15th December 2013 Vidaiyur
Once we get past Thiruvallur
and the semi industrialised Kadambathur, we still find lands being cultivated. There are flocks of snow-white cranes perched
amidst the green fields in silent meditation.
To the eyes of a city dweller who
gets to see only statues of these birds made in cement and painted white, the
live ones seem like pretty statues!! En route, we find traces of the beautiful
Coovum river with pristine water!
Our destination this month was to be the village of Vidaiyur.
We got to hear the temple priest’s version of the reason for the place having
been named so. Kamadhenu in the form of
a cow had walked in this village, worshipping the Shiva lingam here with milk.
Legend links this place with Thirupachur Sivan temple as well. It is said that
Kamadhenu after her devoted prayers, was relieved of the ill effects of a curse
and took leave from the world here and hence the name Vidaiyur. There is a
small sculpture in the outer wall depicting a cow and a Shiva lingam.
Our van drew up before a fairly new Amman temple and on
closer look, there seemed to be more than one.
The Ancient Sri Anandavalli udanaya Sri Agastheeswarar temple is a
little further away. As the temple was
locked, we did a pradakshinam, and one of our members spotted a five foot cobra
slithering into the undergrowth! The priest later confirmed that the temple
does have a resident snake!! He also showed us some inscriptions that were not
very clear and that officials from the ASI had visited the temple on more than
one occasion. The temple belongs to an era in the distant past which is yet to
be determined.
We had some time to bask in the sunshine and soak in the
surroundings. The mud road in front of
the temple seems to be elevated and the temple is reached by tracing our steps on
a slope. In front of the temple there are remnants of a kulam with stone steps on one
side; traces of stagnant water could be glimpsed between weeds and shrubs. Maintaining temple tanks could serve dual
purpose; one preserving a great heritage created with thoughts that are both
noble and scientific and second, harvesting water for better environment.
I can’t help wondering how could any other
thing be of greater priority except preserving the water bodies while public
money is spent for the MGNREGA!
As I stood gazing at it, a couple of small boys gamboled up
there followed by a tan and white puppy who was the miniature version of his
mother who came behind him. Both did not
spare even a glance for me, a stranger there! Next came an off white dog, who
stopped and seemed to ask for my credentials. I had carried a small bun and offered him a piece. As a village dog
brought up on wholesome food, he sniffed at it, then looked enquiringly at me
as if asking “ You call this Food !!”
On the right side of the temple is a large field cultivated
with Jasmine.
Presently, the temple doors were unlocked. We could find it
renovated with the sanctum of Sri Agastheewarar being preserved in proper form,
but the stone wall of the sanctum of Goddess Anandhavalli is now glazed with
modern building materials!
We commenced our recital of Thevaram hymns and sung them
over the next couple of hours.
A tasty lunch cooked
within the precincts of the temple was served.
Our member Thiru Srinivasan had, in the previous week, taken
great efforts to invite the residents of the village for the vazhibadu. There were two Nandi statues in the prakaram
damaged perhaps during conflicts. If the
temple could survive those and still remain standing, it was because our
ancestors cared. They had created a great culture for us and if we let
ourselves brainwashed that it is not worth preserving, then it will be our
greatest loss.
The playful boys of the village had come, but while it was time for us to leave, to our
dismay we found our chappals thrown into the shrubs and we had quite a bit of
searching to do!
17th November 2013 - Melpadi
One hundred and forty is a landmark number, and the
vazhibadu on 17th November, 2013 at Melpadi in the temple of
Arulmighu Thapaskruthambal udanaya Somanatheswarar was befitting such an
occasion.
Melpadi, now small
village had once been a very important place a thousand years ago in the Chola
Empire. The place where the troops of
the kings were stationed was called ‘Padai Veedu’ in ancient times. Soldiers would offer prayers at the Durga
Temple referred to as ‘Padai Veettu Amman’ before meeting their foes at the
battlefield. Even now it is common to
find several temples referred to as ‘Padavattamman ‘and ‘Padavettamman’ in
Tamilnadu. Melpadi had once been such a place and it is from here that Rajadhitya
Cholan had started for the important war at Thakkolam in 949 CE before his
heroic demise after securing the interests of the Chola Empire.
