04 September 2010

Thirukutralam to Madurai

Started off a busy day from Kutralam at 6am. Covered Srivilliputhur, Thiruthankal, Alavai, and Thiruparankundram.

Srivilliputhur, with its majestic Gopuram, is place drooling of godliness and palgova. Andal's Thirupavai and Thirumozhi are dripping with Andal's intimate relationship with Krishna. While Jayadeva's Gita Govondam is widely sung even in Tamil Nadu in Radha Kalyanams, would like Thirumozhi to be sung as Godha Kalyanams.

Similarly, Perialwar's verses, treating Krishna as child and cuddling and cajoling him as a mother would lovingly do is so moving.

Vatapatrasayee is not what the name says. You expect a Balakrishnan as a child lying in Banyab leaf, He is large frames and lying on Adiseshan. He is colourfully made of lime and not a granite vigraha.

Thiruthankal is near Sivakasi. The temple has benefitted from the wealthy businessmen of Sivakasi. Perumal is colourfully made and not from granite.

Thiruvanparisaram, Thiruvattaru & Thirukutralam

Thiruvanparisaram is very close to Nagarkovil. This is a Malai Nattu Divya Desam. Temple is a mixture of Kerala and Tamil Nadu style architecure. Malayala priests perform Poojai. Thiru Vazh Marban (The one who has Lakshmi in his heart) is the name of the Lord. Birthpplace of Nammalvar's mother. Also considered Nammalvar's birthplace. Nammalvar has sung a pasuram. We started from Nagarkovil around 7am, had darisanam and were back at Nagarkovil by 8. Temple is in a serene setting with a pleasant brimmming temple tank Photos.

Then, we drove to Thiruvattaru. This temple is Kerala style in architecture and worship. Believed to be a smallish replica of Thiruvananthapuram temple.Adi Kesava Perumal also resembles Anantha Padmanabha Swamy -  Kidanda Kolam and large size. The temple is calm, clean. We were not allowed to take photos inside the temple.

From Nagar Kovil, we started about 2pm and reached Thiru Kutralam via Thirunelveli about 5pm.

Kurum Pala Nathar temple is next to the main falls. Swamy is named after sthala vruksham, jackfruit tree. The temple is associated with Agasthiyar. Legend is that as the whole world assembled to watch Siva's wedding, Siva sent Agastyar to the South to prevent the world from tilting and tipping over. Also believed to have originated Tamil. Another story is that Agastyar converted the erstwhile Vishnu temple into Siva temple.

Thiru Kutralam is the Chitra Sabhai sthalam, Nataraja is in pictorial form, not a vigraham. You need to climb about 50 steps amidst shops and chaos to reach the Chitra Sabhai, which deserted. In the guise of protecting precious heritage, there is quirky plastic roof.  Sambandar has sung two padhigams. Padhigams are on two sthalams  - Kutralam and Kurum Pala, both assumed to be Kutralam. Also sung by Manikka Vachakar - Uttrarai Yaan Venden is a well known verse, where he renounces family, fame but just desires the Lord's feet like Cow loves her calf.

The town is crowded and filthy, teeming with monkeys. Could not find  a decent place to eat or stay.

29 August 2010

Tirunelveli & Divya Desams around

On 29th Dec, we started off with Nellaiappar.

Nellaiappar temple is huge, bigger than Madurai. We were told this is 14 acres, Madurai, 12 acres. This is also because in Madurai Meenakshi sannidhi is closer to Sokkanathar whereas Kantimathi is far away from Nellaiappar, almost a separate temple.

The main entrance has some amazing wood work and the musical pillars add to the intricate architectural elements.

A large Perumal  in Kidantha kolam next to the Swamy. Nellai is Tamra Sabhai among Pancha Sabhai. Curiously, this is situated behind the Moola Sthanam, on the North Western side. Nataraja Sannidhi's usually on the North Eastern side. We come out of the Swamy sannidhi and walk along a long corridor on the southern side to reach Ambal. There is a big tank, a number of Ayyappa pilgrims taking bath & doing their morning poojais. Kanthimathi Ambal moves you, an inscription of Sri Kanthimathim, by Veenai Brothers of Tirunelveli.

