Episode 1/Chapter 7: What, if Our Dreams Come True!

Chapter 7

When I woke up, I was lying in the inner ‘prakara’ (corridor) of Kutralanathar temple. But for some feeble light coming from a few oil lamps, the place was dark. It seemed to be night and the temple was closed. I was alone. Lord Siva seemed to be my only companion. I was scared to death. I gathered some strength and ran to the exit door, but it was closed. I circled around the corridors, but there was no other exit. Crying and shouting aloud for help, I banged the main exit door hoping someone outside would hear me and arrange to open them for me. I ran back inside, saw the temple bell, pulled the rope and rang the bell several times hoping it could be heard outside. The ringing of the bell echoed from all directions. I ran back to the entrance and banged the door again. Nothing happened.

‘Is the temple sound proof?’

I felt checkmated. I had no escape. I had no choices. I was trapped.

There was only one route for my escape.

Surrender. Surrender to Lord Siva who had risen as Kutralanadhar here in this temple.

That was what I did. I ran back to Lord Siva. Strangely, the doors to the sanctum Sanctorum were open. How could it be? This never happened in the temples during the nights. How can the poojari be so careless? I stepped inside the sanctum Sanctorum, fell flat before Lord Siva and cried and cried like never before.

‘What is happening to me? Please help me.’ I asked Lord Siva.

“I won’t get up until I find an answer.”

The stone idol of Lord Shiva gave me no response. I must have been lying down there crying for long in frustration. Out of exhaustion I must have fallen into deep sleep.

The next morning, when the temple was opened, pandemonium broke out. I was surrounded by the security, the police, the administrative officers and a big crowd of curious onlookers. I was interrogated, intimidated, warned, and nearly assaulted. They found no clue as to how I got into the temple during the night. In the end, they couldn’t frame me with anything. Many believed I could be innocent. They didn’t want to trust anything that I told them, though several onlookers were seen gossiping and debating punishing me. They must have come to the conclusion that I was a fit case to be sent to some mental asylum for treatment. I was finally let out in the evening with a stern warning. It still remained a mystery how I got into the temple.

I was hungry and dying.

Once I was free and outside, I forgot my hunger and the painful experience. I was again drawn to the same spot inside the cave up the hills where I found the sadhu sitting in deep meditation and radiating. I went back to the hills, but now, I couldn’t locate the place immediately. But with perseverance and patience, I recalled every step I took the previous night – in fact, it was not the previous night, but a few nights before; it was hard to explain what – I found the place at last before it became very dark.

I went through the same maneuvering to get into the first cave – knelt down, crawled, occasionally sat down, twisted my body and managed to reach the entrance to the second cave.  I banged my head on the rocks a few times, my knees were bleeding, and I was breathless with exhaustion.

‘Will I be able to get back to Courtallam alive?’

The opening to the second cave appeared more manageable this time, though I had to repeat the same process once again in darkness.

Now I was well inside the second cave. The lamp was still alive with shimmering light. 

How come?              

Alas! The sadhu wasn’t there in the cave. The shadows inside the cave were still terrifying, but I wasn’t so much scared this time.

‘Let what is to happen to me happen to me!’

Out of some bizarre curiosity, I approached the stone where I had earlier seen the sadhu meditating. I sat over it, crossing my legs and closed my eyes. In that weird setting, with eyes closed, I noticed for the first time that I was breathing.

‘How many times I have ever witnessed my own breathing?’

I also realized for the first time that my breathing was erratic. When I focused on my erratic breathing, it tended to become more normal. The more I focused on my breathing, the more relaxed I felt – first in my body and then in my mind. Some inexplicable feeling of relaxation slowly spread from my head, passing through my face, my shoulders, my chest, my stomach, my back flowing down to my knees, ankle, and feet and then flowed out through my toes. As I relaxed more, I noticed the same relaxation flowing backward from my toes to my head. This happened several times – the downward and upward movement of the feeling of relaxation - and then I seemed to be losing myself. At times, I felt as though I was very heavy and other times, I felt as though I was very light floating away. After some time, I felt some energy passing through me – head to toes and toes to head. As time passed, more energy flowed into me and soon, I was rocked by very high energy – as though a million volts electric current was passing through me. I rocked, jumped and flew high up in the air and very soon I lost all my consciousness.