Later, his brother Arinjaya Cholan had been in Melpadi when
he passed away and his grandson the Great Raja Raja Cholan had built a
Pallipadai Temple in his memory here. It
remains to this day in the custody of The Archeological Survey of India.
Mr Suryanarayanan and Mr Ganapathy , members of our Sangam
had travelled all the way on 10th November 2013 . They had visited villagers in their homes,
extending invitations to them for the vazhibadu, placed banners at strategic
places and had made all the necessary arrangements at the temple for the poojai.
Their efforts paid off and our event was very well attended.
The day got off to a dramatic start as if to test our
commitment to the cause. The depression
off the Bay of Bengal brought about heavy rains throughout Saturday night that
continued on Sunday morning as well. Some of Chennai’s roads that transform
themselves into rivers during the rains, were in full spate! We managed to assemble at Koyembedu and
started our journey.
Our Mini Bus travelled steadily in the rains on the
Poonamallee High Road. One of the vehicles speeding by in the opposite
direction sent water splashing inside our bus through the slightly opened
window over the median! There were huge puddles on the road and our bus went
through one, spraying water with spectacular effect! We halted on our way to
Ranipettai, had idlis at the porch of a house on the main road, whose kind
hearted owner helped us. Eating hot
idlis and sambar amidst a steady drizzle outside made them tastier!
After a three hour journey we reached Melpadi. Beyond a
waterway, the road that is lined with Banyan and other big trees leads us to
the temple. By then the rains had
stopped and the sun had deigned to put in an appearance. The temple has a beautiful façade, with high
walls and an approach that could be associated with the Grand Cholas. The
courtyard inside is vast, and it presented a beautiful sight, that rain and sun
drenched forenoon.
Many residents of the village had come and several important
personalities relating to the place had graced the occasion. Among them were
Thiru Picchandi Councilor, Thiru S Subramani Councilor, Thiru S Chandrasekaran
Ex MLA, Mr Panneerselvam, and Officials of the Forest Department and the
Archeological Survey.
The vazhibadu was done with Abishekam, Archanai, recitals
from the thirumurais, and with the temple priest chanting excerpts from Rudram
, Chamakam and the Vedas. On the auspicious day of Karthigai, for the first
time, we included the recital of Thirupugazh under the guidance of our senior
member Thiru Thyagaganesan..
The Sangam honored
the persons involved in the maintenance of the temple. Thiru S Velayudhan, teacher,
and a resident of the place had composed a Kavithai on our Sangam which he read
out to us. It has been scanned for the benefit of our members.
We renewed the Sangam vows and lunch was served to the
residents of the village and the members, with a dish prepared with Thinai
included in the menu.
We hurried back for lighting the Karthigai Deepam. We had a
good three hour journey before us, but we left with a sense of contentment of a
Mission well Accomplished!
20th October 2013 - Aangadu
The day was blessed with a wonderful weather; mild, cloudy
and interspersed with light showers. It
was a perfect setting for the event planned for the day.
We travelled past the Puzhal lake, and took a right turn off
the National Highway. The sight of acres
of land with grown casuarina trees was pleasing to the eye. Once past the vast
stretches of land, there were quite a few houses and Aangadu did not seem like
a tiny remote village! We still needed directions to reach the temple and
paused to enquire a father, son duo.
While the father seemed nonplussed, his son with a toy gun in his hand
pointed at the right direction to a very small Perumal Koil!!
The van took a narrow road that soon brought us to a huge
lotus pond. The sight of so many lotus
flowers in bloom with a couple of lilies thrown in, was so refreshing. On its
bank stood a huge Neem tree,with its branches spread out to provide a canopy. The villagers had draped a red cloth around
its trunk and beneath, was a small place of worship with a few stones,
generously smeared with turmeric and Kunkumam.