Sambandar has sung a padigam, describing the natural beauty of Nellai. Photos

Then, we completed the three remaining Nava Thirupathis, Sri Vaikuntam, Varagunamangai and Tirupulinkudi. The temples were just recovering from the busy Vaikunta Ekadasi, the previous day. Pandals were getting dismantled, floors scrubbed etc etc. We were perhaps the only set of sevarthis.

From Varagunamangai, we traced back to Nellai and then onto Vanamamalai also known as Nanguneri also known as Tirucheevaramangai. This is one of the Swayamvakta Kshetrams. The temple is managed by the Vanamamalai mutt. There is an oil well, where oil after the abhishekam is stored. The temple employee tells us the oil well has a depth of  20 feet.

From here, we drove to Thirukurunkudi. The village is quite idyllic, with green fields, cloudy mountains. The temple, with just the base of Rajagopuram looks majestic. We will need 4-6 hours to visit all the temples here. Thirumangai Azwar, the multiskilled Azwar was stoned to death here. This is also the ancestral village of the TVS family. Photos.

22 August 2010

Tiruchendur & Nava Tirupati

Started from Rameswaram at 9am and reached Tiruchendur by 1230.

That Tiruchendur is one of the Arupadai Veedus is well known. Nakkeerar's Tirumurugatruppadai and Adi Sankarar's Subramanya Bhujangam are on the Lord. This is also the place where Muruga danced for Arunagirinathar and this is observed during the annual utsavam. The temple poojas are conducted by three sets of priests - a set of Mangalore Brahmins, a set of Sivacharyars and a set of 2,000 priests believed to have been brought by Lord Muruga. This is similar to Chidambaram Dikshitars (Thillai Moovayiravar) and Nambiyars of Avudayarkovil. I remember a member of this sect visiting our home, staying for a few days, to collect money for festivals.

We started from Tiruchendur by 130pm to Tirunelveli. This was the Vaikunda Ekadasi day and we came to know that the Navatirupati temples (Divya Desams) would be open for Darisanam even in the afternoon. This proved really fortuitous and helped us cover all the temples in the plan. Nava Tirupati temples, while clustered   together, need visiting in a sequence to cover in a few hours. This depends upon your starting point - Tirunelveli, Tiruchendur or Thuthukudi. Our sequence for the day was:
Thenthiruperai: 2:30pm
Thirukolur: 3pm
Tholaivillimangalam (Irattai Tirupati): 3:45pm
Tirukulandai: 4:45pm
Alwar Tirunagari: 5:30pm

This is Nammalvar's territory. He is known as Vedam Tamiz Seidha Maran Satagopan, who translated Vedas into Tamil. He is the largest contributor to 4000 Divya Prabandam. His verses are philosophical and you can sort of equate him to Tirumular of Saiva tradition, another big time (3000 verses) philosophical contributor.

The temples were crowded, had to stand in queues. You may be able to see the temples quicker if you go on normal days. The map will help you plan well. Curiously, the temples are being linked, in a rather contrived manner, to Navagrahams. There are photographs of the 'Before & After' versions of the temples after TVS took over the maintenance of the temples. TVS family belongs to Tirukurungudi, a close by Divya Desam.

We reached Tirunelveli at 7pm.

31 July 2010

Rameswaram

We spent Day 2 at Rameswaram. 

Started for Dhanushkodi, about 25km from Rameswaram at 730 in the morning. There are jeeps plying the route as there are no roads and we need to drive through sandy track. It takes about an hour to reach Dhanushkodi. On the way, you can see old Railway station, Postoffice  destroyed in the 1964 cyclone. The drive is beautiful. surrounded by calm, blue sea on three sides. The beach is clean, no crowds, a good place for a bath. When compared to Agni Theertham, just in front of the Ramanathaswamy temple, this is heaven. We reached Rameswaram at 1100.

