I and my friend drove down to Thiruvaroor on Sunday morning. It was a fabulous morning and surprisingly, not very crowded. We directly ran to the Kamalamba Sannidhi like kids who run behind chocolates and a fabulous painting for Muthuswami Dikshitar welcomed us the HER sannidhi. It was such a pleasurable experience and I wanted to share the little that I understood of the temple.
The vastness of the temple and the kulam are well known to the world. But there a lot of things that might not be very well known to a lot of people. To begin with, Thiruvaroor is considered to be the head quarters of Srividya. The entire temple is nothing but a representation of pranava sadhana. It clearly shows the srividya mantras rituals. There are two famous goddesses in this temple one being Kamalamba and the other being Nilotpalamba. Both their names refer to a flower and both the flowers have tremendous significance in our mythology.
Lets look at Kamalamba now. Mythologically, Kamalamba is Parvati, who is doing Tapas in order to Marry Shiva. She is sitting there in a yogic posture known as kutikasana with her right leg on her left leg. Behind the sannidhi, there is an akshara peetam, which has the 51 letters of sanskrit engraved on it. Sage Durvasha was supposed to have engraved the mathruka beejam on this peetam. And on the left end we can find Adhi saraswathi without a Veenai. So the akshara peetam and akshara devi are next to each other. Kamalamba is facing the north-east which means she is facing the Esanya which itself has a lot of significance. The goddess also has her hip (mudra of a maharani) which is very rare to find. We have the lyrics of the navavarna kritis engraved on the walls out side the temple. The secretive thing about the sannidhi is we have dasa mudra in the sannidhi. I don't know if that could be elaborated but people who know srividya can understand.
Then there is Neelotpalambal. She is standing with a neelotpalam in her hand and he is touching the head of a child. Its symbolically said that its as if she is touching the head of we, the unrefined souls so that we can get gyanam. Kamalamba becomes neelotpalamba after marrying shiva. So the symbolic representation is that, Kamalamba is nothing but the kundalini in our mooladara chakram. (Thiruvaroor itself is nothing but mooladara chakram. Lets get to that later). And once she marry's Shiva, she becomes Neelotpalamba. Neelotpalamba is the representation of the same shakthi once it reaches the sahasrara. And shiva ofcourse is present there as the swaroopam of hamsa mantram.
Though the moolavar is vanmeeka lingam, the main diety is tyagaraja. Its indeed a pleasure to even have a glimpse at him with his full splendour. The 'thirumeni' of the God is a rahasyam there. So they will cover the body with a rose colour cloth. So we can have darshan of the face and feet of the God and his consort Kondi. The sanctum itself is nothing but sree peedam. Since Tyagaraja is supposed to be at the hridaya kamalam of Vishnu, the place behind the sanctum is left empty. (to accomodate the face and head of Vishnu). Even the shodasa ganapathis over there have are significantly 'srividya' here. It begins with Vallaba Ganapathy at the Tyagaraja sannidhi and ends at Kamalamba sannidhi as Uchishta Ganapathi. Tyagaraja here is said to be the swaroopam of Ajapa mantram which is also known as the hamsa mantram.
And now about the massive kamalalayam kulam outside the temple. It occupies a massive 25 acre almost the size of the temple itself. Kamalalayam is on the side of the temple which is supposed to be side where Shiva's head will fall if he lies down as Kamalalayam is nothing but Ganga herself. Once Shiva took the form of a old brahmin and Ambal his wife and went to kamalalayam. The old brahmin slipped and fell into Kamalalayam and is drowning. A lot of people came to save him, but the wife said that my husband is a very pure man, so only who has no sins behind them should save him. No one dared to save him now as everyone obviously have done sins in their life. Then came sundararar who asked whats going on. When the situation was explained, he jumped into the kamalalayam, had three muzhukkus and then lifted the brahmin and saved him. (The message is that if you bathe in Kamalalayam your paavam is supposed to be cleansed). Then Tyagaraja revealed himself and gave his 'thozhamai' to sundarar.
