Implicancias en el volcanismo cuaternario

25 Sept 2005 - My brother checked out of the hotel. His visit to India to participate and cover a seminar had ended and he had extended his visit to follow us. Tavayogi, my brother, and I left for Pothigai Hills at 6 am. We had breakfast in Tanjore and lunch on arrival at Papanasam, Pothigai. Here was the famous Agathiyar Falls. This place was packed with holidaymakers, as it was a Sunday. Tavayogi and I washed our cloths in the stream and laid them out to dry on the rocks. We took a bath under the falls, dried ourselves, and started our climb up a long flight of stairs to a lake known as the Kalyana Theertam. On the way, we passed a house built into the cliffs where a woman saint, Krishnaveni Ammal was staying. I was told she has been staying in solitude since coming up to this spot following a sidha when she was barely thirteen years of age. She never went back. Tavayogi stopped to enquire if she was around only to be told that she was having her

53 Why did Tavayogi wait until 4.00 pm if he only wanted to visit Sage Karuvurar’s shrine and not the main temple? Only the main temple was closed between 12 noon and 4.00 pm. Sage Karuvurar’s shrine was accessible to the public anytime of the day.

afternoon nap. Tavayogi told us we could try our luck on our way down. Further up perched on a cliff was a Siva temple. There was a shrine for Sage Agathiyar too.54

Tavayogi meditated at this spot. Tavayogi tells us this was the spot were Sage Agathiyar himself had meditated and attained Mukti. I was told this was also the spot where the sidhas come down in the form of light after 11.00 pm daily. Impressed by the talk that one could see sidhas in light form in this spot, I requested Tavayogi that we stay overnight to watch them but Tavayogi preferred to stay in the caves of Courtallam for the night.

Swami Saravanananda in his preface to his English translation of the ARUTPERUNJHOTHI AGAVAL published by Ramalinga Mission, Madras does mention about these lights.

‘A vivid description of the phenomenon of floating lights has been given by John Blofeld in the 'Wheel of Life', who had spent months on the sacred mountain Wee Tai Shan in China.’

‘Shortly after midnight, a monk, carrying a lantern, stepped into our room and cried;”The bodhisattvas have appeared!” There in the great open space beyond the window apparently not more than one or two hundred yards away, innumerable balls of fire floated majestically past. Fluffy balls of orange colored fire, moving through space, unhurried and majestic, truly a fitting manifestation of divinity!’

Swami Saravanananda himself says he was fortunate enough to have had the darshan of these balls of light. The first vision he had was when he was meditating in a dry riverbed.

‘At about midnight, he would see balls of fire of the size of the headlight of a car, balls of varied hues and also of pure white. They moved majestically here and there and sometimes seem to be playing with each other. At other times, they hovered around the meditator (Swami Saravanananda) and came towards him within ten feet where he was sitting and then retreated. Infrequently, they stood above his head and seemed to be watching his thoughts. He had a similar experience though less spectacular than the previous of witnessing the balls of fire while he was keeping night vigils in Pothigai hills, the abode of Sage Agastiyar.’

As we started on our way down and approached Krishnaveni Amma’s ashram, the ashram door was still closed. Tavayogi did not want to disturb her and lead us away from there. Then we stopped at a large temple dedicated to Sage Agathiyar further down. Here Sage Agathiyar was enshrined in the form of a granite statue sitting in a similar pose to that of Ayappa Swami in Kerala.

54 Maran tells me the statue of Sage Agathiyar was not there when he visited the temple recently in 2006. My nephew who had spent a night here only saw the statue of the Sage the next day. So was the Sage playing games with them?

Then we returned to Agathiyar Falls where there is a large and old Sivan temple. It was closed. We waited for the temple to open at 4.00 pm. We then left for Courtallam.

We had tea at Courtallam and later purchased a candle and torchlight as we were going to stay in the caves overnight.

Overnight In Sage Agathiyar’s Cave

Tavayogi stops at one of numerous houses lined up in this small town and enquires about the caretaker of the caves. We are told she was at the temple in the hills. Prem drops us at the famed Courtallam picnic spot. I picked up my bundle of laundry that was still wet. I took along my bag of fresh clothing and blanket and we rushed to the caves on foot, as it was almost nightfall. Strong winds blew again as we hiked up the hill behind the Courtallam Falls. It was a three km walk uphill to Sage Agathiyar’s cave. Eventually the night set in. We trotted in the dark with Tavayogi leading the way with the aid of torchlight.

At Agathiyar’s cave

It was pitch dark as we reached the Shenbaga Devi Amman temple, which was in total darkness except for a light inside the Devi's shrine. Tavayogi calls out in the dark through the metal grills. I see some movement on the floor of the temple.

Apparently, some folks were sleeping in the temple. He introduces himself and they seem to know him. He asked them to open up Sage Agathiyar’s cave, which they obliged readily. A man led the way while we followed. It was pitch dark and I could not make out the surroundings although I knew we were walking on the banks of a lake and could hear the roar of a waterfall nearby.

The caretakers were three elderly women. Their brother Supramaniam who was from out of town was the one who showed us to the cave. He unlocked the iron grills to the cave. He lit the hurricane lamp, tidied the place so that it was conducive to spend the night, and even prepared hot tea for us in the cave. The drink was a blessing in that cold weather.

There were a few statues including a statue of Sage Agathiyar, pictures and the Vaasikol that Sage Agathiyar used. The Vaasikol is placed under ones arms to retain the flow of the breath through a particular nostril. Tavayogi told us there was even Sage Agathiyar’s sandals earlier but

now was missing. The caretaker woman drops in to check if all was conducive for our night out in this cave. They then leave.

We could hardly stand up in this cave. It was small, cozy, and warm in here. The adjacent compartment of the cave, which was empty except for an oil lamp burning, was where Sage Agathiyar had meditated. We entered this chamber and seated ourselves. Tavayogi was sad to notice that a portion of this cave had now become a store filled with pots and pans. Tavayogi was also saddened that the cave had now been named Avaiyar’s cave when in actuality it was Sage Agathiyar’s cave. As usual, Tavayogi sang the hymns, which I have now become familiar with, followed by me singing the Potri. Tavayogi then left my brother and me to continue with the prayers

and retired for the day. I dried my cloths outside the cave and locked up the grilled door to the cave entrance before retiring for the day. We laid blankets on the ground and used our bags and clothing as a pillow. We were so exhausted that the moment we laid our heads on the ground we had dozed off. I did wake in the middle of the night though and saw rats scurrying away in the crevices and sides of the cave. I had a good night’s sleep and was refreshed the next day.

The author with Tavayogi at Agathiyar’s cave