Down the bend, we could see a small temple. Retaining only
the original stone ceiling and the semi circular Gaja Brushtam Constuction style
of the Thondaimandalam temples, the temple had been thoroughly renovated with
bricks and cement and painted in cream and brown colours.
While we appreciate the efforts taken by the villagers to
save the temple from crumbling down, it is also heart rending to see that they
fail to realize that in their over enthusiasm, the antiquity of the temples
getting destroyed. Restoration done, using modern materials, discarding the
original stones, alters the ambience of the temples.
But the Sanctum and the Shivalingam of Sri Indireswarar retained
a certain grandeur. The idols of Goddess
Senambika, Kalabairavar and the Nagar were handcrafted and beautiful. Oddly, we found a small
Nandi placed before the Goddess in this temple.
The Vazhipadu commenced and sizeable number of villagers
with their children took part in it.
Towards noon, there was a slight drizzle and it was noticed that there
were people standing even outside the tent put up!
Apart from the temple priest, there was another person
engaged in various tasks with obvious love for the God and the temple.After the
abishegam, the Priest of the temple, spoke about the value of the
Panchakshara Manthra and took out a
ganjira and conducted a mini bhajanai . An elderly gentleman of the village spoke about
the temple and we renewed the Sangam vows for the preservation of Ancient
Temples and Ancient Tamil Hymns along with the villagers.
A farmer of the village conversationally mentioned that they
had been making a conscious effort to do organic farming in the village, which
the vast green fields around seemed to testify.
We took leave of the place with the thought that the temple
here, is well cared for.
15th September 2013 - Karivedu
It was sweet Nadhaswaram music that greeted us as we got
down from our van after our travel from Chennai for two hours to Karivedu
village near Kanchipuram. With great humility
we accepted the gracious welcome, accorded to us by the villagers and walked to
the temple following the melodic notes of the Nadhaswaram and the perfect
rhythm of the Thavil. But the temple
seemed almost abandoned and there was not even a mud path to walk on. It was through grass, thorns and slush that
we reached the temple of Sri Dharmavardhini udanaya Sri Haripradheeswarar.
On entering the temple, we paused to take stock of our
surroundings. The temple seemed
untouched by modernity but for the electrical wiring and also seemed so much
ravaged by the passage of time.
On doing a pradakshinam before the vazhibadu, we were
greeted by very beautiful Ganapathy and Dakshinamurthy.The high standards of
the temple’s construction was so apparent in its perfectly carved alcoves with
intricate designs, for housing the Goshta Deivangal and in the divine beauty of
the idols. We were taken aback to find the stone slabs missing on the
floor. All that now remains is a mud
floor with numerous ant and wasp hives. We then reached the Murugar sannadhi and
were sad to see that the idols of both Murugar and Valli ,had been uprooted and
taken away with the idol of Deivanai standing alone.
Sans electricity, it was dark and pretty scary to venture
further. The Amman sannadhi was shrouded
in darkness with the agalvilakkus we had lighted, being too feeble to
illuminate it. And there were hordes of bats flying out from the Sanctum
Sanctorum. The beautiful idol of
Dharmavardhini stood alone in the darkness with the smell of bats permeating
the place, seeming to wait for us mortals to come to our senses and do our bit,
to preserve our heritage.
We later came to know that some of the Urchava Vigrahams had
been robbed a couple of decades ago and the rest have been kept in safe custody
at Thirumalpur. There was a nook at the
Mahamandapam to which the archagar kept going with the flowers and lamp. We were amazed to learn that the nook is
actually a small spring which used to have water. It also houses a neat
Shivalingam which can be reached climbing down a couple of small steps. The spring now has water only when there is
water in Palar. But in ancient times, it
was from here, that water was drawn for the abishekam of the Moolavar.
Our group did the vazhibadu, performing abishegam , singing
, reciting various hymns from Thevaram
and Thiruvasagam. The villagers
participated with gusto particularly an elderly gentleman who was not even
familiar with the Panns being sung. I
could hear a small village girl sitting next to me holding a perfect tune and
clearly chanting the seventh century tamil verses.
The temple came alive with music that day and we pray that
it remains so.
