Site: Velapar Murugan (வேலப்பர் முருகன்)
Map: +9° 51′ 2.40″ N, +77° 35′ 54.00″ E, 500m.

This is located en-route to Theni from Madurai city, past a township called Aandipatti. There is also a small road side rest-stop/temple – DharmaSastha (தர்மசாஸ்தா) located here along the way, at 339m. We got a generous helping of piping hot brown sugar pongal prasadam wrapped in clean banana leaves there.

The priests in the destination temple, Velapar Murugan, and the area itself is from a community of native/indigenous tribal folks (ஆதி). The perform puja chanting was distinctively different in their native Tamil dialect (neither Sanskrit nor classical Tamil). We went off season so the whole trek was quiet and to ourselves.

The last quarter stretch of steps to the top.

The temple.

About 2 km walk on a narrow and rocky dirt trail, past the temple, some berries - kalaakaay (கலாகாய்) up high on the tree tops. The ripe ones look and taste a bit like navaa-pazham.

The three local kids who accompanied me on this trek, feasting on kalaakaay after going through all means to get at these branches from the tree tops.

Click to zoom. Folks going to Kali temple. They're carrying offerings of sprouted grains on their heads.

Zoomed out to show the traditional water catchment / reservoir (நடு முதலைக் குலம்) on outskirts of Madurai. The above procession is at the foot of the prominent rock hill in the distance; you can hardly make out without zooming in.

I caught this procession of folks in the distance, on the way back from a visiting a remote rural temple. They are going to the local Kali temple. Usually this is done on every powarnami (full moon day). But this one is special, as it comes right after Navaratri celebrations. They’re carrying mulai-paari (முளை பாரி; pots with sprouted grains; click on the photo to zoom in) on their heads, which after offering to the Goddess, they’ll let it float off in the water. It’s a way of propitiating the Goddess (a way of giving thanks and seeking blessings) for the fertility of the land and for the upcoming harvest cycle (which happens in Pongal time). Though this photo was taken in September end, the mulai-paari ritual is an important part of the monsoon festival, known as Aadi-Perukku which occurs on Aadi 18th (around August 2nd).

The above is a traditional water catchment, eco-friendly (as opposed to today’s trend of uprooting the local ecosystem by building dams). Stretches for a few kilometers. You can gauge how old it is from the name itself – “nadu muthalai kulam” (“நடு முதலைக் குலம்” – “lake where crocodiles are found in the middle”). There are no crocodiles today, nor do I think there were any even in the last 50 years. Considering that this season the monsoons have been meagre in Tamil Nadu, catchments like this are their (and our) life bread and butter.

This is my vacation spot :). I just bought a piece of land here. Most likely I’ll just keep it as it is – instead of chopping these trees and building a house there, I’ll just tie a hammock :). Or follow one of the new “green architectures” or “organic architectures” where houses are designed to be built into and integrated with the original settings, with the intent of preserving as many trees and natural landscape as much possible — though I don’t know how that’d work with coconut trees (coconuts falling on your roof).

Nice place to just sit, read, or take a stroll. Usually come here with dad who also likes natural hangouts. Managed to get mom also; I believe walking barefoot on the soft gravel, let alone the fresh air and natural surroundings, ought to help any ailment get better.

See Also

• Kundalini-Serpant
• Video Clip

I just saw this film, நான் கடவுள் (naan kadavul). The meaning of the title is “Thy have become one with God”. To be understood along the same spirit of the meaning of yoga: “union with [Atman/God/Source]“. That is, attaining Enlightenment or Self-Realization. Often “Naan Kadaval” is literally translated into to “I am God” which gives a totally different spin when gets interpreted by the Westerner: becoming an all-powerful being, as opposed to union with God.

Compared with spiritual classics (mostly old black and white films), I’d rank this as just above average, but given that spiritual/independent films are so rare to come by, I think it deserves a lot more. Compared with the tons of shallow run-of-the-mill Bollywood/Tamil films it has to contend with, I’d rank it five star.

The film is about a person, named Rudra, abandoned as a child along the banks of the Ganga, who is found and adopted by Aghoris. He grows up into an Aghori, and is sent out into the world by his guru so that he may severe any last residual bondage to the material world.

Aghora

Most people follow the right-hand path for approaching God. That is, worship of (connecting with) God through some form of puja: prayer, bhaki poetry, bhajans, offering of flowers and fruits, temples, and beautifully decorated stories and imagery centered around God.

Aghori’s are yogis who have taken the left-hand path of God. The left-hand path is an arduous path aimed at shattering one’s sense of the material world. Usually one of the first steps involves severing all connection to the material world. For Rudra, this was not a first step, but the last in the chain of bonds he had to severe — as he never was in the material world in the first place, having been abandoned and directly inducted into the cult of Aghoris.

