We get what we deserve not what we desire: Even if our desires are spiritual or divine. My in-laws wanted to have a tour
of the 6 sacred places of muruga along with my brother-in-law as soon as they
came down to India. Sundar and I planned
that we would join only to Pazhani and Thiruchendur as kids could not miss
school. It was a much awaited trip which my in-laws and specially my brother-in-law looked
forward to. During the fag end of their US stay, Air India goofed up with the
travel dates.
There was big confusion
regarding their return to Bangalore via Mumbai. The tickets from New Jersey
to Mumbai were booked. Unfortunately, the air India officials booked the Mumbai
to Bangalore trip on the very same day as the New-Jersey to Mumbai flight. This
is how efficiently our officials work!!!!. When inquired, they expressed
helplessness and with great difficulty, the New-Jersey to Mumbai trip was
preponed by a day. It turned out that my brother-in-law could not travel on
that day and had to cancel his entire India trip. It was a big disappointment
for us that he could not join us for the trip.
We however, planned to visit Pazhani and Thiruchendur if not all. My in-laws also joined
us for the curtailed trip.Why it all happennded is left to the lord’s own
discretion. Yes, quite disappointing to note that though our want was spiritual
and divine, it was rejected by HIM. Well, HIS ways are mysterious. There may be better reasons that my brother-in-law missed the trip. All is for Good.
Though Vishnu took several avatarams, Shiva is the official destroyer, Muruga is the favourite GOD for most of
the tamilians. Muruga has 6 important
places commonly called as “Aru Padai Veedu”. They are Palanai, Swami malai,
Thiruchendur, Pazhamudir cholai, Thirupara kundram and Thiruthhani. All these
places are extremely sacred to Muruga. One
can find a treasure of information on these, I am giving a glimpse of the same.
Pazhani: Here is where Murugan chose to
reside after he had a rift with his brother over a fruit. Murugan is called Dandayudhapani.
He holds a dandam (stick) in his hand and hence the name. Standing as a young
boy, this idol was made by a siddar named Bhogar. It is made of nava
pashanas and has high medicinal value. The raja alankaram for the lord in
indeed a treat to watch. His twinkling eyes, the majestic posture and the crown
on his head is a picture that will stay in our hearts for a long, long time.
Pazhamudircholai: Muruga, here is along with
two consorts – Valli and devayani. The vibhuti smeared on his face with
red smiling lips increases our love and faith in him. He truly says.” Yamirakka
Bayam Yen” (Why fear when I am here).
Thirupara Kundram. This is the place where Skanda married Devasena
here. He gives his darshan along with his parents, brother, and maama (Lord
Narayana).
Thiruchendur: Here is where Lord killed the demon called soorapadman. The temple is a magnificent one with huge pillars
and pleasing architecture. This temple in located on the sea shore. As the waves hit the shore and recede, it reminds us that happiness and sadness, success and failure
are like waves which keep coming to us and recede. We must be unaffected by them like
the ocean.
We could not visit swamimalai and thiruthani
as they were too far for us and could not make it. One striking aspect that I
noticed is that all temples I visited were very clean. Though all temples were
flooded with people, there were volunteers constantly sweeping and cleaning the
place. This was something I have not seen in Tamilnadu temples, earlier. This
indeed is a good and welcome change.
The two day trip was coming to an end. I
had the opportunity to sing thirupugazh in all the temples we visited. This was
a big blessing for me. Just like how I
saw changes outside, I noticed a change within too. Generally, I have always
wanted to see more and more, wait to re-visit the temples, crib about the regular
grind we would get back to. But this time, I was welcoming the return. I was
ready to get back to the Monday blues. No cribs, No complaints. And NO applications
of favour too, only thanksgiving. All because of GURU anugraham and Murugan’s
grace
As we were sipping a hot cup of coffee, we saw two temple highlight that were close to shivana samudram. As summer was coming to an end and te grind was to begin, we thought it would be a divine beginning for children and for us.
We decided to have lunch and leave at around 1.30p.m. Satyagalam is around 140 kms from Bangalore. One has to take a right turn at the Maddur circle. A drive into the Kollegal road will take you direct to the temple. As you near Kollegal, you can ask the local people. It is around 50 kms from the Maddur junction.
The deity is the varadarajar perumal along with his consort Perundevi thayar. The specialty of this temple is the presence of Vedanta Desikan sannidhi. He has several compositions to his credit of which the "sri stuti" is very popular.
Legend says that when the muslims were creating atrocities against Hindus in Tamilandu, Vedanta Desikan escaped to this place to sought refuge. Here he found kaveri flowing in full serenity and decided that this was the right place for him. He stayed here for 12.5 years and composed several hymns in praise of the lord. everyday Everyday, a turtle followed him diligently from the river bed,and requested him to take a seat on its back. Desikan refused, but the turtle did not give up. It pleaded with him and when he gave consent, the next day, it turned into a hard shell on which he sat and did penance. In 1936, this turtle rock was brought to the temple and desikan's statue was installed on this stone. This utsava murthi of desikan was installed by his son. There is a beautiful idol of lakshmi narasimhar, and lakshmi hayagriva. This temple is maintained by parakala mutt.
The purohit was extremely courteous. He explained about the temple at length, offered us coffee and made it a refreshing evening. An extremely contented man who boasts of a salary of Rs.6000 per month with accommodation and other facilities. He seemed to be very happy with his job of service, something which most of us crib about. The temple provides a big room where one can stay and go around other temples nearby. But there are no beds or special accommodation. All you get is a room which is spacious and clean. The name of the purohit is Bagavan Battar: 9741617905. You can contact him in advance and inform of your travel plans.