The story of Rameswaram is well known - Rama wanted to do pooja for Siva, asked Hanuman to bring an idol of Siva. As Hanuman took some time to bring the idol. Seetha made a Lingam out of beach sand which Rama worshipped. This is the present Ramanatha Swamy. The idol Hanuman brought is Viswanathar, the shrine next to Ramanathar.  

Appar, in his padhigam   mentions the temple is built by Vishnu (Maal seida Kovil) 10 times and that  Vishnu built this after destroying destruction of Ravanan & Company.

Sambandar has done two padigams. He is even more specific in his Ramayana references  -  Rama killed the Ten Headed one who took Vaidehi away by stealth, etc

Rameswaram is also a Jyotirlinga Kshetram, the only one in Tamil Nadu and one of the two in South India, other being Srisailam. Lord Siva gave Adi Sankarar 12 Lingams. Adi Sankarar established these lingams all over India and these are Jyotir Linga Kshetrams. Jyotir Linga sannidhi is the north eastern side of the main sannidhi.
Dikshitar's Ramanatham Bhajeham is of course very famous. A coincidence - the song is in Pantuvarali & the Sundarar Padhigam is in Sadhari, the pann name for Pantuvarali.

Rameswaram's third praharam is the longest prakaram in the world, if there are such rankings for prakarams. Nandi is also huge, like in Thiruvavaduthurai, made of presumably brick & lime & not granite like in Thanjavur.
The whole is temple is slushy as people take bath in the 24 or so theerthams (wells) and move around in the temple in hoards completely drenched. We could see many groups of foreigners, apparently complete believers in Sanatana Dharma, chanting names with closed eyes, as someone lowers a small bucket tied to a rope in the wells, pulls it up and pours it over the heads.

Rameswaram, inspite of being a big pilgrimage destination, does not have good quality hotels. It has many chatrams, providing cheap accommodation. It also has many small hotels, not of any great quality.  The town is dirty and noisy with the shops blaring out all sorts of songs.

Photos here.

22 May 2010

Temple Visits

 Apologies for not regularly updating the blog. We completed Pandia Nadu (DD+PPS) during Christmas - New Year break. We also did a few near Kumbakonam. We are just back from Vada Nadu trip. Please see the photos of Vada Nadu Divya Desams - Vada Mathurai, Gokulam, Ayodhi and Naimisaranyam.

14 January 2010

Pandiya Nadu 1

Between 26 Dec and 2 Jan, we covered Pandia Nadu Padal Petra Sthalams & Divya Desams.

We started from Chennai on 25 Night & landed in Karaikudi next morning. We took a cab for the entire trip and started at six in the morning on 26th.

We covered Kalayarkovil, Thiruvadanai, Thirupunavasal and Thirupullani and reached Rameswaram for the night. We also saw Avudaiyarkovil & Uttarakosamangai, sung by Manikavachakar and not part of PPS.

Thirukanaper
Our first stop was Kalayarkovil, called Thirukanaper.  Kalayarkovil is 40km from Karaikudi & can be reached in an hour. The temple is unique - has three Swamys & three Ambals, in effect, three in one temple. The Swamy at the centre, Kaleeswarar is the Padal Petra Swamy.  Curiously, the huge Raja Gopuram, built by Marudhu Brothers, is for Someswarar, on the Southern side and Kaleeswarar Sannidhi has a smaller Gopuram. We reached the temple around 7am. As we entered, Thiruvembavai festival was being celebrated. Thiruvembavai was sung, and Manikkavachakar taken round the prakaram.

