I am grateful to the divine Mother Naga Amma for her grace in letting me share about the miracle that is Nagamalai Alaiyam...
TEMPLE OF MALAYSIA
A
CAVE OF NATURAL STATUES
By Govindan Menon (Son of Swamiji Gopala Menon)
Nestled in lush, green tropical rainforest in
rural Malaysia, sits a miraculous little-known “secret”. The locals have long told
tales of interesting phenomena, often reporting celestial singing heard deep
within the recesses of this forest. They revere it as being the abode of
angels.
In the year 1974, when my late father (Swamiji Gopala
Menon) first found a Cave Of Natural Statues
within this forest, I was informed immediately of this holy place. He invited
me to come and see it for myself. At first, I was a little reluctant as
spiritualism was not high on my priority list given that I was serving the
Royal Malaysian Navy at that time which left me with little time to pursue
interests. On his insistence, I travelled after week to see my father. The
following day, he took me to see the Cave of Natural Statues. Upon offering our
prayers at this holy place, we sat down and he related this story to me.
My father deserves full
credit for the discovery of this cave of natural wonders and served as its
caretaker till his demise. Read on to discover how this holy cave was revealed
in the most miraculous way and much more.
It all started on fateful
day of 14th April, the year 1974. It was about midnight. My father
was fast asleep, when suddenly in his dream, he envisioned 'VISHNU CHAKRA'. A voice seemingly was
coming out of the 'VISHNU CHAKRA' said
that there was a holy place somewhere near and that he had been chosen
to take care for the place. The dream ended abruptly leaving my father
fully awake in the middle of the night. He was dumbfounded having just
experienced the most perplexing dream of his life. The next day, he
related this incident to my mother and to all at home. We were all equally perplexed
not knowing what to make out of it.
Father being the easy-going
person that he is, let it pass given that he had no idea what to make of his
dream and what action to take. It was my mum who finally urged him to reach out
to someone for clarity. But to whom could he direct his queries?
FATHER AND MOTHER |
Two days later, still
troubled by his dream and his calling, my father directed his plea to the
universe asking it for a clear directive as to what it was he is supposed to
do? Strangely enough, that night, a serene looking young lady with a child
appeared in his dream. She repeated the same message that he heard two days ago
about there being a holy place nearby and he being identified as the person to
take care of the place. Finally, he had an opportunity to gain clarity and
queried as to the location of this said place. The lady replied “My son, I will
reveal the location to you later but remember you have been chosen
by the Gods to be the caretaker of this holy place”. When my father
woke up the following day, he told my mother about the strange dream and she
advised him to proceed to a nearby estate. To this date, I am not
sure what made my mother suggest this venue as such but certainly, it was somewhere
to start. Next day, father and two of his friends went to the Pagoh Estate (formerly
known as Craigilea Estate). It seemed like there was a force guiding them
towards a specific location. They could feel some presence with them which seemed
to be guiding them deeper and deeper into the estate. Considering that they
were in the middle of nowhere, deep in the thick jungle in a rather hilly
region, the first ripples of fear finally hit them.
They prayed for guidance since there were no
signs on how they should proceed. But to their dismay, they had to halt as they
could not make out how to proceed further. Though my father felt that they
should stay a little longer to await for some form of guidance, his companions
felt otherwise. It was at that confused moment that a voice ringed out to my
father, he was elated only to learn with instant disappointment, that the
message was to retreat and go home.
With bitter
disappointment in their hearts, they made their way home. He related the
incident to all of us. Still, my mother encouraged him saying that there would
be an answer.
True enough, the next
night, in my father’s dream, the young Lady appeared again. She identified
herself as NAGA AMMA, the Mother
of all serpents. This time, she told him to go to the same spot again where
they found themselves to be lost the last time and promised that she would guide
him up the hill. He was also told by NAGA
AMMA to look out for some signs, although she was not specific as to what
they were.
The following morning my
parents and few members of my family proceeded to the mentioned spot. My father
instructed everyone to look out for signs that will guide them to a holy cave.
They searched all around for signs till they almost gave up on the search.
Suddenly, my brother, Krishnan Menon, shouted frantically and showed a place
where kemenyan (some kind of incense) was placed. The kemenyan was pointing
upwards.
My father than said,
“This is the sign and I am sure the cave is located up there”. Again here, it
is quite difficult to explain why this kemenyan seemed to suggest directional
guidance but I guess in times of distress, we often look to any sign or ray of
hope for relief. And in this context, I think this is what happened.
