“Holy man”

One of the joys of the internet is the ability it offers to pick up relatively rare books from even obscure book shops anywhere in the world. I had managed to pick up the 1967 Kumbhabhishekam Souvenir published by Sri Ramanasramam (mentioned in "The Turning Point" post earlier) by ordering it over the internet.

At around the same time I also found this innocuous looking issue of Life magazine, issue of 30th May 1949, on an online catalogue of an old books store in the US. So incongruously, it has a picture of a 2 year old Franklin Roosevelt in a girl’s frock on the cover, without any reference to the story tucked within on a ‘person’ infinitely greater than even this great President of the USA; a story on Sri Bhagavan.

It is an important story in a historical sense; because in those days “Life” was probably the greatest magazine on earth, and that it chose to carry a story out of Tiruvannamalai, deep in the hinterland of India, was no small matter. The story is written by one Winthrop Sargeant. It is written in what I call a breezy, “American colonial” style from that time. Mr. Sargeant understands clearly that he is in the presence of something way beyond his ability to fathom and decode for his readers, but he muddles into it manfully anyway. At the end of it all he produces a narrative which for us devotees of Bhagavan 63 years later, is fascinating in the detail it offers, and the insights and depth that it misses and lacks. The write-up has its bloopers, and is insensitive and condescending in parts. But like it or hate it, it is certainly an interesting read.

A word on Winthrop Sargeant: In 1949 he was one of the 3 “Senior Writers” of Life magazine, making him an influential writer of that time. Previously he had been with the New York Philharmonic Orchestra as a violinist, and then a music critic for Life magazine. He left Life magazine in 1949 to become a music critic and writer for “The New Yorker”. He died in 1986 at the age of 82. His encounter with Bhagavan seems to have affected him more than he lets on in this write-up, because he subsequently took up the study of the Bhagavad Gita as a life-long quest. He learnt Sanskrit and even published his own translation in 751 pages, with the rather ponderous subtitle: “The Bhagavad Gita - An interlinear translation from the Sanskrit, with word-for-word transliteration and translation, and complete grammatical commentary, as well as a readable prose translation and page-by-page vocabularies”; Doubleday, NY, 1979. Here is a picture of Mr. Sargeant I found on the internet:

Winthrop Sargeant

Also fascinating is how, so blithely, the editors of that time have interspersed the story on a “Holy Man” non pareil, with advertisements of whiskeys, of sun tan lotion with a bikini clad girl and what not. The latter is particularly incongruous, as it is juxtaposed with a picture of a severe and austere looking Chinna Swami sitting at his desk in his spartan ‘office’. I can imagine the sensation the magazine may have caused in 1949 when a few copies would have doubtless landed up in Tiruvannamalai, and have been perused by conservative devotees.

A word too on the pictures accompanying the story: they were taken by the celebrated photographer Eliot Elisofon and form part of his “India portfolio” of 1949. They are quite brilliant, and for me the picture of Sri Bhagavan standing against the backdrop of Holy Arunachala is a real masterpiece. There is only the cropped picture given on page 94 of the magazine, but the full plate in austere black and white is quite stunning and presents Bhagavan in full glory. This picture and another one of the same set is appended below:

Here then is the story on Bhagavan in that Life issue. The images are not however scanned from the copy I have. The almost broadsheet sized Life magazine makes for a glorious read, but is difficult to scan. I found the entire story freely available off the internet.

[Note: To enable the text to be read, I had to upload the images in extra large size. Still cant figure out how to enable a picture large enough for the text to be readable to be opened on double-clicking or something. Sorry about that].




Cover of Life Magazine
Issue dated 30.5.1949

 






 




























 













Interesting but Forgotten Places III

The Draupadi Amman Temple

In the last post on Giripradaksina, I had mentioned that a mandatory halt on the round for me is the Draupadi Amman Temple. Even otherwise, every time I am at Sri Ramanasramam, a visit to this marvellous little temple to pay respects to Draupadi Amman is a must for me. 