When I woke up, I was in the Kutralanadhar temple again. ‘How did I come here?’ ‘Who brought me here?’ ‘Am I dreaming?’ ‘How many days have passed by?’ Nothing was clear to me. I didn’t remember anything.

It was day time, no one seemed to have noticed my presence inside the temple, and so no one was bothered about me.

I was thoroughly confused about how I was brought inside the temple. That remained a mystery even today after several decades. I tried to find an answer and but I always hit a wall.

I felt lured by the same location and the stone in the cave on the hills repeatedly. I went back again and again and followed the same routine. The experiences too repeated. When I regained consciousness every time, I found myself inside the Kutralanadhar temple.

‘Was HE bringing me here every time I lost myself?’ The mystery continued.

I was also getting addicted to these experiences and I sought them repeatedly.

The experience continued into the next several weeks. I lost all track of days or nights or time. I hardly felt hungry and I ate virtually nothing. I lost any desire to eat. I lived, drinking water and breathing air. But I felt stronger and stronger with each passing day and I seemed to be ‘possessed’ by some indomitable energy.

‘Am I a possessed person?’

I never dared to share my experiences with anyone. Like an addict, I longed to have the same experience again and again. The same hill, the same cave, the same stone and the same pitch darkness. The high energy seemed to shatter me to thousands of pieces, rock me, and toss me up in the air every time, while ultimately, I always lost consciousness and then I found myself in the temple when I woke up.

And now, no one seemed to be taking notice of me. ‘Have I become invisible to them? Have I become a ghost?’

I wasn’t afraid of darkness anymore. Rather, we became friendly. I could see through darkness even at night. Darkness revealed many things that light didn’t.

‘What is happening to me?’

For the next several months, I didn’t see the sadhu. It didn’t matter to me. I didn’t bother to go to the congregation to check whether he visited there anymore. 

After several weeks of recurring mystical experiences, I noticed my fear and apprehensions disappearing and in its place, peace and tranquility filling me. I never felt wanting. Every moment of my life was ecstasy and fulfillment for me. A strange and inexplicable satisfaction and contentment prevailed. It never occurred to me that it was a kind of rebirth and that my destiny had been re-scripted. I had never anticipated a complete change in my life.

A couple of years passed by, like the wink of an eye or snap of fingers. During those years, I never recognized myself as someone existing. The school that employed me came to me to find out what was happening, but I wasn’t interested in teaching anymore.

I was also seen in Chithira Sabhai very often in deep meditation. People must have concluded that I was a saint too. As they usually did with other saints, they began surrounding me, attending on me, prostrating before me and anticipating a few good words from me when I opened my eyes. But when I opened my eyes, all that they got was a blank look from me and they appeared satisfied even with that. Rather, it appeared that the only thing they expected from me was a mere look at them. When they thought I made an eye contact with them, they would immediately tap their cheeks with their hands in devotion, as they usually did in temples before the deity whenever the arthi was shown for the idol.

Soon, I seemed to have gained popularity. Words spread about me. People sat in congregation in front of me, but I did not offer them anything other than a blank look. But the people were satisfied even with my look at them. Some whispered that I was a saint observing ‘mouna vrath’ (silent retreat) all the time.

My sojourn into the hill and the cave was getting less and less frequent, though occasionally, I went there without even knowing myself. Mostly, I had no track of time. I went into trance without any effort.

I was getting strange visions while I was in trance.

In one such vision, I saw people struggling in floods in some hilly slopes, gasping for breath and in another moment I was there saving several people from the flood.

In a second vision, I and another unidentified person were recovering some treasure hidden beneath the earth in a temple.