They cautiously climbed
up the hill, which was covered with thick, thorny undergrowth and shrubs. As
they climbed higher and higher, they could feel that a supernatural force was greeting them. “There is no doubt
that the cave is up there”, said my father. “I feel that 'NAGA AMMA' is guiding us now”, he continued. They prayed as
they climbed slowly up the hill. After about half an hour, they finally saw a
cave appearing majestically in front of them. “This is it!”, my father shouted.
They held their breath and knelt down and prayed, asking permission to enter
the cave.
When they entered the
cave they saw rocks with various shapes and sizes. Although ‘NAGA AMMA’ had told my father that
there were various Hindu deities inside the cave, he did not know for certain
which rock represented which deity. “If this is the place where the gods stay,
they should at least reveal to you who they are”, said my mother. “Don’t worry
about that, ‘NAGA AMMA’ will reveal
all these to me in good time”, my father replied happily. As the place was
quite dirty due to lack of care over the years, they began to clean up the area
and started performing ‘Pooja’
(Prayers) there. My dad prayed to 'NAGA
AMMA' to reveal to him who the gods in the cave were. All of a sudden, my
father heard a voice telling him, “My son, we are pleased about what you have
done for us thus far. We will reveal our identities to you later.” My father
was filled with tremendous joy that 'NAGA
AMMA' had spoken to him.
That night, my father dreamt
that he was back in the cave. The familiar sight greeted him and he could see
joss sticks burning. Then, as soon as he looked at those rocks, they began to
move. Before he could understand what it is all about, he saw Hindu deities
appearing from each rock and they told him their names. “It was a spectacular
sight to see all these Hindu deities manifesting themselves in front of him. He
was awestruck and just stared with his wide eyes open. They told him not to be
afraid, saying that they wanted him to take care of the cave. After revealing
their true identities to my father, they disappeared into the rocks. From that
day onwards, whenever my father looked at those rocks, he could see the images
of the deities clearly. He was truly amazed!
Following the
revelations, my father took it upon himself, the task of looking after the cave
as requested by the deities. The deities
told him in subsequent dreams that they had been staying in the cave for many, many years and they
really needed someone to look after the cave. They also told my father that
they had been looking for a suitable person to be the caretaker and that they
finally chose my father because they said that my father had led a pious life.
They said that they had been observing him for many years before finally
revealing the holy cave to him. My father once said, “In retrospection, I
realized that even though I used to pray to the various Hindu deities since childhood, the deities did not appear in front
of me because I was engaged in my own business in the nearby town Bukit Pasir.
Finally, I have decided to wind up my business, and devote my life to praying
and doing ‘Pooja’ for them”, And it was on that fateful day in 1974 that 'NAGA AMMA' finally appeared in his
dream and directly guided him to take care of the cave temple.
Since the discovery of
this holy cave, my father became a vegetarian and he would spend many hours at
the cave. We were a little concerned about his health. We were afraid that the
hectic climbs up to the caves might be too taxing on him given his advance age.
But he told us that the supernatural force is constantly with him and that he
would not be in danger, health or otherwise. Following the revelation, he used
to go to the cave daily to clean up the place and perform ‘Pooja’ there. The deities told him to remove his shoes before he
goes up the hill leading to the cave. They also told him to wash his face,
hands and legs before climbing up the hill. “Dear Mother, where am I going to
get the water to wash myself at the foot of the hill?” my father asked. “Do not
worry my son, just go to the left side of the foot of the hill and start
digging there. Water will be flowing down from the nearby waterfalls", 'NAGA AMMA' said.
So the following
morning, my father went to the left side of the hill and started digging for
water. To his surprise, he saw water flowing out from there. He realized than
that he could actually build a pond there to collect the water from the
waterfall. From his savings and donations from the devotees, he built a pool to
trap the water from the waterfalls. The water was pure and fresh and it gave
the devotees a refreshing feeling as they washed their faces, hands and feet
before they climbed up the hill.
News of the holy cave
spread like wildfire. Many devotees came to visit and offer their prayers to
the various gods there. Although there were six principle gods, the six most
popular ones were SUPREME MOTHER NAGA AMMA, LORD GANESHA, LORD SHIVA, LORD
MAHA VISHNU, LORD MUNISWARAN & SEVEN KANNIGAL who
are also known as the Seven Fairies to take care of 'NAGA AMMA'. Our 'NAGA AMMA'
is the MOTHER and Queen of all the
Snake GODS. Many people with
incurable sickness and diseases or personal problems have come to the temple to
seek cures or solutions to their problems. There are numerous miracles
attributed to the help of the Hindu Gods here. Many childless couples have come
here to pray for a child, and returned later to share that they have, indeed, been
blessed with one. They would later, bring their babies to the cave to thank 'NAGA AMMA'. There have been miraculous
cures experienced by many devotees after their visits here, but, my father, rather
than being stressed when so many devotees came to the cave to pray for something,
always advised that they must come with faith and belief, otherwise they may
find their prayers unanswered.