One more spooky thing before I finish this article. There is a 'chaya rahitha lingam"' here. During evenings the sun will be straight opposite to that lingom. So when one does the darshan, he/she's shadow will fall on the lingam. If he can see his own shadow, he is safe. If he could not see his shadow, that means he is gonna die in three months. This is directly connected to the art of chaya purusha lakshanam and hence many mortals dont master chaya purusha lakshanam, this is kinda of a privillege given to them. So in those days, the thalamai priest will come in the evenings and make sure his nizhal is visible. The day it becomes invisible, he will get ready for a hand over to his sucessor. Well, I did try with the available light and no surprises...My nizhal was visible..
And the ending note is that thiruvaroor is nothing but representation of Mooladhara and the slogan "Thiruvaroor pirandhorku ellarkum adiyen" means that we salute the kundalini thats born out of mooladharam.
Sunday, August 26, 2007
Sunday, August 19, 2007
An evening with Anand
July 16 2005.
Probably the most memorable date in my life for sporting reasons as my love for chess attained a new moment of glory. 'Vidyasagar' conducted a Simul Exhibition with Vishwanathan Anand for raising funds for their school and I was one of the lucky few to be present there and play with the super GM himself. Reaching that date was quite messy for me as I didnt even have 24 hours notice to prepare. I reached Chennai in a hurry and got ready to meet him. In the process I travelled half way to the hall without my invitation, came back home, picked it up and went back again.
I rehearsed a lot in my mind to talk to Anand because obviously if I get to speak a few sentences I should consider myself lucky. By 7 pm Anand had arrived and to my surprise, he was completely the opposite. He was so unassuming and so approachable. He first came in and began the 10 games he was playing simultaneously on the internet with some strong players(unlike me). And he also answered the PRESS. Meanwhile he started playing with children.
Then there came the chance for the audience to ask questions. As usual the chess illiterate public began with stupid questions such as "whats your most favourite chess piece"(the most irritating question one could ever ask a chess player)...Then one sensible chap asked him about his new academy and Anand explained his plans. A couple of brits had come there as well and one asked him which is his favourite food - Paella or Biriyani (given that Anand lives in Spain)..Anand smiled and said he loves both. Then my turn came and I asked him about the "legend vs Amateur" tourney of 1987 and his experience with the world champions that he beat at such a young age. Anand was thrilled and spoke about the tourney in length. He had defeated Spassky, Tal, Larssen and drew with Smyslov.
By that time, he accepted a draw on the internet to our surprise as me and my colleague could find a win for him. So we reluctantly approached him and asked him if he wouldn't mind, could he explain why he didnt play the winning combo we had spotted. He had a look and called us on stage. I was thinking he is gonna deny that and explain with a few high sounding technical terms and rule out a win. But again to my surprise, he called us on stage and said "I am a bit ashamed to say that I overlooked the win. But anyways, draw is a good result and after all the player would be proud for his life" By then he had completely floored me with his conduct.
Then came my turn to play against him. I played Anand's fav opening, the Petrov. He was kinda anticipating it and reacted with a smile and said "Petrov, Petrov, Petrov everywhere" And played with such unimaginable ease. His pieces were doing a ballet on the board when mine were limping. By move 24, I offered a draw and he smiled and with a Rama like air said "if in another five moves, if you still feel there is a draw, then I will agree". And by the end of those five moves, he had a mate in 8 or 9 moves which he explained but I didn't understand. All I understood was that I am in a bad shape and there is no way I could save my honour. So I resigned but with the satisfaction of lasting 29 moves.
By then it was approaching mid night. Most of them left and a few crazy ones where still around him. He then joined us for dinner and spoke in length about a lot of things. He instantly recalls the moves and analyses any of his games that u recall. For example, when I asked about the Famous Corus 2004 drawn game with Kramnik (it was a masterpiece from Anand pulling of a magnificient repetition draw from a dead lost position), he coolly shrugged off any greatness in that game. He said as Kramnik was closing in on his king, he just started sacrificing his pieces and suddenly the repetition glared at their faces. And during dinner, he told that the right answer for earlier question of "paella or biriyani" would be curd rice. He was eating only curd rice and nothing else. Then he posed with us for some snaps and then left for the day. It was a memorable day with such a great champ, in my humble opinion, the greatest sportsman India has produced. He is the world number one now and he deserves every bit of it. May he win in Mexico and silence his critics. God bless that Anand and this Anand as well.. :)
Probably the most memorable date in my life for sporting reasons as my love for chess attained a new moment of glory. 'Vidyasagar' conducted a Simul Exhibition with Vishwanathan Anand for raising funds for their school and I was one of the lucky few to be present there and play with the super GM himself. Reaching that date was quite messy for me as I didnt even have 24 hours notice to prepare. I reached Chennai in a hurry and got ready to meet him. In the process I travelled half way to the hall without my invitation, came back home, picked it up and went back again.
