Pavala Kundru (Coral Hill)

Pavala Kundru is a craggy outcrop of rock to the north of the Arunachaleswarar Temple. Though the name literally translates as ‘Coral Hill’, it is made up of rugged, grey, granite blocks that tower a couple of hundred feet above the surrounding town of Thiruvannamalai. It has been a traditional part of the town’s spiritual landscape for centuries; Bhagavan mentioned that it was one of the possible places that Parvati did tapas in the stories that are chronicled in the Arunachala Mahatmyam and Arunachala Puranam.

It earns its name because the rays of the rising sun are supposed to turn the whole rock to a lovely coral red. This less-known temple can be approached from the town through a little street leading off the Durgai Amman temple about 1 km after the main bus terminus. There is a good stone staircase hewn against the rock to climb up to the temple.

Once you reach there, you don’t hear the noise of the town anymore and it is thus an ideal spot for meditation because it is almost totally deserted and set in a quiet and peaceful spot with an abundance of natural flora and fauna. There is a huge old banyan tree right beside the temple and one can sit underneath and have a view of the hill on one side and the temple towers on the other which is indeed a rare sight.

The Theertham for the temple is a pretty green natural pond inside a niche in the outhanging rocks and it has water all through the year even in hot summer. There are little steps leading down to it and the priest goes in daily to collect water for the pujas.

The Pavala Kundru temple is dedicated to Lord Ardhanareeswara (androgynous form of the Lord as Half Shiva – Half Parvathi). It is here that Parvathi performed Tapas to regain the favour of her Lord Shiva. He then appeared to her and absorbed her into himself and thus the two became one. This is how Ardhanareeswara was born. There are not many temples dedicated solely to Ardhanareeswara and this is a rare and special temple though relatively unknown.

Bhagavan retreated to this isolated hill in 1898 when the crowds seeking his attention in the main temple became too much of a disturbance. He had already concluded his tenure of Gurumurtam and was looking for somewhere else to stay. In those early days Palaniswamy was the only person looking after him, but even he was occasionally absent. On those occasions Bhagavan would beg for his food on the streets of Thiruvannamalai.

Bhagavan granted spiritual instruction to his mother inside this temple. The mother is said to have been transformed into a deep spiritual being since then and devoted her life to serving her son in Tiruvannamalai itself whereas before she used to try to persuade him to return to the parental home in Madurai.

The Ramanashram deserves credit for having renovated this temple which was falling into ruins. The renovation has been done correctly, respecting and preserving the ancient architecture, without destroying the old stone work and the minimal use of concrete. It would be good if other shrines on the girivalam would also emulate this method of respecting the past in their over-zealous renovatory work.

Story of Karthigai Deepam Festival

Lord Siva's consort Goddess Parvathi once playfully closed His eyes which plunged the world into darkness. All living beings suffered in the dark. To absolve herself of this sin Mother Parvathi created a Sivalingam out of sand and worshipped at Kancheepuram.

At that instance, Lord Siva ordered her to proceed to Thiruvannamalai and do penance so that she could get half of His body. Likewise Mother Parvathi did penance at Pavalakundru with the help of Saint Gowthama. A demon called Makishasuran disturbed the penance of Mother Parvathi. The Mother took the form of goddess Durga and destroyed him on the full moon day of the Tamil Month of Karthigai during the auspicious period of pradosham. Lord Siva presented himself in the form of Fire atop the hill and merged Goddess Parvathi on the left half of his body.

To commemorate this event, every year during the Tamil month of Karthigai in Kirthigai Star, exactly at 6.00 p.m.

Ardhanareeswaramurthy presents himself as Jyothi Swaroopa to his devotees at the time of Karthigai Festival 10th day.

Atrocities of Tipu Sultan

In 1790 Tippu Sultan captured Tiruvannamalai over-riding the Treaty of Mangalore (1784 A.D.) in which he and the English agreed to mutual restoration of conquests and exchange of prisoners. Tippu Sultan attacked Thiagadurga Fort (30 miles south of Tiruvannamalai). The whole population of the surrounding region took refuge in this fort.

Activated by the news from Thiagadurga and apprehending attack, the inhabitants of Tiruvannamalai collected arms and men to defend themselves till British reinforcements arrived. When Tippu Sultan attacked Tiruvannamalai, its inhabitants put up a brave resistance but were compelled to surrender in the end. Tippu Sultan, it is said, occupied the hillock of Pavala Kundru after destroying the small shrine that was there. His solders, it seems, were cruel to the people of the town but strangely the Temple of Sri Arunachala was left untouched, barring a single cannon shot that was fired at it. The missile seems to have hit a part of the northern wall causing minimal damage. After camping there for some weeks, Tippu Sultan and his army left Tiruvannamalai.

A gun belonging to Tippu Sultan was found buried near the hillock where he had camped. It was taken and placed in a museum in Madras. Ramana Maharshi said that whatever Temple might have existed on or about Pavala Kundru seemed to have disappeared probably on account of Tippu Sultan’s invasion. The present Temple was probably built only a hundred and fifty years ago.”

Related read: Religious Intolerance of Tipu Sultan

Reference:

http://arunachala-live.com/wordpress/?p=987
http://arunachalagrace.blogspot.in/2008/12/pavala-kundru-history.html
http://davidgodman.wix.com/ramanamaharshibooks#!pavalakundru/c1dw2