In a third vision, I was leading a movement for ending children begging and giving them literacy.

In my fourth vision, I saw young boys and girls playing in trapeze and bars.

In my fifth vision, I saw a village meeting where I sat as the chairman of the meeting and an acrimonious fight was taking place among those present.

In yet another vision, I saw myself doing business, employing thousands of people, and exporting goods.

And many more visions!

When I had these visions, it looked as though they were happening to me right then at that moment. I stayed with those visions for days together. ‘What did those visions tell me?’ I had no clue.

The visions usually went hazy, until finally I saw myself lying in a bed, unable to move my hands or legs. They went dead for hours. When I tried to speak, nothing came out. I had seen a few ladies lifting me on the bed to a sitting posture and assisting me in eating. Tears rolled down my eyes and they wiped it away. I was telling them something they didn’t fully comprehend.

Once, I started developing strange and mysterious bruises and cuts all over my body and I was bleeding. People around me were curious and worried. They asked whether it was hurting me. I didn’t know. I had no explanation.

Another time, some of my followers seemed to have traced me outside the cave and they found me totally unconscious in front of the cave in the most repugnant conditions. When they told me after I regained consciousness, I had no awareness of anything and gave them a blank look.

More and more people kept coming to me for reasons unknown to me. They were all innocent villagers and peasants. Many of them would narrate their personal woes and miseries and look to me for some blessings or solutions.

Some of the visitors filled me in great detail, the happenings during the last days of the British Raj in India, about the negotiations that took place between Gandhiji and the British rulers about giving freedom to India, about Noakhali riots in Oct 1946, about India becoming free in August, 1947, about Nehru becoming the first Prime Minister of the free India, the massacre in Punjab and much more about the last days of the freedom struggle. At other times, people told me about the riots and tension prevailing everywhere in the country because Gandhi ji was assassinated during one of his bhajan sessions. People in tears congregated before me in very large numbers.

Another person, who claimed himself to be a great devotee of Shri Ramana at Tiruvannamalai, returned crying from Ramana’s Ashram and told me how Shri Ramana seemed to have developed very serious cancer, how he had been undergoing surgeries - one after another - without any cure and that Ramana refused to have amputation done from his arm to shoulder to save his life.

I could offer nothing more than a silent look at them. I neither had pain nor suffering, neither sorrow nor joy; I was bereft of any emotion. But I felt complete fulfillment – no wanting, no longing.

*****

Episode 1/Chapter 6: What, If Our Dreams Come True!

Chapter 6

The break-thru came during the seventh month. I seemed to be having some visceral connection with the number seven in my life.

One day, when it was about to get dark, I followed the sadhu like a shadow into the hills. Now, I was also more familiar with his usual route and the following him was less arduous. After some distance into the hills, I saw something very strange.  There was a massive tall rock and the sadhu suddenly climbed the near- vertical rock with ease like a lizard, only to disappear from the top. I couldn’t clone his performance; the rock was vertical, slippery and there was hardly anything to hold on to. ‘But, how could he do it?’

I looked around for a solution. I found some thick roots of trees hanging loose from above in another corner of the rock. Holding those roots and hoping that it wouldn’t come off the ground, I slowly climbed step by step between smaller rocks. In some places I slipped, but I managed to hold on. My feet and hands ached. I scratched my skin all over and bruised myself. After some strenuous climbing, I managed to reach a plateau where I rested for a while before I continued my climb. The route was circuitous, but I reached the top of the steep rock. The sadhu was nowhere in sight.

I was crestfallen at not being able to catch the sadhu. I was equally horrified being left alone in the darkness of such a wild place. Darkness and silence frightened me. The humming sound coming from insects was the only noise I heard and even this noise was frightening. Some insects crawled over me. I jumped screaming and shook violently to shrug them off. In the small shimmering light from the sky, I saw a snake disappearing into a small hole. My heart pounded heavily and I started shivering and perspiring.

When I steadied myself after some time, I looked through the darkness to find out where the sadhu could have disappeared. He was nowhere.

