In Tiruvannamalai in Tamil Nadu worship of the Almighty as light, called Annamalai Deepam, has gone on since ancient times. 

The soma vara vratam is ideal for Shiva. On soma vara – Mondays – in Karthikai month, the devout in Tamil Nadu and Andhra worship Shiva with shankabhishekam, with 108 or 1,008 conch shells. Annamalai Puranam has this explanation for Karthikai Deepam festival. Brahma and Vishnu once engaged in an argument about who of the two was greater, and agreed that it would be the one who saw the head or feet of the Almighty. Brahma then took on the form of a swan and went in search of the head of God. Maha Vishnu took on the form of a boar, and, digging away at the earth, went in search of God’s feet. Vishnu could not reach it and conceded his defeat.

 Brahma, however, claimed falsely that he had seen God’s head. In consequence, the Almighty manifested himself as a flame and said, “Wherever a temple for me exists, there shall also be a temple for Vishnu, but not for Brahma.” It is this manifestation of the Almighty as a flame that we worship on Thirukkarthikai. The legend has also the import that God can be realized only through love, not with conceit; also, it is only through goodness or satvika the Lord’s grace is realized, not with an upward gaze, which is rajasa, nor with a downward look, which is tamasa. 

Wake up thee Hindu ‘heathen’, it’s time to shed your tolerance and misplaced generosity if you really need your religion and value its scriptures! Issuing a clarion call to the Hindus to get wise to the missionary machinations, cleverly veiled by the secular cloak. It's now or never, lest the evangelical wolves consume Hinduism.


As many of you know, the locally famous 'Muruga Rock' lies on our Ashram land in the direction of Viralimalai. Around 600 years ago saint Arunagiri Nathar was travelling to the Muruga temple in nearby Viralimalai, located on a small mountain in an otherwise relatively flat landscape. As the area at that time was covered with dense forest, the saint got lost and was praying to the Lord to show him the way to the temple. It was then that a villager pointed out the Muruga Rock as a good look-out point to view the temple mountain. After climbing on the Rock he prayed and pleaded to Lord Muruga to show him the correct direction and he got a divine vision of the every-youthful Lord. Because Muruga appeared to the saint on that Rock, it is said that He left His footprint there.

Harohara! Kartikai Deepam is the festival that celebrates the victory of Light over darkness. It reminds us to burn our impurities in the fire of knowledge of the Self. In the Ashram we lit around 300 small clay oil lamps and distribute them along the Ashram roads and buildings. Then a procession goes to the Rock singing bhajans and brings a deepam or bowl of fire to the top of the Rock. On this day we remember that we should attain illumination and behold the light of lights in the heart of every creature.