We then drove to madya rangam, where Lord Vishnu is is sleeping posture just like as in shriranga patna. Lord manifested to Gautama rishi in shriranga patna,called adhi ranga, to Indra in Satyagalam, called madyaranga and to vibheeshana in shrirangam, trichy, called as antya ranga. All these places are along the river kaveri. The name of the goddess is ranganayaki thayar. The temple is big and well maintained. There is a beautiful description of the sthala puram of the temple.
There is a temple nearby called someshwara temple where adi sankara has installed the shri chakra. We could not go to this temple as it was too late.
Few tips: One can take the kanapura road too to reach kollegal. But there are no good restaurants in this route. An early departure can help one to cover many temples. The ideal would be to leave in the morning.
It was a long pending trip to goravanahalli mahalakshmi temple. This temple is around 60 kms from Bangalore near Tumkur in otagere taluk. If one leaves at around 2 pm, we can first cover the devarayan durga temple of Lakshmi narasimha and then proceed to goravanahalli.
The road is quite good. One has to take deviation from tumkur road towards otagere road. It was almost 4 pm when we took the otagere road. And one of my friends had told me that the narasimha temple would get closed by 5.30 pm. So, it was like an indo-pak match. "will we make it or not".
We started to chant the vishnu sahasranama with the hope that HE will give us the darshan. Unfortunately, we took a wrong route and had to retrace the path. It was 5.pm. when we reached the foot of the hillock. We hurried up the hill. It is a steep climb of around 150 steps. We could hear the final bell indicating that the temple would be closed soon. With great enthusiasm and hope, we reached the top. It was 5.16 pm when we had the darshan of the Yoga Lakshmi Narasimha. The idol is small . Thayar is seated on Perumal's lap comfortably. He has his had on her shoulders and the other hand is a blessing. Though neivedyam was done, it was not distributed. We were happy athat we finally made. Sorry, a msitake..We didnt make it...HE made it possible.
The entire hill has an army of monkeys freely jumping and enjoying forest life. We drove down to the bhoga lakshmi narasimha swami temple. The posture here is similar to the one we saw atop the hill except that the lord was more relaxed posture. We had a nice kosumari prasadam followed by sweet panakam. There are many small temples around but we didn't have enough time to cover all of them.
We then drove to goravanahalli mahalaksmi temple where thayar sit and attracts huge crowd from all places. I have heard that she is very powerful and any prayer offered will be gratified in 40 days. The Lakshmi is a swayambu murthi installed by Smt. Kamalamma. This lady established the temple after having a series of divine experiences. The utsava murthi is very beautiful and is very well decorated. We had the great opportunity to have the darshan of maha mangalarathi. The temple is open the whole day on tuesdays, fridays, sundays and general holidays. They have anna danam arranged for devotees.
An early depature like 2pm would be sufficient to cover these two temples. If, you want to cover other small temples, you may have to leave early. We returned to bangalore after having a decent dinner at kamat upachar. It was a great end to the week. Looking forward to the next trip.
A 100 thoughts hover around me!!
There seems to be a competition among them. “Write me, Write me “ compete my
thoughts. I finally took a deep breath and calmed myself. I slowed down my
thought process and just forgot that I am going to blog my travelogue. After
controlling my thoughts, and streamlining them, I sat down to pen a few lines.
Bharath , a land of brahma Jnanis
is probably the most holy land on the earth. No other country has such a huge
number of saints who have stepped onto this holy land and made it a spiritual destinations
for millions of people irrespective of caste and creed. The contribution that
our country has given to this world in a big way is her GURUS and their
philosophies.
Lord shiva has 5 mains temples
where he manifested as the 5 elements of creation. He represented agni in Thirruvannamalai
as Arunachala, vayu in kalahasti as Vayu lingam , Space in Chidambaram as lord
nataraja, Water in Trichy as Jambulingeswara and earth in kanchipuram as
Ekambareswara. All these places are must see at least once in a lifetime.
Thiruvannamalai is one such place
which has given a great GEM in the form of Bhagavan Shri Ramana Maharshi. Not
only him, Seshadri swamial, Yogi ramsuratkumar are also from this holy place
who have tried to preach love and brotherhood among fellow humans. They have
elaborated about Amta Jnana and its importance to a great extent. The world
only knows a few but there are several unknown saints and siddars in this
place. When we went to the ramana
ashram, it was a wonderful feeling of being one with the lord.
The main hall in the ashram where Shiva and Shakti are worshiped is a treat to watch. The dedication of
the gurukal who does the puja is worth a mention. The garlands that adorn the
lord are specially made and are of different lengths so that they can be
arranged in a specific way. This gives a majestic look to the lord. The
peacocks, the monkeys and the dogs that roam freely in this ashram are indeed
blessed that they get to be in the company of satsang always.
The blessing bestowed on Ramana was instantaneous. He had a turning point in his life by which he transformed himself completely. I was just wondering, there are many such saints who have had such turning points in their lives, some incidences which changed their outlook and life drastically. I have read that even some non-believers are initiated and they go on to become great saints or bhaktas. Our lives seem to be going always in a straight line. There doesn't seem to be any turning point. Looks like the wait will be for long. This, was of course in a lighter vein that I was discussing with Sundar. A turning point for us is asking for too much. We must have done a million tons of punyam to feel realised which I am sure is not in our books of deeds. And this is possible by that one omnipresent alone. He must pick us to be so blessed. We must atleast start now so that after a few 100 births, we will feel realised.
