Sacred

The man is clad is saffron and a beard that can pass for ancient. He sits under a derelict basin flanking the road around the hill. He sings fittingly, of gods - 33 crores - give or take a few, and while he is at it, adds in some exclusive praises for Annamalai - the hill he sits facing with hands clasped together in obeisance. I do not know whether he sang out of devotion or for the chance of a few rupees to be had from those walking around the hill. Perhaps both. Separating faith from the fake can be a little tough in Tiruvanamalai. The lines are not just blurred, they are non-existent. But does it really matter?

I, an atheist who speaks of beliefs - have walked the inner path around the hill barefoot over stones and thorns, with a Swiss knife handy to ward off potential robbers. For what?

“What else is there to do in Tiruvanamalai!” declared D when I met him for the first time. You can either circumambulate the hill or sit in meditation - just about anywhere. He is one of those who have made Tiru their home. His faith is unshakeable, but what is the faith? Is it just a blind expression of religion – or an extension of it, or all of it and more. Whatever it is, Tiru is not like every temple town in India, or at least it is not to those who are on a quest to learn. The teachings of Ramana Maharshi and other saints – some more real than the others, have reverberated around here for ages.

The ashram itself that has been constructed around the teachings and earthly reminders of Ramana Maharshi - has become an enterprise of rather enormous proportions. As a wise man of Tiru says, it has become a MNSC (Multi-National Spiritual Corporation). When you enter the ashram, you surrender your ego; when you leave the ashram you surrender your dollars, pounds, euros and so on.

But the ashram does do a lot of good work around town - from aiding reforestation efforts to feeding the poor, there is a heart to the MNSC, although I am not sure of what to think of the kind of worship it promotes around the saint himself. It’s interesting to wonder as one would about all great personalities who shunned attention during their lifetime – what would he think about the way he is worshipped today. There are a few who chose to understand and follow the master’s teachings on self-enquiry, and there are those who have decided that chanting his name and circumambulating his Samadhi is enough. He is called God himself - Bhagwan Sri Ramana Maharshi.

It is rather interesting to observe and try to understand the manner in which a creed-neutral thought process such as self-enquiry can sustain itself within the contours of religious behaviour. For those that have followed his teachings, the path of self-enquiry is more than just a choice to make in life – it is the only sensible way to be.

Of course there’s no dearth of choices in terms of philosophy or holy men here in Tiru. You can even have the flavour of a saint who in the seven years he lived here, managed to smoke up over 5000 packs of Charminar cigarettes, which I would reckon at about 20 units a day. His cigarettes, we are happily assured never gave out the smell of tobacco but a fragrant (or should I say flagrant) aroma that delighted his followers. They went on to build a chariot of those packs and it is on display along with everything he owned in his mortal carriage. His message for his followers and the synopsis of his philosophy is to invoke his name whenever they need something. So the next time you are in need, you know which hotline to reach out for.

When I first came to Tiru, it was the way mediation is practiced here that won me over. No, there is no certified or patented form of meditation or any rulebook to be followed here. Everyone is left to their own to decide the manner and place of meditation. If you have come here, it seems you should either know or you ought to find out on your own. There is the meditation hall at Ramanashram. You can also walk up the hill to Virupaksha Cave or Skandashram, places where Ramana Maharshi lived for over two decades. His enlightenment (if ever there was a point to narrow it down to) came here. The hill vibrates with energy and in the Virupaksha cave, it resonates enough to shake this here skeptic. There is no compulsion in anything except the need for silence around these areas. There is thankfully and surprisingly, a healthy respect for that here, in stark contrast to the noisy town at the base of the hill and the larger world around it

Trapped within a culture that is sadly becoming just a celebration of the loud in everything, its amazing how silence is at the heart of Arunachala. Ramana never left the place once he got here. A friend and I once joked (during a outstandingly horrid journey out of Tiru) of how it must have been that the dear saint chose to stay near Arunachala for fear of being subject to loud movies and music being played on TN busses. Anachronisms apart, and just to digress, there is no way to experience the movie culture that has grown up here unless you see it yourself. Ok, so for every nonsensical tamil movie there is an Autograph and for every bizarre superstar, there is a sobering Prakash Raj or even a Kamal Hasan, but like I said, I digress…

