A Wandering Mind

When you travel, it is not what you look forward to, and what you expect to see, that captures your attention. It is always the unexpected which remains with you, long after you return. And so it was, with our trip to Sankarankovil. Which is why, this post is going to be slightly different from my other posts in the Temple Run series.

The local bus from Tirunelveli to Sankarankovil seemed at first empty. Then, the crowds began to appear. The bus was full when it left, but at every stop, there were more people getting in…. and no one getting off. And the most striking thing was – everyone was dressed to the nines! Except us of course! 

When you have a long, long list of temples , and are short of time, it is inevitable that you miss some of them. And so it was, on our Temple Run. We chose to stick to the Nava Tirupatis, the Nava Kailasams, and a few other temples we certainly wanted to visit, and skipped the rest. However, there are times when the Lord wants you to come and see Him, and it is at such times that you feel truly blessed. We felt this at many temples, where we made it just as the temple was closing, but it was most apparent at Karungulam!

Tirunelveli and the Thamirabarani River are intricately linked with Sage Agasthya. This is one of the reasons the river here is considered as sacred as the Kaveri, or even the Ganga. Most temples here are on the river bank, or somewhere near the river, including the Nava Tirupatis, which we visited earlier on this trip. However, the temples most entwined in myth with the river as well as the sage are the Nava Kailasam.

Subramanya, Karthikeya, Muruga. He has many names, and in southern India, especially Tamilnadu, he is the consummate hero. He is the divine child, born to subdue the demon, Surapadman, who has enslaved even the Gods. He is born of the sparks from Shiva’s third eye, and he is carried by Agni, cradled by Ganga, suckled by celestial nymphs, and finally raised to be a warrior by Parvati. He is but a young man when he leads his army to victory against the demon. However, he doesn’t just kill the demon, he vanquishes him, and, accepts his surrender. The peacock, his vahana , and the rooster, his emblem are the forms last taken by the demon as he is vanquished. There are stories galore of Muruga – of his fight with Ganesha, and leaving home, to take up residence at Palani, of his marriage to Indra’s daughter, Devayanai, and his wooing of the tribal maiden, Valli. Tamilnadu has so many temples dedicated to Muruga, that it is impossible to enumerate them! Six of them, however, are special. T...

When you circumambulate a Shiva temple in South India, you see the images of the 63 Nayanmars placed on the same level as other forms of the Lord. If it is a Vishnu temple, these are replaced by the 12 Alvars. All these were devotees, the Nayanmars of Shiva, and the Alvars of Vishnu, who sang the praise of the Lord, and eventually merged with them. It is extremely interesting to see just how important these devotees are considered, for, who would know of the Lord and his greatness, if not for these saints, who sang his praises?

The  morning had disappeared while we had rushed through temples. The evening had yet to arrive, but we knew it would disappear just as soon. The afternoon, meanwhile, had to be whiled away. What could we do, once lunch was taken care of? Head to the hills, of course!

Thiruppudaimarudhur Narumbunathar Temple Driving through the fields , we followed the road to what appeared to be a huge wall looming in the distance. My attention, however, was captured by a board. My Tamil is not too good, and the only word that I recognized was ‘ paravai’ – bird. I perked up at once, though I knew well I had no time to go looking for birds. “I am not here for birdwatching, but to visit temples”, I reminded myself. The road led to a series of stone gates, their arches having long fallen. The temple spire visible between them was a beautiful sight.

“The best laid plans of mice and men / Often go awry” w rote Robert Burns. Nothing can describe our Tirunelveli Temple Run better than these words, written over two centuries ago! Entrance to the Nanguneri Temple

Have you played the game ‘Temple Run’? I haven’t. I only know of it thanks to my son. However, it was the name which struck me, when I began writing about all the temples I visited during our #summertrip to Tirunelveli. Over a period of three days, we visited almost 40 temples, and the planning, organization and execution of the feat involved a whole lot of research work, and timing it just right. It was way more adventurous, and fun, than the game can ever be, at least for me!

It was cloudy when we set out from Kanyakumari for Nagercoil, but in the short time it took us to reach, the rain gods decided to come down with a vengeance! It was pouring cats and dogs at Nagercoil, and the roads were flooded. We were all set to give up, but our auto driver was a resourceful man. “There are many roads to the temple” he said, and though we knew he meant it literally, we wondered at the philosophical phrasing.