The book shop and the library are
adorned with numerous books. When we sit to read, the passage of time for a few
hours seem to be a few minutes. It does not restrict to Ramana’s teaching alone
but has a wide range of books on different philosophies and paths. The Anna danam
or free food offered is extremely tasty. One noteworthy act is that anna danam
is done everyday. Generally, we have food to our heart full and then give the
remaining to the beggars. But here, destitute and beggars are first fed. It is
only after them, we are given food. No one is high or low in HIS court.
The Arunachala temple with all
its grandeur is a must see. Tamilnadu is known to
have big temples. The prakaram, the deities, the gopuram, the temple tank are
all huge and gives a sense of fullness when you see them. It also reflects the
patronage that spirituality and religion were receiving from the kings who
built these temples.
It was time to visit thirukoilur
where we had been to the ashram of one more saint: Gnanananda. The ashram is
quiet and serene. They too have a lot of rooms which are free. One must stay
and spend time in the serenity of the GURU’s teachings.
The Arakandanallur Shiva temple
is on a hillock with a cool breeze that beats the summer heat. The name of the
swami is Athulanatheswarar and the name of the goddess is Soundaryakamalabikai. One of the popular nayanmars: Sundarar sang in praise of Lord Shiva in this temple. He had a darshan of the Thiruvannamalai hill from this place. Ramana also had been to this temple before venturing to thiruvannamalai.
The Ulagalanda perumal temple in
the heart of the town in Thirukoilur is a again a testimony of the support that
temples and religion received by the kings of pre independence period. We could
not see the main deity as the kumbhabhshekam is scheduled for July 4th.
We could see only the presiding deities. This temple is one of the divya
desams. The three alwars : Poigi alwar, Boothat Alwar. And Pei Alwar experienced
the divine presence in this place and started to sing the divya prabandam. The
divya prabandam is a collection of 4000 songs sung by the 12 alwars of the sri
vaishnava sect in praise of Lord Vishnu. Time and again we are re-iterated with this tamil saying" katradu kai man alavu, Kallaadadu, Ulagau Alavu.". What is known is only a handful, what is yet to be knows is as big as the world."
It was 10.30pm when we reached
the ashram hotel. The next day, we had just planned to spend time in the
silence of the ashram. Though the ashram has a continuous stream of visitors,
there is always silence. The meditation hall is absolutely calm. You feel
totally disconnected with the world. A few minutes of meditation and
concentration gives an untold happiness and bliss. “Pin drop silence” is a
crude word. I would say “Feather drop silence”. The quietness and the positive
vibrations felt at this place is immense and cannot be explained by words.
We left to Bangalore after having
a sumptuous and tasty meal. The road from thiruvannamalai to Krishnagiri is
pathetic and very badly maintained. It was the positive mood which kept us driving
without cribbing.
Few Tips: If you want to avoid the bad road between thiruvannamali and Krishnagiri, you can take the more round path through katpadi. But this add anotehr 90kms t your distance.
If you wish to stay at the ashram and enjoy the serenity, you can write to them one month before your planned date. Write to stay@gururamana.org. The stay, food is absolutely free. But I am sure none of us would like to come back without offering anything. The donation that we make is very small compared to the bliss and blessings that we take back.
Of late, I have had the kripa of visiting a number of guru sthalams. It started off with Shirdi last year. I then started reading the teachings of Kanchi MahaPeriva. Then to Ramanashram, Yogi ramsuratkumar’s ashram, visit to the ashram of sheshadri swamigal and to thapovanam, abode of Gnanananda. I hope this anugraham continues. Thus begins the wait for the next call!!!
RAM RAM
Monday, 4 November 2013
A much awaited travel to THE ASHRAM
Sundar and I were very excited with the fact that we were going to make it to the ashram this time by HIS will. This was our third trial to visit the ashram. The first one was cancelled because of cheeru’s health. The second time, we were unfortunate not to make it as I had official commitments. As Vedanta and sastras point out, getting guru’s anugraham is extremely difficult. One can get the darshan of the LORD, but to get a GURU’s blessings and approval, one should have a sense of total surrender. Probably if we had opted to stay outside the ashram, we would have seen Lord Arunachala sooner. The blessings of Ramana got a little delayed, hitting out on our ego and lack of absolute surrender.
The hospitality in the ashram is very good. People are pious, polite and helpful. The stay was very pleasant with neat and well furnished rooms. Food is sumptuous and tasty (On the lighter side, if one wants to get away from the kitchen cookeries for a day or two, then this is an ideal placeJ).
The Ashram
The ashram with the serene atmosphere has a constant flow of people for all walks of life that defies tradition, culture, race, colour, religion. All that speaks in the ashram is silence and faith. To add to the beauty are the majestic peacocks. You never get so close to them anywhere else. They also seem to have got greatly influenced by the Ramana way – absolutely peaceful and calm. As I get a closer look at their necks and feathers, I really feel that there can be no greater engineer than GOD. Even the best artist with all his creative brain cannot add up to the colours of the peacock’s neck and feathers.
The Narayana seva at 10.30a.m everyday is a part of the ashram program where the poor and hungry are fed. The food is of good taste and quality with chips, sambar rice, and others being served. This is a very noble act of feeding the needy. But sometimes I fear if it initiates people into laziness?? What if it does? How can one differentiate if a person eats free food because he is lazy to work or he is really forced into begging. Looks like we have to give the benefit of doubt to the other side!!.