Folks, you may wonder why such a small and unknown temple otherwise, may warrant special attention. Many may have seen the structure without really knowing about it in any detail. It is a very pretty little temple, just a 10 minute walk from Sri Ramanasramam: you have to turn right coming out of the gate and walk along the Giripradaksina road to have this temple come up on the right side, in a sort of clearing, inset from the road.

Part of the temple’s grand isolation is because it usually will be found shut. The structure itself is a little dilapidated, and since usually no one ever goes there anyway, it presents an aloof, desolate and somewhat forbidding picture from the road. And so, even the casual, curious visitor walking past on the road, will usually give this temple a pass.

In Bhagavan’s time

We find scattered references to the Draupadi Amman Temple in Bhagavan’s literature:

It finds mention in the following account by Sri Kunju Swami of the early days of Sri Ramanasramam. In those days there was only a thatched structure over Mother’s Samadhi. There was only one platform just in front, on which Bhagavan sat and slept, with a few of the in-house devotees managing nearby: 

“In those days it used to get very cold at night, and buildings and sleeping material were minimal. Sri Bhagavan was given a sheet and a pillow and slept on a low platform. The rest of us had to make do with mats made of woven coconut leaves that we placed on top of bricks. The devotees used to sleep near Bhagavan’s platform because a smouldering charcoal stove would be there at night. If there was a shortage of charcoal, we would collect large quantities of tamarind bark to keep the fire going. Because Sri Bhagavan never slept much, even during the night, we used to sit around the smouldering charcoal stove with him. At those tranquil periods pearls of wisdom used to fall from his lips. It was a golden period that can never be experienced again. If devotees came from outside, we would give them our sleeping places and go to sleep either in the mantapam opposite the samadhi or in the Draupadi Amman temple in the forest. We would return to the ashram in the morning. In summer, when it was warmer, we used to sleep on the ground under peepul trees.”

[from “Power of the Presence”, Vol II, Pg 50; Sri Kunju Swami’s Reminiscences; by David Godman]

Sri Viswanatha Swami writes about the time Bhagavan, Nayana and himself stole away from the Ashram to check out the forest and rare trees on Holy Arunachala: 

“Bhagavan joined us a few minutes later and the three of us wended our way towards the forest, led of course by Bhagavan, the born leader through uncharted regions, physical as well as spiritual. We entered the second forest path, cutting through the cattle fair ground west of Palakothu and the beautiful little temple of Draupadi with an arresting atmosphere about it. Thence Bhagavan took us to the third forest path …”

[From Arunachala Ramana – Boundless Ocean of Grace, Volume II, Pg 182; Sri Viswanatha Swami’s Reminiscences]

Chalam records: 

“I remember in particular one devotee who had both the faith and the intellectual simplicity that I lacked. He was an old Telugu man with a long beard who lived in the Draupadi Temple about 300 metres from Sri Ramanasramam. His only possessions were an iron pot and an axe that he used to cut firewood for cooking. He would beg food in the town and cook it in his iron pot. Each day, for hours together, he could be seen standing and looking at Bhagavan. He would spend the night in the temple, which even then was dilapidated, abandoned and surrounded by jungle. I once found him standing all alone in front of his temple, gazing at Arunachala. When I asked him what he was doing in such a remote spot, he told me he slept there. ‘What!’ I exclaimed, ‘You sleep here all alone? Are you not afraid?’ ‘Afraid of what?’ retorted the old man. ‘Bhagavan throws his light on me. All through the night I am surrounded by a blue radiance. So long as his light is with me, how can I be afraid?’”

[from “Power of the Presence”, Vol I, Pg 187; “Chalam & Souris”; by David Godman]

I can recall reading one or two accounts more, also mentioning the unusual, electric atmosphere that hung about the temple. I just cannot remember the exact reference immediately and will put up an update if I do.

Draupadi Amman – Her great significance

In recent times Draupadi Amman has come to be regarded as a relatively minor character, a sort of part player in the great Mahabharata epic. In most part this is due to the somewhat cheesy representation of her role in the hugely popular Mahabharata TV series; and also a misunderstood interpretation in recent fictional adaptations of the epic. Few these days recognize the great Divinity that Draupadi Amman is. In fact, my personal experience is that most people will not even bother to add any honorific when talking about Her; they will just address Her as “Draupadi” without adding a “Sri” or “Amman” or “Mata”, a lapse, sadly, even more pronounced in the North.

