WHAT IS THE STORY OF DHYANALINGA?
- Chida nanda
- Oct 24, 2017
- 7 min read
THE SPECIAL THEERTHAKUND;-- 1-A subterranean (existing, under the earth's surface) tank located 35 ft (10.7 m) below holds a lingam immersed in water. Followers claim that the lingam is made of solidified and 99.8% purified mercury. The mercury is said to have been solidified at room temperature. Mercury has a Freezing point of −38.83°C at atmospheric pressure, but ancient Indian alchemy claims to have techniques to do so. 2-These methods are said to have been used by yogis to solidify the lingam at room temperature. People can take a dip in this water before they go to the Dhyanalinga temple. A semi-circular brick vault covers this tank, the inner sides of which have murals (a painting) in pure natural dyes(colours) with its theme depicting a Maha Kumbha Mela scene. LOCATION;-- 1-The Dhyanalinga is a Yogic temple located 30 km (19 mi) from Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu. The temple was consecrated on June 24, 1999 by Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev, a yogi and mystic. The temple is consecrated using prana prathista and is dedicated for meditation. Silence is maintained inside the temple. Dhyana in the Sanskrit language, means meditation and linga means form. 2-Dhyanalinga is claimed by the owners of the temple to be a powerful and unique energy form created from the distilled essence of yogic sciences and the first of its kind to be completed in over 2,000 years. 3-According to Sadhguru, the Dhyanalinga has all the seven chakras fully energized to the very peak. The Dhyanalinga Yogic Temple offers a meditative space that does not ascribe to any particular faith or belief system About Velliangiri Mountains Vellingiri Mountains or ‘Thenkailayam’ (Kailash of South) are a part of the Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve and are situated on the Western Ghats of Coimbatore. These mountains are extremely mystical and enchanting because of the contours and greenery. They are also highly revered by Hindus as the abode of Lord Shiva worshipped as Swayambu (the form in which he meets his devotees). There is a temple atop the Vellingiri Hills called Rajathagiri or Bhoolok Kailash. Legend says that this is the place where Lord Shiva performed his cosmic dance of ‘Tandawa’ to request of his consort. Further on the hills, under a natural cave is a shiva linga surrounded by four other lingas (pancha lingas). To get to the cave, one has to cross seven hills! The place is thronged in large numbers by devotees especially during the annual pilgrimage season just to reach the cave and seek blessings from Lord Shiva who personifies in the form of the linga inside the cave called ‘Dhakshina Kailash’. Reading all this you might be thinking that this place is only for sheer devotees. However, Vellingiri Mountains is also an ideal destination for adventure and nature lovers. The trails are challenging, see if you can cross them. Also, the surrounding areas are rich in flora and fauna, some rare herbs are also seen growing here. 3-During the annual pilgrimage season, devotees in large number, throng this place day & night. The experience which one enjoys here can be compared with the "Amarnath Yatra" of the North. Here too, Lord SHIVA personifies in the form of Linga inside a natural cave. This place is also called a "Dhakshina Kailash", The pilgrimage season lasts for four months in a year (i.e) from February to May, corresponding to the Tamil month between Masi and Vaikasi. 4-Dakshin Kailash or Bhoolok Kailash, this sacred spot, according to legend, is where Shiva performed his cosmic dance on the request of his consort Umadevi. The five faces of Lord Shiva, Brahma, Vishnu, Rudra, Maheshwara and Sadashiva, are seen as Panchagiri and as Panchalingas pertaining to the panchabhutas, in Velliangiri. The hill ranges have abundant natural resources, which include rare herbs. Lord Panchalingesa and his Consort Manonmani Amman alias Parvathi, bestow their grace on the devotees who throng here annually between February and May THE LEGEND OF MOUNTAIN;--- 1-For many, these Mountains became sacred because a long time ago, there was a young maiden in the southernmost tip of India, who aspired to hold Shiva’s hand as his wife. She started working towards making herself suitable to draw him, and she remained absolutely focused upon him. She set up a deadline, ‘If I am not married to him by sunrise on this day, I am going to leave my body.’ 2-Shiva came to know of this and started hurrying down to South India. But all the other gods conspired. They thought, if he gets married here, he may not return. He may start living in South India. When Shiva was just a few kilometers from the place where the maiden was, the gods created a false sunrise by setting up a huge mound of camphor. When the light came up, Shiva who was so close, just 22 kilometers away, thought it was over and turned back. So the maiden left her body standing. 3-Even today she stands as Kanyakumari. There is a shrine at the very tip of the Indian landmass which is the maiden’s shrine. So Shiva turned back, despondent and frustrated with himself for not having made it in time. He started walking back and he needed a place to sit and work out his despondency. So he climbed up this Mountain and at the peak, he sat. It is a very strange kind of place because he was not sitting here in blissfulness, he was not sitting in meditation, he sat here in a certain kind of despondence and anger about himself. He stayed there for a considerable amount of time, and wherever Shiva stepped and spent a little bit of time, people called that place Kailash. So they called this the ‘Kailash of the South.’ It is a fortune that we are sitting here at the foothills of this Mountain. 4-This Mountain is known as the Seven Hills because if you climb, there are seven undulations which make you feel like you are going up seven hills. The last peak is totally wind-blown – nothing grows there except grass. There are just three very huge boulders which have formed a shelter between themselves which is like a little temple with a small lingam. It is an incredibly powerful place. 5-So many beings, the kind of men that Gods would be envious of because they lived with such grace and dignity, have walked this Mountain. These great beings let the whole Mountain imbibe what they knew, and it can never be lost. 6-ACCORDING TO SADGURU;-This is also a Mountain where my Guru walked and the place he chose to shed his body. So for me and everybody here, it’s not just mountains, this is a temple for us. There is a tremendous amount of information here and for me, everything about how to consecrate the Dhyanalinga, was from here.
