Vaastuyogam June 2012 vol 46 · PDF filebathing of the diety) is compulsorily . Whenerver devotees will come there will be ... discus, conch, sword, shield, bow, arrow, spear,

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Tindivanam is a town and a municipality in

Villuppuram district in the Indian state of

Tamil Nadu. It is about 135 kilometers from

Chennai. Important roads from north to

south and from west to east pass through

Tindivanam . Originally, the town was

known as 'Tinthrivanam' where "Tinthri"

means Tamarind in pure Tamil and "Vanam"

means forest. So it was called the “Forest Of

Tamarind' in the olden days.

Around thirty five years ago a young school

boy would frolic around in the forest as he

went from one temple to another , assisting

his father to do pujas there. There was a

spot in the forest – a secret spot of the

young boy – where, there was an ancient

block of stone that he and a few stray

villagers performed worship. Though the

young boy did not know it then, the ancient

block of stone was none other than a

primitive idol of the feared Vanadurga. The

local villagers say that the idol is centuries

old. Vanadurga is one of the numerous

forms of Goddess Durga. This form is

believed to be one of the earliest forms of

the Mother Goddess. As the name

indicates, she resides in forests. She is

fierce and quick with her rough and ready

brand of justice. Some legends suggest that

the Pandavas worshiped VanaDurga during

their exile period in the Mahabharata.

On a hot, sunny day in 1982 something

happened that changed the life of

Raghraman – for that is the name of the

young boy frolicking in the tamarind forests

as he went from one temple to another. As

he neared the Vanadurga it was almost as if

a bolt of lightning pierced him in the head.

the overall energy was warm and inviting

but was also no- nonsense and almost

'fierce'. Raghuraman wasn't prepared for

this ; quickly he embraced the stone idol

tightly and began weeping inconsolably.

Tough he was not aware of it, he stayed in

this condition for hours till the local villagers

saw him and fetched Raghuraman's

parents to take him home. While he was in

this state of trance he spontaneously began

speaking to people. He told them of their

problems and gave them simple solutions.

His father, R Swaminarayan, immediately

realized what had happened. Mr R

Swaminarayan was an astrologer of repute

and an ardent purohit, conducting pujas in

over ten different temples in Tindivanam

that he himself had helped to build.

Swaminarayan immediately understood

that Ma Vanadurga had chosen his son

because of his devotion towards her and

also because of the good deeds of his

earlier janmas (purvajanam) He took his

boy Raghuraman who was in class VIII at

that time. Yet, his father made him drop

studies and took him to Chandreshekhar

Swamy – the Shankracharya at Kanchi. The

Shankracharya said that Raghuraman has

been chosen by Vanadurga to devote

himself to her service through working for

the welfare of the local people of the region.

Shankracharya gave a Rudrakshamalla to

Raghuraman and commanded him to begin

worshipping goddess Rajarajeshwari who

Ma Vanadurga statue at Mango's Garden from where Amma started it all

TINDIVANAMUnder the watchful gaze of Vanadurga

"My child, you need not know much in order to please Me. Only Love Me dearly. Speak to me, as you would talk to your mother, if she had taken you in her arms."

continued from page 9

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is Adi-parashakti and the calmer and

benedictory aspect of Vanadurga. Whereas

Va n a d u r g a i s f i e r c e a n d r o u g h

Rajarajeshvari is shantsuriya , the true

benefactress of the universe worshipped by

all, including Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva.

Rajarajeshwari is the supreme goddess –

leading 64 lesser goddesses.

From then on Raghuraman became Amma.

A statue of Rajarajeshwari was made at

Mahaballipuram and taken to the Kanchi

seer who blessed Amma and thereafter

Amma brought the idol to Tindivanam for

daily worship. He established his

peetham/temple just a some meters away

from Ma Vanadurgas statue. He wanted to

establish his temple at the spot of the

Vanadurga statue but the owner o the plot

(Mangoes Garden) would not hear of it; in

fact took the request with hostility, so land

was acquired just a few meters opposite the

statue so Amma could be close to

Vanadurga.

Ma Vanadurga visits Amma often and on

these occasions scenes of wonder are to be

seen. News soreads like wildfire that Amma

is in trance and villages from near and afar

dump whatever they are doing and rush to

meet Amma for solutions. And Amma is

waiting for them, with a kind word for all. No

fees; no demands; just blessings for all.

Soon the word got round and people began

visiting Amma for now it became known that

when Ma Vanadurga visited Amma he got

special powers through which he can give

accurate predictions and solutions to

people.

order; even the Vedas stress this. More over

, Tindivanam is lagging far behind in primary

education and is probably would be the last

in the list of districts of Tamil Nadu from the

point of view of primary education. So,

Amma has begged and borrowed to put up

a school. It is a school that could rank with

any good primary school. The students do

not come from the well-to-do families from

Tindivanam but from villages near and far.

Moreover the children coming to the school

are from families sunk in abject poverty. A

school bus fetches them and drops them.

Amma has been known to personally attend

to the ailing students and even visiting their

homes to find the cause for their absence

from school. Yet, the fee per student is

merely Rs.100/- an amount far too

insufficient to meet all the expenses. When

we asked him how he managed , he pointed

to the resplendent idol of Goddess

RajaRajeshwari. “They are her children.

She looks after them. Who am I to worry.?”

