Climbing Arunachala-The Mountain of Light

Today we are finally climbing the mountain.  Sanjay’s housekeeper’s daughter has been a good friend & god-daughter for the last 3 yrs.  Aruna Devi came to visit for 3 days & she took me on the local tour of all her childhood days.  

She grew up in this sacred energy and played on the ashram grounds when she was a little girl.  One of the local Siddhu’s named her after the mountain. She is a Wise old  soul with lots of heart & passion.   At 20 she is ready to save the planet & soar. Very psychic & definitely a starseed bright light.  We ventured around to more temples & then Sanjay joined us for the walk.  

Welcome to the start of the mountain. The Ramana story painted on a huge slab of  rock.  Ramana lived on the mountain in 3 different caves. These caves are now preserved with small  temples built around them.  Devotees would come to the caves to see him.  Now people come from all over the world to climb the mountain of Light and feel his energy.As we were walking along the trail I suddenly felt a surge of energy at a certain spot as I walked through. My body felt such a high vibration I was electrified & buzzing.  I told Devi to come back & feel it. She could feel it also & then she remembered a Siddhu lived in that very place for many years. She said when she was young her father would take her up the mountain to bring the Siddhu food.  The Siddhu had passed in that very spot about 4 yrs ago. I was quite astonished by the entire experience. 

Looking out over the valley of Tiru you  can see the Large Shiva Temple.

A Siddhu lives outside of one of the caves and paints everyone’s forehead with a tilak when they enter for devotion & blessing.  The tilak is worn every day by siddhus and pious householders, and on special occasions like weddings and religious rituals. A tilak is also applied by a priest during a visit to the temple as a sign of the Ramana’s blessing.

Tilak marks are applied by hand or with a metal stamp. They might be made of ash from a sacrificial fire, sandalwood paste, turmeric, cow dung, clay, charcoal, or red lead. In addition to its religious symbolism, the tilak has a cooling effect on the forehead and this can assist in concentration and meditation.

As we came down the mountain I had to take a picture of this cute house with all the drawings with many different meanings & blessings of the house.  They are called Kolams.  They are geometrical line drawings composed of curved loops, drawn around a grid pattern of dots. In Tamil Nadu region it is widely practised by female Hindu family members in front of their houses. Kolams are regionally known by different names in India