KALASA PRADHISHTA AND INAUGURATION OF SCHOOL AT SRI YOGIRAMSURATKUMAR ASHRAM, TIRUVANNAMALAI
June 6th 2002

‘The Holy beacon - ARUNAACHALA!’ -

‘Jnãna thapodanarai ‘vã’ venru azhazikkum malaiyãm!’ - The Mountain that calls out “Come!” to Jnanis!
‘Smaranenna Mukti Arunãchalam’ - The very thought of Arunãchalam (the Name of the Mountain) bestows Liberation!

The speciality of this Kshetra (Holy Place) is that, unlike Kailasa, which is the residing place of Bhagavãn here the Lord lives as the very form of the Mountain! The Lord took the form of this Holy beacon, which appears in the form of rocky Mountain in this Yuga, on the midnight of Mãsi (Tamizh month) ‘amãvãsai’ (New Moon).

While speaking on this Kshetra, Sri Swamiji said, “The places of birth of Bhagavãn (Ayodhya/Mathura) in His Avatãr as Rama and Krishna are looked upon as Holy places and visited by pilgrimages from all over throughout the year. So, is Kãladi in Kerala (S.India) where Adi Sankara was born. One does not know if Adi Sankara who left his place of birth at the age of 8 ever returned here, for, he lived only until the age of 32 wandering all around the country. It is said that the greatness of a place is not due to the temple there but is verily due to the existence of the samadhi of a Mahan. If these Kshetras are places of worship then what to speak of Tiruvannamalai where the Lord (Siva) stands as the very form of Mountain Arunãchala and innumerable samadhis of known and unknown Jnanis are to be found here?

Within this last century Sages like Ramana Maharishi, Seshadri Swamigal, Guhai Namasivãyam, Guru Namasivãyam, Yogiramsuratkumar have all lived here. Such Mahatmas did not leave this Tiruvannamalai at all. All their Samadhis are to be found here. Arunãchala has been in existence since time immemorial. How many Jnanis would have come here and attained samadhi? Can one then ever extol on the glory of this Holy Place?

Another unique feature of this Kshetra is that the tapas of ‘strees’ (women) bears fruit very easily here. Goddess Parvati (consort of Lord Siva) did tapas here to attain her Lord. It was here that She was blessed with half-a-portion (the left side) in the ‘sariira’ (body) of the Lord. This form is known as ‘Ardhanareeshwara’.
Another feature confirms that women have a special place here. No temple is to be found even for Devaki (Lord Krishna’s mother) or for Kousalya (Lord Rama’s mother) but here one finds a temple for Bhagavãn Ramana Maharishi’s mother, Azhagammai, who was given Moksha by Ramana!

If one is unable to do japa or dhyana, the very circumambulation (‘pradakshina’/‘parikrama’) of this Holy Mountain Arunãchala bestows one with Liberation. Ramana Maharishi who did not advocate anything - japa, dhyana, puja, etc. - other than ‘Atma vichara’ (Self-enquiry) not only advised others to do Giri Pradakshina but Himself did it until the day He became too weak to take even a step. Seshadri Swamigal has done 1,00,008 pradakshina of this Holy Arunãchala during His lifetime! An incident in His life also confirms the greatness of this circumambulation and the ‘phala’ (fruit) of a woman’s tapas here. A lady used to do circumambulation of this Holy Arunãchala every day with deep love and faith. One evening her son came searching for her, as she had not returned home after leaving for Giri Pradakshina. Seshadri Swamigal saw this boy and asked him, “What is the matter? What are you searching for?” The boy explained, “My mother has not returned home today after Giri Pradakshina.” Immediately Seshadri Swamigal said to him, “No! Your mother will not return home. She has become one with Arunãchala!”

Sri Swamiji installed the ‘kalasa’, alongwith Sri Nityanandagiri swamigal, on top of the tower of Yogiramsuratkumar ashram (Tiruvannamalai, Tamizh Nadu) hall that houses the ‘Adhishtãnam’ (Samadhi) of the great Mahan.

Sri Swamiji, along with Nityanandagiri Swamigal, led the procession of the ‘Kalasa’ around the ‘full-of-life’ statue of Yogiramsuratkumar and His ‘Adhishtãnam’ before climbing to the top of the huge tower of the massive hall, to install the ‘kalasa’.

Sri Swamiji climbing up the tower for the installation of the kalasa

Sri Swamiji, along with Nityanandagiri Swamigal, inaugurated the ‘value based’ Gurukula (school) for children. Sri Swamiji lit the ‘Kuthu villakku’.

Sri Swamiji inaugurating the school

Sri Swamiji then spoke a few words ....
Excerpts - ‘Of all ‘dãna’ (charity) ‘anna dãna’ (offer of food) is considered the highest. But, higher than this is ‘vidya dãna’ (offer of knowledge). By offering food one’s hunger is appeased only for the moment but offer of education makes way for one to earn one’s own living. Usually, we take good care of our children’s physical health but fail to care for their mental health, particularly in spiritual aspect. Only the all round care can bring about a wholesome growth of a person. And this school will be catering to the wholesome growth of these children.

This school is a special one as it comes under the direct vision of Yogi. There is no doubt that these children who have been admitted here are all the ‘chosen ones’. Eating the ‘prasada’ of Yogi and learning in this school will certainly make the best citizens of them.’