It was cold on top of the rock. Some animal, could be a wolf, howled and it terrified me. I blamed myself for coming here. I sat on a small rock trying to recoup some energy. Sudden unsettling sounds from the different corners of the darkness froze my blood repeatedly. I trembled violently. My breathing became quite hard. My knees turned weak and starting caving in. Quite suddenly, I felt like throwing up.

Then, all of a sudden, I saw the sadhu, moving swiftly between a few bushes. There was a sudden rush of blood all over me and I felt excited. I jumped from my seat, quick on my feet and rushed behind him, only to bang my head against another rock in the darkness. I yelled in excruciating pain. Rubbing vigorously my forehead with one hand, I made quick strides to follow the sadhu.

‘It is either now or never.’ I decided. The sadhu was moving with lightning speed and again, I was no match for him. Then he disappeared again behind another rock.

When I reached that spot, I saw nothing – there was no place to disappear.

‘Is he a magician or a witch?’

I had heard stories of some mysterious people practicing witchcraft luring and trapping children from decent families only to be given away as ‘bali’ (sacrifice) at the altar of the fearful Kali (a feminine form of God). These human sacrifices were invariably done during midnight only, I had been told. Some mysterious ‘raappaadi’s (night singers) visited residential areas, only at midnight, singing queer verses in frightening voices. I recalled the story of one young boy from my village, who was lured behind a ‘raappaadi’ after being mesmerized, during odd hours at midnight. The boy was in shambles when he was rescued after several days. Some fearful tales had been told to me that a few kids never returned back to the village as they were given away as human sacrifice at the cremation grounds. The people who practiced witchcraft, I was told, prepared some black paste from the remains of the skulls of those sacrificed bodies to perform black magic and lure more kids. Some people used these black magicians and witchcraft to take revenge on others. To what extent these stories were true, I never knew.

The thought about black magic and witchcraft, once again chilled my spine. ‘Is the sadhu one such wicked magician?’

Then I reasoned to myself  that  if the sadhu ever wanted to exploit me for any of his wicked intentions, he had plenty of opportunities during the last six months, but he never harmed me in any way.

‘May be, he is preparing me for a grand sacrifice, yet to be made!’ I once again shuddered at the thought.

I stared at the rock as though I had the power to pierce through it. It pained my eyes.

But what a surprise! I was dumfounded to notice a small slit under the huge rock. What lay beyond I couldn’t guess. I dared not to find. I vacillated. My heart pumped faster, hands and feet trembled, stomach churned, and, deep inside, something told me to run away as fast as I could.

But I didn’t.

I approached the slit and narrowing my eyes, stealthily peeped through the slit focusing on what was on the other side. After some painful moments I could notice a small descent behind the slit. Kneeling down, I squeezed myself in through the narrow slit, moved down crawling, twisting my body at a few places and soon I found myself on a flight of stairs going down. It looked like a cave and now I had sufficient space to sit inside. With great alacrity, I slowly descended, taking every step with trepidation. After a few steps, I was on a small level ground from where I could see some small light in one corner. It looked like an entrance to another cave.

I slowly crawled towards the second cave. The entrance was narrow. Carefully, I stepped inside. What I saw therein was hair-raising and spine chilling and I stood there in great bewilderment! How would I describe it!

There, in front of a small lamp, I saw the sadhu sitting on a stone, like Lord Siva sitting in tapas posture, in very deep meditation. I thought I saw Lord Siva himself – Lord Siva with a high rising jada mudi (matted hair), his legs in Padmasan, the right hand in ‘abhaya mudra’ (indicating his readiness to protect those who take refuge in Him) and the left hand holding the thrishul. I felt a powerful radiation around the sadhu. A circle of glowing light above his head illuminated the roof of the cave. I felt a million lightning all at once landing on me. I trembled violently and fell to the ground. I didn’t know what happened after that.

