RUDRA

GARBHA GRIHA SECRET
Its might appear very strange and intriguing that Shiva Lingas get unearthed at construction sites or any place when people dig the earth up. There have been remarkable moments in Indian History where the Paramacharya Sri Chandrashekar Swamigal Himself has pointed to location where there were sure possibilities of an ancient Shiva Linga within the earth. To name a few would be the Shiva Linga unearthed at Madhya Kailash, Taramani Chennai and at the Shankara Matt at Thiruvanaikkaval Srirangam.

The Shiva Linga at Shankara Matt is particularly beautiful. Its a Panchamukha Linga, though only four faces have been visibly sculpted into the shaft of the Linga, the fifth being more symbolic in nature. The characterestic features of the faces takes us way back to the late Pallava, early Chola era. The pointed features and benign appearance of each face, remarkably similar such that they seem to belong to the same person rekindles the imagination with the world of the ancients.
The question now is, how did these Shiva Lingas get past the ravages of time with endurance? Temples had a lot of thinking going into them before the very first stone was placed for its making, endless calculations not just based on how to build the temple, but to sustain it and keep it standing for the years to come. Decisions were taken to safe guard the main sanctum and more importantly the idol and its various elements from any danger of destruction.
The Garbhagriha is not constructed on the ground. It is built over another chamber which has enough sand packed into it. This chamber has four pillars that hold up the floor of the Garbhagriha over them. The floor hosts the main idol as well as its elements that constitute the idols "power". Once the Idol has been brought to "life" by consecration the temple is proclaimed a living temple and the main idol is put over to cover the secret within. Subsequently the idol is "appeared" to be worshipped while the actual worship is done for the idol as well as the elements below. The idol is a visual representation of a reality contained in the elements, today unknown to all of us, well almost unknown. The Shiva Lingam gets covered by the surrounding sand and then later by the rest of the rubble that crashes down rendering it buried safe till it is unearthed at a later date.

The Kumbhabhishekam is done to protect the temple and the idol from any natural disaster as well as those created by humans. Should there be trouble on a vast scale, and should the life of the "Worshipped" be at stake, the temple is designed to cave in. In cases of natural calamities, the main temple falls apart, pillars scattered after mandapas have crashed down.

At the Garbhagriha its a different story. The first to fall are the pillars right at the bottom, below the Garbha griha. They are designed to fall outwards such that they give room to the floor to fall downwards and out giving way to the Shiva Linga and its various elements to fallen through into the sand packing without being harmed or damaged. Once the Shiva Linga has fallen through it, it gets covered by the surrounding sand and then later by the rest of the rubble that crashes down rendering it buried safe till its unearthed at a later date.

A lot of thought and consideration went into the making and the prevention of any destruction to the Shiva Linga. This unique form of the Lord, subtly designed carries more to itself that what meets the eye. Thought went into safe guarding it, protecting it and leaving it within the lap of the earth to be dug up later for the world to see an ancient secret, alive and evergreen.

Mano Laya with Lord Shiva (Shiva Tandavas)
The nature of classical music brings out the emotions within, in a controlled self-contained way where the energy within is channelized into rhythm with slow delivery. The mind can lose itself into the notes as they spill forth, and appreciation and enjoyment of the forthcoming notes brings out the emotion in the highest form. It's witnessed in the difference between Ananda Tandava and Rudra Tandava in Bharata Shastra. Every emotion is a display of what the human being is capable of, and if surrendered, even the heaviest emotion can be enjoyable.
Ananda Tandava
Ananda Tandava is slow, a hand holding beat that dictates the next move. The body flows slowly, the emotions finding their way through mudra. It's like speech with the Lord Himself. The Lord dances, His eyes expressing the grace and essence of the dance as he performs in the stage of life. As the note rises He leads, moving gracefully from one emotion to the other. The back moves, swaying with the note, the echoing rhythm around the pillared hall, the chalangai(ghunguru) being the only connect to this realm. All feet locked within the notes, the rhythm rolls on. As the flames rise around His moving body, there is vigor in the air, even when he stands still. There is energy that is charged all around him even when he is in complete dhyana, there is purity in the space as his steps cut through the air. This is Nataraja, in true form dancing around a ring of flames waking the worlds of the dead and living to witness his beauty within oneself. It's a strange experience when the emotions find ways to explode through silent moves, so self contained that their potency needs to be experienced and not understood. Rudra Tandava, is a little wilder and faster in excitement adds more flavor to the moves.