Aghoris are not interested in following any set philosophy nor any belief system. Their philosophy is simple: to do whatever it takes, however insane it might seem to strip oneself of layer after layer of conditionings, until they reach the very core and essence of their true being – the Atman (or Supreme Spirit). It follows that it demands shutting out human constructs like right and wrong (nothing being intrinsically right or wrong).

This fast-track path often involves taking our most common vices and inhibitions, and facing them head-on. Engaging them, and transforming them into spiritual energy. This may involve taking to drugs, intoxication, living and sleeping in places avoided by others (like among corpses in cremation grounds), doing things unthinkable like bathing their murthi (usually a shiva-lingam) with human feces. Some even turn to eating the flesh from cadavers. Though these days a lot of this has become very stereotyped by self-serving or deluded pseudo-Aghoris. It just become a test of ego and pseudo-accomplishment, you just become numbed and cut off from society making little or no spiritual progress (compared with right-hand paths like bhakti yoga or jnana yoga).

विद्याविनयसम्पन्ने ब्राह्मणे गवि हस्तिनि ।
शुनि चैव श्वपाके च पण्डिताः समदर्शिनः ।।

The wise ones, sees the same in (or no difference between) a Brahmin endowed with knowledge, a cow, an elephant, a dog, and a dog-eater.
- Bhagavad Gita, 2.47

It is a path meant for a reserved few who are ready to give up everything. Very few survive the mental stamina it involves. Many fall astray into dark alleys, some even go insane. This is especially true for those who attempt this without a guru. For those with bhakti – the guru comes directly, as the God that the bhakta intensely connects/relates to. For those who don’t have the inclination or dedication for bhakti, but still have the desire, the guru comes in human form.

Rudra

Very good acting of the Aghori character. For an outsider Rudra might look like someone who is cold and having an other-worldly gaze (or for that matter someone who is stoned). Aghoris are often described to look like that. As said earlier, for an Aghori things like right and wrong are meaningless constructs. He sees everything is part of the cosmic wheel and does not interfere with any of it — unless he can act on it with detachment. You’ll know what I mean when you see the movie. Don’t want to give it away here.

The Beggars

What I also like about this movie is that it succeeds very well in putting a human face on the physically challenged who have been cast out by their families.

When most people see beggars with disfigured limbs or faces hobbling on the road side, they either turn their heads away (repulsed in some way, just not being able to take the sight of them) or feel some sort of empathy. This film shows that both of these are unwarranted (and wrong). In the film you find that their lives are as enriched (including with its share of humor) as anyone else — despite their living conditions and what we consider as their physical/mental disabilities.

To render them compassion is fine, but not pity. Those parents of such orphaned children who abandoned them without any empathy, are the ones who need to be pitied. The villains in the movie who make a business out of exploiting these beggars are a reflection of the greed found in material life. The beggars are sensitive and caring towards each other than those of the material world. Who is more evolved, who is really handicapped? Who is more entangled in the material world – wasting way one’s entire life chasing after greed, lust, power… in the processing becoming desensitised to the human touch?

The title நான் கடவுள் (naan kadavul, literal “I am God”), is similar to the Sanskrit: अहं  ब्रम्मास्मि (aham brahmaasmi, also literal “I am God”), the mantra that Rudra utters in the film.

While common society endows the title of “great warrior” on war heroes, these spiritual traditions recognized only those who had mastered themselves as the true warriors or conquerors. That is, not a conquest of lands and peoples, but the “conquest” and the mastery of one’s inner self. For these people, the pursuit of the Spirit, the spiritual path, was not for the weak, wavering, or faint-hearted, but required the stealth and determination of a warrior. They were also critical thinkers well beyond their time, even by today’s measure. I can only imagine how intense their meditations had to be considering the layers of conditionings we mortals would have to shed to reach such heights of self-realization. They took the most direct path, walking on the razors edge.

This is not limited to just the Mahaviras of the Samanars, but such direct paths can also be found in the traditions of the Siddhars, Aghoris, Nagas, the Native Americans (the spirit masters, medicine men/women, shamans, and naguals), the wiccans and pagans of pre-Christian Europe, the Aboriginals of Australia, Siberia, Mongolia, and so on.

The other parallel tradition and equally vigorous tradition that flourished in that time period was that of the Siddhars in Tamil Nadu. The Siddhars, aimed at the perfection of the body-spiritual. This is not “body” as in physical form, but in activating energy elements in the body (kundalini chakras), so as to merge the body-spiritual (not the body-material) with the Self or Atman. The idea was that the body-physical (and the material world) was no more not-material than the consciousness. It’s probably from this focus arose the tradition of Siddha medicine, including methods for extending youth and longevity, regeneration, healing

The one book that’s considered the crest of the peacock on the subject of kundalini is Thirumoolar’s Thirumanthiram. It’s a difficult read, I don’t understand most of it, but still doesn’t prevent me from revisiting it every few years. If anything, the exercise is maybe yet another way of getting us to churn our souls in different directions and get into the mode of critical thinking/meditation. Though the Siddha texts are written in current Tamil, it intentionally uses a mode of conveying things called sandhya basha (or “twilight language”), which unwinds or reveals itself only to those who ask the right critical questions (and not looking for the “right” answers).