*****

Episode 1/Chapter 5: What, If Our Dreams Come True! An Uncommon Meeting with Lord Siva

Chapter 5

Every now and then, the thoughts about the sadhu distracted me. Sometimes I felt haunted, other times troubled and often curious. One morning, I decided to take the plunge. ‘Why not I dare the sadhu and question him?’

I trekked to Chithira Sabhai. Not finding him there, I decided to while away my time and wait for him. The entire afternoon passed and he was not in sight. I waited till the evening and darkness was setting in. Depressed, I decided to get back.

I was hungry as I had not eaten anything during the day. Nothing was available to eat. I was now used to very flexible eating habits and was quite accustomed to starving. Many people observed fasting on a number of days for religious reasons and on those days, even I had to observe fasting out of compulsion. So, eating or not eating anything on a particular day didn’t make any significant difference to me. I decided to ignore my hunger and take a small walk on the narrow road leading to the Five Falls. There was a small diversion on the left leading to Chitraruvi (The Small Falls) located at an elevation and then further to Shenbagadevi Falls and Thenaruvi (Honey Falls). People walked to these waterfalls in groups, especially on Full Moon days to worship Goddess Shenbagadevi. The hill side was known for the fragrance of its shenbaga flowers and hence the name for the waterfalls. I ignored the diversion and walked ahead towards Five Falls. The hillock on my left was covered by dense forest and on my right, the land was sloping down, covered by coconut groves and standing paddy crops. Not many braved to live near the hillside unless they could be friendly with wild animals.

On my way, in the dark corners of the hills, I saw someone in saffron clothing moving behind a cluster of dense trees, at the far end. Out of curiosity, I sidestepped the road, wanting to go after him and doubled up my strides. I was sure it must be the same sadhu.

The sadhu moved swiftly into the hills and the nearby woods. He was at one place one time, disappeared mysteriously, only to reappear in another dark corner. ‘How is he able to do that?’ I wondered. I was no match for him for his speed, but I kept following him. It was darker now and I had considerable difficulty in keeping pace with him. The slopes, the bushes, the small rocks and stones were tough on me. I slipped in many places bruising myself in the process. The sadhu went deeper and deeper into the woods and I lost track of him. After some time, I got exhausted and gave up.

I was in the center of the woods and darkness. I was nervous and scared as I struggled to find my way back.

*****

I made enquiries about the sadhu in the neighborhood, but none seemed to know much about him personally. Many believed that he had extraordinary mystical powers and had performed miracles in the lives of many people – some were cured of diseases, some got rid of financial problems, some had children, some got married and so on. The same story about him again.

‘He ought to be a Siddha,’ someone told me. I had already learnt that Siddhas were there everywhere in the entire range of Podhigai hills and that they were mystics, seemingly living for ever, – may be hundreds of years -  possessing extraordinary powers, and presenting themselves at different places at the same time. Many were revered a lot and many were feared. People advised me to be cautious and be wary of the dangerous Sadhus.

My curiosity heightened and I was now determined to confront him.  ‘Why was he avoiding me, when he was the one wanting me to meet him at Chithira Sabhai?” I needed to get some answers.

Somehow, my next several attempts to meet with him at Chithira Sabhai failed, as though he planned it that way.

‘Is he punishing me for not waiting for him to open his eyes when I first sighted him inside Chithra Sabhai?’

On some occasions I thought I spotted him and with the resolution I followed him into the woods. But he always seemed to have a knack of disappearing mysteriously from my sight into darkness. Besides, I was also scared of the woods, hills, and darkness and I couldn’t stretch myself beyond a point.

Six months passed by and the sadhu was still elusive to me, as he continued to play ‘hide and seek’ with me.

My life became more a routine now. A school offered me a part time job to teach small children and I gladly accepted the assignment. It improved my cash flow.

