Reminiscing about kancheepuram

After a gap of about 12 years i visited the city. So much has changed in the temple city. Its the native town of my aathukarars as well mine. Though we were born and brought up here , our parents and their parents were associated with this city.
The city is crowded with more number of one-ways in force, thanks to the likes of NOKIA and SAINT GOBAIN and all the mushrooms in the corridor. The land price has leaped forward from a mere 2 lakhs per ground to 40 lakhs in a decade. All Saravana bhavans and Saravana stores are queuing up to put their foot in the available commercial spaces. Car showrooms and Titan gold showrooms have made their way into the city with the sole aim of capitalising the tourism there.
All cars both big and small are zooming across the city. And regardless of the public transport which is aplenty , unlike chennai, share-autos do brisk business in this city.
Even as i say about the modernization of the city, the city still retains its charm with the ever-popular car-festivals and the Urchavams. Its still a treat to watch the thear and the pallakku of the perumal going around the city and the people thronging alongside to get the blessings of the perumal. And not to mention about the local holiday declared on garuda sevai. People's humanity is at its peak when they offer the home-made thayir sadams and puliodarais with the butter-milk. Living in apartment culture, it was a different experience for me to meet relatives and friends every step and nook and corner on the way to shopping. In my fathers co-operative society , all the staffs thronged to see his daughter, son-in-law and grand-son.Also,it was a new experience for me and my kid watching hundreds of people waiting in the temple grounds with all the kattu-satham and murukku .
But, we were unable to visit the moolavar due to the death of a little boy in the temple tank. That incident, they say is a regular every year. When they say it is a common one, why cant they make necessary arrangements to prevent them. By rather restricting the area after the incidents, they can cordon off the entire area during these festivals. And not to mention the cruelty rendered to the animals especially the elephants. I have this phobia, that is imagining all the ways by which things might go wrong.
Same thing happened with respect to elephants. When i saw the mahout beating the elephant with the sticks i started thinking " What would happen if suddenly the elephant gets mad and runs among the crowd" With the thinking cropping in my mind i started walking out fast with a hand firm on my kids shoulders. I was not able to breathe till the minute i was out of the vicinity of the temple.
The next day, there is this thanga pallakku oorvalam. On that day, the lord is taken around the city in the thanga pallakku and rested in mandapams on the way for few minutes for the people to get darshan. During this procession perumal would rest only in temple mandapams and this is known as "mandagapadi". In the whole city, our home is the only house where mandagapadi takes place in the big thoradu of our house, other than temple mandapam. The story dates back to my great-great-grandfather. He was a ardent perumal fan. And when after few generations they decided to stop the mandagapadi taking place in the house my great-grandfather went and fell on his stomach flatly before the perumal and requested to continue the practice. So till today the mandagapadi continues.
On the whole, it was a rejuvenating experience for me and my kid enjoyed each and every hour spent there.