We tell him, that he could have made “Amma” in trance at the end of the yajna

continued on page12

Amma has no gu ru – on l y Ma

RajaRajeshwari . His temple does not follow

the agama shastra rules. Under agama

shastra only a learned (trained) person

does the puja – no one else. No one is

allowed in the garbhgriha . In Amma's

temple, that is not the case .Every one is

allowed to do the pujas – including

menstruating women , Christians ,Muslims

etc. Only morning abhishekam (ritual

bathing of the diety) is compulsorily .

Whenerver devotees will come there will be

aradhana here.

Amma has stayed clear from the path of

superstition, rank caste and creed. Some of

his flock are Christians, others are tribal folk

and landless laborers, yet some others are

the h igh- f ly ing businessmen and

industrialists from Chennai, Mumbai,

Ahmedabad , Hyderabad and other cities.

Amma has another side too. He is a staunch

believer in modern education. He says

imparting education is a deed of the highest

Dr. Rao attending yajna at Tindivanam

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Yajna is ritual of sacrificing and sublimating the yajna samagri (herbal preparations) in the fire accompanied by the chanting of the vedic

mantras whereby a three-fold worship of deities is achieved (devapujana), unity (saogatikarana) and charity (dana). The yagna is direct

connection with the vedic religion of the ancient past. During the performance of the yajnas, offerings are made to different deities in a

prescribed and systematic manner by qualified priests to supplicate them, so that they would assist the worshipper in achieving certain

results in life. The chanting of mantras while performing the sacrifices is expected to ensure fulfillment of specific desires, the overall

welfare of an individual, a group of people or the entire society.

A special, daylong session of yajnas was organized at Shri Rajarajeswari Peetham, Tindivanam about 135 Kilometers from Chennai on 24th April 2012. A Photo essay of the event.

YAJNA AT TINDIVANAM

continued from page10

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hospitals, wedding halls or old age homes.

Why get into education? After all, modern

education with its emphasis on worldly

goals does plant seeds of disrespect for

tradition, often leading the student away

from the path of spirituality and service to

God. Amma, like any mother, is sure that

his children are different . Moreover he will

take the extra pains to guide them to follow

the right path. He gives an example,”There

are trees on the highway; there are trees in

the Forest and there are trees in private

lands. The trees on the highways will only

give shelter, the trees on private lands will

give fruits from which their owner shall make

money but the trees of the forests will yield

herbs and roots that will cure the disease

and illness of men and animals.” Speaking

with a mother's pride in her child he affirms

that the students of his school have his

blessings ; he has trained them to serve as

“medicine” for society. They will grow up to

weed out the ills that ail society. He has his

eyes on them and watches them closely.

And, keeping watch on him from Mangoes

Vanadurga is one of the numerous forms of Goddess Durga. This form is believed to

be one of the earliest forms of the Mother Goddess. As the name indicates, she

resides in forests.Some of the VanaDurga temples in South India contain only four

walls and the upper portion is left open. She is also believed to be the goddess of

those people who reside in the forests. She is exposed to the elements of nature. Her

idol is never covered.She is depicted as having a complexion of fresh grass and she

stands on the head of a buffalo (demon).She is shown as having eight arms with

discus, conch, sword, shield, bow, arrow, spear, and gesture of warning. Some

legends suggest that the Pandavas worshiped this form of Durga during their exile

period in the Mahabharata.

Vanadurga is associated with forests and tribal peoples, who lie outside

conventional Hindu society. No fasts or rituals to purify oneself before

worship—typical of Hindu worship—are prescribed for Vanadurga worship. Anyone

can use any mantra for worship, even though he is not initiated or considered unfit for

worshipping any other deity

The one thing common to all her devotees is that they love the goddess as

intimately as they loved their own mother. The love between the goddess and her

human children is a unique relationship. Vanadurga is one such deity with whom

devotees have a very loving and intimate bond, in spite of her fearful appearance. In

this relationship, the worshipper becomes a child and Vanadurga assumes the form

of the ever-caring mother.

Vanadurga

As a centre of worship, the temple is mainly a product and instrument of the Puranic

tradition. Hindu myths, legends and beliefs are compiled in texts collectively called

the Puranas; the Hindu pantheon of gods originated from the texts of two

Brahmanical sects the Vaishnava ( those who worship Vishnu as supreme) and the

Saiva (followers of Saiva), which with other minor religious systems, are part of the

Puranic tradition under what is now known as Hinduism. The Puranic tradition

evolved out of a synthesis of the Sanskritic(Great/Mainstream) traditions and the

regional or vernacular (Little) traditions. This process of synthesis and assimilation is

what is called Sanskritisation or the process of acculturation through the interaction

between the Brahmanical forms of worship and the local, regional or vernacular

forms of beliefs and practises or folk traditions. Despite the continuous process of

acculturation and synthesis of these two traditions folk/tribal forms persist in many

ways first, as part of the mainstream religious systems in their pantheons and rituals,

and more importantly as cult practises in private and public ceremonial worship and

festivals, independent of the Brahmanical temple, with their own non-Brahmana

priests and non-Brahmanical rituals. In almost every settlement, rural or urban,

forest or hilly zones, this duality is present in the places of worship – in major temples

of the Puranic deities and in smaller cult centres of the local deities… The cult of the

mother goddess revered as Kali in Bengal, Bhagwati in Kerala and Mariyamman in

Tamil Nadu retain their folk elements and cult centres despite the almost total

merging of their identities in various localities with Durga or Parvati as the local

consorts of Siva. Many more such phenomena are scattered in the rural areas of the

Indian sub-continent.

The Hindu Temple by R. ChampakalakshmiGarden, just a short distance away is

goddess Vanadurga herself, from where

Amma , her Raghuraman, started it all.