In recent times there was a detailed study on Draupadi Amman by Dr. Alf Hiltebeitel, “The Cult of Draupadi” in 3 volumes. Volume I (the main book) is available in the Sri Ramanasramam library. The study however focuses only on the folk and tribal traditions, particularly in South India. It is based on an analysis of the Terrukkutu dramas (street plays) and finds that the tradition is centred in “old” Gingee (present day Melacceri village, 3 km from the famous fort), just 37 km from Tiruvannamalai. To give a flavour of Draupadi Amman’s Divinity as envisaged in these traditions, let me quote from a review of the book by Dr. Pradip Bhattacharya, a PhD in “Comparative Literature” for his research on the Mahabharata: 

“Hiltebeitel finds that Draupadi is actually a multi-form of Durga and Kali as Vira Shakti/Vira Panchali with her virginity repeatedly stressed [because she is reborn a virgin afresh every morning]. In this aspect, her power is destructive and dangerous even to her husbands. Her children are born out of drops of blood pierced out of Bhima's hand with her nails as she returns after nocturnal foraging. Like her sister-goddess Ankalamman, whose cult shares the same region, Draupadi roams Kali-like in forests and crematoria. The Telegu tradition has Krishna explain to Bhima that Draupadi is the primal Shakti whom he had promised to satiate with human flesh and that is why he has arranged the Kurukshetra War, during which she roams the battlefield at night consuming corpses.”

And so it is more than likely that our pretty little temple, in an area which was part of the ancient Gingee imperial region, belongs to the same tradition. Even in this, ultimately only a folk tradition, we see how Draupadi Amman is worshipped as the primal Shakti, the Great Mother.

However, for me personally, Her great significance comes from classical sources only and is centred in the unique circumstances of Her “birth” as given in the Mahabharata. She was born without human intervention from the primal tattva “Fire”. Each of the 2 great epics has one such pivotal role played by the Adi Shakti. The Ramayana has Sita Mata, again not born from any human mother, but from the primal tattva “Earth” Itself; and thus She had qualities of the Earth within her - like bearing of immense loads (of sorrow and misfortune), of being the support of Lord Rama, and so on. And in the Mahabharata, Draupadi Amman born from the great sacrificial fire of the Panchala king, plays the role of an all-consuming destructive blaze for the hapless Kauravas.

The fascinating story of Mata Draupadi’s birth, along with Her twin brother Dhrishtadyumna, is found in the Chaitraratha Parva of the Mahabharata. Her ‘father’, the Panchala King Drupada, is itching to get revenge for his humiliation at the hands of Guru Dronacarya, his erstwhile friend. King Drupada then organizes a great Yagna, fire sacrifice, for obtaining offspring to engineer the downfall of Dronacarya and the Kauravas [note: “Krsna” and “Panchali” are other names for Draupadi Amman]:   

