Kumbakonam trip - III

Lalithambigai temple is situated about 1 km from peralam, a small village which is on the way to mayiladudurai. Actually it was past noon and we lost all the hopes of seeing the deity thinking that the temple would be closed from 12 pm - 5 pm. But, my athukkarar wanted to atleast have the gopura darisanam , so we set out to the temple just to catch a glimpse of the temple from outside.

It is amidst a scenic village setup which u normally see in the tamil films. The roads were pretty okay and we heard that it was complete chaos few months before. And finally we reached the temple around 12.45 pm. We had great "kuduppinai" (luck) i suppose, or else how do you account for the temple to be open at that time and that too special pooja with archanais for both the deity. The ambigai there was a mesmeric beauty amidst the old type of temple. I somehow relish the old construction with small praharams but considerably good space outside with lots of trees and garden.

And when old temples are renovated , i feel the basic architecture should not be disturbed. I was in for a surprise and taken back when the "Kasi viswanathar temple" at Easwaran koil street, westmambalam was recently renovated. The temple lost its charm and somehow the new one seemed to be crowded and lost its divinity and seemed more of a mandapam rather than a kovil. I remember playing in the huge space outside the temple and though the praharams were small it gave a sense of peacefulness once you are inside it. With the building and the huge structure it seems to have shrunken rather expand ultimately.

And now back to the trip...

The Peralam village would just have been another in the map if not for the Lalithambigai temple. They have well maintained bath and toilet just situated at 5 min walk from the temple which is under lock and key. You should just have to get the key from the woman at the shop outside the temple and can refresh , but not without a cost which is necessary for them to maintain.Even in the city you cannot imagine restrooms / toilet being maintained at the prominent places. It is more necessary than all the parking places and parks which are being developed .

After the food for the souls , we even had food for our stomachs. As soon as we got the darshan we went towards our car, and were about to start, when two men came rushing towards us. They asked us to come inside and have the prasadhams. At it was around 3.00pm and all we had was the breakfast at chidambaram. It was such a treat with 5 types of prasadhams - puliyodarai, maangai saadam , thayir saadam, chakkarai pongal, and one more sweet - akkara vadisal. While we left we were brimming with gratitude cos we had earlier decided to have grand sweets snacks for lunch and to give the kids bread and jam.

There are few houses outside the temple and please dont hesitate to ask in the first house for home-made food, if you are travelling with a kid. Heard from one of our friends that when you ask them they would serve you with home made food. And mind they would never ask you the money and you can give them as you wish. I donot know whether they follow the practice now also. We came to know about that only after the trip so was unable to check it out.

With the topic revolving around lalithambigai in fullfledge we reached thirukadavur. This is the temple famous for the Aayushomams and the shashtiapthapoorthis. The temple authorities would organise for the decorations and the photos , videos and other requirements for a price.

Lets see about this temple in the next post



P.S - This post had been in the draft for a while.

Kumbakonam trip - II

Morning journeys are always refreshing. Its a special visual treat enroute thirunallaru via chidambaram. We had our breakfast in chidambaram in a mess just diagonally opposite to the temple and food was delicious. There was a steady crowd all the while even at 7.30 a.m and the service was prompt. Especially, the ven-pongal. Never ever miss a trip to the mess if u happen to visit the temple. Heard, that the people around the temple usually get their breakfast and tiffin from there only. Since, in our agenda chidambaram temple didn't feature, we made a miss. Thinking of covering the temples en route next time.

Around 8.30 a.m we reached the temple tank and decided to take a dip. Since, both my son and me are in the 71/2 period my aathukarar made sure that we make this journey as early as possible. The temple tank's steps are too slippery and it is high time considering the depth the authorities take proper action regarding this. There is a bee-line of stores around tank selling all the soap, seeyakkai , shampoo and nallannei samacharangal. But, it is wise to take bath before and just taking a dip there(that's wat we did).