Note: People sometimes put a spin on the meaning of Mahavira or Great Warrior as an inner battle of good vs evil. Which is far from the truth, as one of their first realizations (before they even embark on this path) is that the distinction between good vs evil are human conditions that need to be transcended. Opposing forces exist in Nature, but to apply “good vs evil” attributes, or even to call them “opposing” forces is because of human conditioning. There is no inner battle. As mentioned earlier, it has more to do with stealth and determination, than a battle between conflicting elements.

Books

• Shiva and the Primordial Tradition – Alain Danielou.
• Aghora – Robert E. Svoboda
• The Yoga of Siddha Boganathar – T. N. Ganapathy (poorly written, but informative and enlightening)
• Thirumantiram – Thirumoolar

A few months later, a friend called me for a walkabout tour of the area (being organized by the Archaeological Society of India, and guided by one retired professor of Arts & Humanities of Madurai Kamaraj University, Prof. Venkatraman).

Little did I know that there were so many gems like this all around the locality where I live. Searching the internet for more details came up with nothing. When I asked Prof. Venkatraman, even though he was walking treasure trove of knowledge on Samanars, he had not a single publication he could refer me to. Apparently like many teachers of previous generations, they transmitted knowledge in the oral tradition (I guess universities back then were free from pressures of “publish or perish”).

The great oral tradition of transmission of knowledge might be gone, but I guess replaced by internet! I’ve added these here as time permits.

FYI, Jainism (and Buddhism) flourished in Tamil Nadu and contributed greatly to its classical prose literature, but by around 7 CE Jainism (and the Samanar tradition) lost its following when they started becoming fundamentalist. For example, as humanistic as Jainism was it had its share of untouchability (against non-Jains). In fact even the “sound” of a Shaivite chanting his mantras entering the ears of a Jain would be considered as “pollution” and the Jain would undergo severe purgation rituals. As a result Jains created many Jain-only areas, resulting in resentment among the locals, nor did it gain following. As with any faith, when the faith becomes less tolerant, i.e. more fundamentalist, it loses its appeal (at least among intelligent sensible people/cultures :)). In fact Jainism started becoming so puritanical, that it resulted in severe conflicts with other faiths (particularly the other dominent faith at that time – that of Shaivism), that it even resulted in Jains being faced with brutal persecution.

Sites

• Site 1 (Vadapallanji)
• Site 2 (Keellakuyilakudi)
• Site 3 (Keellakuyilakudi)
• Site 4 (Oothukulli)
• Site 5
• Site 6

Map: 9° 56′ 44.93″ N, 77° 59′ 17.94″ E, 168m

Location: Oothukulli (ஊத்துக்குழி), 12km east of Madurai city, Tamil Nadu, India

Main passage.

A lone samanar idol. Located on cliff side a few meters west of the main entry.

+9° 56′ 45.00″, +77° 59′ 15.60″, 187m

The Samanar is almost always shown seated with a multi-tier mandalam over their head (in contrast to the Buddha who is shown with an orb or halo around his head), and juxtoposed by devas (the lesser gods or celesitial beings) and apsaras (celestial nymphs who try to distract the Samanar from his concentration). The row of recessed blocks on top of the Samanar is fairly common, for holding oil lamps. Long gone are the days when these lamps were lit. I can only close my eyes and imagine this lone idol on this distant cliff-side lit by flickering oil lamps at a time when there was no city surrounding the area.

Shrine on top of Samanar hill.

+9° 56′ 45.60″, +77° 59′ 17.40″, 222m

Vandalism on top of the hill, at the mouth of the cave having stone beds. Must be some really crazy Christian zealots to really go out of the way to climb this hill and vandalize it (and that too, this particular hill marked as a heritage site by the Archaeological Society of India).

Hallelujah! another Jesus! Along side stone steps carved by Samanars (see Samanar Site 2).

Map: 9° 55′ 19.20″ N, 78° 2′ 47.40″ E, 152m

Location: Keellakuyilakudi (கீழக்குயிலக்குடி), 8km east of Madurai city, Tamil Nadu, India

Slightly hidden away on the side of the hill of Site 2. It’s about 10min walk from the lotus pond. To get to it, walk past the lotus pond, past the Hindu temple, past the banyan trees (i.e. the banyan trees away from the lotus pond area), and after a short 20m or so, you’ll see an opening of steps between two big boulders. A climb of about 120 steps will get you to the mouth of the cave.

Lotus Pond

Path to cave.

Cave

Mahavira

Cave entrance.

Four mahavira's including a female mahavira (rightmost). Keep in mind that this was at a time when other cultures (in particular in the Middle-East religions) were still persecuting anyone who dared profess a connection to god (that was reserved only for their "prophet") -- and it was even more tragic for females -- who were treated as heretics.