18th August 2013 - Pullalur
The villages around Kanchipuram always hold our
fascination. These must have once been
the outskirts of a big city even in the 7th century! Noble kings,
enlightened Spiritual Masters and brilliant teachers who had set up university
in ancient times, had lived in here. We
at PTTS, are trying to retrace our steps, making efforts to seek out these
ancient places of worship, so that they are not lost forever.
After the liberal rains we had received the previous night
on 17th August 2013, the Chennai – Bangalore highway, had small
streams of water running along the main road at several places. We took a left turn and were soon in
Thirumalpur; we might wonder at the North Indian style name for the place.
There is a temple here where Vishnu is said to have prayed
to Shivan and had been blessed. The chaste Tamizh name Thirumalperu had somehow
become a North Indian sounding Thirumalpur! The place has a tiny Railway
station that seemed clean, a rarity these days!
We went further to reach Pullalur. The village had been the
venue for many significant wars in the past. In the 7th century, the
armies of Mahendravarma Pallavan and Chalukya king Pulikesi had clashed here
when the Pallavas had suffered a defeat. After a few years, the armies had
clashed again and the Chalukyas had been vanquished. These have been
immortalized by Kalki in his novel Sivagamiyin Sabadham.
After a thousand years, Tipu Sultan had fought the British
in the outskirts of this village and had emerged victorious. After some years, there
had again been a war fought between the British and the French!
But now, the green fields show no sign of the bloody
conflicts and everything looks so peaceful.
According to the young temple priest, whose family has been performing
the poojas for six generations, the tendency of this place to attract conflicts
had begun much earlier. Jatayu had been hurt in the vicinity of the village and
the name of the village had been derived from the word ‘Pulll’ meaning bird in
Tamizh. There is a Divyadesam called ‘ Thiruputkuzhi’ close by, where Rama is
believed to have performed Jatayu’s last rites.
It seems to vouch Pullalur’s claim.
The temple itself is not very big, but it has a perfect
square vimanam so beautiful that we may not get tired looking at it. While we
do a Pradikshinam, we are surprised that the entire backyard and one side of
the temple being cultivated! Yes! Ploughed and planted with numerous vegetables
such as pumpkins, cluster beans and thandu keerai! The villagers had been taking away the rich
soil for their own use until an ex policeman had stepped in to stop it.
According to the Shastras, selecting land for the purpose of
building a temple, involved several steps of which testing the soil for its
properties is one. The soil needs to be fertile and have good taste, and a
small amount of soil had even been eaten; seeds of the navadhanyams sown to see
if the soil supports and nurtures life.
It is apparent that the Pullalur temple is built on a land
selected for its perfection. Arulmighu Sri Kamakshi Amman udanaya Sri
Kailasanathar resides here presiding over his very green estate.
21st July 2013 - Aanoor
The Grand Southern Trunk Road that seems to have lost some
of its grandeur lives up to its name once we get past the hustle of the city.
After the Mahindra City, we pass by a lake, a railway station, hills and a toll
booth to reach Chengalpattu. It is a very small, quaint and beautiful town. We
went through the town past the District Court finding numerous churches en
route.
Unlike Chennai and its surroundings, the Chengalpattu area
has hills and cactus dotting its landscape.
Once we get past these, nature unfurls greenery in the form of trees,
vegetable and paddy fields! The road to Anoor village is wide enough for only
one vehicle to travel. I later found
that in Chola times, the village had a centre for learning with Government
Grants.
We stopped at the temple. It’s obvious state of disrepair
did not worry me as much as the newly renovated, garishly painted ones do. So
there is still hope of salvaging it without destroying its originality. It is a
worrying trend that our historical, ancient temples are at the mercy of people
with little or no sense of history and spiritual knowledge.
The temple’s compound encloses a grassy prakaram and the
wall itself has niches at both sides of the entrance without the idols in them.
I wonder if they once had Chandra and Surya idols or Vinayakar or Murugar. I
have to confess that I was a little wary of thorns, walking barefoot in the
very grassy prakaram. There was not even
a single thorn but the feel of only fresh grass all the way and I even felt
guilty about walking on them.