But, still people tend to follow over rituals by actually taking a bath in the tank with nallennai and seeyakkai all the way contaminating the tank. Athuleyum ange oru family nalla yennai massage for both body as well head pannindu , kulikkarthukkagave thirunallaru vanthathaa nenachindu seeyakka pottu antha kolathaiye naara adichuttanaga. Please...... Its just a ritual to take a dip and not to go and take a leisure bath.
There is a 10*10 room of asbestos on top of the steps for the ladies to change their clothes. Only problem is we are not supposed to bolt the door. Instead of a big room , they can erect small rooms of more numbers.

After taking a dip , before proceeding to the main temple we are supposed to take the blessings of vinayagar present on the rear side of the temple. The dip is meant to take effect only after u break a surai thengai for the vinayagar.

So after all this we proceeded to the main temple and there is another one tank in front of the temple. Please don't wonder whether we are supposed to take a dip in that too... cos same thought came to my mind. But, neenga nenachalum athula dip edukka mudiyaathu, avvalavu kodumai. So if u r a staunch believer in following traditions jus dip your feet or else ignore and proceed to the temple.

Being a sani prathosham day, the temple was brimming with hundreds of people. So it is best to get into the main shrine of lord shiva without waiting in the queue to go to the saneeswara bhagavan. When u get into the main shrine there would be so many mamas waiting to offer you special pariharams. So, if you can afford , say around 500 rs (yaruppa sonna recession nnu, jus look at the money flow in the temples) do some pariharam, and he would himself would take u to the saneeswarar sannidhi through short-cut.
But, beware you have to carry the wraths of people waiting in the hour-long queue. But, when you are accompanied by kids or old people this is the best way and intha wraths ellam jus like that thodachi pottundu poyinde irukkanum.
Many people say that you should not bring the thengai prasatham to home, but there is a board written there which states that you can always take it home since it is parihara kadavul. It is better to rely on one's own instinct.
Then, there is a perumal temple opposite to the first mentioned tank and it is an old temple recently renovated. The speciality is the "panchamukha anjaneyar " and " chakkarathazhwar". Please visit and do not miss it. Its a visual treat and you can view all the five mukhas through the openings present on all the sides.

With this thirunallaru episode ends and then our next stop was thirumeichur - Lalithambigai temple.......

Kumbakonam trip

Well my long time prayers were answered atlast. It was really a scintillating and on the whole a very new experience for all of us. The prayers were long time pending since the birth of my son which involved lots of complications.

We started around 6.30 pm on friday night along with one of our friends family. They have a daughter who is 2 yrs older than my son . God!!! They made quite a pair. They immediately gelled well despite few hiccups here and there (chaos are what guaranteed when kids meet and wats fun without few hiccups). This prompted me to have one more!!!!!!!! Lets see;)))))

I thought everybody were leaving chennai on one purpose or the other thro ECR. There was heavy traffic on that lane and it took almost 3 hrs to reach pondicherry. And though our original plan was to stay in karaikkal , we altered it and stayed in GINGER. It was worth staying there except for the food. Its truly a paradise for couples or newly married non-vegetarians. Vegetarians should stay away from the food though the rooms are good.

When my son asked for dosai they said we have to choose the side-dish among the curry items. It was a blow for my son who always has a craze for the sambar-chutney combo. Luckily he didn't fuss that day and adjusted with veg kurma. And when my truly dedicated tamilian aathukarar asked for rasam, the waiter gave a wary smile. Ist a crime to ask for rasam in south india, or does he always dwell on fried rice and noodles. When my aathukarar pointed that they serve rasam even in TAJ and PARK he then said that they dont have it there. Then why do they print vegetable thali on the menu. On the contrary, the room was spacious and ventilated with AC, refrigerator, shower working.

They have Landmark and Cafe day in their reception area which does quite brisk business. Nice marketing strategy.

Next day in the morning 5.30 we left for Thirunallaru. The drive was pleasant and we got to watch the sunrise amidst the waterways which was an enduring experience. After a long time i got to peruse my long time passion i.e clouds watching. Somehow, it fascinated me in my adolescent years. I always used to sit in our terrace (ours was an independent house) in the pretext of studying though my motive my altogether different(it was not clouds watching even ;))) ). I like to form faces and patterns and imagine things while watching them move. The first time in went in aircraft not even i wasted one minute in chatting. I was totally engrossed in the scenic view of flying above and among the clouds........

Hmm, its taking more time than i expected, let me continue later