Thursday 31/01/2013 - TIRUVANNAMALAI.
Tiruvannamalai is one of the five 'elemental' cities of Shiva. Here the god is worshipped in his fire incarnation Arunachaleswar.
The Arunachaleswar is awash in golden flames and the roasting scent of burning ghee, as benefits the fire incarnation of the Destroyer of the Universe.
Covering some 10 hectares, this vast temple is one of the largest in India.
In the heart of the temple a roaring oven, looking like a wallnut shell spewing fire, is tended by temple Brahmins in front of a lingam.
Tiruvannamalai is one of the five 'elemental' cities of Shiva. Here the god is worshipped in his fire incarnation Arunachaleswar.
The Arunachaleswar is awash in golden flames and the roasting scent of burning ghee, as benefits the fire incarnation of the Destroyer of the Universe.
Covering some 10 hectares, this vast temple is one of the largest in India.
In the heart of the temple a roaring oven, looking like a wallnut shell spewing fire, is tended by temple Brahmins in front of a lingam.
In front of the temple complex.
The temple complex entrance.
Man "offering" his wish list in the Nandy temple.
The temple elephant.
Temple stalls, selling the goods to offer.
Often they do good business.
My sadhu friend.
Sri Ramana Ashram,A tranquil ashram drawing devotees of Sri Ramana Maharshi, a guru who died in 1950 after nearly 50 years in contemplation. It is a very relaxed place, where visitors are able to meditate or worship the shrine where the guru achieved samadhi (conscious exit from the body).
The meditation hall.
Still with the question "Who am I?".
In the streets...
The ironing man odfthe "Dry Cleaning" shop.
Suddenly I discover my laundry given to him this morning, drying in the street.
"Guesthouse for gentlemen".
They look so, isn't it?
Summit of Mt Arunachala,
where the soil is black and sticky from ghee
(once a year they put fire on 2000 liter of ghee at this place).
Baba porting water (or ghee?) to the summit.
They look so, isn't it?
Climbing Mt Arunachala (Red Mountain).
800m high dead volcano dominating Tiruvannamalai. The climb takes 4 hours return.
Ramana Maharshi stayed 17 years in this cave.
(the cave is at the end of the room).
Pilgrims make the climb barefoot.
And he stayed for 7 more years in this cave.
Which is not always obvious.
View on the temple complex from higher altitudes.
where the soil is black and sticky from ghee
(once a year they put fire on 2000 liter of ghee at this place).
Taking the bus from Tiruvannamalai to Bangalore.
No comments:
Post a Comment
nederlands welkom - français bienvenu - anche italiano