“The Brahmana continued, 'Having said this, Yaja poured the sanctified libation on the fire, whereupon arose from those flames a child resembling a celestial who possessing the effulgence of fire, was terrible to behold. With a crown on this head and his body encased in excellent armour, sword in hand, and bearing a bow and arrows, he frequently sent forth loud roars. And immediately after his birth, he ascended an excellent chariot and went about in it for some time. Then the Panchalas in great joy shouted, 'Excellent, Excellent.' The very earth seemed at that time unable to bear the weight of the Panchalas mad with joy. Then, marvellous to say, the voice of some invisible spirit in the skies said, 'This prince hath been born for the destruction of Drona. He shall dispel all the fears of the Panchalas and spread their fame. He shall also remove the sorrow of the king.' And there arose, after this from the centre of the sacrificial platform, a daughter also, called Panchali, who, blest with great good fortune, was exceedingly handsome. Her eyes were black, and large as lotus-petals, her complexion was dark, and her locks were blue and curly. Her nails were beautifully convex, and bright as burnished copper; her eye-brows were fair, and bosom was deep. Indeed, she resembled the veritable daughter of a celestial born among men. Her body gave out fragrance like that of a blue lotus, perceivable from a distance of full two miles. Her beauty was such that she had no equal on earth. Like a celestial herself, she could be desired (in marriage) by a celestial, a Danava, or a Yaksha. When this girl of fair hips was born an incorporeal voice said, 'This dark-complexioned girl will be the first of all women, and she will be the cause of the destruction of many Kshatriyas. This slender-waisted one will, in time, accomplish the purpose of the gods, and along with her many a danger will overtake the Kauravas.' On hearing these words, the Panchalas uttered a loud leonine roar, and the earth was unable to bear the weight of that joyous concourse. Then beholding the boy and the girl, the daughter-in-law of Prishata, desiring to have them, approached Yaja and said, 'Let not these know any one else except myself as their mother.' Yaja, desiring to do good unto the king said, 'So be it!' Then the Brahmanas (present there), their expectations fully gratified, bestowed names upon the new-born pair, 'Let this son of king Drupada, they said, be called Dhrishtadyumna, because of his excessive audacity and because of his being born like Dyumna with a natural mail and weapon.' And they also said, 'Because this daughter is so dark in complexion, she should be called Krishna (the dark).'”

[from The Mahabharata, Adi Parva, Section CLXIX - Chaitraratha Parva; Vol I, Pg 341, Translated by K. M. Ganguli, Munshiram Manoharlal Publishers]

For me Draupadi Amman is special because Her birth from “Fire”, makes Her the Daughter of the Holy Hill of Fire, Lord Arunachala Himself. Her temple then, tucked within the embrace of Holy Arunachala virtually, is also a favourite haunt of Her Father, Lord Arunachala. How much does a father love his daughter? In my mind I imagine Lord Arunachala playing with His Divine Daughter in the solitude of Her pretty little temple near His feet. With humility and love we may then tip-toe into the holy atmosphere of which sometimes, and be blessed to be a part of that unseen Divine lila.

The Temple Itself

The main images in the sanctum are those of Draupadi Amman with “Dharmaraja”, Sri Yudhisthira, sitting immediately to Her right. The images of the other Pandavas are just behind and around. In the compound itself are images, mostly damaged, of other Deities, which are in concordance with the tribal and folk antecedents of the worship of the Mother herein, rather than classical sources. There is even a sacrificial pillar in the compound, but not in the right position, and that points to the incidence of Tamasic, blood offerings, in the very distant past.  

The door to the sanctum will usually be found shut, though there is free access to the compound. A pujari, usually a young member of the family that runs the temple trust at present, comes in between 7.00 and 7.30 a.m every morning (8.30 a.m. on Sundays) carrying with him some milk, flowers, sandal paste, turmeric and other ingredients for puja. He will draw water from the well in the compound, give all the images a bath, do an abhiseka of Mata Draupadi and Dharmaraja, a rudimentary arati, and be off in half an hour shutting the sanctum up till the next day.

To have a darsan of the images, one needs to be at the temple by 7 a.m. for weekdays. But its quite alright to just sit in the compound, particularly in the mandapam abutting the sanctum, even when the sanctum doors are closed. The atmosphere of serene peace, tranquility and Love all around is palpable even otherwise. Since the place is usually deserted, it can present an uncanny experience sometimes. I have met one or two people who have felt an electric, intimidating sort of atmosphere around them if they sit for long in the mandapam. Not for me. I have felt spiritually elevated after every visit, and the peaceful and serene environs of the temple make for an ideal spot to try Vichara.

In Chalam’s account above, the “Telugu man” referred to a blue radiance surrounding him at night when he slept in the temple. Blue is a colour directly linked to Draupadi Amman. Even in the extract from the Mahabharata above, there is a repeated reference to the colour blue – that Draupadi Amman was like the blue lotus, Her hair was blue, Her complexion like Lord Krsna’s was blue-black (a smoky dark colour like that found within the interiors of a very hot coal-fire), and so on. And it is my belief that the blue radiance that surrounded him at night, was really a manifestation of Draupadi Amman’s protection extended graciously towards him, a sincere devotee of Sri Bhagavan.

