Friday 21 November 2014

THIRUVANNAMALAI & KARTHIGAI DEEPAM

Bala Chandran Gunasekaran's friends, Dyalen Muniandi, Mahindran Vijayakumar, Sugumaran Viswalingam, Malarvathy Chidambaram, Kala Devi, and Thamayanthi just returned today from a pilgrimage to India. After heading for the Sri Agathiyar Gnana Peedham in Kallar on arrival at Trichy, and blessed having read the Jeeva Nadi at the Kallar ashram, they continued to perform atonement or parikaram in temples directed by Agathiyar in the Nadi. At Thiruvannamalai they circumambulate Annamalaiyar in the form of a hill, covering 14 kilometers on foot.

Come 5th December, the Karthigai Deepam festival will be celebrated. Agathiyar explains the auspiciousness of Thiruvannamalai and the Karthigai Deepam festival. Agathiyar says the Siddhas gather at Thiruvannamalai in this auspicious month of Karthigai to worship Lord Shiva as Annamalaiyaar.

When I was with Supramania Swami at his kudil in Thiruvannamalai, I noticed he had covered his window with a gunny sack. I enquired why he did that. Swami replied that he could not see the hill no more for it was a torching fiery hill! He mentioned seeing Siddhas roaming the hill too.

Supramania Swami's kudil nested at the foothill of Annamalaiyaar