Famous Sungod Temple in the World

Slokam : ” Harshavilli purivasam , Chayosha Padminiyutham Suryanarayanam Devam Nowmi Sarvartha Dayakam “

This is one of Pilgrimage and ancient Hindu Temple “Sun God Temple – Lord Suryanaryana Swamy” temple located in Arasavalli Srikakulam Town, Andhra Pradesh, India. This is one of Pilgrimage Temples in India. The Original name is Harshavalli means abode of Joy.

Om Hram Hreem Hroum Sah Suryaya Namah

About Temple

The famous Sun God Temple situated in Arasavalli Village which is at a distance of about 1 K.M. east of Srikakulam Town in Andhra Pradesh head quarters of the coastal district in Andhra Pradesh . It is one of the ancient and all among two sun God temples in our Country. According to Padmapuranam , Sage Kasyapa installed the Idol of Surya at Arasavalli for the Welfare of mankind . Therefore , the Surya is of Kasyapasa Gotra . He is also termed as planetary King . The ‘ Sthalapuranam ‘ of the temple narrates that lord Devendra had founded this temple and installed the existing idol of the sun God commonly known as Lord suryanarayana Swamy Varu under the following circumstances . Once Lord Devendra , Ignoring the words of Dwarapalaka Nandi , attempted to force his entry for Darshan of Sri Rudrakoteswara Swamy varu at an untimely hour when Lord siva was along with his consort . The Dwarapalaka Nandi in the discharge of his duties kicked the intruder . Thus kicked and injured by the Devine attendent Indra fell down senceless . And in his unconscious state Indra dreamt that he would be relieved of his pain of injury in his chest caused by Nandi if he built a temple and installed an Idol of the Sun God . After regaining his consciousness , he remembered what he dreamt .
	Famous Temple in Srikakulam located in Arasavalli.
	Following his dream he pickedup handfulls of earth three times at a place where he lay ,and there he found this beautiful idol of sun God with his three consorts Usha , Chaya and Padmini . At the base of the idols are the figures of Mathara and Pingala the Dwarapalakas and high up are the two divine saints , sanaka and sanadana holding ‘Chatrams'(An Umbrella ). The Sun God is depicted as riding over a chariot drawn by Anura, the Radhasaradhy . All these figures are exquisitely carved out of a single black finely polished grenite stone.

The Pushkarini The Sun God said granted his wish and vanished. Indra dug with his ‘Vajrayudha’ and formed a pond, which is known as Indrapushkarini. Even today Devotees feel that they can attain the Grace of Lord Surya if they offer their prayers after taking a dip in the pushkarini. After taking a holy dip in the pushkarni, they turn towards the temple and open their eyes and do what to they see! Lord Surya’s idol before then in all its great splendor-and clad in golden colored angavastra. The Sun God granted his wish and vanished. Indra dug with his ‘Vajrayudha’ and formed a pond, which is known as Indrapushkarini. Even today Devotees feel that they can attain the Grace of Lord Surya if they offer their prayers after taking a dip in the pushkarini. After taking a holy dip in the pushkarni, they turn towards the temple and open their eyes and what do they see! Lord Surya’s idol before then in all its great splendor-and clad in golden colored angavastra. Crown studded with rare diamonds, hands with ‘Abhaya Mudra’ wide open eyes filled with karuna, ear-rings, studded with diamonds, grave and but graceful face. His very Darshan assures fulfillment of all desires in the world. The very temple was conceived and constructed by Viswakarma, the divine architect. Pingala and Mathara are the doorkeepers of this August Temple. Anura is the Sun God’s chariot driver. Thirteen more angels lustily cheer the sun god. Sanaka, Sanandana and other sages offer him Vinjamara seva. Sage Narada and other sing the glory of the God. Devaguru Bruhaspati and other chant Vedas. Thus the Sun God was consecrated here in Arasavalli by Lord Indra himself. Such is the glory and greatness of this temple.
	THE MAHATMYAM OF ARASAVALLI The holy Temple of Bhagavan Suryanarayna Swami is located at Arasavalli in Srikakulam of Andhra Pradesh. This is perhaps the only Sun Temple in the entire Coramandal Coast since the Konark Temple on the Orissa Coast always remained an incomplete and unfinished project. People who are unfortunate enough to suffer from eye and skin, diseases visit the Temple and offer their prayers to the Sun God. They believe that the Sun God is essentially a God of Health and Prayers offered to Him would heal their sickness. From the great Puranas of Dwaparayuga, the following information is gathered. Balarama is supposed to be the very incarnation of Lord Vishnu. Balarama in Dwarparayuga bought the river Nagavali along the furrow of his tiller and consecrated a temple on the shores of the river Nagavali. That is the temple of Uma and Rudra Koteswara. All the Gods angels and their minions arrived on the shores of Nagavali and paid their obeisance to Lord Rudra, Indra, the Lord of Paradise was, some how, late. By the time he arrived, it was late in the night; he tried to gatecrash his entry. At the time Nandiswara, the great Vahana of Rudra was keeping vigil at the gate. He did not allow Indra to go in, as it was time for Lord Rudra to rest with Mata Parvathi. Indra was adamant in his demand to enter the temple, Infuriated by his perverse persistence, Nandiswara kicked him violently and sent him flowing in the air towards the eastern side. Indra fell unconscious in a painful state. Then, it is said, he offered his prayer to the Sun God for relief of his body pains and exhaustion. The Sun God took pity on him and touched Lord Indra with his in numerable rays and Indra got back his strength and relief from pain. He was all grateful to the Sun God who gave him back his strength and relief from pain. He begged the sun god to allow him to stay there forever and spend his time.