The rest of the story is in pictures below. As in most temples of the Mother, pictures of the images in the sanctum are not allowed. But I took a few, after permission from the priest, and Draupadi Amman!



Draupadi Amman Temple from the main road, nestled
in the embrace of Lord Arunachala



Same view, taken on another visit; the gloomy day adds
an element of remote grandeur to the temple. One can
marvel at the casual courage shown by Kunju Swami
and other devotees in the 1920s, to walk to this temple
and sleep there at night, when it was surrounded by
thick forest and possibly wild animals

The main entrance facing the road i.e. South; inside, the
temple itself faces East

Inside the compound; an auxilliary shrine on the left,
the main temple to the right and a little behind

The main temple with the attached mandapam in front

The above from directly in front

Inside the sanctum, Draupadi Amman and Dharmaraja;
behind and around are wooden images of the other
Pandavas; this picture is taken early morning
before the Sun was up

The sanctum is designed to catch the rising Sun; the
image of Draupadi Amman seems to come to life!

The wooden "Utsav Murti" of
Draupadi Amman in the sanctum

On the wall just left of the sanctum entrance is this panel
which depicts the 5 Pandavas (according to the priest)

View of Lord Arunachala from the compound

The "Shakti Pitha" and the "Bali Pitha" in the compound;
the temple well is behind - near the bush in the corner 

The young pujari giving the Shakti Pitha a bath

The auxilliary shrine and the main entrance as seen from
the mandapam

In conclusion let me mention that it is my belief that Lord Arunachala, the Holy Hill of Fire, is surrounded by several small and relatively unknown shrines of Divinities associated with the primal tattva “Fire”. All of these are important, in my humble opinion, for the devotee of Lord Arunachala. The sincere devotee can feel particularly blessed in these shrines and obtain encouragement on the search for spiritual advancement. The Draupadi Amman Temple is one of the most important of these, but I shall try and write about some of the others sometime.


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Addendum:

The very interesting pictures that follow were sent to me by David Godman. David's remarks for these pictures are given in the comment below. What I find stunning is the particularly bare and desolate look about it all. Even Holy Arunachala behind appears to be without vegetation of any note. I wonder how much forest cover was actually there even in the 1920's!

Across the road from Draupadi Amman

Draupadi Amman Temple 1930's

In front of Draupadi Amman Temple

On the Razor’s Edge – II

Experiences on the Path …

In the last write up in this series, I had mentioned that there was a small story lurking somewhere on footwear and Giripradaksina - the ritual circumambulation of Holy Arunachala. Before I start the narrative let me take the opportunity to pen down a few thoughts on Giripradaksina in general.

The Giripradaksina

Preamble

The Sanskrit root word “Giri” means “praise” or “veneration”. All mountains are considered particularly holy and worthy of veneration and so the term “Giri” came to be applied to them. Otherwise, for instance, clouds are also called “Giri” sometimes, being venerable as well. And the word “Giri” is an honorific often given to heads of Mathams and renunciates in general. But the term may have come to be applied to mountains in particular, as a derived meaning of “Giri” is “eight” or “one with eight parts”. A mountain is taken to have eight parts, as it is generally in the form of a cone and thus equally faces all the eight cardinal directions.

The Sanskrit word “Pradaksina” literally means “moving to the South”, or in effect, “moving from left to right”. This is because in ancient India, the directions were marked when standing facing the rising Sun, i.e. directly East. Thus if you take a circular road around a central point, and were to start walking from the point dead East to the Southern point, i.e. from “left to right”, it necessarily will imply a clockwise circumambulation. Again, in ancient India, it was a considered respectful to always keep your right side towards holy objects, personages, temples and even noblemen and kings, when walking past.

And thus “Giripradaksina” means in effect “a clockwise circumambulation around the venerable entity, the Holy Mountain”.