The book shop inside the ashram premises has a decent collection of Shri. Ramana’s life, short stories as told by HIM and also philosophy in varied languages.
Girivalam
We also went for girivalam in our car. There are eight lingams around the hill which represent the 8 directions. However, we could visit only 6 of them as the road beyond was diverted and we had to bypass the remaining 2 temples.
The Skandaashram
The trek to skandashramam was another eventful journey. Though it was painful, as a great man quoted, there was no suffering. The entire path was rocky and narrow. Nature was at its best with rich flora and fauna. Trekking after so many years was giving me an elated feeling. I was so over whelmed at the beauty of the Arunachala temple from atop the skandashramam. The temple looked so grand with its 4 raja gopurams, and 5 inner gopurams. It was a typical photographic picture and it was difficult for one to lift eyes off the divine sight.
The ashram was in absolute silence with a small but constant stream of visitors coming there for mediation. Bhagavan ramana lived here for around 20 years and did a lot of meditation here. His mother served him here as a devotee and attained Samadhi. Words fail me to describe the ashram to its befitting nature. At one point, I felt, how great is ramana’s mother to having given birth to such a great and renounced saint. As you enter the small rooms where ramana lived, your hairs stand up giving you a feeling of divinity within you. You feel one with the Lord, in absolute calmness and can feel the peaceful nature of the self. Just imagine, if we, who, as mere mortals feel so ecstasy after experiencing the inner self for a moment or two, given the right environment, imagine a person who is in this ever blissful state irrespective of the environment for a whole lifetime. I wondered - “Will ever attain this state??, Will I ever be in paramanandam ?? - Probably after a few tens or hundred births
The Virupaksha cave
The virupaksha cave which is slightly away from the skandashrama is also very enthralling. Ramana meditated here in the dark rooms of the cave. It is so dark inside that you cannot make out if anyone is sitting inside or not. What a place to meditate and attain siddhi!!! Each and every place where he lived is so appealing and heartening that any atheist would be initiated into meditation.
Coming down was inevitable. We trekked down with a heavy heart. The body alone was going dowhill, but the heart and mind was still with ramana – wondering, curios and waiting to be one
Come to think of it, a visit to such places gives a feeling of where you actually belong. A sense of true knowledge engraves you, though for a short period. The spiritual vibrations are so strong in such places that it makes you think and introspect more about life and its goal.
But where is the starting point – Well, I guess for people like me, the starting point is Karma Yoga. I have duty calling me now and got to go!!!..
India – A land of great saints
and acharyas. A land which is the birthplace of many religions. A land wherereligion and spiritual practices bind people together.Saints born in this land are innumerable. Every
part ofthe country has saints to boast of. They have poured their vibrations
into this soil making this a spiritual destination to millions across the
world.
The saints of the previous yugas
gave us the rich teachings of the Vedas and Vedanta – Valimik, Vyasa bagavan,
patanjali, agastya, bharadwaja, vasista, vishwamitra, parashurama etc etc the list
is endless. In this kali yuga itself, we have seen many saints making their presence
felt. They have strived for human welfare and have always been a torchbearer of
reforms. Adi Shankara, Ramanujacharya, madhwacharya, raghavendra, gyaneshwara,
mukta bai, meera bai, namadev, eknath, tukaram, the alwars and nayanmars of the
south – oh..This is another endless list. Among the recent years, we have Vivekananda,
Ramakrishna paramanhamsa, Shirdi baba.
We were looking forward for this
trip for a long time and it happened today. It had to be a long journey in the
lokamanya Tilak express from Cantonment to Daund and another 3 hour travel from
Daund Jn to Kopergaun, our final destination. Shiridi is around 20Kms from
Kopergaon. Since we went during the monsoon season, the land was fertile and
green.
After checking into the hotel
room, and refreshing ourselves, we left for the dhoop arathi that we had booked
online. He sure is a crowd puller. People
for different parts of the country were there to have a glimpse of their sad
guru. The arathi takes around 25 minutes with soulful arthi songs being
rendered by the priest there. After having darshan of sai, we went to visit the
museum, dwarakamai, chavadi, the dhuni and the neem tree. All these places have
always been with sai. He is one of those souls who never travelled outside
shirdi. He drew large crowd from where he was. His teachings spread far and
wide and so do his blessings, When we see the utensils used by him, the cot he
slept, the robes he wore, the place he made prasadam for all, it gives us a
feeling of belongingness. Were we also a part of this in some birth of ours?
Wouldn’t it have been nice if we were one of those simple, innocent and devoted
people during his times?
The shirdi temple
Out the dwarakamai
The next day was supposed to be super exciting as we were going to panchavati in Nashik where we would be seeing few places which are important to Rama and Ramayanam. We began with a quick visit to the Birla temple (Ram kund) which houses all the GODs and important places like the 12 jyotir lingams, the Himalaya dharshan, the vaikunta dharshan.
The next stop was at the Godavari
ghat which was flowing with full happiness. Though it looks serene, it was a
bit polluted given the fact that it was flowing in the heart of the city. The
triveni sangam i.e. the confluence of godavari, aruna and varuna takes places
here. The Kumbh mela (held at Ujjain, nashik, Allahabad and dwaraka once a
year) takes place once a year at this place and lakhs of people come here to
take a holy dip. It was here when Ram performed the last rites for his father
when in exile.
We then went to kapalesshwara
temple. North India has a different way of worship in that devotees can enter
the garbha gudi and perform abhishek for Lord Shiva unlike south India where we
are not supposed to enter the sanctum Santorum.
