Life of Ammani Amman (Arunachaleswarar North Gopuram)
AMMANI AMMAN
It is not uncommon for a woman to stand alone and build a 171 feet tall temple tower.
It is amazing that this woman accomplished this feat in the 18th century when the British ruled.
That girl is no ordinary girl. He is a Siddha Purusha. Possessed by Lord Shiva and attained a high state of consciousness. Generally every Siddha has someone called Guru. But Lord Shiva was the Guru for this girl. There are many miracles performed by the woman who was born with a desire for Shiva without looking for anyone else as a guru.
The girl’s name is Ammani Ammal. Rather than saying that he lived in Thiruvannamalai, the place of fire among the pancha Buddha places, it can be said that he performed miracles and became a benefactor. Only the northern tower of the temple was not built.
That is, the foundation to build the tower was laid, and then nothing could be built and it stood bare. No matter how many people tried, they could not build that tower.
Lord Shiva knows what work to get done, to whom, and how. Accordingly, Lord Shiva chose Ammani Ammala to build the north tower of Thiruvannamalai temple and blessed her.
Ammani Ammal was born in March 1785 to Gopal Pillai-Aai couple in Chennai Samutra near Sangam in Tiruvannamalai district under Avittam Nakshatra. His real name is Arulmozhi.
Born in a simple farming family, she developed extreme devotion to Thiruvannamalai Arunachaleswarar at an early age.
Horrified to see their daughter always chanting Arunachaleswarar’s name, her parents arranged the marriage. They ended up talking about their own father-in-law’s son as the bridegroom.
Knowing this, Ammani Ammal said, “I was not born for this” and without bearing the pain, she jumped into the Komuti pond, about 1 mile away. The village gathered and went down into the pond to search. Ammani Amma could not be found. On the third day Ammani Ammal came out from the pond. The town was surprised.
He took the soil from the pond and gave it to her, and it turned into her porridge. It was only then that her parents and the village came to know that Ammani Ammal had become a godfather. Lord Shiva ordered him, who used to give charity to Annamalai and visit Krivalam, one day, “Start the work of building the north tower”. Even though Ammani Ammal had Siddha Shakti, at first she was in awe of him.
Amazed at Ammani Ammal’s power, the merchants and public gave their best. He took up the work of building the tower with the money collected. The tower was completed in stages. When levels one to five were completed, Ammani Ammal needed money again.
How many times can you ask the general public and businessmen for monetary and material help? So he decided to go to the Maharaja of Mysore and ask for help in gold.
The next day he left for Mysore. When he reached the palace, the gatekeeper at the gate refused to let him in.
Suspicious of Ammani Ammal’s simple kolam, the gatekeeper made him sit aside. The one who came in the morning was sitting in the same place till afternoon. At the same time an interesting event was going on inside the palace in the Durbar Hall. Ammani Ammal had entered the palace using the power of Lakima to travel to any part of the world. Usually Siddhas have the power to appear in 2 or 3 places at the same time.
Ammani Ammal used this power to enter the palace. At the same time Ammani Ammal was also at the palace gate blocked by the gatekeeper. The Maharaja was very surprised to see a woman standing near him without due permission. “Who are you? How did you get in? what do you want?” he asked.
Ammani Ammal told about herself and the information about the construction of a tower in Thiruvannamalai temple and said that she had come to ask for gold and material to complete the tower work. And the gatekeeper refused to let him in, so he said that he entered through Chittadal appearing in 2 places at the same time. Hearing this, the Maharaja of Mysore looked in disbelief.
Then he ordered the gatekeeper to come. The door guard who entered the palace where the Maharaja was, looked at Ammani Amma with a bit of shock and said, “I did not let you in. You were sitting outside. How did you get in?” He said. Immediately the Maharaja, saying that he had been talking to the Amma for a long time, came briskly to the gate with the gatekeeper.
Ammani Ammal was also sitting on one side. When he took him inside, Ammani Ammal, who was inside the congregation, had mysteriously disappeared. Immediately the Maharaja understood that the present was no ordinary woman. He thought that Annamalai had come in the form of Ammani Ammal. Treated well. He was given a silk cloth. Then the Maharaja sent Ammani Ammala to complete the construction of the Gopuram with his elephants and horses, loaded with lots of gold and goods.
He easily completed the construction of the 6th and 7th levels of the tower with the gold and materials given by the Maharaja of Mysore. 4 more levels to build. He wondered what to do with the money. He sat in deep penance asking Annamalai to show him the way. Then Annamalaiyar appeared in his dream and said, “Start the work on the tower. Give vibhuti to employees after work every day. I will take care of it.”
Accordingly the tower work was done. Every evening, Ammani Ammal gave Tiruneerai to the servants in return for their salary, which became a suitable wage for their work. Thus all the 11 levels of the tower were completed.
Through this Ammani Ammal made it clear that anything can be accomplished if one has courage and God’s grace in mind. The British were also amazed at his perseverance.
The 171 feet tall tower is considered to be equivalent to the Rajagopuram in the east. It is noteworthy that there are 13 urns each of the same type in Ammani Amman Gopuram and Rajagopuram. The Thirumanjana Gopuram (157 feet) in the south and the Bay Gopuram (144 feet) in the west are shorter than the North Gopuram.
In the Tiruvannamalai temple, he made a record of building a big tower next to the Rajagopuram, so everyone called that tower as “Ammani Amman Gopuram ”. After the construction of this gopuram, Ammani Ammal herself performed kumbabishekam in front of the gopuram and the temple.
“Ammani Amman Gopuram ”
After that he lived like a monk and healed thousands of people by giving holy water. Ammani Ammal, famous for performing miracles through Thiruneeru, attained perfection on Thaipusam day in 1875 at the age of 50. A jeevasamadhi has been set up for him in front of Shiva Lingam, the 8th lingam on the Thiruvannamalai Krivalap Path. The vibhuti prasad offered there is very famous. Jeeva Samadhi Thiruneeru has the greatness to drive away mental worries.
Sri Prasana Venkatesha Perumal Temple, JEEVA SAMADHI
Although it has been around 150 years since Ammani Ammal joined Lord Shiva, she comes invisibly to the devotees who believe in her and renders necessary assistance. It is believed that he speaks and gives advice to the devotees who come to Krivalam. If he meditates for a while in Jeeva Samadhi, he can feel the mind lightening.
JEEVA SAMADHI OF AMMANI AMMAN