I went to pains to explain the meaning of the term so as to highlight how, even from first principles, the Giripradaksina path necessarily has to be a little distance away from the Holy Entity being circumambulated; in fact NO portion of the Pradaksina path can be ON the Entity. Also, because it is a ritual circumambulation, the path is well set, and certain very strict rules apply. By “well set” I mean that over the thousands of years that pilgrims have done Giripradaksina, a particular path becomes the defined one. It is my belief that the Divine Powers accept this traditional path as the “official” one, on which sincere devotees will circumambulate on. Similarly, They accept the rules applicable for Giripradaksina as the ones that have traditionally evolved over the millennia. And it can be then said that They will wait around this path only for devotees doing “Giripradaksina”, and see if the traditional rules are being followed by them or not, to confer Their blessings as appropriate.

Divinity then also ensures that the “tools of the trade”, viz. temples, tanks and mathams sprout up along this path to be additional instruments of blessings for the devotees. And so we find that the Giripradaksina route will have holy shrines every few metres along the path.

And necessarily too, in my humble opinion, the Giripradaksina path has to provide 'challenges'. I have till now spoken of Giripradaksina in a general way as applicable to the circumambulation of any Holy Mountain, and there are many such in India. Holy Govardhan Hill near Mathura comes to mind, and it too has a very well defined, traditional, Pradaksina path. Though 'challenges' are part and parcel of any Giripradaksina route, let me focus particularly on Holy Arunachala  These days we crib endlessly about the vehicular traffic, the mindless crowds, the biting gravel stones, the filth and dirt along the way and so on. But personally I believe that this is needed so as to provide enough distractions and “crib-points” for the devotee to struggle with; to provide a volatile environment to him or her when trying to focus on Sri Arunachala. In the olden days, sure, the path was possibly much cleaner, scenic even, and you could bask in solitude; but the challenges would always have been equivalent, and would have come by way of lurking dangers of wild animals, dacoits, the lack of food or water along the way, even perhaps the odd ghost or two! And over time as one, so called, ‘problem’ drops away from the path, another one will crop up on its own so as to equalize the equation; and thus present a continuing challenge of focus for the devotee. Thus a natural filtering mechanism is built into the Giripradaksina path by the Powers-that-be, to sift the true devotee from the riff-raff that also floats along. The sincere devotee will still do his round despite all the problems without the slightest of cribbing. He will in fact see and not see, if I may put it like that, the filth, the crowds and the ugly scenery and so on; hear and not hear the noise of the traffic, the blaring horns; smell but not smell the garbage along the way; his focus on Lord Arunachala is firm and unbroken.

And what could be the point of all this trouble, to do a tiresome, long trek through dirt, traffic and what not? Well, Sri Bhagavan would explain the spiritual benefits of  “Pradaksina” as - “the letter ‘Pra’ stands for removal of all kinds of sins; ‘da’ stands for fulfilling the desires; ‘kshi’ stands for freedom from future births; ‘na’ stands for giving deliverance through jnana”. Thus the Giripradaksina was a great ‘tool’ available to all devotees to advance spiritually. And as we all know, Giripradaksina was the one ritual observation that Bhagavan most heartily recommended for all.

And the mandatory rules to trigger the above benefits were very simple. The Pradaksina had to be done very slowly, at the pace and manner in which “a queen in her tenth month of pregnancy” would walk. Many devotees who accompanied Bhagavan on the round have recorded that He would usually walk at a rate of around one mile in one hour, and then rest for 15 minutes. There had to be complete focus on Lord Arunachala when walking; or even on Vichara, or even on Lord Arunachala in the form of one’s Ista deva. Japa or singing of bhajans was also good. But absolutely no worldly chatter was permitted. And the devotee had to walk barefoot. There was to be no compromise on the last. The feet may get cut to ribbons, but the bare feet rule could not be violated. My favourite quote on this is from Sri G. V. Subbaramayya’s “Sri Ramana Reminiscences” (Pg 37 in the 1994 ed, Sri Ramanasramam publication; italics mine): 

Sri Bhagavan spoke commending the practice of going around the Hill. Sri Bhagavan said, “Other sacred hills are described as the abodes of some Deity. But Arunachala is God Himself in the shape of the Hill. So special sanctity attaches to going round Arunachala. It has been said that one who has completed the round once in the proper way remains as Brahmakara i.e. the Absolute embodied. The proper way is to walk as slowly as a queen in full pregnancy. The red sores in the foot caused by the pricking stones on the way, it is said, will become the diamonds in the crowns of the Gods.”

