India! Her Glorious Spiritual Heritage!!

Om Arunachaleshwaraya Namah Lord Shiva, the infinite ocean of Sat-Chit-Ananda, out of great compassion for His devotees, took up the form of Arunachala! Words fail to describe the glories of the holiest of all mountains! While Kailash is the home of Lord Shiva, Arunachala is He Himself! Arunachala literally translates as Red Mountain, and He derives this name from His fiery origin as an infinite column of fire - the form Lord Shiva took in the beginning of creation. He later cooled down in the present form. Hence Arunachala is also known as Agni Lingam. To commemorate this celestial event, every year a grand festival known as Karthigai Deepam is celebrated with great pomp and gaiety here. A huge lamp is lit atop Arunachala. It is kept alight for 9 full days by thousands of devotees carrying ghee on their heads and making the steep and tough journey to the top. This holy mountain is located in Tiruvannamalai, Tamil Nadu. The Tamil name for Arunachala is Annamalaiy...

Jai Ganga Mayya  Gangaji flows down from Lord Shiva's jata and carries with Her the spiritual power of the Lord's Tapas! She is decorated around Bharat Mata like a beautiful garland! She spreads the most wonderful message of the Rishis all over the holy land like gentle wafts of fragrance! Just by bathing in Her ice-cold waters, Sadhus lose body consciousness and can be seen immersed in deep meditation on Her banks. It is such a wonderful sight to behold! Anyone who dares to enter her swift, swirling and freezing waters will surely come out experiencing greatly rejuvenated - spiritually, physically and emotionally! Devotees crushed by the miseries of the world find great relief by having a soothing dip in the gentle and caressing Mother. Gangaji starts Her earthly sojourn from an icy cave in the Himalayas known as Gaumukh. It is so named because the cave appears as the mouth of a cow. Behind Gaumukh is the vast Gangotri glacier. The melting glacier makes its w...