Legend is that Marudhu Bros were hiding & The British  said they would demolish the Gopuram if the Bros did not come out of the hiding. The Bros came out of the hiding and were executed. There are statues of King & the commanders, the Marudhu Bros. Aside story is the film Subramaniapuram has scenes filmed in the temple. Kaleeswara Sivacharyar 04575 232 516

Thiruvadanai
Thiruvadanai is 40km from Kalayarkovil. We reached by 9am. The Gopuram is again tall, huge temple, we were perhaps the only sevarthis. Gurukkal said during marriage seasons, there will be 100 weddings happening simultaneously. Lot of greenery in the temple, Ambal sannidhi was like another temple altogether. Pandia Nadu temples are huge, and neatly maintained. Ravi Sivam 94431 64348, 04561 254 438

Thirupunavayil
Thirupunavasal is 20kom from Thiruvadanai. We reached around 11. The temple is an amalgam of Pandia and Chola architecture - Rajagupuram like Pandiyas and Swami vimanam like Cholas. Swamy is huge, reportedly fourth biggest lingam after Thanjavur, Gaigaikonda Cholapuram and Tiruchi Thayumanavar. We were surprised to find two feet of water flooding the prakaram. Apparently, it rained heavily the previous week and Gurukkal was trying to pump water out with diesel pumps. Legend is that there are vigrahas of all the 14 Pandia Nadu PPS temple Swamys and Ambals and 63 nayanmars buried somewhere in the temple. There is also a shrine for Gram Devatai, you cannot see directly but only indirectly the reflection in a mirror. 04371 239 202, 04371 239 212.

Avudaiyarkovil
Next on the itinerary was Avudaiyarkovil. We reached around 1230. It is that great place where Swamy was waiting for years under Kurundamaram to 'ATKOL' Thiruvadavurar who became Manikkavachakar. Thiruvadavurar was a minister with the title Thennavan Brahmarayan under Pandia King (disputed: Arimardhana Pandiyan or Varaguna Pandian) and was the cause of Thiruvilayadal, "Nariyai Pariakkiyadhu'. Thiruvachakam and Thirukovaiyar are the 8th Thirumurai.   Thiruperundurai temple was built by Manikavachakar & does not follow many of the regular customs. Pujai is performed by Nambiyars (no connection to Nambiyars of Kerala). There are 301 Nambiyars, with 300 people and Athmanatha Swamy. This is very similar to 3000 Tillai Dikshitars. The temple is a work of art and passion. So beautiful and so moving. All the temple utsavams are to Manikkavachakar and not to the Swamy. There are no idols of Swamy and Ambal - they are in 'Aroopam'. Fortunate to visit during the Thiruvembavai festival. Atmanatha Nambiyar - 97877 37317.

Uttarakosamangai
Uttarakosamangai was out next stop, about 100km from Avudayarkovil. We reached around 330pm. This is again Manikavachakar territory. Most of his works are on Thiruperundurai or Uttarakosamangai. The temple is also famous for Maragada Nataraja, a huge statue Nataraja, made of Emerald. This under Sandana Kappu through out the year. This is removed on the Thiruvadhirai day and after abhisekams, reapplied on the same day. This is again a temple of magnificence. Mangaleswara Sivacharyar 04564 229 354.

Thirupullani
We reached Thirupullani, Divya Desam, 20km from Uttarakosamangai. Adhi Jagannatha Perumal is the main Perumal. Darbhasayana Ramar is special here - before building the Sethu, Ramar slept here on a bed of Darbhai. Muthuswamy Dikshitar's composition in Narayana Gowlai, Sri Ramam is a soothing to listen to.  Jayarama Bhattar 04567 254249. We left Thirupullani by 6pm and reached Rameswaram, 70km from here, for stay.

09 January 2010

2009 Yatrais

Wish you a happy new year!

2009 was a very good year for us - we completed our yatrai of Padal Petra Sthalams & Divya Desams in Tondai Nadu, Nadu Nadu, Kongu Nadu, Malai Nadu and Pandia Nadu. We now have Vada Nadu, Eela Nadu (Ilangai) and Tuluva Nadu (Gokarnam) pending, of course lots in Chola Nadu. We hope to make good progress this year.

We completed Pandia Nadu yatrai in the last week of 2009. You will soon see a blog about this.