drinks and snacks and many other food items on either side of the GiriValam Pathway. So, only during these special days, you could find lot of thrown away plastic covers, empty food packets, paper cups etc. but certainly the roads are not that nasty despite such a crowd. Most of the devotees try to observe cleanliness to the maximum possible extent and so even these trashes are never found on the walking platform / roads.
But once the GiriValam days are over, the Municipality keeps the roads very clean and the roads after these days would be as if no one had visited Tiruvannamalai at all. This is one of the appreciable features of the Metropolis.
Famous Festival at Tiruvannamalai:
During the Tamil month of Kaarthigai, Kaarthigai Deepam Festival is one of the most popular festivals of Tiruvannamalai in which all the women of the city would actively participate. This festival mainly consists of lighting the mud lights in and around the temple by the devotees followed by performing Poojas to the Divinity. It would be really very delightful and fascinating to see the thousands of lights lit by so many people and the entire place even at midnight would be very dazzling and glitter would never leave our eyes.
The annual ritual of Brahmotsavam in the same month of Kaarthigai is yet another famous festival at Tiruvannamalai which features the procession of deities on beautifully and gorgeously decorated Mounts through the temple town.
Jus’ a briefing about the other Prominence of Tiruvannamalai below :
•Like the Sacrosanct City Madurai, there is 1000 pillared hall here also built by Krishnadeva Rayar of Vijayanagar.
•Every Prakaaram of the temple consists of a very huge Nandi.
•There is a beautiful temple of Goddess Kaliamman called Mathura Kaaliamman Temple, which is a must-see for the tourists.
•Ramana Maharshi (Saint) Ashram, Raaghavendra Swamy Shrine, the Seshadri Swamigal’s holy Ashram are some of the prehistoric places and a requirement for the tourists to see when take up the GiriValam Path.
Finale:
In particular, Tiruvannamalai is a Sanctified Temple city in Tamil Nadu being the greatest Saivite Shrines in India. Saivite is one of the class of people, generally the hindu religious people are divided into Saivites and Vaishnavities – For the Saivites Lord Shiva is the main God ad for the Vaishnavites Lord Vishnu is the major God. It takes around 5 hours of travel by road from the Metro city Chennai to Tiruvannamalai and for all those who propose to take up a tour to Chennai, Tiruvannamalai is a Must-See !!!!!