A quiet world, where the eyes express the profound meaning of creation, the feet move together and the fingers bloom into mudra, each abhinaya as words in silence falling out. Such is the potency of classical music and dance, understood by few, experienced in silence, each experience a concentrate within the self brought out, felt, cherished, remembered.
Rudra Tandava
Rudra Tandava, is a little wilder and faster in excitement adds more flavor to the moves. The excitement within is a completely different emotion jumping forth uncontrolled. The flow of the emotion much faster this time, needs to be directed with more care for the emotions move faster than the body itself. It is an intense display of agitation, one that brings alive the pain and anger in Lord Shiva when Sati burnt herself at the sacrifice of King Daksha.
Rudra Tandava is a walk through the minefield of sprouting emotions each in a different direction as he expresses himself in different abhinaya to dance through in rhythm. The result is a vibrant move of the body, a sway so strong, that the world stops to look at this display of high emotion. The eyes speak in intensity so strong, the expression reflecting on the face, as the charge spreads across this fiery stage. The feet rise and fly into the air as the chalangai(ghunguru) clap to the wild swing.
It's just a world of pure emotion, a vibration in the mind, ripples cutting through the air as He rhythmically move, in the light of the dancing crescent moon among the jatas that form silent black waves enveloping Him into complete mano laya. Complete emotional experienced!!!

The essence of Shiva Bhairava

Look up to the bright sky and train your eyes to see the brightness in it, you will notice the faint clouds that glow even brighter in that light. Look up to the sun for a few seconds and maintain the gaze even in the brightness, you will notice it is round and glowing even more. Keep silent and close all your sense faculties and kill all the noise around you and you will realize the primordial sound OM grows within you.
This is Bhairava, This is Shiva, This is prana.
Prana, as beautifully described in the Vigyana Bhairava Tantra, is not the breath that goes in and out, but the eternal space that can be felt between any two breaths. Prana is not the air we breathe but it is the energy or life that is generated by the constant vibration between any two breaths. This is where OM is felt.
This is defined as Bhairava, This is defined as Shiva, This is Prana.
The human self is described most poetically; we are but a lotus plant, whose stem is blue on the outside and red on the inside. We are but a lotus plant whose stem is the channel through which Shakti flows upwards to meet her Shiva at the seat of consciousness. We are but a lotus plant immersed in the waters of Maya but enlightened at the epitome of our consciousness - the thousand petal form.
This consciousness is Bhairava, this feeling of bliss is Shiva.
When your senses shiver and your mind becomes still, and when you quiver, feel this bliss. When you practice love in the ritual of union feel the quivering of your senses like the wind in the leaves. You will feel ecstatic love. At the start of this union, be in the fire of this energy released by intimate sensual pleasure. Merge into Shakti, burn in this space but avoid the ashes in the end. Feel your substance, your bones, your flesh and your blood saturated with cosmic energy.
This is Bhairavam this is Shiva, this is supreme bliss
There is beauty in the emptiness of space devoid of trees, hills or dwellings. There is poetry in the fire of life that burns all illusion to death. I see the entire world burn as a blazing inferno and when all turns to ash, I feel this space that envelopes me, I feel the entire universe dissolving into subtler form until it merges into pure consciousness.This is Bhairava, Thihs is Shiva, This is prana.
Waves are born in the ocean and dissolve in the ocean itself, flames are born out of fire and dissolve in this fire of life. The sun appears in the sky and fades into the sky itself. The self rises in the realm of knowledge and energy and slowly being deprived of it, dissolves into itself revealing to us our true being.
This essence of subtle life is Bhairava, is Shiva, is Prana.