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The
temple of Lord Annamalai and Goddess Unnamalai in Tiruvannamalai (in
Tiruvannamalai Sambuvarayar district) enshrines Lord Siva in His Form of
fire, one of the five elements, Situated at the foot of a range of hills and
extending over some 9.7 hectares of ground, this impressive temple is
associated with the popular spectacle of the Kartigai bonfire when, on
Karthigai day in December or January, a huge fire is lit up, visible for
kilometers around. Sri Ramna Maharishi, a great saint of our times, spent
the days of his ministry in the town. Two
traditions are associated with this historic temple, those of Lingodbhava
and Ardhanarisvara.
In the first Lord Siva appeared as a cosmic flame of light before
Lord Vishnu and Lord Brahma, who each considered Himself supreme and said
that the matter could be tested if the two could search for His (Lord
Siva's) top and bottom.
Lord Vishnu took the form of a boar and delved deep into the earth,
Lord Brahma that of a swan and flew into the empyrean, Lord Vishnu failed in
His objective and returned.
But Lord Brahma, chancing upon a piece of "thazhambu", a
floral fibre, learnt from it that it had been floating down for forty
thousand years from Lord Siva's head.
He seized upon this and claimed to Lord Siva that he had seen the
other's top.
Lord Siva realised the falsehood and pronounced that there would
never be a temple for Lord Brahma in this world.
He also interdicted the use of the floral fibre in His worship.
When Lord Vishnu and Lord Brahma repented, Lord Siva took the form of
the Linga.
Sculptures of the lingodbhava, as this is called, with a swan on top
and a diving boar at the bottom, are found in every Saiva temple, often in
niches on the walls of the sancta. Please Call 9347107468 or mail to veduku@yahoo.com to deliver In
the second tradition, Goddess Uma once playfully covered Lord Siva's eyes
with Her hands. All creation became dark, and the people suffered.
To expiate the sin Goddess Uma went to Kanchipuram (see below) Lord
Siva then told Her that She should go to Tiruvannamalai and perform penance
and that She would then take Her place in His own left side.
Accordingly, She came to Iruvannamalai and setting up a hermitage on
the top of a hill there, performed severe penance.
She killed a king of demons, Mahishasura.
She them organised a big festival on Kartigai day.
She saw the Cosmic Flame on the summit and then took Her place in the
Lord's left side.
Some celebrated bronzes embody the concept of Ardhanarisvara, the
Lord who is half man half woman. The
beginnings of the temple are lost to history, Since Sambandar has sung of
it, it was in existence by the seventh century. In the fashion so familiar
in Tamil Nadu, it grew by stages from time to time. It is a growth of
centuries. The
temple is in five prakaras, added from time to time. The first and the
second are the oldest parts. The third was erected in the twelfth century,
the rest in the sixteenth. There
are nine gopuras. The oldest is the "parrot gopura" in the third
prakara. Its base was built about 1063, and the superstructure added later.
The tallest is the Rajagopura on the eastern side of the outermost wall.
Built by Krishnadeva, it is of eleven storeys. It is 41m high, 30m broad.
The other three gopuras on the circumference also seen to have been built in
the sixteenth century. Perhaps
the most renowned of the gopuras is the Vallala, so named after the Hoysala
king, Ballala, whose capital Tiruvannamalai was, having been removed there
from Kannanur Koppam (see above). It was from this gopura that
Arunagirinatha, the another of the "Tiruppugazh" an outpouring of
praise of Lord Murguga, attempted in his early unregenerate days to throw
himself down. The Lord saved him and preserved him for immortality. In
another part of the temple a shrine commemorates the tradition that, at
Aruna-girinatha's request, the Lord showed Himself to Praudha Devaraya, the
Vijayanagar Raya, who ruled in the fifteenth century. There are some
paintings near the Vallala gopura. Among
the innumerable mandapas there is one with exactly a thousand pillars,
Nearby is the shrine of Pathala Lingesvara where Sri Ramana Maherishi stayed
before he went to his celebrated ashram in the town outside the temple. There
are a number of historic images in the temple. In the south-west corner of
the second prakara a shrine contains one of the Kshetra Pillaiyar. It is
believed that it was set up by Sembian Mahadevi, the queen of Gandaraditya,
the Chola king of the tenth century, who was famous for her untold
benefactions to temples. In another part of the temple there is a shrine
Lord Venugopala. It is said that the image was originally set up in another
temple in the town, one of many to the same Deity which the Nayaks of Gingee
built in their dominions. The
main Annamalia shrine is in the first prakara. That of Goddess Unnamalai has
a mandapa on the pillars of which are sculptured reliefs of the Ashta
Lakshmis and many other divinities, a rich gallery of divine iconography. There
are paintings in a few parts of the temple. Those on a ceiling in the second
prakara might be Hoysala. One of them depicts a warrior fighting a big
tiger, which has been realistically limned. Nearby there is a seated sage.
In another part there is a handsome figure of Manmatha. Nearby there are
many exquisite designs. Among
the murals near the huge Rajagopura there is a depiction of an elephant
hunt. The Vijayanagar Rayas delighted in this kind of hunting. Nearby there
is what seems to be royal figure, with his wife behind him and with girls
performing the "kolattam" before him. He seems to be Sevappa Nayak,
who built the gopura nearby at Krishnadeva's orders. He later found the
Thanjavur Nayak kingdom. The painting seems to be a contemporary portrait. The
oldest of the surviving paintings are in the elephant stable. They are badly
damaged. Even so, two scenes can be distinguished; the Lord's marriage with
Goddess Uma and the churning of the ocean. These
two scenes also occur in a mandap behind the temple, in the circuit of the
hills, which form a splendid background. Others are events from the
"Ramayana" and depictions of Sri Krishna sporting with the gopies
and the wedding of Lord Subramania with Goddess Valli. There are many structures and caves in the hills. The circuit of them is some 12 km. Like Srirangam, Tiruvanaikka and Chidambaram, Tiruvannamalai town figured in the wars of the eighteenth century. |
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