tamilnadu

PILGRIMAGE OF TAMILNADU

Thiruvannamalai:

Thiruvannamalai (Tamil: திருவண்ணாமலை, same as English pronunciation) is a pilgrimage town and municipality in Thiruvannamalai district in the Indian stateTamil Nadu. It is the headquarters of the Thiruvannamalai district. Thiruvannamalai is home to the Annamalaiyar Temple located at the foot of the Annamalai hillShiva Temples of Tamilnadu. Thiruvannamalai has long been associated with many yogis and siddhars, and more recently the 20th century guru Ramana Maharshi. The sanskrit name for Thiruvannaamalai of and amongst one of the great - Arunachala - became known worldwide mostly due to Sri Ramana.

Thiruvannamalai is one of the Pancha Bootha Sthalangal representing the fire element along with Chidambaram, Sri Kalahasti, Thiruvanaikoil and Kanchipuram representing sky, air, water and earth respectively.

Four Brahmotsavams are celebrated every year, the most famous of which is the one celebrated during the Tamil month of Karthikai (November/December). The ten day event culminates on the day of Karthigai Deepam. On that evening, a huge lamp is lit in a cauldron with three tons of ghee at the top of the Annamalai hill.

Every full moon night, tens of thousands of pilgrims worship Shiva by circumambulating the Arunachala hill barefoot. The circumambulation covers a distance of about 14 km.. On the yearly Chitra Powrnami (full moon) night in the Tamil calendar year, hundreds of thousands of pilgrims from across the world visit the town.

Advaita Vedanta guru Ramana Maharshi lived in Thiruvannamalai for fifty three years until his death in 1950. His ashram, Ramanasramam, is located at the foot of the Arunachala hill, to the west of the town. Seshadri Swamigal and Yogi RamSurat Kumar are examples of two other gurus who lived in this city.

Arunachala Temple:

The temple dedicated to Lord Shiva was built between the 16th and the 17th centuries by the kings of the Vijayanagara empire. The temple is famous for its massive gopurams.

The 11 tiered East Rajagopuram towers to a height of 217 feet, while the fortified walls pierced with 4 gopura entrances offer a formidable look to this vast temple complex . The Pei Gopuram, Tirumanjana Gopuram and Ammanaiammal gopuram are the other three. The 1000 pillared hall and the temple tank were built by Krishna Deva Rayarar of Vijayanagar. Each of the prakarams has a huge Nandi and several towers such as the Vallala Maharaja Gopuram and Kili Gopuram

It is one of the panchabhoota sthalam - representing five basic elements. This is the Tejo Sthalam among the Pancha Bootha Sthalams representing Fire. The others are - Tiruvanaikavil (Appu sthalam - Water) Kanchipuram (Prithvi sthalam - Earth) Kalahasti (Vayu sthalam - Air) Chidambaram (Akasa sthalam - Space).

Kancheepuram:

Kanchipuram, Kanchi, or Kancheepuram is a city and a municipality in Kanchipuram district in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is a temple town and the headquarters of Kanchipuram district. In ancient times it was called Kachi and Kachiampathi.

Kanchipuram is located on the Palar River, and known for its temples and silk sarees. There are several big temples(including some of the greatest Shiva Temples of Tamilnadu, like Varadharaja Perumal Temple for Lord Vishnu and Ekambaranatha Temple which is one of the five forms of abodes of Lord Siva, (it is the earth abode here, other abodes include Chidambaram (Sky), Sri Kalahasti (air), Thiruvanaikaval (water) and Tiruvannamalai (fire)), Kamakshi Amman Temple, Varadharaja Perumal Temple, Kumara Kottam, Kachapeshwarar Temple, Kailasanathar Temple and many more.Kanchipuram is also called as "City of 1000 Temples". Kanchipuram is also famous for its silk sarees, which are hand woven.