We then proceeded to Sita Gupha. When
surpanaka’s nose was cut off by lakshmana, she complained to her bothers khara
and dhushan. The brothers along with 14000 rakshasas came to fight Rama. Rama
then made a cave for Sita and kept her here in hiding. This entire region was
the dankaranya forest mentioned in the Ramayana where Rama stayed for the last
2.5 years of his exile. The name Nashik is evolved from nasikah meaning nose. Since
surpanaka's nose was cut off here, this place came to be known as Nasik. The
cave initially is a very narrow one but then as we proceed down, it opens up to
three beautiful idols of Rama, Lakshmana and Sita along with Hanuman. Children
had fun time going into the cave a couple of times while I read the sankshepa
Ramayana at this place.
We then went to Goraram temple
and the Kalaram temple. The ram idol installed in the kalaram temle is a
swayambu. Here Ram holds his right hand on his chest and his left hand
downwards. If we surrender to his feat, he promises us full protection and
happiness. The temple is very beautiful and is well maintained.
The Kalaram temple
When then proceeded to the
tryambakeshwar to see one of the jyotir lingams. The crowd was huge with heavy
rain too. We thought that we may have to come back without the darshan of the
lord but a priest helped us at an extra cost. We were taken into the temple without
any hassle and had a good darshan. The linga is quite unusual here that the
mound is not seen outside but is dipped inside like a grinding stone. It was
humbling to see that inspite of heavy rain, people didn’t lose hope or walked
away, they were all patiently waiting to have a glimpse of the lord. The brahma
giri hils at the backdrop with Godavari taking birth as small streams is a
pleasant sight to the eyes. The entire belt between shirdi and nashik is green and
green. We could see many sugarcane fields which seem to be the main produce
here. All along the way, we could see small shops which have put adhoc swings
for children to lay and have a nice natural cane juice. No maxhines are used to
make the juice. Cows are used to trun a gear box which crushes the sugarcane to
make juicy juice. It was a very nice experience to have a fresh breath of
village life.
The next day was the visit to
shani shignapur. This temple was not very crowded. Here Lord Shani is in the
form of a huge stone. None of the shops have doors and the claim is that even
houses don’t have doors. People believe that everything is taken care by Lord
shani. Amazing!!!!
The next day was our return trip
to Bangalore. Children thoroughly enjoyed this trip and want to come back to
shirdi. What we want is a dream but what happens to us reality. I have always
wanted to be under the guidance of a guru. I have heard people telling that having
a guru is absolute bliss. You need not worry for anything. Everything is taken
care of. But I still haven’t had the benevolence of a guru. How is my guru, how
do I choose my guru? How do I know that I need to trust this person as my guru?
Well, we are not elated souls to choose our guru. It is the guru instead who chooses us. I
am still waiting for that moment when my guru will spot me and give me that absolute
blissful experience.
Thayagaraja Aaradhana - A yearly tribture to the trimurthis (Shri Thyagaraja swamigal, shri muthuswami dikshitar and shri shyama shastri) and also to the father of carnatic music shri purandara dasar. If we today we enjoy music at its best , it is because of the ragam, thanam, bhavam filled songs of these great saints of carnatic music.
Like every year, shriram's mrudangam teacher, Vidwan. Shri gopalakrishnan, also celebrated this festival but in a different way. People generally celebrate this in temples, big halls and other places but this man did it in his very own old age ashram called "Dwarakamai Vruddhashram" in chikkaballapur. It was attended by an elite group of people having a sound musical knowledge and lead by mrudanga vidwan Shri. T.S. mani and his wife Vidushi. Smt. Rama Mani
Now, this post is not to elaborate on the arrangements or grandeur with which it was celebrated. Neither it is meant to talk about the songs sang or about the vidwans who sang. It is about the people and the kind of care that they are given.
This ashram is entirely and solely run by Shri. Gopalakrishnan's son murali and his wife. Shri gopalakrishnan also is very much a part of it. This is around 14 years old (i think). Old people who are abandoned by children resort to this place and are taken care like children. There are actually two wings. One wing has all old people whose children have left them to be totally forgotten. Even if they were to die, it would be the ashram inmates who would perform their last rites. According the Shri. Gopalakrishna, in the last 10 years, he has performed rites to around 800+ people. We saw people who have no legs, some who were totally bed ridden, one who could neither hear, see or speak and was being fed by one of the volunteers. It nearly brought tears to our eyes. Time and again, we are reminded of how gifted we are and what we need to give back society.
The other wing is a more decent one where people live by paying some meager amount. So, this ashram is entirely run by donations. Money is not asked but flows -little by little. There is a shirdi temple within the ashram and everyone here believes that it is Baba who takes care of them and their needs. We could actually not spend time with the old people as the celebrations were ongoing and had to leave to our far destinations. But the underlying point is that this man single handedly runs the show with the help of family members. It is pure selfless service.
Many a times, parents are hurt by harsh words. Their advice is unwanted. They become people of boring speech as they grow old. They become a burden. But little do we realize that it were these same mother and father who taught us to face world, who held our hands when we were down, who patted our backs and lifted us when we failed, who rejoice more than us when we found small success in life. They lifted all our burden and made us what we are today and we when we are independent, we find them to be a burden. We don't even realize that we will also travel the same boat few years from now. We will also have to undergo the same treatment from our children because we set an example to our children. We plan so much for he future and claim to be so foresighted but ignore such human values and relationships which will reap the same harvest in future.