*****

Episode 1/Chapter 4: What, If our Dreams Come True! An Uncommon Meeting with Lord Siva

Chapter 4

One day, I finally managed to gather all my guts and began climbing the small steps from Kutralanadhar temple leading to Chithira Sabhai. I crossed the rough road leading to the Five Falls and entered the small passage that led to Chithra Sabhai. I stood at the entrance below a tall stone ceiling. I had a breathtaking view of the Courtallam hills on one side, clouds kissing the hill tops. The place was deserted. There was an elegant temple tank with steep steps leading to the pond of water in front of Chithra Sabai. A small, elegant stone mandap decorated the center of the tank. I wondered if the waterfall in the region fed the pond here too. I got down the steps until my knees were immersed in water. The water was cold and the chillness pierced all the way to my bones. A shoal of fishes immediately flocked to my feet to nibble away all the dirt. I felt very sorry that I didn’t bring any food for those fishes. Scattered lotus leaves with flowers, floating over the waters, presented a rich design to the landscape.  

I was in no mood to go into Chithra Sabhai immediately and so I just sat there, in the scintillating ambience, with my feet still dipped in the water in the pond.

Abruptly my mood changed, as though some new energy had suddenly entered me. I quickly climbed the steps and entered the front hall of Chitra Sabhai. There was a small closed mandap on one side and a few empty palanquins used to carry ‘Utsav Moorthy’s were stored on the other side. In all the temples of South India, there were two idols – one called Moolavar who sits inside the sanctum Sanctorum and never removed from his seat and the other called Utsavar who was taken out on palanquins on important occasions in a procession through the four streets, called ‘ratha veedhi’, around the temple. Two life sized wall paintings of some heavenly beings welcomed the visitors. The paintings were fading at a few places and requiring restoration. Once I crossed the hall at the entrance, I was in the next corridor. There was another small, covered hall that led to the main ‘Chithra Sabhai.’ A large open corridor surrounded the Chithra Sabhai that enabled people to circumambulate.

I crossed over the hall and entered Chithra Sabhai. The hall inside was dimly lit. There were several paintings all over the four walls, inside and outside. To my right was the painting of a magnificent picture of Lord Nataraja, that seemed to engulf the whole hall. This mural painting, I had learned, was painted more than a thousand years ago. People were not allowed to touch the painting or do pooja in front of the painting, to avoid damage to the paintings. The herbal paints that  were used to make these pictures still remain heretic and were known only to a select few. I stood oblivious to anything other than the mural painting of Lord Nataraja, which captured all my attention. It looked as though Lord Siva in the mural painting was dancing everywhere in the hall. I thanked Lord Siva for bringing me to Courtallam.

Quite abruptly, my attention turned away from Lord Nataraja and I saw the sadhu sitting and meditating in a lotus posture with closed eyes. There was no one else other than the sadhu and the place was eerily silent. Behind the sadhu, the picture of the compassionate Nataraja now appeared frightening to me. I felt an aura surrounding the sadhu drawing me closer to him and that frightened me more.

‘Shall I run from here?’ a thought flashed. But then, the sadhu briefly opened his eyes, as though he knew about my arrival, stared at me to acknowledge my presence and then closed his eyes again, never to open it for a long time. His brief look seemed to exert irresistible influence on me and I felt drawn to him, even while I was terribly scared inside. Silently I approached him, sat in front and closed my eyes. As I sat, I felt the strong vibrations all over the place and my body began to tremble. Was it fear or something else? I couldn’t be sure.

Suddenly I was restless and I opened my eyes. I felt frustrated having waited long for him to open his eyes.

‘What kind of man is he? He calls me here, knows that I am here, but refuses to open his eyes and tell me why he wanted me here.’

I rushed out of Chithra Sabhai and looked around from the small hillock. I was back on earth. The picturesque view of the far end of the village and the surroundings was before me and I marveled at the beauty of the place. The white clouds kissing the mountain tops and the rising cloud of drops of water from the splashing waterfalls lifted me to a ‘Higher World’. It was quiet everywhere. I quickly got back to whatever I was doing in the village.