”Dhyanalinga Construction 1-The dome that encloses the Dhyanalinga is a section of an ellipse - like a section of the globe. The technical aspects involved in the making of the dome are very interesting and its construction is an epic by itself. 2-It was Sadhguru's wish that all the visitors to the Dhyanalinga be allowed directly into the garbhagriha or the sanctum sanctorum. As a result, the garbhagriha had to have a very large free spanning structure. Conventional buildings built of cement, steel and concrete were ruled out, as the life span of such structures was not expected to be beyond a hundred years. Eventually, it was decided to build a dome using only traditional materials like burnt bricks, mud mortar stabilized with lime, sand, alum and some herbal additives. Huge blocks of granite were extensively used, eliminating steel and concrete. 3-The dome, weighing about 700 tons, measures 33 ft from the ground level and has a diameter of 76 ft at the bottom. Approximately 250,000 bricks were used in making this dome, each of which had to be measured to the millimeter. The first course of brick starts at 13 degrees to the horizontal and the last course ends at an almost vertical angle of 82 degrees to the horizontal. The base of the dome is 20" thick and tapers off to 8" - the thickness of a single brick at the top. 4-The dome rests on a circular stone masonry wall 6 ft high including a ring of stone lintels 2 feet tall. This entire structure is built upon a foundation that is 10 ft wide and 10 ft deep. The main entrance to the dome is in the form of a stone vault 9 ft 6 inches wide and 8 ft tall. Twenty-eight ventilators are placed on the top of the lintel beams with stone slabs arranged in the shape of the triangle. These triangular stone ventilators at the base of the Dome provide light and ventilation. 5-The central opening is covered by a gold plated Linga-shaped copper dome, which blocks direct light and acts as a ventilator at the top. The copper Linga above the dome vents out hot air from the dome so that the cool air passes in through the vault and ventilators. 6-Below the lintel beam, twenty-eight energy cubicles called the 'aura cells' are embedded in the inner wall. Each 'aura cell' is approximately 4' x 4' and provides an intimate space for a person to sit and meditate facing the Dhyanalinga. 7-Since it was the first time ever that such a large structure was being raised without any form-work, ring-beams, steel or concrete, each aspect of the building had to be worked out afresh. This meant researching and experimenting to derive a safe, viable and feasible methodology for each of the aspects, which resulted in an interesting blend of ancient and locally available materials and techniques. 8-Burnt bricks were placed in the elliptical shaped dome in positions determined precisely by modern mathematics and verified by computer calculations. Granite slabs from traditional quarries went through modern gang saws for precise fitting. For the eighteen months it took to complete the Dhyanalinga architecture from its foundation, the usually quiet and serene surroundings had been transformed into, among other things, a brick kiln and a granite quarry. For the eight weeks it took to construct the dome as such, it resembled a large anthill - hundreds of people going up and down, gradually accomplishing a mission much larger in size and importance than themselves. 9-The entire structure was the vision of Sadhguru. The design was conceived by Sadhguru in collaboration with Satprem (Auroville Earth Institute) and was executed by Brahmachari engineers with the assistance of 300 local unskilled laborers. Throughout the duration of the construction, a steady stream of dedicated volunteers participated in the construction in large numbers, taking time off from their work and family to participate in the making of this offering.