 Madurai:

Madurai (Tamil: மதுரை and IPA: [mɐd̪ɯrəj]), is the oldest inhabited city in the Indian peninsula. It is a city in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu and is the second biggest Municipal Corporation of Tamil Nadu(source: Encyclopedia). It is situated on the banks of the River Vaigai in Madurai district. The city is widely known as the Temple city, and is often also referred to as Koodal Maanagar, Cultural Capital of Tamil Nadu, Malligai Maanagar (City of Jasmine), Thoonga Nagaram (Sleepless City), and Athens of the East. With a population of 1,203,095 according to the 2001 Census, it is the 3^rd largest city in Tamil Nadu after Chennai and Coimbatore.

Madurai was the capital city of ancient Southern civilization. Madurai's cultural heritage goes back 2,500 years, and the city has been an important commercial center and has conducted trade as far as Rome and Greece since as early as 550 B.C.E.

Rameswaram:

Rameswaram (Tamil:இராமேஸ்வரம்) is a town in Ramanathapuram district in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is located on an island separated from mainland India by the Pamban channel and is less than 40 kilometres from the Jaffna Peninsula, Sri Lanka. Together with Kashi, it is considered to be one of the holiest places in India to Hindus, and part of the Char Dham pilgrimages. Hence, it is a bustling pilgrim centre.

It is situated in the Gulf of Mannar at the very tip of the Indian peninsula. According to legend, this is the place from where Lord Rama built a bridge Ram Setu(also known as Adam's Bridge) across the sea to Lanka to rescue his consort Sita from her abductor Ravana. This is also the place where Lord Rama worshipped Lord Shiva to be absolved of the sin of killing Ravana, who is believed to have been the greatest worshipper of Lord Shiva - reason why Ravana is also known as Ravaneeswara (Ravana God) in many parts of Southern India. Both the Vaishnavites and Shaivites visit this pilgrimage centre which is known as the Varanasi of the south.

Ex-president of India, Dr. Abdul Kalam, hails from a fishing hamlet called Dhanushkodi situated on the island.

Hindu holy city:

Rameswaram is significant for the Hindus as a pilgrimage to Benaras is incomplete without a pilgrimage to Rameswaram. The presiding deity here is in the form of a Linga with the name Sri Ramanatha Swamy, it also happens to be one of the twelve

The masterpiece of South Indian architecture boasts of the largest temple corridor in India. Different rulers built the Ramanathaswamy Temple over a period of time starting from the twelfth century. The temple comprises twenty two wells where the taste of the water of each well is different from the other.

The grandest part of the temple is the 1219 m pillared corridor consisting of 3.6 m high granite pillars, richly carved and well proportioned. The perspective presented by these pillars run uninterruptedly to a length of nearly 230 m.

According to the Puranas, upon the advice of Rishis (sages), Rama along with Sita and Lakshmana, installed and worshipped the Sivalinga here to expiate the sin of Brahmahatya (killing of a Brahmin) (Ravana was a Brahmin the great grandson of Brahma)Rama fixed an auspicious time for the installation and sent Anjaneya to Mount Kailas to bring a lingam. As Anjaneya could not return in time, Sita herself made a linga of sand. When Anjaneya returned with a linga from Mount Kailas the rituals had been over.

To comfort the disappointed Anjaneya, Rama had Anjaneya’s lingam (Visvalingam) also installed by the side of Ramalinga, and ordained that rituals be performed first to the Visvalingam.

In Rameswaram Temple, a spiritual "Mani Darisanam" happens in early morning everyday. This "Mani" is made of "spatikam"[a precious stone] and in form of "Holy shivling". according to ved this is "Mani" of "sheshnag".

Sethu Karai is a place 22 km before the island of Rameswaram from where God Ram is claimed to have built a Floating Stone Bridge Ramasethu till Rameswaram that further continued from Dhanushkodi in Rameswaram till Talaimannar in Sri Lanka as mentioned in the great Hindu epic Ramayana.

Places to see:

Ramarpadm - Footsteps of Lord Rama	Ramarpaadham Temple, Rameshwaram	Ramarpaadham Temple, Rameshwaram	Ramarpaadham Temple, Rameshwaram
Naga Idols at Ram Temple, Rameshwaram	Lakshman Theertham, Rameshwaram	Sita Kund - Pond named after Sita	Floating stones (Hanuman Temple)
Sugreevar theertham, Lotus pond on the way to Ramar Padham