Moving on from Kanyakumari, let me take you to one of the most beautiful temples we visited on our Southern Jaunt - Suchindram. This is a special post for me, since its about what I love the most - a temple and its stories. However, even more importantly, this is the 1000th post on the blog! Besides, I have now been blogging for over 8 years, and it has so far been a fantastic journey, with too many highlights to mention here. As I pen this thousandth post, I would like to thank all of you, my readers, for it is you who have made this journey memorable. Meanwhile, I hope and pray for many more journeys, and stories to share with all of you..... Vishnu (left), Shiva (center) and Brahma (right) on the gopuram of the Suchindram Temple

This was the view from the Vivekananda Rock Memorial at Kanyakumari. On one side was the ocean, and on the other, the city. We call this land's end, but if you arrive from the ocean, this would be your first view of India. And how beautiful it is, isn't it, especially with the clouds over the mountains in the background?  This was in May, when summer was supposed to be at its peak. However, unseasonal rains changed everything for us, showing us views like these, and obscuring the sun for almost our entire trip!  For more beautiful skies from around the world, visit the Skywatch Page.  Related Posts: Kanyakumari Crabs at the Vivekananda Rock Memorial The Southern Jaunt - At our Land's end - Kanyakumari The Story of my Summer Trip The Rishikesh series Moving on... From Dharamsala to Amritsar to Rishikesh The Himachal Series The Tadoba series

Returning from the Vivekananda Rock Memorial , as we waited for our boat, I noticed some movement on the rocks near the water. Zooming in with my camera helped, and I saw these crabs busy clambering all over. It was Samhith I thought about, since it was he was so fascinated by crabs and spiders. Since he wasn't with me, the least I could do was click some photos! So, this post is dedicated to Samhith! 

I was, but a child when my mom first told me the story of the bride who waited for her groom to arrive, and when the sun rose, but there was no sign of him, she turned the food prepared into sand, herself to stone, and stood forever, looking out into the sea. As I grew older, I heard different versions of this story – of the demon only she, an unmarried girl could kill, and of her nose ring, which shone so brightly, that ships, mistaking it for a lighthouse, steered this way, and were dashed against the rocks – but it remained just as poignant as ever. The stories fired my imagination, and my mom’s descriptions fascinated me. “How fantastic it would be, to see sands of different colours, or to see the merging of two great seas!” I thought, and waited eagerly for the day I would travel to Kanyakumari! The most recognizable landmarks at Kanyakumari today

Now that I have written about Rishikesh, it is time for me to take a break... and write about random stuff for a while, before getting back to my #summertrip. To begin with, let me share with you, as part of Skywatch Friday, a beautiful sunrise at Tadoba.... We were awaiting our turn to enter the buffer zone of Tadoba, when the sun appeared, over the rim of the trees.

A lantern hung on the branch of a tree , its pale glow just enough to find our way around. Our host rushed to light the fire, and details emerged from the darkness – the neatly whitewashed house, with a pretty garden around, a water pump, the kind I hadn’t seen in years, wickerwork chairs that reminded me of my grandparents’ house,  and a pair of care-takers, busy whipping up dinner for us. However, there was just one thing that Samhith noticed – the old fashioned charpoy (wooden bed) on the lawn! He needed no invitation to make himself comfortable, and declare that he loved the place! This was to be our last halt at Rishikesh before making our way back home, and I couldn’t have chosen a better place!

Driving through the mountains , I looked out eagerly for my first glimpse of the river. A sharp turn, and the bluish green waters came into sight. I asked the driver to stop, and he did, a little later, at a convenient spot. I just had to get off, and stare at her. Unbidden, tears sprang into my eyes, and I brushed them away hastily. It was an emotional moment, after all, I was setting eyes on the Ganges in Rishikesh, after a gap of over 25 years!

Amritsar wasn’t on the original itinerary for our #SummerTrip. The city was added to our plan simply because we were delayed in booking Shankar’s return flight, and the only convenient one available was from Amritsar! It was then that realization dawned – that Shankar had never visited the Golden Temple! Plans were at once re-modified, tickets booked, and I began to look forward to my third visit to the city! Somewhere on the way to Amritsar...

“Amma, you missed a fort!” cried Samhith. We were on our way from Pathankot to Dharamsala, and I had somehow fallen into a deep sleep. I was still groggy, but the word ‘fort’ was enough to wake me up. Or maybe it was the enthusiasm in his voice. He went on, describing how big it looked, and how it stood atop a hill, and all I thought was – I didn’t know there was a fort here! “Had you heard of the Nurpur Fort?” added Shankar, intruding into my thoughts, and I shook my head. For the first time, I kicked myself mentally for not being prepared enough, and decided we would stop on our way back.