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It is one of the five main shaivite holy places in South India. According to the legend, associated with the Temple, a dispute occurred between Brahma the creator, and Vishnu the preserver, over which of them was superior.
In order to settle the argument, Lord Shiva is said to have manifested as a column of light, and then tslugu form of Arunachala. They are essentially of the manifestations of His origin. Srishti or Creation would be performed by Brahma, 2. Sthithi or protection by Vishnu, 3. Laya or destruction by Rudra; 4.
Tirobhav would be performed by Mahesa After destruction millions of souls will be protected which is Concealment and Revival and 5.
But Brahma and Vishnu forgot the holy and supreme power and fought each other. By seeing the intensity of the battle, Lord Shiva assumed the form of a flaming Linga in between Brahma and Vishnu and challenged both of them by asking them to measure the gigantic Linga symbol of Lord Shiva. The place where lord Shiva manifested is Arunachala refers to the holy hill at Thiruvannamalai in Tamil Nadu.
Awestruck by its arunachsla, Brahma and Vishnu decided to find one end each to establish supremacy over the other. Lord Brahma took arunacchala form of a swan and went upwards while Lord Vishnu assumed the form of Varaha – a boar and went into the earth towards nether land.
Both searched for thousands of miles but neither could find the end. On his journey upward, Brahma came across Ketaki flower. Exhausted and bewildered with his search to find the uppermost limit of fiery column, Brahma made Ketaki assent to lie that he had seen the top of the column where the flower had previously resided.
Accompanied by his accomplice, Brahma confronted Vishnu and asserted that he had indeed discovered the origin of the cosmic column.
At this point, the central part of the pillar split open and SadhaShiva revealed himself in his full glory. Lord Sadh Shiva also explained to Brahma and Vishnu that both of them as well Rudra and Maheshwara were born out of lord Shiva and all the five were then separated out into Five different aspects of divinity. This day is regarded as Satya ratri or gyana ratri because Brahma and Vishnu lost their ego and found supreme almighty god is Sat Chit Ananda However, Lord Sah Shiva was angry with Brahma for making a false claim.
The Lord cursed Brahma that no one would ever pray to him. This legend explains why there is hardly any Brahma temple of significance in India.
Lord Shiva also punished the Ketaki flower for testifying falsely and banned her from being used as an offering for any worship.
While Lord Vishnu realized the mistake for it so vishnu got the boon that he will be equally beautiful as me Shiva but he too felt Ahamkaram as supreme ego so he did not supreme fame while Shankara or Rudra and Maheswara didn’t felt ego or Ahamkaram So Lord Shiva gave them boon that there fame and power will be equal to mine.
They both will praised as equal as me. Since it was on the 14th day in the dark fortnight of the month of Phalguna that Shiva first manifested himself in the form of a Linga, the day is extremely auspicious and is celebrated as Mahashivaratri – the grand night of Shiva.
To celebrate the occasion, devotees of Lord Shiva fast during the day and pray to the Lord throughout the night. It is said that worshipping of Lord Shiva on Shivaratri bestows one with happiness and prosperity.
Unlike most Hindu festivals which are celebrated during the day, Maha Shivaratri is celebrated at night. The celebration includes maintaining a “jaagaran”, an all-night vigil and prayers, because Shaiva Hindus mark this night as “overcoming darkness and ignorance” in one’s life and the world through Shiva. Offerings of fruits, leaves, sweets and milk to Shiva are made, some perform all-day fasting with vedic or tantrik worship of Shiva, and some perform meditative Yoga.
The legend of marriage of Shankara and Parvati is one the most important legends related to the festival of Mahashivaratri. The story tells us how Lord Shankara got married to Parvati, his divine consort. Maha Shivaratri is celebrated over three or ten days based on the Hindu luni-solar calendar. The main festival is called Maha Shivaratri, or great Shivaratri, and this is on 13th night waning moon and 14th day of the month Phalguna Magha.