Coming back to Tiru (amazing how the thought itself is so pleasing), there is of course the spectacular Arunachaleswara temple - a veritable fortress with its massive walls and lofty gopurams. Spread over a vast expanse of land, the temple is significant not only for its immense size and architecture, but for Saivites, it houses the the Agni Lingam - one of the panchabhoota (five elements) lingas; the other four being Chidambaram(Akasha Lingam), Kalahasti(Vayu Lingam), Kanchi(Prithvi Lingam), and Tiruvanaikavil(Jala Lingam)

With a history that fades back into mythology, the temple is a virtual palimpsest, having been built over and over since its humble beginnings over a thousand years ago. The magnificence of the temple however, is somewhat dulled by the modern life inside. What can you say for a place of worship that houses shops selling everything from temple memorabilia to sodas and snacks. It is not (to me) as magnificent as the wonder that is Chidambaram, but there is grandeur here that the eyes cannot ignore.

But nothing can steal the natural thunder of the hill, not even man-made wonders. Kailasa - as the people here love to repeat - may be the abode of Lord Shiva, but Arunachala is Shiva himself. Beat that! It is the place where his manifest fiery splendor showed the rest of the trinity their place in the pantheon. Brahma and Vishnu end up as mere extras in the story of Tiru. The place is also mentioned in glowing terms in a Tamil Sthala Purana – where it is said that the soul attains salvation by - being born in Tiruvarur, by dying in Kashi, by seeing Chidambaram and by merely thinking of Tiruvannamalai. Game, set, match.

When I think of Tiru, it is not just the attempts at meditation or the more tangible, delicious dosas at Seshadri Ashram that cross my mind. The people I have met here are as much a part of my thoughts as the hill itself and have come to characterize the place for me. You don’t meet people like D and get to know them the way you will in Tiru .

Speaking of things to do in Tiru, you can like D does - go about feeding every cow within a mile’s radius of the hill. Even a recent wrist fracture and the gigantic cast on his tiny frame don't stop the feeding. You can even give them names like he does, although you will need to discuss it with him, simply because he’s named all of them and they respond only to his call.

There is life here - all around the hill and probably because of the hill. All these souls who call Tiru their home – temporary or otherwise, have come in search of something or wandered in from nothing. From the spiritual knowledge of the self to inner peace, or just to get away from everything else, they are all united by a bond that is hard to explain, but easy to feel and experience.

For an atheist with a ironic leaning towards things spiritual - Tiru is a logical destination for me, I guess. Straddling disparate worlds with ease, it comforts and enlightens in measures equal to the intensity of how it is sought. It gives everyone what they seek so long as they seek.

And what of the ritualistic walk around the hill? I know now that when I walk around the hill, barefoot (ok so I did that just once and might never do it again) or otherwise, whether on the inner or the outer path - it is the people I walk with and the life around the hill that matter to me. It is also to me - meditation of a different kind. Even with your eyes wide open, when you are on a path without a definite goal of reaching anywhere except where you started from, there is time and space to think. And that as a poet would say has made all the difference.

And as another poet, closer home said:

Padh padh ilm hazaar qitaabaan
Qaddi apne aap nu padhiya nai

Jaa jaa varde mandir maseedi
Qadi man apne vich vadhiya nai

Aee-vain ladhda ae-shaitaan-de-naal bandea
Qadi nafs apne nal ladhiya nai

Aankhen peer Bulleh Shah aasmaani padhna-e
Jeh da mann vich vasda ohnu padhiya nai


A thousand books you have read
[but] you have never read yourself
You rush into temples and mosques
[but] you have never entered yourself
You fight your battles with the devil
[but] you have never ever fought yourself (your desires)
O Bulleh Shah! your eyes have reached out and read the stars
[but] you have never read the depths of your mind