There was a very strange image of Vinayakar quite unlike
what we normally see, carved at the southern side of the temple. There is a sannadhi at the south west,
without the idol. On the northern side, there was again an empty niche. We later found the Kalabairavar statue inside
the temple. It has been carved so
beautifully that the local people have decided, to place it inside the temple
to safeguard it from getting stolen. The temple itself has stone inscriptions
strangely running at the base of the structure almost at the floor.
The vazhibadu was done with fervor and PTTS honoured people
who are presently involved in the maintenance of the temple. A person for whom
Anoor is his ancestral village informed us that there is a similar ancient
Vishnu temple that badly needs renovation in the village. We were then invited
to the newly renovated Murugar temple.
After the lunch we had with everyone present, we started
over to the Murugar temple. We had
apparently taken the wrong direction, and the very narrow road that stretched
endlessly gave no scope for reversing directions! After a few kilometers, we
decided to bite the bullet. The driver did some very difficult maneuvering and
all of us had a few thrilling moments before we turned and headed to the
Murugar kovil. Obviously lot of money
had been spent, but sadly without retaining even a trace of the temple’s
originality.
Our vazhibadu that day was reported in the local edition of
Dinamalar and we later came to know that a wealthy sponsor had come forward to
renovate the temple. Aren't we always glad to find our prayers answered!!
16th June 2013 - Kalathur
There are several villages bearing the name of Kalathur in
Tamilnadu. We are uncertain if they mean the Agricultural field or the
Battlefield here. I assume the Kalthur
that we visited on 16th June 2013, off the Bangalore highway past
Kanchipuram would have referred to the agricultural fields.
As our
van drew close to the temple, we could hear the record of Bhaja Govindam sung
by M S Subbulakshmi being played. A nice
choice of song to listen to, as we had to stay outside the temple for quite a
while. In their enthusiasm to get the
temple cleaned ahead of our visit, the people who maintain the temple had
liberally poured water and the floors were soaking wet! Some of us seated ourselves on the front
mandapam that ran like a Thinnai. A
small girl drew kolams with sure strokes on the floor and at the steps that
drew appreciation from our women members.
We understand that it had been over five decades since the
last kumbabhishekam had been performed at the temple. Out office bearers had earlier visited the
temple and had captured its ancient locks in their camera.
The front yard of the temple has a small Nandi Mandapam. There are two more dilapidated brick and stone
structures and another mandapam that is locked.
Enquiries reveal that the structure at the far right in front of the
temple was once the madapalli. On the
left, the locked mandapam houses the vahanams of several temples in the area
kept here for safe custody. The other
brick façade had once been the yagasalai. As it was possible to enter only the
dilapidated madapalli, I ventured in to get a feel of the place. Past the
veranda like structure, there was no roof. To the right was a place with a
stone slab placed like a kitchen counter where I imagined cooked food had once been
placed, before being taken into the temple for neivedhyam!
Since
it could take forever for the water to dry on the temple floors, unmindful of
the wetness, we sat down and started the vazhipadu. Due to the fact that the
temple has too few devotees visiting it, its resources are limited and the
idols in the temple needed what we refer to as ‘Ennai Kaappu’.
During the next three
hours, as we were singing the Thevaram songs, we found that Kalathur has many
promising children with devout parents.
Some of these children had already been taught these verses and they
sang them with ease. There was another
young girl, with her kolusu tinkling, flitting about here and there, fetching
several pots of water for the abishekams, applying oil on the prakara murthies,
applying Sandal paste and generally assisting her archakar father.
The presence that the Moolavar has, cannot be described by
mere words and it needs to be experienced by everyone. So is the Urchavar, with
a majestic presence.
The parents who had taught Thevarams to their children had
honest devotion stamped on their faces. They invited us over to another temple
close by. This temple bore stone inscriptions.
These people had on their own initiative, started poojas in this ancient
forgotten temple and it has now become a regular place of worship.