Life Long Sevas

Utasavams

Festivals in Sun God Temple

Surya namaskara is a well known and vital technique within the yogic repertoire. Its versatility and application make it one of the most useful methods to induce a healthy, vigorous and active life and at the same time prepare for spiritual awakening and the resultant expansion of awareness. In recent years more and more people have moved away from mere ritual and are turning to yoga as a method for exploring and improving thier inner lives. Though the need for techniques to enhance physical, mental and spirtual evolution has been recognized, the fast pace of modern living makes id difficult for even the most determined individual to implement yoga practice. And it is practice as the most important and fundamental issue in terms of our betterment.

Surya namaskara is a well known and vital technique within the yogic repertoire. Its versatility and application make it one of the most useful methods to induce a healthy, vigorous and active life and at the same time prepare for spirtual awakening and the resultant expansion of awareness. In recent years more and more people have moved away from mere ritual and are turning to yoga as a method for exploring and improving thier inner lives. Though the need for techniques to enhance physical, mental and spirtual evolution has been recognized, the fast pace of modern living makes id difficult for even the most determined individual to implement yoga practice. And it is practice as the most important and fundamental issue in terms of our betterment.

It is with these thoughts in mind that this book has been written, for suryanamaskara is almost a complete sadhana in itself, contraining asana, pranayama and meditational techniques within the main structure of the practice. For most of us, today’s lifestyle accentuates mental tensions, worries and seemingly insoluble problems at many levels, such as personal interrelationships, economics, and even geopolitical threats of war and destruction. At the same time the amount of sedentatry or semi-sedentary work is increasing due to the increase in technology and labour saving devices. This has led to a situation in which mental and physical ill health is increasing. Without an antidote, there seems to be little hope.

Yoga practices are an ideal antidote to stress and are providing to be the basis of a powerful therapy for mental and physical diseases. Suryanamaskara is an integral part of the yogic approach and can be easily integrated into our daily lives for it requires only 5 to 15 minutes of practice daily and this it suits even the most active individuals, such as the busy businessman, the housewife with a family to feed and manage the student who is facing examinations, or the scientist who spends most of his day thinking.

You may have read that the practice of Suryanamaskara revitalizes the body and mind, and helps to eradicate disease, but you must practice the techniques in order to find out the truth for yourself.

Surya namaskara is a practice which has been handed down from the sages of vedic times. Surya means “sun” and namaskara means “Salutation”. In ancient times the sun was worshipped as daily ritua because it is powerful symbol of spirtual consciousness. Worship of the outer and inner sun was a religio-social ritual which attempted to placate those forces of nature beyond man’s control. It was initiated by enlightened sages who knew that these practices maintained health and led to greater social creativity and productivity.

Surya namaskara is composed of the three elements of form, energey and rhythm. The twleve postures create the physical matrix around which the form of the practice is woven. These postures generate prana, subtle energy, which activates the psychic body. Their performance in a steady, rhythmic sequence reflects the rhythms of the universe, such as the twenty four hours of the day, the twelve zodic phases of the year, the biorhythms of our own body.

The rhythmic superimposition of this form and energy on our present body / mind complex is the transforming force which generates the necleus of a fuller and more active life and a greater appreciation of the richness of the world we live in.

The Solar Tradition Sun Worship in the vedic tradition Adoration and worship of the sun was one of man’s first and most natural forms of inner expression. Most of the ancient traditions included some form of sun worship, incorporating various solar symbols and deities, but nowhere have these traditions been so well preserved as they are in the vedic culture. In face, Sun worship is still practiced as a daily ritual in many parts of India today. In ancient India the great avatar Rama become the king of the solar race in the Ramayana. The roots of the present Hindu culture lie in the ancient vedic scriptures, which contain numerous slokas referring to the sun. The Rig Veda itself has many such references, a few of which have been given below.

