by Rachna Chopra
Call it Arunachala, the beacon of Shiva, or pillar of light - Raman Maharishi has declared the hill to be the spiritual center of the world. Adi Sankara called it Mount Meru and Vedic texts describe it as “The Supreme Being abiding on earth in the form of Arunachala.”

It was with a sense of incompletion that I boarded a bus from Bangalore towards Tiruvannamalai (Tamil name for the Sanskrit Arunachala, the Red Mountain). As I neared the small village, I saw a lone hill standing amidst barren uncultivated plain stretch of land –- the mountain that is considered the deity of this small village. Securing a room in the Swamiangal Ashram (of the late Saint who scared away flies off young Ramana so that he could contemplate unhindered) I walked towards Maharishi’s ashram. The spirit of Ramana and the eternal quest of “Who Am I” is palpable with a single step inside the ashram premise. The meditation hall is resplendent with the Maharishi’s presence who lived here for 20 years of his life, but its stillness can be withstood only by a strong mind. The scent of this Saint of Arunachala permeates the entire town of Tiruvannamalai (one amongst the five holiest towns of Tamil Nadu and synonymous with the fifth element of fire).

Taking a path behind the ashram, one reaches the Virupaksha and Skandasraman caves, where the Maharishi lived in silence and solitude for years. As I squat near a stream, collecting water in my palm and watching it slip out; thoughts began to slip from the surface of my mind. Thus I stilled, and in this stillness, woke up the lines of the Maharishi — “Realization is not acquisition of anything new. It is only the getting rid of thought, the false identification with the body and the limited mind.”

Emerging from this sublime, indescribable state of pure unalloyed joy, I headed in the direction of the hill. Just like the essence of what Ramana preached exuded more in his smile than his words –- moving closer to the hill, bookish knowledge receded to a backdrop. Gist of the teaching stood revealed, open to first hand experience. The sacred structure stood like an emperor with the definite awareness of its own grandeur. Its barrenness seemed abundant. It no longer appeared to be made of silt and stone, but rather an effulgent column of light that creates, sustains, and rebuilds a million universes, all at once. Hindu Mythology identifies Arunachala as the place where Shiva demonstrated his power over Brahma and Vishnu, by manifesting himself as a lingam of fire.

Circumambulation of the base of the hill is considered customary to receive grace. The 14 kilometer radius is lined with lingam shrines, small hermitages, footprints of Shiva, 360 sacred ponds, seven springs, wayside resting places and meditation seats. Going around the hill barefoot is described as the simplest spiritual exercise and there are 100,008 procedures for doing it…and as many visions of the hill, each offers redemption in its unique way. It is believed that the view of the hill from Seshadri Ashram makes the wavering mind purposeful. Looking at the peak through the horns of the Nandi offers salvation from curses of previous births, while the vision from the cemetery area is meant for renunciates who desire nothing but the Lord.

Customary rules and the late evening hour did not permit me to physically go around the fire lingam. I moved closer, cutting through the dense shrubbery and sat atop a crude rock in the backdrop of Arunachaleshwara temple and what felt to be the presence of invisible Siddhas. Soon the state called –- one-pointedness of mind came about effortlessly. I do not know if the hill drew near me or I went close; I felt one with its immovability. As the rays of love emanating from this fiery form of Lord Shiva wrapped me up in a loving embrace, the great mantra Om Namah Shivaya sprung in my being spontaneously. As I repeated the chant, my breath appeared to move vertically up and down inside of me, in a cylindrical space of vacancy and light. And I knew I had met with Arunachala Shiva…the sacred cone of radiance that resides within me!