The Story

Cut to yours truly, on one’s first trip to Sri Ramanasramam and raring to go on one’s first Pradaksina. Much like as in the incident when one got caught out in the heat on Holy Arunachala, was kinda cocky and naïve, pretty confident about the 14 km circuit, but wary about doing it barefoot. Again, a few words on the cause of worry may not be out of place. In Delhi, where I come from, we have this really bad custom of wearing footwear even inside the house. In fact, we probably walk barefoot only a few short steps every day - until we can find the nearest slipper, or shoe or whatever. And thus the soles of the feet were pretty soft, quite unused to walking barefoot. Certainly not anywhere upto doing a 14 km round on a rough road.

It worried me enough to give it some serious thought. That the Giripradaksina had to be done barefoot was clear in my mind. To cut out the heat, one thought to do it at 3 a.m in the morning. And I hit on the idea of praying to Lord Arunachala Himself for Grace in the serious matter of protection of the feet. Alas, in hindsight, what a poor request, to seek something as banal as comfort for the feet! But do remember, I was kinda naïve and still learning. And so it was that I started my first Giripradaksina at 3.30 am, on a wonderful, blissful, cool summer morning, after taking permission from Sri Bhagavan in the Samadhi Hall, and having paused and offered a heartfelt prayer to Lord Arunachala that no trouble, no foot sore, or cut, or anything may happen to my feet; not only that, but I told Lord Arunachala something to the effect that if even one sore or cut appeared on my feet, I would always thereafter do the Pradaksina wearing footwear only!

    

Well, what can I say? My lily soft feet traversed the long and rough track as if it was covered in satin. Rough road, broken shards of hard plastic or glass, sharp tiny stones biting into the feet? Whatever. I had the most comfortable walk ever. At the beginning I had had the noble intention of walking very slowly, like the pregnant queen, with complete focus on Lord Arunachala looming mysteriously in the darkness on my right. But somehow, when on the path, some sort of frantic urgency built up to finish the round as quickly as possible. I finished the Pradaksina in less than 4 hours despite halting at each of the 8 Disha Lingams (plus the Surya Lingam), the Big Temple, and Adi Annamalai; the fastest time that I was ever to do it in. It was completely a marvellous experience, except the stretch around Isanya Lingam, a dark haunted road with atmosphere thick enough to cut with a knife, but that is another story. And at the end of it all, when I was back in my room at Sri Ramanasramam, I checked my feet and found that there was not one scratch on it!

But that is not the end of my story. My next visit to Sri Ramanasramam was a year later. And this time I prepared long and hard for the Giripradaksina. One knew one could not ask the same boon from the Lord again for a second time. And besides, the last time around, after just a short while on Pradaksina had felt so mortified at having expressed to Him so big a concern over so trifling a matter, that if I could have retracted my request I would have done so happily. But anyhow, this time from around a month before my visit to Tiruvannamalai one gave up wearing slippers etc inside the house. And on my regular walks around on the track inside the society compound where I lived, I started doing the rounds barefoot. I wish I could describe the looks I would get from the neighbours. They already thought that I was a little weird, and were fully convinced that I had lost it finally. Also, I picked up a punishing physical exercise regimen to increase my fitness levels. And so, when one landed up in Sri Ramanasramam a month later, one came with nicely hardened soles and all set to walk barefoot, as much as was required!

This time I was clear that I must do the Giripradaksina during the day. The previous round had been mostly during pitch darkness and I missed out on seeing some of the interesting sights on the path. And so I waited till a relatively cool day came around. And when it began to pour one afternoon, started out in the rain at 4.30 p.m. after permissions from Bhagavan as usual. It was to keep drizzling on and off throughout my walk, and certainly the day, and the evening, were as cool as could be expected in Tiru in the summer.

