A visit to Guhai Namasivaya temple

During my last visit to Tiruvannamalai, I decided to visit the Guhai Namasivaya temple on the Arunachala Hill. I had read about the life of Guhai Namasivaya, a great Yogi who who lived in Arunachala around the 16th century. The life story of Guhai Namasivaya is very interesting and given in great detail in the following websites:

David Godman's website, Arunachala Grace, and An article in the Mountain Path

This temple is not visible from the ground level and there is a pathway behind the South entrance of the Arunachaleswara temple. The pathway is adjacent to the Shakthi theatre. The approach to the temple is an environmental disaster. Mid-way, I nearly decided to return to the hotel and the picture below might explain why I was contemplating such a move. As you can see the photo below, the approach is full of garbage and filth and the stench is terrible. The Arunachala Hill also serves as a natural toilet for people to attend calls of nature. I am still clueless as to why the Government has permitted construction of residential houses on the Arunachala Hill, which is believed to Lord Shiva himself. The residents living below the temple have no public sense at all. It is high time, the locals wake up and realise the mess that they are creating. I don't know what the local civic body is doing about all this - I guess just turning a blind eye!

My disgust soon changed to happiness once I was inside the temple. The samadhi /sanctum sanctorum felt vibrant and my mind simple quitened and I forgot all about the climb.

The temple is maintained very well by a couple , Guhai Namasivaya Gurukkal and his wife and ably supported by some locals. The last Kumbabhishekam of this temple conducted on August 28, 1991 and a Kumbabhishekam is being planned subject to getting funds from devotees. The Samadhi of Guhai Namasivaya has a Shiva lingam over it and an idol of Parvati. The atmosphere inside the cave / temple is something that needs to be experienced.

(Samadhi of Guhai Namasivaya)

Overall, the temple is excellent, with very little crowd and the surroundings inside the temple are perfect for peace and quiet.

Interestingly, this temple is home to a cute dog, who seems to have taken upon itself the mission of protecting this temple and is the unofficial guardian. This dog never dirties the temple and has practically been living here since birth.

I hope to make more visits to this temple in the future. In Tiruvannamalai, the Guhai Namasivaya temple is a great place for contemplation and prayer.

The Power of the name Arunachala

The power of the name Arunachala was once directly confirmed by Sri Bhagavan. In 1948 a certain devotee came to him from Bombay, and with him he brought a notebook in which he had written the name 'Arunachala Siva' many thousands of times. On the last page of this notebook the devotee wrote a prayer to the following effect, 'O Bhagavan, in the life of Sarada Devi [the wife of Sri Ramakrishna] it is written that she has said that if even an animal dies in Kasi it will attain liberation. Therefore, graciously bestow upon be the boon of death in Kasi.' and gave the notebook to Sri Bhagavan.

Bhagavan looked through the notebook and when he came to the last page he read out loud the devotee's prayer: at once he expressed the greatest surprise and exclaimed, 'Smaranat Arunachalam!'

The words 'Smaranat Arunachalam' mean 'by remembering Arunachala', and they occur in the very same Sanskrit verse that says that by dying in Kasi one will attain liberation. Bhagavan then turned to the revolving bookcase by his side and took out a book,probably the Arunachala Mahatmyam. Opening it as if at random, he read out a sentence in Tamil that said, 'One ''Arunachala'' is equal power to one crore ''Om Nama Sivaya'''.

'Om Nama Sivaya' is believed by Saivas all over India to be the most sacred and powerful mantra. After reading out a few other portions of this book that emphasized the unique greatness and power of Arunachala, Sri Bhagavan finally laid it aside and explained to the devotee that not everyone can see Chidambaram, not everyone can be born in Tiruvarur, and not everyone can die in Kasi, but anyone and everyone can think of Arunachala from wherever they may be, and thereby they will surely attain liberation.

From this incident we can understand how unhesitatingly Sri Bhagavan encouraged devotees to have absolute faith in Arunachala. If devotees of a sceptical frame of mind came to him and asked him how mere thought of Arunachala could bestow liberation, he used to explain the allegorical significance of this saying, since that alone would satisfy their mind.(4) But if devotees came to him with simple, child-like faith, he would strengthen their faith and confirm the literal meaning of this saying, since he knew from personal experience the great power of the name and form of Arunachala.

An extract from the article "The Power of Arunachala" by Michael James. Source: David Godman's website http://www.davidgodman.org/