Through this blog post, I would like to tell people that if you are interested in donating to this sai ashram, you may do so. You can contact Shri. Gopalakrishna. (Mob: 9886275899). By the way, you do get a 80G IT exemption for your donations.
For many, this post will definitely be a matter of non-attachment and a casual read/comment. It would be like any other NGO who are doing yeomen service. I am not trying to promote this ashram or try to associate myself. This is only to create an awareness in people about this home, their selfless work and their commitment. Out of your many whole hearted charity that you do for varying NGOs, this can atleast be at the end of your wish list.
Ooohhhhhhh….AAhhhhhh………jinka
lakadi jinka lakadi ..Similar sounds and whistling rented the air. Girls, boys,
men, women, senior citizens and all kids came together to enjoy the tunneling
effect, something which was the first to many of us.
Dark and bright,
dark and bright
Oh..is this day or
is it night
one, two, three and
four
Wow.. so good!! Can
we have some more?
56, in all,
counting one by one
A wonder in our
face, once it was done
Amma, please, please,
can we have a re-run
It was great,
awesome and fun
For many years now,
I thought that people got hyper and give such special effects only to a rajini
starrer. No..This was NOT a endiran or a shivaji and none of the rajini starrers. It was a kudos to the engineering marvel
created by man. The journey from sakleshwarpur to Subramanya road by the kannur
express was just awesome. My son went on asking me "how did they do this"?"How did they do this" and solemnly took oath that he would become a train driver when he grew big and particularly in this train. :)
People went crazy
and got so excited that whenever the train passed through a tunnel, there were
huge shouts and cries. The bridges after every tunnel added to the oooo’s and
aaahh…’s. They were such that one cannot see the track below and would give u a
feeling that the train is actually flying across the rivers. With the "dadang dadang" sound, it surely sends a fear down your nerve.
There are 56
tunnels in this path with some being as long as ½ km. There are small creeks
all along surrounded ofcourse, by the Western Ghats.
There is only one colour that we can see all round - green , green and green. I
really wondered. Many of us plan holidays outside India. It usually is in Singapore, Malaysia,
Thailand,
etc etc. and we proudly speak of it too. People fail to realize that our country has such rich beauty to relish and appreciate.
We got off at
Subramanya road to drive to Hotel seshnag ashraya in kukke. The autowala
charged us a whooping Rs.200 for 4 people. The hotel is a decent one and is
very close to the temple. Got ourselves refreshed and started our pilgrimage
with the visit to the Subramanya temple. We went at around 5.0.p.m and there
was no crowd absolutely. The GODs are (in order) vasuki, adisesha and lord subramanya sitting on his peacock. The lord is not very clearly visible as it is heavily
decorated and is very small too. We had to get this info from the priest present there who was
extremely reserved and feared if pearls would roll down lest he opened his
mouth. We then went to Adi Subramanya temple which has the main snake hill
(putthu). It was here that lord Subramanya first appeared in the form of a
snake.
The next day, we
left to dharmasthala at around 8.30.am. . This place is nearly 50Kms from kukke. We
reached dharmasthala at around 9.30 and had finished darshan by 10.a.m. We had
a rare nirmalya darshan of Lord manjunatha. The crowd here also was not much.
The cleanliness that is maintained here is worth a mention. Not only here, in all
temples that I have visited in Karnataka, utmost care is taken to keep the
premises of the temple clean and tidy. Many banners and videos depicting the
expected behaviour of devotees are displayed making the public constantly aware
of what they are expected to do.
By 10.30 we left to
kateel. On the way, we stopped at a beautiful ram temple. Lord Ram along with
his consort Sita , Bharath, shatrugna, hanuman, various forms of shakti, the
nava garahas are all carved out in marble. It had the flavour of a
north Indian temple.
We then headed to
kateel to see Durga Ma. The roads are well maintained; they go winding and
winding with a canopy of trees on both sides. As I said , you can see only one
colour here and that is green, green and green.
She sits small with
four arms. Her temple is amidst a river. The time was apt and we had the divine
opportunity to view the maha mangala aarathi. The Goddess was decorated and
decked with jewels giving a majestic yet motherly look. We had free lunch at
the temple complex. We then left to udupi at around 1.30.p.m.
We reached udupi at
around 3.p.m. The temple was absolutely free and it was like Krishna
was waiting only for us. We went round and round three times to see the kutti hero. And
what to talk of the cute, cuddly, chubby Krishna
who sits there holding a gili gili toy in one hand and butter in the other.
Black is beautiful but never in my life have I seen black being so mesmerizing
and so enchanting. He is dark as the new moon. Yashoda had decorated him in
full gold. His eyes are twinkling looking eagerly if mother will give him more
butter to feast on. No wonder devaki
veiled at the loss of the childhood pranks of Krishna.
Though she gave birth to him, it was yashoda who had a great advantage of
seeing him grow, of bathing him with her affection. I was reminded of
oothukadu’s composition..”enna thavam seidanai yashoda..endrum nirainda para
bramam amma endraikka” (What tapas did u do oh yashoda that the para brahmam
himself calls you “amma”).
Frankly, I didn’t
want to leave that temple. Krishna was so very
attractive that you never feel like lifting your eyes off him. Oh my GOD…what a
beauty, what a beauty!!! We left with a heavy heavy heart.
We left Mangalore
to board the train to Bangalore.
In Mangalore, we went to the gokarnatheshwara temple in kudroli. This temple is
relatively a new one (around 20 years ) and is indeed very beautiful. Special
mention of annapoornaeshwari is a must. The deity resembles the one in horanadu
and is bedecked with rich jewels.