I think it was after the first 4 or 5 km that the first blister appeared on my foot. By the time I reached Isanya Lingam and the town stretch, my feet were in tatters and bleeding away from numerous cuts. In fact, I remember sitting for half an hour with my feet dipping into the cool waters of the Brahma Tirtham inside the Big Temple (which did not have the huge locked grills in those days, unlike now), to try and get some relief from the burning feet. The town stretch, always tough because of the rough gravel on the path, was absolute murder on the feet. Finally, I staggered back to my room 8 or 9 hours after having left it with my feet covered in cuts and blisters. Even the next day it was so bad that I could barely hobble around, inviting plenty of amused looks from other devotees and the occasional “just come from Giripradaksina is it?” And so, obtained some bandages, sterile gauze, Iodine etc and cut the blisters. Big mistake. Though I washed it all nicely in Iodine and bandaged my feet up, within a few hours they were infected. I was leaving the next day and thus found myself in a Chennai hospital shortly, forced to go for professional attention, get an anti-tetanus shot, and a course of antibiotics. In fact, my feet were so swollen that I could not get them into any sort of footwear at all. My brother lives in Chennai but, and so thankfully it was not so great a hassle to get the treatment and spend the extra 2 days there before I could travel further. So much so for my preparations for the Giripradaksina!

So many lessons for the naïve tyro, in all this! Where to start? The readers are quite discerning and wise and don’t need these to be spelled out particularly. But personally, the one message that was loud and clear from Lord Arunachala was - that the Giripradaksina has to be done on bare feet, come what may.

For me, every Giripradaksina thereafter has been a test of endurance as far as the feet are concerned. It seems that I still have a mountain (!) of debt to repay for my first Pradaksina and the foolish wish I had.  After only a few kilometres my feet start to blister and hurt. The only way I have some relief is if I do exactly what Bhagavan advised. Walk one mile in one hour, and then rest the feet for 15 minutes. And so the Lord Himself arranges the prescribed walking-slowly bit for me! Else, I do try to the best of my ability to focus on Lord Arunachala or try some “walking Vichara”. I do miss out a lot of the shrines along the way, but the 8 Disha Lingams (plus the Surya Lingam), Draupadi Amman Temple, Adi Annamalai and the Big Temple are mandatory for me. And I have always walked alone.

Just a very humble attempt at sharing folks. Again, would be happy to read comments  and particularly Giripradaksina experiences of yours too.


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Addendum:

The following 2 pictures are of the Pandyan Royal Emblem. Something similar would have been on the "Giripradaksina stones" referred to by David in his comment below.

Pandyan Royal Emblem

  

Pandyan Royal Emblem

This one following is a Chola Royal Emblem. Actually, only the 'tiger' was the symbol of the Cholas. The fish, the bow and the boar were the emblems of the Pandyas, the Cheras and the Chalukyas respectively whom Raja Raja Chola conquered.

Royal Emblem of Raja Raja Chola

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Addendum II:

The Institut Francais De Pondicherry came out with a detailed, multi-volume study of inscriptions in the Tiruvannamalai Big Temple, and also those in the area around. They list 5 Giripradaksina stones, and record the inscriptions thereof ("Tiruvannamalai Inscriptions", Tome 1.1, Pgs 381 - 382; Corpus No.s 292 to 296). Here is the record for one of them:

Corpus No. 296; EO. 1727:

Year: 14^th Century

Location: Tiruvannamalai, Giripradaksina, border stone set up in a field to the north of the mountain, to the east of the Eluttu-mantapam:

Text: [Below the writing is a bold relief showing a pair of fish with an elephant goad-like object in between, all standing on their tail].

Line 1.   Svasti sri [//*] Vi -

Line 2.   kkiramapan -

Line 3.   tiyan tiruviti

Line 4.   Elam vakuppu [//*]

Translation [1 – 4]: “Hail! Prosperity! (This is the) seventh division of the (road called) Vikkirama-pantiyan tiruviti”.

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Unfortunately, the 2 volumes with me of this study have no photographs in them. But David Godman sent me a picture of a Giripradaksina stone, most probably the same one described above. I have put up David’s remarks as well in the “comments” below.