According to the Gregorian calendar, the day falls in either February or March. Over the centuries, many saints and sages have been drawn to Arunachala.
Virupaksha Deva lived in an OM -shaped cave higher up on the Hill, and this cave too still bears his name. Asked about the special sanctity of Arunachala, Ramana Maharshi said that other holy places such as KailashVaranasi and Rishikesh are sacred because they are the abodes of Lord Siva whereas Arunachala is Lord Siva himself. It is this place that bestows jnana Self-knowledge and because most people have so many other desires and do not truly want jnanaArunachala has always remained comparatively little known.
But to those few who seek jnanaArunachala always makes itself known through some means or other.
Performing pradakshina aruachala Arunachala is considered to be beneficial in all ways. Sri Ramana Maharshi once explained the meaning of the word pradakshina and how it should be done by a devotee: If by way of Pradakshina you walk one step it gives happiness in this world, two steps, it gives happiness in heaven, three steps, it gives bliss of Satyaloka which can be attained.
One should go round either in mouna silence or dhyana meditation or japa repetition of Lord’s name or sankeertana bhajan and thereby think of God all the time. One should walk mahatgam like a woman who is in the ninth month of pregnancy.
Arunachala – Wikipedia
The circumambulation is started from the temple with bare feet and is considered a sacred act. These are collectively termed as Ashta Lingam meaning 8 lingams and is considered one of the rituals of worship during the girivalam circumbulation of the hill. Every year, on the tenth day of the celebration of Karthikaidevotees take embers in pots from the sacred fire lit in the Arunachaleswara temple and carry them to the top of Arunachala, along with cloth wicks.
An enormous cauldron is placed on the highest of Arunachala’s five peaks and filled with hundreds of gallons of ghee mixed with camphor. At precisely six o’clock, as the sun sets and the full moon rises, lights are lit on the top of the Hill, on a arnachala in the temple, and at Sri Ramanasramamaccompanied by chants of Arunachala Siva by the vast crowds.
Sri Ramana Maharshi described teulgu meaning of this event in this way:. The temple is famous for its massive gopuramssome of which reach as high as 66m. It is made up of three nested rectangular walls each of which was built during different periods; the innermost could have been built as early as the 11th century. It was later refurbished by the kings of the Vijayanagara Empire from 14th through the 17th century.
The temple is renowned for some of the remarkable carvings on the walls.
In one particular carving Lord Shiva is shown as dancing in an elephant’s skin. The Arunachala World Heritage Site Initiative was founded in in recognition of the fact that this is a crucial time for Arunachala.
Peter Berking says, “we may soon see more man made structures on the slopes of the ancient Hill. The pressure for development is relentless.
This is only a matter of time. This is part of a worldwide trend of human development resulting in environmental degradation of spiritual centers that we sadly see now all over the world, he says. The main appeal to UNESCO for World Heritage Site status is being made on the basis teluugu Arunachala is a spiritual centre for millions of spiritual seekers who converge on it from all over the world mahatam year.
This fact is underscored by highly revered Shaivite saints and other sages over the ages and emphasized in the Scriptures.
The World Heritage Site program recognizes that it is in the best interests of the international community to preserve such spiritual centers for posterity.
Berking lists the benefits of World Heritage Site status as follows:. The Arunachala World Heritage Site Initiative will gather and supply crucial information, and provide logistical help and encouragement.
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. For other uses, see Arunachalam disambiguation. About 85km south of Vellore and flanked by boulder-strewn Mt Arunachala, this is one of the five ‘elemental’ cities of Shiva; here the god is worshipped in his fire incarnation as Arunachaleswar see boxed text, Archived from the original on 15 June Kedarnath Tungnath Rudranath Arunacchala Kalpeshwar. Amararama Draksharama Ksheerarama Kumararama Somarama.
Tiruvannamalai districtTamil NaduIndia. Makara, Kumbha CapricornAquarius.