The train to Bangalore again went
through the same tunnels. We were asleep but there was one soul who was awake
and wouldn’t want to miss this chance even if it were to be night – shriram. Note: The day train (Train no: 16515) YPR karwar express operates only on Mon, Wed and Fri. It leaves yeshwanthpur at 7.30 and reaches subramanya road at 3.10.p.m. The tunnels are built only between sakleshpur and subramanya road. So, if you wish to experience this, plan accordingly.
Where do I begin? Should I start with the
nail biting beginning or the thrilling end? Does back waters get to the front
lines or the beauty of kerala houses and their living. Should the beauty of the
temples take predominance or the deities residing in have their first go? How
about the food here or should I be the neat roads?
Well, anything said is less. Our train
was scheduled at 9.p.m and unfortunately, we left at 8.p.m which was pretty
late. Not only have we got entangled in this smasara sagara, but also in these
traffic jams and signals. My mother, father , aunt and shriram reached the
yeshwanthpur station at 8.40.p.m after putting a brave fight to Bangalore traffic. We
were worried if sundar and his parents would make it. It was 8.50.p.m and the
tension was mounting. I called sundar and he said “You pepole carry on, don’t
think we can make it”. My heart sank and shriram was almost in tears. Then I
asked him “Where are you. I can request the TTR to delay the train by 5
minutes”. “I am in G15 coach” came the answer. “Oh god..there is a time to have
fun and play” I thought and was relieved that they made it.
The train journey as usual was a pleasant
one but this time it was more enchanting because it was kerala’s greenery
everywhere and drizzle all the time. We reached Bagavat gardens in chenganur
and halted there to get ready for our first DD in kerala.
There are totally 11 DDs (divya desams)
in Kerala. We covered only 8 which are in close proximity. Since the tour was
specifically to see the divya desams, we started from chengannur which has the
most number of DDs. Else, one can start from trisur too and come down to
chenganur.
Some common information about the temples
in kerala.
All the Vishnu temples that we saw have
swami in standing posture and four armed – shankam, chakram, gadha and padmam.
There is no separate thayar sannidhi except in thirupuliyur. In all the others,
Swami has locked mahalakshmi in his heart.
Every Divya desam we visited, we saw
people reading ramayanam. I am not sure if it was because that it was the last
day of the adi month. But all said and done, people here are very pious and
more devoted. The temples are spic and span and very well maintained. All of
them have the dome shaped gopuram. None of them have mosaic flooring or artificial
lighting. The entire temple and specially the garba gudi is fully illuminated
with lamps. This gives a special aura and devotion to everyone in the temple.
People maintain pin drop silence unlike other temples where a lot of gossip and
loud talking is done.
All temples in kerala open in the morning
by 5.am and close by 11.30 a.m. The evening timing too are from 5.p.m to 7.p.m.
Since 16th was the beginning of the avani month for them, we were
lucky that all temples remained opened till 8 to 8.30.
All Men must remove their shirts, vests before entering the temple. ladies usually are in sarees. Though salwar is allowed in most of the temples, it is better to wear sarees while visiting guruvayur. Rules may change any time.
Usually the temples dont accept any kind of offering from devotees. Everything is done from the temple. Also, the only prasadam one gets is fresh and original chandanam.
Each of the pancha pandavas have built a
temple for Maha Vishnu in and around chengannur.
15/8/2012 – The
Chenganur train (Kochuveli Garib rath epress) reached chenganur at 10.30. We
halted at Bagavath gardens, a decent
hotel.
We visited three temples on 15th
evening. I have given the name and details according to the order in which we
vsitied
Thirupuliyur
(DD No.86)
Swami here is
called by the name of “Mayapiran”, Thayar is called “Porkudi nachiyar”, Thirtham
is Pragya Saras and Vimanam is called Prushotaman. This temple was build by the
second of the pancha pandavas, Bhima.
Thiruchenkundroor
(DD No. 87)
The Swami is
called by the name of “Imayapiran”. Initally, built by the devatas, the first
pandava, Yudishtra renovated this temple. Yudishtra was very depressed when
drona, his guru died because of his lie. In order to do paschatapam, he
renovated this temple.
Thiruvanvandoor
(DD NO. 89)
Swami here is
sung by the name of “Pambanai appan”. Nakula, the fourth pandava is said to
have built this temple. One can see lord krishna doing kalinga mardanam on top
of the gopuram. Namma alwar has sung pasurams here
16/08/2012
Morning:
Aranmulla
(DD No.88)
Swami here is
called “Thirupuralappan” and thayar is called padmasini. The thirtam is pampa
tirtham and has vamana vimanam. Arjuna after killing karma felt bad in the way
he killed karma and did penance here. He then built this temple for mahavushnu.
Lord ayyappan’s jewels are stored in this temple and are taken to sabari malai
when needed. There is a “banni” tree, where the pandavas hid their weapons when they were in the 13th year of their exile in incognito.
Sine it was the
last day of the month of Adi, a grand alankaram or decoration of lamps with
flowers and other material was done which looked great and divine.
Thiruvalla
(DD No. 90)
Swmi here is
called “SriKolapiranPerumalTemple” We also saw
abhishekam to the lord here.
Thirukadithanam
(DD No. 91)
Swami here is
called “Adbutha Perunal” built by the last pandava, sahadeva. It is said that
at the end of kali yuga, perumal here will vanish which was lead to deluge of
the entire world. Also, kunti devi breathed her last here.
