GREAT TEMPLES THE VAN TOOK US TO IN 2 DAYS!!!!

The two days on wheels covering about 750 km., on the 19th and 20th July, 2008 indeed leaves behind an indelible impression. The 9 of us undertook this pilgrimage with zeal and sincerety as is usual in our group, to make it to cover maximum temples possible, in the minimum most time at our disposal. Of course, anything well begun is well finished, and rewarded too, inasmuch as we were able to have the darshans as narrated below.

1. Poovarasankuppam - Lakshminarasimhar - On the day of Sravan , the star of Lord Narayana, the commencement of our pilgrimage efforts was blessed and began with visit to this ancient temple leading us through winding serpentile coil of narrow lanes, situated in a serene, simple and true village atmosphere.

2. Thiruvadhigai Veerattaneswarar - one of the Ashta veerattanam temples -- Appar (Thirunavakkarasar) of tamil hyms was freed from his unbearable stomach ailment of at the instance of his sister Thilagavathiar, here. Her merciful, timely and effective advice retrieved him from Jain faith, and he turned anew as the first of the four immortal Saiva Samaya kuravargal, Appar, for the benefit of humanity in general.

3 Thiruvadhigai Nageswarar - a Rahu sthalam - is enroute the Virattaneswarar temple. Being an ancient temple of the mighty Cholas, it is not starving for any architectural majesty.

4 Mokshakulam - Saranarayana perumal - The one and only idol in the world of the reclining Narasimha is in this temple in the adjoining sannidhi. A rare privilege indeed for us to pray here.

5 Vadavambalam adhishtanam of the 58th pitathipathi of Kanchikamakoti peetam, Athmabodhananda saraswathi, installed at the instance of Mahaperiyaval, in miraculous circumstances was the next place of worship. So close it was on our way and it thrilled me to avail this rare privilege of paying homage to the great soul. For more informative narration of this mracle you have to turn the pages of Ra. Ganapathi’s Deivathin Kural.

6 Owing to paucity of time at our disposal, with a very very heavy heart we had to deny ourselves the visit to Chidambaram temple, which of course we had seen earlier. Instead we proceeded to the Thillai Kali temple, an ancient Chola temple of the protecting goddess of thillai otherwise known as Chidambaram.

7. Catching up with the fleeing time and keeping in mind the restricted temple hours we had to rush to Padaleeswarar temple at Cuddalore Old Town. Known as Thirupathiripuliyur, this coastal town temple is one of the very few temples of the hoary past and legend. It is here by one of his Thevaram “Sotrunai vedhian” Appar was saved and landed ashore despite the Jains throwing him bound with heavy stones to drown. Very few only know that this spot is called “Karai yeria kuppam”

8. The forenoon session of the first leg of the tour ended with the visit to Lord Devanatha Perumal at Thiruvahindrapuram one of the foremost of 108 divya desangal. This temple was worshipped by many saints and sages, not to mention, HH Vedanthadesikar. It has an adjoining Oushadiya parvam, a small mound of less than 500’ ft. frequented by HH Vedantha Desigar in his formative years in dhyanam.. As the temple timings were over, we had to rest until reopening at 4.30 pm to visit the holy spot on the Oushadiya mountain, where H.H. Vedantha Desikar was blessed with the darshan of Lord Lakshmi Hayagriva and Periya Thiruvadi’s upadesa . It is no exaggeration here to add that by sheer coincidence not short of a miracle, that I was able to be acquainted with Mukundha (again the lord’s name! --- through a wrong call through my mobile phone) who along with his mother and lovable but unfortunately congenitally deaf and dumb sister who poured incessant love and affection on us besides providing us with palatable food and most welcome shelter to free us from the travel fatigue. The short stay here included a visit to the monumental abode of Sarvathanthra swathanthra Nigamantha Desikar, who proved here his ability to construct a well all by himself, which even todate, is usable and full of sweet water despite many centuries of aging. He sculpted his own figure and it rests in his sannidhi worshipped with pujas todate.

9 After the well earned rest at Mayuram , the second and last day of our pilgrimage was resumed with the visit to Lord Mayuranathar temple, again one of the huge and very ancient temples of Tamilnadu, rich in stone carvings and architectural beauty.

10. With divine Grace we were able to offer our pranams at the brindhavanam of the great soul, manifested in our minds as yet another sarvathanthra swathanthra, HH Raghavendra swamigal at Bhuvanagiri. Here was He born in his mortal frame.

10 Koti hathi (now crudely named Kozhikuthi!!!) is where you are fortunate to be blessed with the enchanting smile of the 16’ tall Viswarupa Srinivasa Perumal, The idol is 1800 year old, made of a single Athi wood. The magnetic charm of His smile in his “Pavazha vaai” transcends one from here to eternity the moment you are fortunate to enjoy it.. Sage Pippalar was blessed with His viswarupa here. Who can fail to enjoy the beauty of Hanuman’s style of encircling his head with his belled tail? The chola king who was freed of his skin disease by His grace had adorned the Lord with his sceptre which is still resting on His right hand. .

11. Next, at Thiruvarur, we felt aghast at the sight of the biggest Kamalayam, the clean mini ocean. This pushkarani has legends behind it. Imagine it was here that Saint Thyagaraja too walked, bathed and washed his clothes..!!! He was born in a house in the same street we walked through, viewing the temple. A few minutes’ silence while standing in the hall where he was born, is an experience inexplicable. The sanctum sanctorum houses one of the swayambu lingams of the Saptha vidanga thyagaraja kshetras) This is the only temple where all the navagrahams face you in a line, at His command.

12 Saint Dhakshinamurthi guru’s adhishtanam is on the banks of Kamalalayam. Abhishekam with curd, honey and milk was in progress when we visited to have darshan, and this a place once habited by the great Kudhambai chittar..

13 Situated at about 4 km away off Thiruvarur, is the holy Thirukkanamangai, one of the 108 divya desam which had been eluding me and challenged all my previous attempts and efforts to visit. Probably, He thought it befitting only now to bless us during this pilgrimage perhaps because of a sincere soul longing to see Him….. !! Lord Baktharavi Perumal whose idol is the largest of Perumal’s in Tamilnadu blessed us with His darshan only this time.. Here the ageold honeycombs housing harmless honey bees on either side of the Thayar’s sanctum sanctorum is a rare sight.

14. The pilgrimage was virtually over with our visit to Sri Mushnam where the huge temple is enriched with matchless architectural beauty. In fact one needs minimum one day completely to witness and enjoy the enchanting sculpture here. The idol of moolava Bhuvaraha murthy is small but captivating our hearts.

15 Something has to be said about the miraculous coincidence in this tour of our having been fortunate to visit the holy spots connected with the life and times of great immortal souls viz., s HH Raghavendra, Vedanta Desikar, and Vallalar Ramalinga Adigal at Vadalur. Despite sudden downpour some of us hurried to see the still burning 132 year old oven of the Vallalar used for feeding countless millions of hungry stomachs, still continuing to do so.

This recollection would be incomplete if no mention is made of the relentless cooperation of the rare Mr. Sankar, owner cum driver of the Qualis vehicle which took us around, besides the neverfailing support, cooperation and enthusiasm of the enviable cum affectionate crowd around me. The time spent while moving on the road, listening to the lectures of Sri Velukudi Krishnanswamigal and the immortal bhajans of Swami Haridoss Giri completely recharged us.

With due apologies for anything left unmentioned and missing in this coverage due to my failing memory, I remain, yours

J.K.Sivan