The focal point of the Yoga Center is the Dhyanalinga – a profound meditative space and a doorway to spiritual liberation. The Dhyanalinga is housed in the Dhyanalinga Yogic Temple and does not ascribe to any particular faith or belief system and requires no ritual, prayer, or worship. It was consecrated by Sadhguru in 1999 and is the first of its kind to be completed in over 2000 years. No other Dhyanalinga is known to exist in the world which isn’t much of a surprise considering that consecrating the Dhyanalinga and constructing the temple required a herculean effort. The consecration was done over a period of three years through an intense process known as prana prathishta – a process of energizing an object with Divine energies through a direct process involving the consecrator's own life energies. Once the energies of the Dhyanalinga were raised to their highest possible intensity, they were locked to prevent dissipation over time. “The Dhyanalinga is the distilled essence of yogic science. In its qualities, it is energy focusing and power generating and is not linked to Shaivite worship,” explains Sadhguru. “In this sense, it is different from all the other lingas of Hindu tradition. Thus, the Dhyanalinga is not used for worship; rather it is created as an external manifestation of the peak form of all inner energies.”
The Dhyanalinga Temple layout is geometrically a simple fusion of shapes. Every aspect of the temple layout has been envisioned and designed by Sadhguru to subtly prepare the visitor for meditativeness. A visitor first steps into the unusual sunken reception with a colossal 17 foot tall white granite monolith, the Sarva Dharma Sthambha. The Sthambha area of the temple is built as a yantra, closed on three sides and giving the impression of an open-armed embrace to the visitor. The symbols of nine major religions are inscribed on three sides of this sthamba as a universal welcome to all and represent the multi-religiousness of the temple. On the fourth side are engraved the form of seven lotuses which represent the seven chakras of the human body or seven different levels of consciousness. The chakras are flanked by flowing forms of snakes that stand for the ida and pingala nadis, the feminine and masculine or the intuitive and logical dimensions of experience. The rising stone sun crowning the sthamba symbolizes a new dawn, while the pattern of fallen leaves beneath the sun signifies death of the past.
The stone gateway of the Temple or the Thorana is designed according to the principles of traditional Indian Temple architecture. It safeguards the temple and acts as the main entrance. Beyond the Thorana rise the three entrance steps symbolizing the three gunas or qualities of the mind - Tamas, Rajas and Sattva. The unusual height of the steps forces the visitor to press the soles of their feet on the pebbled surface of these steps which in turn activate certain nerve centers in the body - a preparation to make a person more receptive to the energies of the Dhyanalinga.
Having ascending these steps, one enters the inner parikrama – the aisle which leads to the Dhyanalinga. On the left is the statue of Pathanjali, the celebrated author of Yoga Sutras, regarded as the father of modern yoga. The eleven-foot tall statue sculpted in black granite depicts a fusion of snake and man, symbolizing the dual nature of life and the divine nature of man evolving from his earthbound nature. The seven-hooded snake that rises over the head of the statue represents the raising of energies through the seven chakras thus reflecting the objective of yoga. On the right is the Vanashree shrine, the feminine deity of the Dhyanalinga temple and a counterpoint to the Pathanjali shrine. The Vanashree, made of green granite, is a sculptural relief of a peepal tree. A gold leaf at the center symbolizes warmth and prosperity. The energies of the deity are such that it is especially beneficial for women and children to meditate in the vicinity of the shrine. The traditional Keerthi Mukha, the glorious face, finds place above the shrine of Vanashree.
Moving along the aisle, the visitor comes across six artistically sculptured granite panels illustrating the stories of six South Indian sages who attained enlightenment. Each panel captures an intense moment in their extraordinary lives. The panel of Akka Mahadevi depicts a moving scene of Akka in her love and dispassion shedding everything including her clothes as demanded by the king and moving into a sense of bodilessness. The second panel shows Kannappa Nayanar who in his childlike emotion offers his own eyes to Shiva. A heart rending event showing as how Meiporul Nayanar a devotee of Shiva, holds even a mere symbol of Shiva above his life comes alive in the third panel. Panel four depicts Sadashiva Brahmendra, a bodiless yogi who walks on unmindful of the state of his severed arm. Panel five shows Poosalar and the miraculous event where his inner temple found recognition. The sixth panel describes Sadhguru Parabramha and the birth of Isha, as the divine guru bestows his grace upon a forlorn sadhaka.
