Annamalaiyar Temple – Girivalam Path (Seventh
Prakaram)
As of today the temple includes Seven Prakarams in
total. Actually the temple has five prakarams only. Sixth prakaram is the car
street and seventh was the Girivalam path.
The Holy Mountain of Annamalai rises up with an
elevation of 2669 feet (800 m). The Road encircling the mountain, where devotee’s
circumbulate is 8 1/2 miles which is 14 kms long. On Full Moon days and
festival days (like Karthigai, first day of the Tamil month, Tamil New Year
day) hundreds of thousands of devotees circumbulate (GIRIVALAM) the mountain
and get the blessings of the Lord Annamalai.
At Annamalaiyar temple there are eight lingams known as
Ashtalingam. They are positioned at different locations and facing various directions.
Each lingam signifies different directions of the earth.
These lingams are named as
1. Indralingam
2. Agnilingam
3. Yamalingam
4. Niruthilingam
5. Varunalingam
6. Vayulingam
7. Kuberalingam
8. Isanyalingam.
Each lingam addresses different aspects of man’s life
and they bless the devotees with different types of benefits. It is believed to
be installed by various gods. Also these lingams have a dominant navagraha and
praying to each lingam brings forth various benefits that is being bestowed by
that navagraha on the devotees who prays to that particular lingam to achieve
the desired results.
The first lingam on the Girivalam is the Indra lingam
and this lingam has east as its cardinal direction. It is said to be installed
by lord Indiran the celestial king. The dominant navagraha of this lingam are
the sun and sukiran. Worshipping this lingam blesses the devotees with long
life coupled with prosperity in abundance.
The second lingam on the Girivalam is the Agni lingam.
This faces the south east direction. The uniqueness of this lingam is that it
is the only lingam that is placed on the right side of the path on which one
goes Girivalam on the full moon night every month. Praying to this lingam helps
one to keep away sickness and to maintain good health. The dominant navagraha
of this lingam is Chandran. It also helps the ardent devotees to counter the
problems that they come across in the life’s journey. This lingam is located
near the lotus tank.
The third lingam on the Girivalam is the Yama lingam.
This lingam signifies the south direction. It is said to be installed by the
god of death Yama. The dominant graham of this lingam is Sevvai. It has a holy
tank known as Simma theertham. Worshipping this Yama lingam relieves the
devotees of their financial constraints.
The fourth lingam on the Girivalam is the Niruthi
lingam. The cardinal direction is South East. The dominant graham of this
lingam is the Ragu. This was installed by the king of the giants. This lingam
also has a holy tank called as Sani theertham. Devotees worshipping this
Niruthi lingam are freed of their problems.
The fifth lingam on the Girivalam is the Varuna lingam.
This lingam signifies the west direction. This lingam is installed by the
Varuna god who is the creator of rain on this earth. The dominant graham of
this lingam is the Sani. There is a holy tank named as Varuna theertham.
Devotees worshipping this lingam are protected from all critical illness. This
Varunalingam also takes care to elevate their social development.
The sixth lingam on the Girivalam is the Vayu lingam.
This lingam is placed facing the North West direction. Vayu lingam is installed
by the god of air himself known as Vayu Bhagavan. The graham that is dominant
is the Kedhu. Offering prayers to this Vayu lingam gives strength to fight all
heart ailments, stomach problems, lung problems and general illness.
The seventh lingam on the Girivalam is the Kuberalingam.
This faces the northern direction. The dominant graham is the Guru. And the
Kuberan or the god of wealth has installed this lingam. Offering prayers to
this lingam regularly helps the devotees to achieve prosperity.
The last lingam on the Girivalam is the Esanya lingam.
And this lingam faces the north east direction. The god that installed this
lingam is the Esanyan. The graham that dominates this lingam is the Budhan.
Praying to this lingam gives peace of mind to devotees and develops a positive
attitude in them to achieve success in all their pursuits.
Ashta Lingams:
For
brief details, please refer the below link;