As more and more
devotees came to the cave to pray, they also made donations to clean up the
place and to build steps leading up the hill. Although, some devotees suggested
that a temple be built inside the cave, the Gods expressly forbade my father in his dreams saying that they
would not allow it. They want the cave to be as natural as possible.
Other than the cave, the surrounding environment was also cleaned up and steps
were constructed to make an easy passage for the devotees. Sheds were built at
the foot of the hill to accommodate the big crowds that turned up, especially
during festivals and weekends.
Various names were suggested for the cave, but
my father found it rather unsuitable to reflect the identity of the cave. Finally 'NAGA AMMA' appeared in my father’s
dream and told him that the cave should be named NAGAMALAI ALAIYAM
(loosely translated it means Snake Hill temple).
Many a time, my father
had come across snakes appearing on the rocks which was identified as 'NAGA AMMA'. And in my father’s dreams,
he saw 'NAGA AMMA' appearing to him
in a white & shinning saree.
She always granted the wishes of devotees. There were even devotees who prayed to her for a matrimonial partner. There
have been numerous cases of devotees prayers being answered.
The rock which was
devoted to 'NAGA AMMA' has gradually
grown in size. He once quipped, “It has almost doubled its size since the first
time I saw it about eleven years ago”. As 'NAGA
AMMA' is the Queen of the Snake, my father covered the worshiped rock
with a piece of cloth. However, after a year or two, he saw that the cloth
could no longer cover it and so he had to change the cloth to a bigger piece.
The same phenomenon was observed in the case of the rock devoted to Lord Muniswaran. It had grown in height over
the years. As for the canopy rock, which is devoted to Mother Naga Amma, it too
has extended outwards.
“I
strongly believe that there are Hindu deities residing in the cave and over the
years the rocks within the cave have evolved into the shapes resembling the
deities. This is evident when we compare the shapes of these rocks with
pictures of the respective Hindu deities placed at the foot of the rocks”,
explained my father. “I intend to let this holy
cave be as it is and try not to spoil its natural habitat. I will carry
out the instruction as told by the deities who share this holy cave. The
deities always assure me that they will be with me and see that the cave is
developed naturally”, my father added and continued his prayers. Daily,
there are devotees going to the cave to pray to the six principle Hindu
deities, either for favours or to seek good health. Devotees come from as far
as Penang and Singapore on chartered buses to visit the cave especially during
the weekends. Many miracles were reported to have happened after the devotees
prayed to the Hindu deities who essence are believed to be residing in the
various rocks found in the cave.
The miracles of nature never cease to amaze or thrill us. Especially those mysterious and supernatural works or creations of nature which exist as testimony to the power of Gods (or superbeings), testimony that is mind-boggling as well as unbelievable unless we personally experience or witness it. Such mysterious creations of nature, however do exist in our midst, without our knowledge and beyond our senses.
The temple is situated in Pagoh Estate (formally known as Craigelea Estate) is within the district of Bukit Pasir about 18km from Muar, in Johor. The easiest and the fastest way is to take the north-south high way and to get down off at the Pagoh exit. Go past the Muar Tol and turn left. Proceed a further 2 km and you will see the signboard of Pagoh Estate and Nagamalai Temple.
The miracles of nature never cease to amaze or thrill us. Especially those mysterious and supernatural works or creations of nature which exist as testimony to the power of Gods (or superbeings), testimony that is mind-boggling as well as unbelievable unless we personally experience or witness it. Such mysterious creations of nature, however do exist in our midst, without our knowledge and beyond our senses.
The temple is situated in Pagoh Estate (formally known as Craigelea Estate) is within the district of Bukit Pasir about 18km from Muar, in Johor. The easiest and the fastest way is to take the north-south high way and to get down off at the Pagoh exit. Go past the Muar Tol and turn left. Proceed a further 2 km and you will see the signboard of Pagoh Estate and Nagamalai Temple.
MAY THE GRACE OF NAGA
AMMA BE ON ALL OF YOU!
SEE YOU AT THE TEMPLE!