Hey guys, today we are going to look at the Kailasa Nathar temple in South India, some consider this as a model of the world-famous Kailasa Temple in Ellora Caves. Some even consider this as the origin of all temples and even the origin of spirituality. I will show you this entire temple in my next video, but in this video I want to show you the secrets of Spirituality hidden in this temple.
So we have a lot of these relief carvings here, and I am going to show you this one, right? Your eyes are automatically going to these central figures, this is a fantastic story. It is a story between Shiva and Arjuna. And I hope you know the story, and you have enjoyed the story, but what are you going to do next? Your eyes are naturally going to go to these animals known as Yalis. Now, look at their hands. Look at what their hands are doing. One Yali’s hand is pointing this side, and the other Yali’s hand is pointing this side. Of course, this is very interesting to me. So you have enjoyed this carving, you have enjoyed this temple, what are you going to do now? This is not just about devotion, the lions are telling you to go either this way.. inside.. Let us see what is inside. Here. So you can see there is a place for one person to sit. and this is an isolate place so.. nobody can be looking at you from outside. So it is a perfect site for meditation. Now, let’s go and see what’s there on the other side. Because this Yali is showing this way. Here.. you have another perfect place to meditate like this. Now this is what the Yalis are telling us. It is not just about devotion, it is about finding enlightenment. But there is another interesting thing here. Just pay attention to the sound. Aum.. Aum… Aum… Aum.. There is clear resonance echoing when you chant from these chambers. This is how monks used this temple.
If you sit inside these chambers and chant, you can experience a strange resonance not only in sound, but also the vibrations of your mind and body. There is not just one or 2 chambers like this, there are a total of 56 chambers like this, in this temple. Ancient monks used to come in groups and meditate in these chambers. I have visited this temple many many times, and believe it or not, this meditation practice still goes on today. If you come very early in the morning, or if you stay at odd hours, you can see some monks coming and meditating here. Some even have specific chambers which they use repeatedly.
So you can see how, by following the signs of this animal, known as Yali ,we can get a lot of information. Remember, I showed you the Yalis from another temple In Darasuram. I showed you how the tails and trunks of Yalis made us understand something spectacular. So, if you go to ancient Indian temples, please pay attention to Yalis.
But in this temple, there is something else these Yalis are revealing. Archeologists tell us that the entire structure of Kailasa Nathar temple is made of Sandstone and Granite. But if you observe carefully, the Yalis are revealing that they are not made of rocks at all. Look, we can see particles of red brick placed inside these Yalis. Not just one or two, we can see this in many, many carvings. Some show other materials like lime mortar also placed inside these statues. And this is not just limited to Yalis, look: this panel looks like it is made of sandstone, but it is not. Inside, you can see brick particles peeping out. This temple is not made of Sandstone or ordinary rocks, it is made of artificial material which contain a mixture of different components. We use the same technology today and call it geopolymer technology and make it look like artificial rocks. This is not just a theory, look at what the priest of this temple is telling us:
And why did they use geopolymers, instead of building the temple with regular rocks? The priest and some locals believe that artificial materials were added to emit some kind of radiation which can calm your mind and make it ideal for meditation. Think about this, why would people come to this temple all the way from their house and meditate in these chambers? Why can’t they just meditate in their own homes?
This temple, which is considered the origin of all temples, was built using a strange material to enhance your meditative experience. You can get resonance echoing back to you, when you chant here. There are even carvings on the walls which show us how to meditate, and what kind of benefits it can give you. Many of these carvings have become permanently damaged now. In ancient times, there were also richly colored paintings which gave step by step procedure of how to meditate and reach eternal peace. All these priceless bits of information have been lost due to lack of preservation.
Let us go back in ancient times and imagine that you are entering this temple for meditation. First, You would typically go into the main chamber. Inside the main chamber there is a giant lingam made of 16 sides with perfect angles, it is amazing to look at, and is made of shiny black basalt. You would stand in front of this lingam to absorb a different kind of energy emitted by the lingam. But then, you will be asked to do something very strange. To the right and left of the main chamber, there are two, very narrow holes. The hole on the left is the entry point – the entry point is called the Gate of Death. You would have to squeeze through this hole and then you have to walk around the main chamber, you are essentially walking around the giant lingam, and then again you would have to wiggle through the exit point which is even smaller. This is called the Gate of Birth or Birth Canal. When you are crawling out of this hole, you are literally being born again, free of all the worries and burdens of your past. You are starting afresh, like wiping the slate clean and are ready to go into meditation mode. This is why the main chamber is called Garbagriha in Sanskrit and Karuvarai in Tamil, which means, the mother’s womb chamber.
Remember, this is the only Hindu temple which has these kinds of passages, such passages are not found anywhere else. Why? Because when you come out of this whole ritual, your mind is fresh and you are ready to begin meditation.
Now, We saw how the Yalis are telling us, not to stop with just enjoying these divine carvings, and to go to the sides and sit in these chambers made of geopolymers, to calm your mind and achieve spiritual enlightenment.
But there is one more secret, the Yalis are hiding. Let us examine the Yalis’s mouths. Their mouths are open, and there are holes between their teeth. But there is something remarkable, all these holes are aligned in a perfect straight line. If you look through the teeth of one Yali, you can literally see me through the other side of the hole, and then even on the other side of the Yali. But what’s even more fantastic is, you see there are twin Yalis, you can see through on the left most side of one Yali, and you can see me though the right most side of the other Yali, because it is all perfectly aligned.
But is this alignment and perfect sculpting merely done for artistic purpose? No, there is an ancient secret, hidden within this alignment. Remember I told you there are a total of 56 chambers built for meditation.
In ancient times, 7 great saints, known as saptarishis would sit in specific chambers. Each of these saints, had seven disciples, who would sit in the other chambers. So a total of 56 people would be chanting mantras because 56 is a sacred number which equals 7 plus 7 times 7.
It is said that the monks followed twin system. Two monks would sit on either side of these Yalis, one inside each chamber. A long silver string or silver cord would run through the mouth of these 2 Yalis and connect the 2 monks. Both monks had to be perfectly still, because if one person moves, the string would vibrate, and disturb the other one. It is said that in complete harmony, the string would stop vibrating, and the souls would start vibrating, with the cosmic mountain of Kailasa.
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