May Bhagavan's grace always inundate you.
The entrance of the Sri Ramanashramam, in Tiruvannamalai. The ashram is about 4-5 hours (by bus) from Chennai.
A view of the Arunachala hill from the ashram. The picture is taken from the doorway of the Bhagavan's mother's samadhi hall. Arunachala is revered since ancient times as Lord Siva manifest in the form of a sacred mountain. Please see The Power of Arunachala to learn more.
The following pictures were taken in the Mother's Samadhi Hall. This houses a statue of Bhagavan, with the heart cave sutra above.
This picture is of the heart-cave sutra engraved in stone over the statue of Bhagavan. sutra text,
gif (48k)
The following pictures are of the room where Bhagavan spent his last weeks/months, when it was difficult for him to walk much.
A close-up taken through the window showing the bed where Bhagavan lay, and attained Mahanirvana.
The following pictures are of Bhagavan Ramana Maharshi's samadhi hall. This hall is where many ceremonies and pujas are conducted daily. Notice the back-lit photographs behind the samadhi.
You may see devotees doing the pradakshina (walking around a revered person/object keeping it to one's right).
A close-up of the statue of Bhagavan at the samadhi, the foundation stone was laid by Indira Gandhi in 1970.
These pictures show the back wall of the samadhi hall on which beautiful back-lit photographs are hanging. These photographs cannot capture the mood of that portion of the hall.
This picture shows the samadhi hall from the statue side.
The following pictures are of the Old Hall where Bhagavan gave darshan. The wooden fence was put by ashram management to keep devotees from getting to close to Bhagavan. Bhagavan joked that the fence was to keep him inside.
The Old Hall is where people may be seen meditating from the early hours of the day till 8:30 pm, with a 2-hour break between 12:30 and 2:30pm.
The following photographs are of the Virupaksha Cave where Bhagavan meditated from 1899 to 1916 (from the age of 20 to 37).
These pictures are of the walls of the room built outside the actual cave. I have taken a broad sweep of the cave and this room in
mov format (mov 10 MB). I have not photographed the interior of the cave due to a meditator inside.
The following pictures are of the Skandashramam where Bhagavan spent the years from 1915 to 1922 (until the age of 43).
This is a picture of the room in which Bhagavan's mothers attained Nirvana. Bhagavan sat with her for many hours, her head on his lap, his hand on her head or heart preparing her for nirvana.
Some more photographs may be viewed at this site . I shall upload all the photographs in a short while. I have no server space on which to upload the movie pictures of the Ashram exterior, Old Hall, Skandashram and Virupaksha Cave (10 MB each). If you can host them somewhere, please let me know, i can mail them to you.
I was unable to take pictures of the Dining Hall - but then this is a place that should be experienced personally. Photographs cannot do justice to the environment - they would only spoil the fun.
(If you are unable to see some pictures, that means that geocities' hourly limit has been exceeded. Let me know, i would have to upload these pictures separately)
There are no copyrights on these photographs. Please feel free to use them without permission.
Other links:
Ramana Maharshi
Girivalam
Climbing Mt Arunachala
Biography of Sri Bhagavan
Virupaksha Cave movie (mov 10 MB)
aruNAchala akshara maNa mAlai (mp3 - 32 MB)
Tags: RamanaMaharshi
I thank beloved Bhagavan Ramana for the great blessing, of being His devotee in this life.
