A Wandering Mind

I have been writing pages and pages about my trip to Thanjavur and surrounding places, mostly temples. Here is something different. To finish off my series of blogs about my Diwali trip, let me invite you to join me in a different kind of tour – a tour through the eyes, or rather the lens of my camera. These are photographs taken over a period of 15 days, at various places. Let me assure you that there is not a single temple among them. These are purely of the sights I saw during my trip, something I will remember all my life, and would like to share with all of you. From Diwali 08 - Thanjvur Trip the sun set during our return trip from Rameswaram From Diwali 08 - Thanjvur Trip A lotus in a pond near Thirukkarugavur From Diwali 08 - Thanjvur Trip The road covered with husks near Nagapattinam From Diwali 08 - Thanjvur Trip A hermit crab leaving its shell at Kodikkarai From Diwali 08 - Thanjvur Trip From Diwali 08 - Thanjvur Trip scenes near Vedaranyam Fr...

Every Shiva temples has certain deities . While the central deities are Shiva and Parvati, all Shiva temples have other deities in the Pragaram like Ganesha, Muruga, Dakshinamoorthy, the Navagrahas, and Chandikeswarar. Each of these deities takes his/her place according to the direction/position he/she is assigned. Situated around Kumbakonam is a group of temples whose deities (not necessarily the central one) together form a temple much, much bigger than any temple in existence. The temples are as far apart as Swamimalai and Chidambaram. These temples are collectively called the Parivara Sthalams . The central temple in this group is Thiruvidaimarudhur. Thiruvidaimarudhur - Shiva From Diwali 08 - Thanjvur Trip Thiruvidaimarudhur is situated 8 Kms from Kumbakonam on the Mayiladudurai road, 1 km from Thirubhuvanam. This is a huge temple, with 3 pragarams. It is considered auspicious to circumambulate all the 3 pragarams. From Diwali 08 - Thanjvur Trip The main deity i...

Strength has always been one of the most admired qualities , and one has only to read history or mythology to see how much importance has been given to strength and the display of strength. One can find many temples all over India, all testifying to a victory of a god over a demon, or some special exhibition of greatness. There is a set of eight temples in the south of India, situated near Mayiladudurai, Thiruvarur and Thiruvannamalai, all of which are associated with displays of the strength and greatness of Shiva. At all these temples, Shiva has either vanquished a demon, or punished another god. These are collectively called the ‘ Ashta Veeratta Sthalams’ . Each of these temples is fascinating, and has special points of interest. What I find especially interesting is that 6 of these 8 temples have bronze statues depicting the story of the temple. These are statues that are absolutely invaluable and must be seen to be believed. Let’s take a tour of six of these temples that are situa...

The stories of Shiva and Parvati’s marriage have all the ingredients of a first class romance – from the story of the beautiful Sati’s marriage to the lord of the world living in a cemetery, to their subsequent dramatic parting; her re-birth as Parvati, and her strong resolve to marry the man who wouldn’t even look at her; her standing up to him and proving her worth, and finally getting her wish; their subsequent tiffs leading to her advent on earth (her mother’s home) every now and then, and Shiva finally making up to her by arriving to get married again – every story is interesting and has been told and retold in various ways ever since. Many places linked to Shiva and Parvati’s marriage have temples dedicated to the divine wedding, Madurai and Thirumanancheri being the most popular among them. While it was Meenakshi, the daughter of the Pandya king that Shiva as Sundareswarar (the handsome one) married at Madurai, in Thirumanancheri, Parvati was born as a daughter of a rishi. Acc...