I rehearsed a lot in my mind to talk to Anand because obviously if I get to speak a few sentences I should consider myself lucky. By 7 pm Anand had arrived and to my surprise, he was completely the opposite. He was so unassuming and so approachable. He first came in and began the 10 games he was playing simultaneously on the internet with some strong players(unlike me). And he also answered the PRESS. Meanwhile he started playing with children.
Then there came the chance for the audience to ask questions. As usual the chess illiterate public began with stupid questions such as "whats your most favourite chess piece"(the most irritating question one could ever ask a chess player)...Then one sensible chap asked him about his new academy and Anand explained his plans. A couple of brits had come there as well and one asked him which is his favourite food - Paella or Biriyani (given that Anand lives in Spain)..Anand smiled and said he loves both. Then my turn came and I asked him about the "legend vs Amateur" tourney of 1987 and his experience with the world champions that he beat at such a young age. Anand was thrilled and spoke about the tourney in length. He had defeated Spassky, Tal, Larssen and drew with Smyslov.
By that time, he accepted a draw on the internet to our surprise as me and my colleague could find a win for him. So we reluctantly approached him and asked him if he wouldn't mind, could he explain why he didnt play the winning combo we had spotted. He had a look and called us on stage. I was thinking he is gonna deny that and explain with a few high sounding technical terms and rule out a win. But again to my surprise, he called us on stage and said "I am a bit ashamed to say that I overlooked the win. But anyways, draw is a good result and after all the player would be proud for his life" By then he had completely floored me with his conduct.
Then came my turn to play against him. I played Anand's fav opening, the Petrov. He was kinda anticipating it and reacted with a smile and said "Petrov, Petrov, Petrov everywhere" And played with such unimaginable ease. His pieces were doing a ballet on the board when mine were limping. By move 24, I offered a draw and he smiled and with a Rama like air said "if in another five moves, if you still feel there is a draw, then I will agree". And by the end of those five moves, he had a mate in 8 or 9 moves which he explained but I didn't understand. All I understood was that I am in a bad shape and there is no way I could save my honour. So I resigned but with the satisfaction of lasting 29 moves.
By then it was approaching mid night. Most of them left and a few crazy ones where still around him. He then joined us for dinner and spoke in length about a lot of things. He instantly recalls the moves and analyses any of his games that u recall. For example, when I asked about the Famous Corus 2004 drawn game with Kramnik (it was a masterpiece from Anand pulling of a magnificient repetition draw from a dead lost position), he coolly shrugged off any greatness in that game. He said as Kramnik was closing in on his king, he just started sacrificing his pieces and suddenly the repetition glared at their faces. And during dinner, he told that the right answer for earlier question of "paella or biriyani" would be curd rice. He was eating only curd rice and nothing else. Then he posed with us for some snaps and then left for the day. It was a memorable day with such a great champ, in my humble opinion, the greatest sportsman India has produced. He is the world number one now and he deserves every bit of it. May he win in Mexico and silence his critics. God bless that Anand and this Anand as well.. :)
Time - Is it a myth or it isn't???
Recently, I read a very funny statement in a blog that "It takes really long to kill time especially when you badly want to"....This statement did trigger a lot of thoughts in me. There is this famous explanation for Einstein's theory of relativity which goes like this: "When you are with a pretty woman, an hour will seem like a minute. And when you are sitting on a hot stove, a minute will seem like an hour". And that seems absolutely true as well.
Time is a relative concept like GOD. Ofcourse, in both the cases, an absolute exists no doubt..But the absolute manifests itself relatively. And GOD, like the great Rishis is supposed to exist beyond time. What does this beyond time mean???