The Suryapanishad states that persons who worship the sun a Brahman, become powerful, active intelligient and acquire long life. The sun is personalified as brilliant like gold, having four arms, seated on red lotus and riding in a chariot drawn by seven horses. He sets in motion the wheels of time, and from him emerge the five phycisal elements of earth, water, fire, air and either as well as the five senses. The Akshyopanishad identifieds Surya with Purusha who assumes the form of the sun with thousands of rays, and shines for the good of humanity. There is a verse form the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad which reads as follows:

” O Lord and essence of light
Lead me form the unreal to the real
From the darkness to light
From death to importaility”.

Ancient architectural marvels

Several sects of worshippers still exit today. Some worship the rising sun, some the settin sun, some the noonday sun. Though these people appar to worship the physical sun, the real object of their worship is Brahman, the absolute, and its manifestestation as creator, preserver, destroyer, of which the sun is but a symbol. There are many ancient sun temples existing in India today, some of which date back as far as the 8th century AD, and are architectural marvels.

The most famous of these was buit at Konark, Orissa during the 13th Century AD. The other main sub temples are located in kashmir, Gujarat and Andhra pradesh’s sun god temple in Arasavalli. The sun worshippers of ancient India also developed a scientific analaysis of the solar system The Surasiddhanta is an ancient text on astronomy, dealing with the measurement of time, planetary motions, eclipses and equinoxes. Ancient history in other traditions is full of numerious references to sun worship. The pyramids, sculptures and inscriptions, which still remain today, indicate that these ancient cultures had a very precise knowledge of the movements of the sun, moon and planets which formed a vital part of both the social and religious affairs.

Many of these structures are believed to have been temples, observatories or both as no differentiation was made in ancient times between religion and science as it is today.

Therefore, we can understand how scientific observations of the sub could also be a part of ritual worship and ceremony. The Eqyptians who followed a complicated from of sun worship, used their knowledge to construct pyramids for interring and preserving the bodies of the pharaohs, so that these sacred heads of stat would be able to share the sun’s eternal life. The pyramids themselves wre symbols of the sun, and were aligned to receive maximum solar radiation.

The Aztec, Inca and Mayan civilizations all had elaborate temples dedicated to the solar gods. The mayan calendar is said to be one of the most accurate ever producted, revealing detailed knowledge of the sun-thousands of years ago. Legends of Atlantis, which predate history, indicate that sun worship was practised in those times and that these people condensed solar energy by the use of huge crystals to power cities and transportation systems.

Stonehenge in Britian is believed to have been used as a solar observatory to predict the coming of the seasons, solstices and equinoxes and is also thought to have been a temple of some kind.

It is sophisticated far beyond that expected of the primitive tribes previously associated with those times. The North American Indians lived life by the rhythmic cycle of the sun and seasons. They worshipped the sun and the basis of many of their beliefts, rituals construction methods and so on was a circle or mandal which symbolized the sun’s passage across the sky. Yang and yin of ancient Chinese philosphy represent the dual relationship existent in nature, symbolized by the sun and moon or pingala and ida of yogic philosophy.

The suns surface periodiacally erupts into huge flares which extend thousands of miles into space and to us on earth appears as spots on its surface. These sunspots have been observed to undergo various cycles of increasing and decreasing activity, the main cycle of which is approximately eleven years. Correlations have shown that periods of increased sunspot activity correspond with terrestrial phenomena.

There is evidence that wards, revolutions and migrations often correspond to periods of intense sunspot activity. The American Foundation for the study of cycles has found over 1300 phenomena related to subspot cycles. These include the increased frequency of auroras, comets, earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, meteor showers, changes in germ cell maturation, electrical potential of trees, fashion, voting trends, fluctuations in stock market prices, increase in the incidence of high blood pressure and diabetes and many other seemingly unrelated events.

This is not surprising when we visualize the immense power of the sun and its radiations or realize that the earth is constantly being baked in a solar wind. The sun is an integral part of life on earth. Surya namaskara takes on a new dimension when we become aware of the effects of the sun on our lives. We can then understand how important it was to our ancestors. At the same time by awakening our own inherent solar forces through this integrated practice we can atune ourselves to the cosmic nature and revitalize our lives.

Salute to the Sun Suryanamaskara is a serious of twelve physical postures. These alternating backward and forward bending asanas flex and stretch the spinal column and limbs through their maximum range. The serious gives such as profound stretch to the whole of the body that few other forms of exercise can be compared.

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