2007 Karthigai Deepam Festival and Annadhanam at Arunachala
2009 - Click here for Siddha insights on the 2009 Karthigai Deepam Festival at Arunachala - the Ekadasa Guru (Gita) Tatva Vancha Chintamani Siddha Shyamala Kanthi Prakasa Karthigai Deepam of 2009.
Click here for Siddha insights on the 2008 "Kleengkulaadhi Beeja Mantra Shakti" Karthigai Deepam Festival at Arunachala.
Click here for Siddha insights on the 2007 "Sharaba Shakti" Karthigai Deepam Festival at Arunachala.
The great Karthigai Deepam festival of 2007 occurs in November of this year.
On November 24, 2007 at 6 pm IST (1230 hours GMT) sharp,
a great fire deepam will be lit at the top of the Arunachala hill
in fond remembrance of the Arunachala avatar as an infinte column of light.
This blessed event marks the most important time of the year at
Arunachala and at our Agasthiar Ashram.
It is a most auspicious time for all souls everywhere to unite in thanksgiving to the Lord and Master
of the Universe.
We appeal to everyone in this world to allocate
at least the 20 minutes from 1220 hours to 1240 hours GMT on Nov 24, 2007 for your thanskgiving to
the Lord and His spiritual alchemy.
The thoughts of multitudes - regardless of race, religion or nationality - in unison and in thanksgiving,
will be the harbinger of much auspiciousness.
So mark your calendars! 1230 hours GMT on November 24, 2007!
Annadhanam at Agasthiar Ashram
Annam = food; dhaanam = giving in charity.
Thus annadhanam is giving food in charity.
Sathguru Venkataraman, the founder of the Agasthiar Ashram,
has been conducting annadhanam at Arunachala for decades.
Visitors to our website will know how the Sathguru has been stressing the importance of
dhaanam in general and annadhan in particualar.
According to the Sathguru, no pooja is complete without annadhanam.
In fact, this was one of the first lessons that he learnt from his Sathguru.
In keeping with his Sathguru's words, Sathguru Venkataraman started feeding the poor at Arunachala
even when he was in secondary school.
What began decades ago as a young boy feeding a few people has now
blossomed into an annadhanam program that feeds tens of thousands of people.
Such is the Sathguru's devotion to his Sathguru's words that the Lord has blessed this devotion
by making our Ashram's annadhanam activities legendary in and around Arunachala.
The food is so tasty, the ingredients so high quality and the proportions so hefty
that the local folks have come to expect some classy fare from the Ashram!
Where else can one get huge Tirupati style laddus and
murukkus not less than nine inches in diameter! Only at the Agasthiar Ashram, of course!
The Sathguru teaches that the food given as annadhanam should be better than what one normally eats.
Why? Because annadhanam is worship. It is sadhana of the highest order.
Over and above the tasty fare is the spiritual fact that the food served by the Sathguru's
annadhanam program is Arunachala prasadam, a spiritual gift from Arunachala. And there are devotees
who wait in line for hours just to get a morsel of this ineffable prasadam for they have begun to realize
the profundity of Agasthiar Ashram annadhan.
Nov/22/2007 to Nov/25/2007
The Agasthiar Ashram will conduct annadhanam from Nov/22/2007 to Nov/25/2007 during this year's
Karthigai Deepam festival.
As usual, tens of thousands of people in and around Arunachala will be served prasadam.
Not many of us can conduct such a large scale annadhanam and that too at a divya kshetra like
Arunachala. But not to worry.
Anyone can participate in the ashram's selfless annadhanam service
by donating to this annadhanam effort.
|
Update on 2007 Deepam Annadhanam:
Apart from annadhanam on the four days from Nov/22/2007 to Nov/25/2007 as advertised,
the Agasthiar Ashram, under the leadership of Sathguru Venkataraman, also did annadhanam on ten more days from Nov/12/2007 to Nov/21/2007 in many villages
in and around Arunachala. Thus our annadhanam during the 2007 Karthigai Deepam Festival lasted a full 14 days from Nov/12/2007 to Nov/25/2007. Tens of thousands of plates of hot food were served along with tasty laddus and murukkus that are Agasthiar Ashram specials.
|
Here are links to some of our pages with more information on Arunachala and Girivalam:
Introduction to Arunachala - The Lord and Master
Introduction to Arunachala Girivalam - The Siddha Way
Basic Girivalam Rules
Arunachala Picture Gallery
| 