At the end of the aisle, the form of a yogi prostrating before the Dhyanalinga suggests the sense of surrender that is required to enter the Dhyanalinga space. The parikrama ends at a vaulted tunnel that leads to the dome of the Dhyanalinga. Carved on the threshold of the entrance are two snakes with a single raised hood, indicating the non-dual nature of the Dhyanalinga. Over the vault is a seven-hooded monolithic snake, symbolizing the seven dimensions of life reaching the peak of consciousness.
The Temple itself is an architectural wonder. It consists of an astounding 250,000-brick dome measuring 33 feet in height and 76 feet in diameter which rests on a six-foot high circular stone wall. The whole structure was constructed in just eight weeks by about 300 laborers and 1,000 volunteers. Despite weighing around 800 tonnes, the dome is unsupported by any pillars which creates an effect of free-flowing space in the interior. So how does the dome, with this atypical and unique design, maintain structural stability? “The simple technology of this dome is that all the bricks are trying to fall down together but they can’t. It’s like ten people wanting to get into a bus at the same time and nobody gets in” reveals Sadhguru.
In order to ensure that the structure would last many thousand years, no steel, cement, or concrete were used in the construction. The life span of structures that employ these materials does not exceed a couple of hundred years. Instead the temple is built entirely with natural materials like brick and mud mortar stabilized with lime, sand, alum and herbal additives used alongside massive blocks of granite. The nature of this design ensures a lifespan of at least 5000 years for the dome.
Within the dome, 28 triangular ventilators constructed with small stone slabs ensure that the space is well lit and airy. An equal number of energy cubicles called aura cells are embedded in the inner wall and provide an intimate space for a person to sit and meditate. The apex of the dome is in the form of a central opening covered by a gold-plated linga-shaped copper structure to block direct light. The opening acts as a ventilator and thus ensures a free flow of air. This natural draught and the choice of natural materials make the dome a cool and soothing space.
As one enters the dome, the eye is immediately drawn to the immense presence that is the Dhyanalinga. Standing at the heart of the temple - the sannidhi or sanctum sanctorum, the Dhyanalinga measures 13 feet and 9 inches in height and is the largest mercury based live linga in the world. The Dhyanalinga is crafted from a single black granite stone of the highest density found in Asia. “History tells us about a failed attempt undertaken a thousand years ago in what is now Bihar,” recounts Sadhguru while speaking about past attempts to consecrate a Dhyanalinga. “After that, one more Dhyanalinga in Bhojpur near Bhopal, almost reached the phase of completion. However, it cracked during consecration due to a delay in the locking of energies.” To prevent such an episode from occurring here, Sadhguru with a single resounding clap in a state of heightened energy created a minute vertical crack running along the linga.
The Dhyanalinga rises out of the avudaiyar, a receptacle in the shape of a seven-coiled serpent. The avudaiyar has been designed in such a way that total length of the avudaiyar is 13 feet 9 inches, the same as the height of the Linga. Water constantly drips on to the Dhyanalinga from the gold-plated copper dome hanging directly overhead. This ensures that the Dhyanalinga is always wet which enables the meditator to easily receive the energies emanating from it. The steady drip of water as it falls on the Linga resonates through the dome and gently draws one into a deep state of meditativeness. Surrounding the Linga is the jalaseema, a lotus adorned water body that has a cooling effect on and gives the impression that the Dhyanalinga is floating on water.
The profusion of natural beauty, the urgent entreaties of the peacocks and the fresh air that fills the lungs with every breath are each reason enough to make a beeline for the Isha Yoga Center but all of these will pale in comparison once you experience the incredible Dhyanalinga. The profound stillness and the understated magnificence of the Dhyanalinga Yogic Temple make it a unique offering to mankind both in terms of human consciousness and architectural splendor.