Time in my understanding is like a maze...A maze filled with a lot of concentric circles. And we are all scattered all around the maze. And each of our consciousness of Time is different. (One's consciousness depends on which circle they are in..for example, if dogs live in the innermost circle and we live a couple'a circle beyond the dog's circle, then our time consciousness is different..as in thats why we say something like, one year in our terms is like 8 years for a dog). And everyone without their knowledge, just try to get out of their current circle and come to the next one...and Moksha may be nothing but coming out of the maze. Thats why when we go to a great saint, he can look at once and talk about our present, past and future. (I donno about others but I certainly have met such saints). Which means they are in a different plane that they can see your past,present and future at one shot. Like how a person standing on the first floor can see whats behind and whats in front of the person standing at the ground floor..
And this relationship between human life and time also is pretty interesting. Every desire of a human being is meant to manifest. Whatever one asks to GOD will be granted. But it takes hell a lot of time to manifest. Purely because, the grant for our wish comes from outside TIME, and it slowly enters the maze and finds you. And by the time, it manifests you will not understand it. May be you would be in your next jenma. People believe that if you Karma and Samskara is good, it takes really short time to get your desires manifest. (which gives us another equation, is time equal to Karma..I shall think about it in my next blog) So if I am sitting and typing this blog, I could have desired to do this a few jenmas ago..lol..which complicates the equation even further. The more desires you have, the more it takes for you to get out of the maze as all your desires have to manifest before you get out of the maze. Thats why may be they say, moksha is attained by people who have stopped desiring.
Coming back to the manifestation bit, during performing pujas most of us would have heard the sankalpam, which will start with "vaivaswatha manvantare" followed by the Kalpam, yugam, etc and will boil down to the day, the thithi and nakshatram. So its as if the mantras initiate you to get the desire from beyond time, slowly through all these concentric circles and fix it on par with us.
Oops...Guess I have written too much...But I always stand by the statement which is displayed on my hero's (Vladimir Kramnik) website.."Time is precious when you don't have enough of it"..
Recently, I read a very funny statement in a blog that "It takes really long to kill time especially when you badly want to"....This statement did trigger a lot of thoughts in me. There is this famous explanation for Einstein's theory of relativity which goes like this: "When you are with a pretty woman, an hour will seem like a minute. And when you are sitting on a hot stove, a minute will seem like an hour". And that seems absolutely true as well.
Time is a relative concept like GOD. Ofcourse, in both the cases, an absolute exists no doubt..But the absolute manifests itself relatively. And GOD, like the great Rishis is supposed to exist beyond time. What does this beyond time mean???
Time in my understanding is like a maze...A maze filled with a lot of concentric circles. And we are all scattered all around the maze. And each of our consciousness of Time is different. (One's consciousness depends on which circle they are in..for example, if dogs live in the innermost circle and we live a couple'a circle beyond the dog's circle, then our time consciousness is different..as in thats why we say something like, one year in our terms is like 8 years for a dog). And everyone without their knowledge, just try to get out of their current circle and come to the next one...and Moksha may be nothing but coming out of the maze. Thats why when we go to a great saint, he can look at once and talk about our present, past and future. (I donno about others but I certainly have met such saints). Which means they are in a different plane that they can see your past,present and future at one shot. Like how a person standing on the first floor can see whats behind and whats in front of the person standing at the ground floor..
And this relationship between human life and time also is pretty interesting. Every desire of a human being is meant to manifest. Whatever one asks to GOD will be granted. But it takes hell a lot of time to manifest. Purely because, the grant for our wish comes from outside TIME, and it slowly enters the maze and finds you. And by the time, it manifests you will not understand it. May be you would be in your next jenma. People believe that if you Karma and Samskara is good, it takes really short time to get your desires manifest. (which gives us another equation, is time equal to Karma..I shall think about it in my next blog) So if I am sitting and typing this blog, I could have desired to do this a few jenmas ago..lol..which complicates the equation even further. The more desires you have, the more it takes for you to get out of the maze as all your desires have to manifest before you get out of the maze. Thats why may be they say, moksha is attained by people who have stopped desiring.
Coming back to the manifestation bit, during performing pujas most of us would have heard the sankalpam, which will start with "vaivaswatha manvantare" followed by the Kalpam, yugam, etc and will boil down to the day, the thithi and nakshatram. So its as if the mantras initiate you to get the desire from beyond time, slowly through all these concentric circles and fix it on par with us.
Oops...Guess I have written too much...But I always stand by the statement which is displayed on my hero's (Vladimir Kramnik) website.."Time is precious when you don't have enough of it"..
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