Mysterious Bhavani, Mysterious Amma

Jan, Bharata Yatra 2009

This south indian tour has been fascinating for me. Usually I have seen Amma on US tours- somehow seeing Her near temples and holy rivers, seems more appropriate than in hotels and ballrooms… This time was the first time I accompanied Amma’s famous trips to Her favorite Bhavani river. Little did I realise the rich symbology that was to hit me.

I first thought that Bhavani was a simple river, whose banks have been sanctified by Amma each year. But somehow, I thought, if each time, Amma stops there, there must be something special there. I heard that Amma had said that many mahatmas had bathed in Bhavani river before, and that there were many subtle beings there..

but little did i know what was to hit me.. Bhavani was not just a river… turns out that it is a “sangamam” or confluence of three rivers…. just like the famous Prayag of North India, Bhavani was South India’s prayag.. I was told that it was a confluence of two rivers- Bhavani and Kaveri.

But it turns out, that just like the prayag of the north, there is a THIRD RIVER that meets these two rivers. The third river is supposed to be an underground river- a “subtle river”. I was excited when i heard that .. this was similar to Prayag of the north, where Ganga and Yamuna meet the underground river “Saraswati”.

Some locals were there, and I started talking to them. It was then that they told me the name of the third river that joins there…

The river is called…. yes… its called “AMRITA” !!!!!!

Wow! The symbolism blew me away.

More was to come..

Bhavani is not just the confluence of three rivers.. Right there, on the banks , overlooking the “sangamam” lies a beautiful beautiful Shiva temple. The Devi there is called “Bhavani” and the Lord is called “Sangameshwar”.

But right where near were we sat, there were many shiva lingams around. The whole place felt so mystic. I walked up to a nearby shrine for one of the Shiva lingams…

And I was again blown away—

The name of  The lord there is “Amrita Lingeshwar”!!!! – The Lord of “Amrita”.

Amriteshwar He is called. In feminine case, it is called Amriteshwari. Wow.

Any doubts I had about Amma’s connection to the temple were gone..

The shiva Lingam called “Amritalingeshwar” is supposed to be crystallized Amrita, made by the sage Parasaras several thousand years ago. Thats what the old writing on the temple wall told me.

By then I was thoroughly overwhelmed. This temple was all about Amma- Amrita River, Amrita Lingam….

And finally I walked to another shrine of Lord shiva across from the Amrita Linga one. Thats called “Sahasralinga”- thats a thousand small shiva lingas put together to form one. But thats not what impressed me most- on the walls of that shrine, were written immortal lines in Tamil, from the great Saint Vallalar. It was all about compassion, and love for others. “Jeeva Karunya”, and non violence. It was written that the way to the “Supreme Grace light” was compassion and Love for others.

Thats what finally clinched it for me. Here we had this temple, overlooking the Amrita River, with a Shivalingam called ” Amritalingeshwar”, made of crystallised Amrita, – and the teachings on the walls were all about Love and compassion!

No wonder Amma keeps coming here- this was HER temple!!!!! This temple was all about Her! But yet this was several thousand years old. What a mystery!

Just as I was musing over all this, Amma came , and sat on the steps of the ghats.

We all crowded around Her and listened to Her bhajans, and saw Her go boating. Was She really only boating ? Or was She blessing subtle beings there? Was She with us, or was She elsewhere, enjoying and sanctifying again ,the temple that seemed to be all about Her? Who knows?

But as She sat there, on the steps, and  looked up into the sky..and seemed to commune with someone unseen up there, I got a glimpse into how incredibly lucky I was.. Here I was, sitting near the Mother of The Universe,  who seemed to become more and mysterious with each passing day…

– Bala