A short 3 km uphill trek will get you to the Shenbaga Devi falls. It is one of several water falls that feed the Kuttralam falls about 5 km downstream. All these falls are deified with temples built near/around them.

Source of Kutraalam Main Falls.

Clean green litter-free landscape (a rare sight in Tamil Nadu - unfortunately!).

Not a single speck of litter for the entire stretch -- compared with the eye sore of trash pollution everywhere in the city down below.

Accompanying about 1/3 of the journey up is this rapidly flowing creek (though doesn't look like it in the photo), crystal-clear water, run-off from the water falls up ahead.

The water falls (one of five that feed the kuttraalam falls about 5 km downstream). Small but with decent force - feels like you're being pelted by sacks of rice; towards the center it pins you down.

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 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 (donate some money for their service!).

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.

Traditional water catchment / reservoir (நடு முதலைக் குலம்) on outskirts of Madurai.

Above picture zoomed in. Folks going to Kali temple. They're carrying offerings of sprouted grains on their heads.

Click to zoom.

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 Kali, they’ll let it float off in the water. It’s a way of thanking and seeking blessing for the upcoming cycle of harvest (which happens in Pongal time).

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.

Come here often with my dad to just sit, read, or take walk. 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.

It’s a simple temple, consisting of just the silai (சிலை, murthi/idol) of the God built around the natural water spout, with water appearing to come from below the feet of the silai. There are a few other silai’s like the above siva lingam (which is also different – in that it has two snakes on the side, forming a heart-shaped hood over the lingam). Unfortunately the photo of the main silai with the water spout didn’t come out well.

Next to the temple, is a huge snake pit, that gets covered with thousands of eggs by those propitiating the nagas, during powarnami (full-moon days). Just wish that one day people will have enough sense to realize they’d probably get more good karma by donating a thousand eggs to feed the hungry, like in orphanages or homeless shelters (or at least donate it to the temple, and have the temple give it to the needy). For that matter the tons of milk, ghee, buttermilk that is expended in archana’s every year in temples.

Nagas (serpent beings; “serpent” reflecting their supernatural powers rather than their body) are considered to be a race of beings that preceded humankind, and still exist, but are now in a different realm. In many Hindu faiths, all beings (animals, plants, even sun, moon, etc) are said to have a conscious element, and serve as a connection to the spirit world (or if you don’t wish to anthropomorphize it, different stratas of consciousness or energies), and hence they are all revered and sometimes propitiated for relief of various ailments.

These beings, who at least in theory, in their own desire to seek God, unconditionally help beings who propitiate them. For those who are not used to the concept of multivalency, one can just consider them as appendages of God; i.e. God made more accessible to people, via only certain aspects.

In fact, from the worship of the ganas (the bunch of spirits/attendants of Shiva; in Tamil Saiva traditions known as siva-ganarghal, சிவகணர்கள்), in particular the leader of the ganas, Ganapathy, arose the cult of gana or Ganapathy worshippers, which is now a deity that is part of most popular Hindu faiths.

Nagas in particular are known to help people who have difficulty bearing children (also known as naga-dosham). To what extent this is true, I really don’t know. To blindly dismiss it would be equally unscientific. What matters is that in the end, all these currents keep us from straying too far from being in touch with the deeper Reality that underlies the fabric of the universe and life itself.

I just saw this film, நான் கடவுள் (naan kadavul) or “I am God”. Compared with spiritual classics (mostly old black and white films), I’d rank this as below 6/10, but given that spiritual/independent films are so rare to come by, I’m believe 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. Also notable, and commendable, is that this film had *no* bollywood hero/heroine dance scenes. Rent it (should be having in English subtitled, as the film received national attention).

Summary: This 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. He follows his guru’s orders like a true Aghori.

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 pictures revolving around God.

Aghori’s are yogis who have taken the left-hand path of God. The left-hand path is an arduous and jarring path aimed at shattering one’s sense of 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 (or even in trying to understand) any set philosophy nor any belief system. There philosophy is simple: to do whatever it takes, however insane it might seem (to oneself and to the bystander) to strip oneself of layer after layer of conditionings, until they reach the very core and essence of their true being – the Untainted, Pure, Absolute, Self. “Face-to-face” with Source of all things, with every atom in their body. 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, inhibitions, and facing them head-on, engaging them, and transforming them into spiritual energy. This may involve taking to drugs, intoxication, sex (with corpses), cutting and eating human flesh, living and sleeping among corpses in cremation grounds. This can be very jarring and disturbing. Make no mistake, Aghoris are not perverts or drug addicts. They are like you and me. So if you find having sex with a corpse or eating human flesh revolting, you can imagine how much more horrifying it is to them. It’s not something they were inclined to do. Yet they go through it, as they are far dedicated and sincere in their spiritual pursuit. A desire several times greater than most of us.

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 (not necessarily wearing saffron robes, could be your mom, dad, spouse, teacher; one can have successive gurus as one outgrows and evolves; in fact there is a mantra which says your guru is your mother, father, and your school teacher).

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). Most Aghoris are described to look at that. I’m sure anyone put through the arduous path as they will have that appearance. As mentioned for an Aghori there is no “right or wrong”. Everything is part of the cosmic wheel, and he sees that, and does not interfere with any of it — unless he can act (karm – to act) 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 like about this movie is that it succeeds very well in putting a human face on beggars. In particular the crippled and handicapped who have been cast out by their families.

Most people, when they see beggers with disfigured limbs/faces hobbling on the road side, either turn their heads away (in disgust, or repulsed, just not being able to take the site of them) or feel some sort of compassion (whether it be altruistic or sadness). This film shows that both of these are unwarranted (and wrong).

This film shows that they don’t need our compassion. 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.

It is really those parents of such orphaned children who abandoned them without any empathy, the ones who really need to be pitied. The villains in the movie who make a business out of exploiting these beggars are a reflection of us. The beggars are sensitive and caring towards each other than those of the material world. So 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”)?

நான் கடவுள் (naan kadavul) or “I am God”, is similar to the Sanskrit: अहं  ब्रम्मास्मि (aham brahmaasmi – “I am God”), the mantra that Rudra utters every now and then 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 half-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-actualization. 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, along with the Samanars, in Tamil Nadu that flourished in that time period was that of the Siddhars. The Siddhars, aimed at the perfection of the body (unlike other paths that did not put much importance on the physical body). This is not as in building form, but in activating certain energy elements in the body (kundalini chakras). By doing so, the Siddhar merges the body-spiritual (not the body-material) with the Atman. It’s probably from this focus on the perfection of the body (including methods for extending youth and longevity, regeneration, healing) arose the tradition of Siddha medicine.

The one book that’s considered the crest of the peacock on the subject of kundalini is Thirumoolar’s Thirumanthiram. I don’t understand 90% of it :), but still doesn’t prevent me from revisiting it every few years. Sometimes I feel maybe it’s Thirumoolar’s idea of playing a big joke on us before he departed (maybe yet another way of getting us to churn our souls in different directions and evolve). But then probably not, these sadhus don’t seem to have had any sense of humor. Most Tamil siddha texts are written in current Tamil, but is 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 — which can lead you down the wrong alley).

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

{ Jainism (and Buddhism) flourished in Tamil Nadu and contributed greatly to its classical prose literature, but by around 7AD 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.}

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.

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.

Shrine on top of Samanar hill.

+9° 56′ 45.60″, +77° 59′ 17.40″, 222m

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!

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.