The father insisted that we all stand together and did a
namaskaram with his family and asked that we bless them. The native culture of this soil was so
apparent in every gesture of his. We
great feeling, we sought God’s Grace that they remain with health, wealth and
happiness. It is people like them who
form the bedrock of our culture and they should be protected.
19th May 2013 - Kuranganilmuttam
KuranganilMuttam is a Padal Petra Sthalam near Kanchipuram a
little off the beaten track. It derives its rather peculiar name from an event
when a monkey, a squirrel and a crow performed Siva Pujai here. The temple structure itself dates back
to the days of the Pallavas.
Kathri Veyyil was in full swing even early in the morning
when we were on our way. An elderly
gentleman had given a Thevaram CD to be played in the van and we got off to a
musical start. But after a while, a few
others wanted some quiet and got it switched off! While some of us did not agree with the
decision, we murmured among ourselves and settled to watch the scenery by the
window.
Presently we entered Kanchipuram and soon the name “Senkazhuneer
Odai Veedhi “caught my eye. Though the street is now a busy thoroughfare with
no odai in sight, I loved the name and my mind conjured up beautiful images!
The van stopped near the Flower Bazaar and as minutes
trickled away, the van was getting hotter with every passing second. Our
experience that day taught us a valuable lesson that in Kanchipuram, we can
hope to buy Flowers only there and it is no use looking for them in Nellukara
Veedhi or Raja Veedhi.
Despite orders not to
wander away, one group was looking to buy some idli vadais, another was in
search of flowers, another for turmeric, one more for nongu , bangles and what
not !! After some frayed tempers, the van drove out of Kanchipuram. We passed
by Doosi, a town where once the troops of the kings had been stationed in
ancient times. The troops had raised a
lot of dust literally and hence the name for the town. Our forefathers certainly
had a sense of humour!
The temple itself is not very big and does not even have a
Rajagopuram. Its unique feature is,
being surrounded by a beautiful Thamaraikulam on all the three sides! To the
temple’s left, there are a flight of steps that lead us to the pond. The kulam
had thankfully not gone completely dry even in mid May and sported a good
number of flowers! I stood there soaking in the peace and serenity of the place
despite the heat of the sun beating down on me.
We did the parayanam with the senior member leading us with
a special recital of the Pathigam sung on the deity of KuranganilMuttam. After
the vazhibadu and the Arthi, we assembled in the Artha Mandapam to renew the
Sangam vows. I happened to find myself next to a Pillar that was done in simple
Pallava design. I ran my hand over it , felt its pockmarked surface and was
grateful for the moment.
All the idols in the prakaram were beautiful; particularly
the idol of Vishnu who stood much taller than the other idols of Vishnu we
would normally find in the Shivan temples; his expression so majestic and endearing,
lingers in my memory.
21st April 2013 - Edamani
A google search of Pazhaverkadu region throws some amazing
facts; it is a natural port that had engaged in trade with other countries in
ancient times; the place had once been a prized possession of our ancient Tamil
kingdoms and they had vied to get control of it. The kingdoms grew prosperous with the customs
and port related taxes. It appears,
cloth had been produced here for local use and export, and also Pazhaverkadu is
reported to have been mentioned by Ptolemy in the 3rd century before
the Common Era!
During the 9th century, a group of Arabs who had
to flee their country had sought refuge here and had got it.
After the fall of the Vijayanagar Empire, the place had fallen
in the hands of the Dutch who seemed to have engaged in some slave trading, and
then the Portuguese, French and the British.
The area had seen lot conflicts and destruction as some of these
European Powers had tried to destroy the native faith and enforce theirs.
From Koyembedu on the Kolkatta Highway, En route to Edamani
village, we passed by Ponneri, Thiruppalaivanam where the temple of
Thiruppalaivananthar is situated, and Andarkuppam where the BalasubramaniaSwamy
temple is situated. At a place called
Medhur, I could see a dilapidated Sivan Kovil with a kulam.
The horizon then expanded to open spaces and blue
skies. The landscape and the air seemed
to announce that we were approaching the sea.
