A visit to Dhyanalinga

Recently, I came to know about Dhyanalinga and was very much interested in visiting Isha Yoga Foundation in Coimbatore. I was under a misconception that we can only attend residential programs. As I couldn't take off from work, I forgot about my plans.

A few weeks back, one of my ex-colleagues from Coimbatore had invited me to his sister's marriage. As the Reception was on a Sunday, two of my friends (Robert & Raja) and I decided to attend the function. We also planned to visit a nearby place in Coimbatore. As Pollachi was a bit far, we decided to go to Dhyanalinga. Though Robert being a Christian, he was also interested in joining us.

We booked the tickets in Tatkal and started our trip. Fortunately, our friend had booked a room and soon after reaching the station we went to the nearby lodge and had a good rest. As Robert had studied in PSG College of Technology, he was well-versed about the city.

We had our breakfast at Gandhipuram. As we didn't know the exact bus number, we asked about Dhyanalinga to one of the hawkers. But, he gave us a puzzling look. Then, we rephrased the question asking about Isha Yoga. Hearing this, he pointed towards a bus. Still, we were confused and we saw a Traffic Inspector and asked him. He asked us to go in 14 D.

After sometime, we saw the bus with the board Isha Yoga Maiyam. Immediately, we rushed in to get a seat. Within a few minutes, the bus was full. We heard one of the passengers saying it would take 90 minutes to reach Isha Yoga Foundation. Soon after travelling a few kilometers, we heard a strange noise from one of the back tyres. We thought the bus would break down and we would be left mid way. Fortunately, the bus ran smoothly and we reached the Isha Center.

As we walked towards the entrance, we were very much fascinated to see the huge pillars and the snakes on top.

The Nandi present near the entrance was huge and you can see how small we look. The Construction process and the Gallery has a lot of photos.

We were asked to leave the Mobile Phones, Cameras and Foot-wears. All the items were collected in bags and a token was given to us. No fee was collected for depositing them. A volunteer in plain, white clothes asked us whether this was our first visit or have we visited earlier. This being our first visit, he gave a brief introduction and asked us to see Trimurthy Panel, Linga Bhairavi, Theerthakund and then go to the Dhyanalinga.

As we walked towards the Linga Bhairavi, we heard a lot of squirrels squeaking near the Coconut trees. Of course, this is a rare sight in the cities. Then we saw the monolithic Trimurthy Panel depicting the three fundamental qualities essential for a human being's inner growth : Rudra, Hara, Sadashiva.

• Rudra: An intense state of mind
• Hara: The quality of childlike meditativeness
• Sadashiva: An ever blissful state of being

A closer look of the above photo shows the dome under construction. Some of the interviews in Athanaikkum Aasaippadu have taken place in front of this panel.

The Linga Bhairavi temple in the form of an equilateral triangle is considered as  the feminine form of Linga. It represents the Divine in its feminine manifestation. A lady in the temple gestured us to apply the Vermillion with the ring finger and offered us a few jasmine and neem leaves . We sat in a corner meditating for sometime and left for Theerthakund. The construction and consecration photos are interesting to watch.

The Theerthakund is a few meters away from the Linga Bhairavi. We paid  Rs. 10 each and were asked to wash our legs or have a light shower. Even towels are provided, if you want to take a dip in the holy water. There are alternate 30-minute slots for men and women. We washed our legs and proceeded to the tank. The mercury lingam is placed in a subterranean tank located 35 ft below. As we were walking downstairs, we heard the pleasant sound of a waterfall.

As it was not much crowded, we clearly saw the mercury linga immersed in water . I thought no one should touch the linga, but after sometime I saw a foreigner lying flat in water holding the linga. All the people touched the linga and had a holy bath. You can have a good view of the Linga in one of the Athanaikkum Aasaippadu interviews with Parthiban. A semi-circular brick vault covers this tank, the inner sides of which have murals depicting a Maha Kumbha Mela scene. We washed our legs and came upstairs. Maybe in my next visit, I wish to take a holy bath.

The 2 ft Linga weighing 680 kgs, is ellipsoidal in shape and is 99.8% pure mercury, solidified at room temperature. I even tried to calculate the weight with the density multiplied by an approximate height; but I didn't have enough patience to recall the formula in Physics. The rock beneath, the avudayar, which is at least 5 or 6 times bigger than the lingam itself, weighs just about 150 kgs or maybe 200 kgs, not more.

The modern science doesn't believe in solidifying mercury at room temperature, but ancient Indian alchemy claims to have techniques to do so. I remember my school days and the Chemistry Lab where I had seen a glass jar of mercury weighing heavy. I read in one of the Science snippets that it's dangerous when your cut fingers are exposed to mercury. And now from this link, I realize the seriousness.

As I was browsing for Mercury Linga, I visited this blog and their site has more photos. They claim that the Shivlinga weighs over a tonne and is around 30 inches in height. Mercury when purified and brought to a solid state is called the ‘Philosophers Stone’ or Paras Mani (Mercury Gem).

        

Then we had a security check with metal detectors and were asked to go to the Dhyanalinga. Near the entrance we saw a 17 feet white granite monolith, the Sarva Dharma Sthambha. The symbols of major religions of the world (Hinduism, Islam, Christianity, Jainism, Taoism, Zoroastrianism, Judaism, Buddhism, and Shinto) are inscribed on three sides of this Sthamba forming an appropriate sign of welcome for one and all, beyond religious divide.