Days and weeks passed by. I had nothing specific to do at Courtallam. I visited every waterfall – chitraruvi (small falls), five falls, tiger falls and the falls at Old Courtallam. I frequented nearby villages scattered across the muddy banks of paddy fields, trod on narrow raised bunds over the lakes, hitchhiked in bullock carts to Shencottai, whiled away my time in the nearby hills, visited the street side temples in a number of agraharams, joined the bhajan groups engaged in devotional singing at several places, ate delicious food from the choultries and slept most of the time under the shades of some banyan trees that were seen everywhere around the region. Survival was never an issue. Those days, many philanthropic people owned and ran small choultries, (otherwise called chattirams) and fed the poor. Annadhanam or feeding the poor was considered to be a virtuous act liberating one from the ill effects of one’s wrongful doings and thus providing a pathway to Heaven.

I couldn’t decide about moving away from Courtallam. There was a growing urge in me to meet that sadhu again. So I went back to the place where the regular congregation took place under a banyan tree. He was there and I made no specific moves to get in touch with him. I stayed there quietly as part of the larger crowd for some time and left.

Something strange and mysterious was drawing me to him. I didn’t know what it was.

I was a matriculate and one of the brightest students in the school when studying, but nothing happened within my brain to change my mundane routine. Life was smooth otherwise. Why should I attempt to do anything at all, I wondered?

*****

Episode 1/Chapter 3: What, If Our Dreams Come True! An Uncommon Meeting with Lord Siva

Chapter 3

During the next several days, I felt as though that sadhu was trailing me everywhere. Every time he passed me at various places, he reminded me, with the same stern look, to meet him at Chithira Sabhai. ‘Why are you ignoring me?’ he seemed to be asking me.

Somehow, I was not sure whether I should go to Chithira Sabhai.

The sadhu had bulging eyes, bore a menacing look and appeared to be in a trance all the time.  I was scared of him; but I was also apprehensive of leaving Courtallam. The voice in the temple had already stopped me from leaving Courtallam. For how long do I need to stay on here? I knew no one in the town and could consult none. The one rupee coin that I had when I reached this place was still there safely in my pocket. I idled my days and avoided going to Chithira Sabhai.

I learnt subsequently that Chithira Sabhai (Hall of Artistic Work and Painting) was one of the five important abodes of Lord Nataraja – The Lord of Dancing or the Cosmic Dancer, the dancing form of Lord Siva; the other abodes were Kanaga Sabhai (Hall of Gold) at Chidambaram, Rajatha Sabhai (Hall of Silver) at Madurai, Tamira Sabhai (Hall of Copper) at Tirunelveli and Rathna Sabhai (Hall of Ruby) at Tiruvalangadu.                                                       

 I also learnt that the cosmic dance was known as Dance of Bliss – Anandha Thandavam. Lord Siva performs five most important functions – creation, protection, destruction, embodiment and saving with grace - to keep the world alive and Lord Nataraja’s cosmic dance pose represents all these functions.

The hourglass shaped drum held by the Lord in his upper right hand represents ‘creation’; the second right hand gesture symbolizes ‘protection’; the fire held in the upper left hand represents ‘destruction’; the second left hand points towards raised foot signifies liberation from successive birth; the foot planted on the earth represents Lord’s ‘embodiment’ function; and finally the foot held aloft also symbolizes the ‘grace’. The dwarf demon lies at the bottom of the planted foot signifies ignorance. The flames surrounding the lord represent the universe. The snake found around the Lord’s waist signifies the yogic energy (kundalini or prana-sakthi). The cosmic dance form of Lord Nataraja represents the continuous cycle of creation, protection, destruction, embodiment and liberation of the soul from successive births. Lord Nataraja dances with his consort Devi Sivakami. The annual dance festival takes place in these five important places on the day marked for Aarudra Star during the Tamil Margazhi month.

People also told me that Chithira Sabhai is a beautiful small temple above a small hillock nearby Kutralanadar temple and one got a better view of the temple, the waterfalls and the surroundings from the higher elevation there.  Everyone I met, encouraged me to visit the place.

*****