The van stopped at the temple of Sri Angala Parameshwari
udanaya Sri Jataraya Iswarar kovil. Its appearance seemed to suggest recent
construction that had been painted in all hues. The kulam next to it, almost in
ruin, with old stone steps seemed to be the only evidence of the antiquity of
the place. There was a huge complex of trees behind the temple; a gigantic
Arasa Maram and a Pulia Maram. The
diameter of their huge trunks announce that they are centuries old.
After the vazibadu, the young archakar of the temple came
out with the following astonishing facts in response to pointed queries raised
by the office bearers:
1.
The Deity
Jataraya Iswarar, had originally been in Karimanal village near
Sriharikota. When the Space Station had
come up in Sriharikota, the temple had to be given up.
2.
The current spot had once been the temple of
Edamaneeswarar whose temple had ceased to exist. (Possibly razed or
dilapidated)
3.
Angala Parameswari had been the deity all these
years to whom people had been praying and sacrificing goats.
4.
After the prathishtai of Jataraya Iswarar, now
people offer the price of a goat in the hundi instead of performing a sacrifice
of the goat.
5.
Apart from the small lingam at the sanctum,
there is a huge Panai lingam from the rare Panai tree with several branches in
Karimanal. This tree, still at Karimanal can be visited only with a special
permission from the VSSC Authorities.
6.
Framed black and white photographs of the
original, small Karimanal temple adorn the walls of the new Edamani temple.
We leave wondering if the huge tree at the back yard was the
sthala vriksham of the original Edamaneeswarar temple and about a slice of history
that is now only hazy to us!
17th March 2013 - Melaiyur
After signing up as a new member of PTTS at the spiritual
fair, I,
along with several other members embarked on a journey which with some
hindsight, proved to be a journey that was not only to the Arulmighu Sri
Periyanayaki udanaya Sri Nadhaparaneeswarar temple in Melaiyur village near Guduvancheri. This and the subsequent trips to do
vazhibadu at the ancient temples in villages that are small and remote in the
present era, served as an eye opener on the present state of our priceless temple
structures, how we hindus as inheritors of a great heritage, are so unaware of
its value.
We travelled along the GST road past Guduvancheri ,
Nandivaram and reached the temple which was under a process of renovation. Although summer was officially yet to begin
on 17th March 2013, it was quite hot and the buttermilk served to us
by the organizers tasted like ambrosia. Each of us was given a book to do the
parayanam which has been compiled with great care, by including all the
significant hymns of the four great Nayanmars.
The temple had a fairly large Mahamandapam and over a couple
of hours, we rendered the Thevaram hymns with the guidance of a senior member
of our group. The sound of our
collective voices ricocheting off the old stone walls gave a curious sense of
satisfaction. Abishekam was performed at
all the sannadhis and it was time for the Arathi. A resident of the village tried switching on
a contraption, which simultaneously tries to play the drum, cymbal and ring the
bell too! I was thankful that it did not work and another villager took hold of
the temple bell’s rope and pulled at it energetically. The moolavar vigraham was so beautifully
decorated and the moment was so intense. I felt all that we need to do is to
reawaken the divine energies that our forefathers had established everywhere! I, with all the other members of the PTTS
chanted with all the energy I could muster.
Going around the temple, on the right side, found a sannadhi
of a very beautiful Perumal, and behind the temples, a beautiful pond full of
water. But more on these later.
PTTS then honoured the villagers who serve the temple and
the Archakar spoke on how the deity in the temple bestows boons of marriage and
parenthood on devotees who offer prayers here.
Later he had amazing events to share. It appears that a resident of the village had,
after lots of efforts, started the Thiruppani.
They had cleaned the well from where the idols of the Goshta Deivangal
have emerged. On cleaning the pond, the
tall beautiful idol of Perumal had been found. When the floor of the temple was
dug to be re-laid, the tool had struck something metallic and urchava vigrahams
buried long ago had been discovered. During an invasion, all these precautions
had been taken by our forefathers and it seems significant that the Gods have
chosen to come out now!!
To the delight of
several women members of the group there were Pirandai plants growing profusely
around the pond which they collected as we took leave in a happy mood!