In the above photo (with Ramdev), the back of the Sthamba shows the schematic of the 7 chakras of human body, in the form of lotuses that represent different levels of consciousness.

As one enters the parikrama, on the left is the statue of Pathanjali, the celebrated author of Yoga Sutras, regarded as the father of yogic sciences. We were told that the snake covering his head represents the raising of energies through the seven chakras, which is the main objective of meditation and yoga. Opposite to this statue is the Vanashree shrine. The Vanashree, made of green granite, is a sculptural relief of a peepal tree. A gold leaf at the center symbolizes warmth and prosperity. The corridor leading to the sanctum sanctorum has sculptures on either side - each one depicting different stages in a Sage/Sadhu's life.
Sculptures of Sadasiva Brahmendra and Akka Mahadevi with a short note explains their devotion to god.
Kannappa Nayanar, considered to be the first eye donor and Meiporul Nayanar, a famous king who showed mercy on the murderer is also portrayed.
Poosalar, a great Siva devotee who built a temple for him in his heart and Sadhyaguru Parabrahma bestowing grace on a sadhak are some of the incidents, I have never heard of.

 

Initially, I was a bit shocked to see the below sculpture. Later, I understood that it is a form of a yogi prostrating before the Dhyanalinga suggesting the sense of surrender that is required to enter the Dhyanalinga space. Such a similar sculpture is also present in the Linga Bhairavi temple.

I was very much eager to know the construction process of the dome and this site explains in detail about the science behind the construction without concrete. For every 15 minutes, a bell is rang and the people waiting in the mandapam were asked to go inside Dhyanalinga. We were sitting silently in the corridor waiting for the bell to ring. The bell rang and we moved slowly to the Dhyanalinga.

The linga made from a huge granite is 13 ft high. I haven't seen any linga so big. The linga rests on a coiled snake with 7 layers called Avudaiyar. Surrounding the magestic lingam are 28 energy cubicles called 'Aura Cells' looking like little cubicles. They are meant for meditation. All were occupied by people who were meditating for a long time. The linga has 7 copper rings denoting the seven chakras of a human being. We went around the linga and  sat meditating for 15 minutes. Though my mind was wandering, I liked the silence and the ambiance.

Here, I wish to share some facts I got after googling. The architectural style is different from a conventional Hindu temple. A large ellipsoidal dome covers the sanctum sanctorum(Garbhagriha) instead of a conventional Gopuram. It was Sadhguru's wish that all the visitors to the temple be allowed directly into the Garbhagriha. 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 is not expected to be beyond a 100 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.

The most important aspect of a temple is the energies of its deity. The process of enshrining this energy in such a way that it is available to the visitor is called the Prathista or the Consecration(Kumbabishekam). Long back in one of the television interviews, I heard a sculpture saying that while making an idol/statue, the workers may accidentally step on it and such an act would not harm them in any way. It seems the stone gets its special power and becomes a deity only after the consecration process.

Basically, there are two kinds of consecration processes - Mantra Prathista and Prana Prathista. When consecration is done through chanting of certain mantras and performing certain yagas and yagnas, it is called as Mantra Prathista. And this mostly happens once in 12 years. Deities so consecrated constantly require poojas and other rituals to maintain its energies.

In contrast, Prana Prathista is done in such a way that the energies are locked. The deities, then, maintain their energies at a constant level and do not require performing of rituals or any means of re-energizing. In the Dhyanalinga, through an intense process of Prana Prathista, energies of all the 7 chakras were raised to the very peak and locked to prevent dissipation over time. Hence there are no poojas or rituals in the Dhyanalinga. It is expected that the energies of the Dhyanalinga will not suffer dissipation for at least 5000 years. Usually, during Prana Prathista, people involved in the consecration use their own physical and energy bodies as tools for the process of the consecration. As a result, it becomes difficult for the people involved in the consecration to retain their physical bodies after the consecration process is over.

The consecration process lasted over three years and complex to explain. It's better to learn from Jaggi's books Dhyanalinga: The Silent Revolution and Mystic's Musings. The Dhyanalinga is taken care of by both men and women. It is said that in the 14 days in a lunar month - towards the full moon - women take care of the Dhyanalinga. The next 14 days - towards the new moon - men take care of it. On every full moon and new moon days any visitor can personally offer milk and water to the linga.

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.

As I googled for images, I got some photos of actress Shreya meditating inside the Dhyanalinga and attending one of the meditation programs.

After hearing the bell, we applied the holy ash and started leaving. As I don't meditate, I didn't have any strange feeling. But a seasoned meditator will definitely have a wonderful experience.

As we came outside, there were stalls selling Prasadam and Holy ash. We bought Sesame balls and Vibuthi. There were displays explaining why holy ash should be applied with a ring finger and the significance of Prasadams. Usually, I use my index finger to apply holy ash. But after publishing this post, I have decided to use my ring finger.

We collected our belongings and went to the Isha Shop. We thought of having lunch in Coimbatore and decided to leave in the waiting bus.

The bus from Gandhipuram after reaching Isha Yoga Maiyam will wait for 45 minutes and then take the passengers back to Gandhipuram.

After this visit, I started watching Jaggi's videos and reading his books. I wish to learn some meditation techniques and then visit it once again. I have a plan to visit the Velliangiri hills too.