Chenganur is a lovely place with narrow
roads and houses all along the road. You can never see any deserted place. All
houses have a big garden showing their love for mother nature. The constant
rain with occasional drizzle gave a mystic feeling and one wondered how can a
place be so unpolluted and so serene.
16/8/2012
Evening
We checked out
of the hotel and left to ernakulam which has the remaining two DDs. We hired a
scorpio. The journey is something to remember and relish, All through we could
see back waters. It sure lives up to the name as “God’s own country”.
Surprisingly, the number of apartments are quite few in ernakulam. Most of them
are independent houses with a lot of space for garden and greenery. We had
booked rooms in Vedanta Wakeup but the attitude of the people here was more
foreigner friendly. So, we took a home stay nearby called rampart homestay which
was cosy and well equipped. This is very close to the Arabian see backwater.
To visit the
other two DDs, we took a ferry from our place to ernakulam. The ferry ride was
enjoyable specially for the kutties. It is better to take aferry from here. A Taxi would mean a waste
fo time and money. From ernakulam, we hired 2 taxi to reach the two DDs. Time
was ticking and we were not sure if we could make it to the last DD. Sundar,
kids, myself and my mother-in-law came by one of the taxi and when we were
almost close to the temple, there was a block in the road which was very
disappointing. But HE lives up to his word. If we try climbing two steps for
his sake, he climbs down 10 steps to lift us and this proved it. The temple
remained opened till 8.30.p.m that day due to celebrations for the last day of
the adi month. HE not only gave us darshan but also gave us an opportunity to
see the seeveli and we also got s special blessing in the form of a garland
from the lord. Our intention was only to see the lord but he blessed with more
than what we asked for.
Thirukarkarai,
Edapally (DD No.92)
Swami here is called
by the name “Sri katkarai Appa Perumal temple”.
Thirumoozhikalam,
(DD No. 93).
This
is situated near cochinAirPort.
Swami here is
called “Moozhikalathan Perumal”.
With this, we ended the Divya desam tour
and thank GOD for having givn a good and satisfactory darshan at all places.
17/8/2012 Morning: Chotanikare, Kalady
17/8/2012 Evening: Trissur
We staryed at the
home stay. On 17th morning, few of he ladies visited chotanikare.
An important
note: If you want to cover chotanikare, kalady and trisur in one day, one has
to start as early as 6.a.m
We checked out
at 8.a.m. and left to the abode of he great jagadguru, Shri Adi Shankara. It
was pouring constantly all the way. We reached kalady at 12.00. noon. The
ashram is maintained by shringeri sharada mutt. One can see the Samadhi of Sri
Shankara’s mother Aryamba, the exact place where he was born and the poorna
river which flows just behind his house. The vibration here is something which
one must experience. A small temple for shringeri sharade is established here. Guru
anugraham is something not all get. The guru has to identify his shisyas and it
is a bhagyam if one gets a guru. With the hope and faith of getting this
anugraham in life…we proceeded to thirusur to have a darshan of Lord shiva who
is known by the name of vadakum Nathan.
Trissur Vadakum
Nathan temple is spread over a huge area which is maintained in an excellent
manner. The lush green lawns gives a serene look. The Lord here is Lord Shiva
which is fully formed of ghee and doesn’t melt at all. The alankaram is great and definitely is a
treat to the eyes. This place has a great history.
Parashurama
wanted to do tapas and aimed his arrow. The arrow fell at this temple. Since,
there was no temple or GOD installed there, he requested Lord Shiva to come
down and give darshan. Lord Shiva along with his consort parvati, blessed
parashurama and ordered him to build a temple here. Since the lord himself
chose this place to reside, kerala is called “God’s own country” and Thiru Siva
Perur came to called as Trissur. And since Lord Shiva who resides in kailash
came down all the way to the south, he is called vadaka Nathan (Lord of the
north) here. There is a particular order in which open has to go round the
prakaram which is displayed at the west entrance. Over one lakh lamps are lit
in the temple during shiva rathri. The temple is open till between 4.a.m to
11.30 a.m in the morning and from 5.p.m to 8 pm in the evening.
After this
satisfying darshan of the lord, we proceeded to the place that all were looking
forward to - guruvayur. We checked in at Gokulam resort. There ar emnay hotels
available around the temple. We took the hotel at west nada which is around 5
minutes walk from the temple. East nada also has many hotels and are very close
to the temple.
Sundar and I
had planned for the nirmalya darshan of Lord guruvayurappan on the next day.
18/8/2012 – Guruvayur
Got up at
1.30.a.m, had bath and went to the temple for nirmalya darshan of the lord. The
temple opens at 3.a.m. It is better to be there at 2.30 itself. The crowd is
not much at this time and we get to see the lord without any alankaram. Small
made and four armed, your hair stand up with awe and devotion. This happens
without your knowledge and involuntarily. Such is the megic of HIS presence
there. That Lord who sustains the whole world, That kid who played wonders in
his childhood, that krishna who gave the world the knowledge of gita, that
damodara who played rasa kreedai with gopis, that lord who is a friend of
friends, a lord of lords, a child of children was attracting people from far
and wide in his small garba griha illuminated with only lamps. This is another
beauty of temples in kerala – no artificial lighin whatsoever. The radiance is
just magnificent and divine.
After having
the nimrlaya darshan, sundar and I went to another round of darhsna where we
got to see the shankabishekam (abhishekam with the conch). We bathed the Lord
with tears of Joy and thanked him for having given this wonderful sight.
We returned to
the hotel and got kids ready for another round of darshan. And this time it was
the lord fully decked and dressed up. What we thought was only nirmalayam but
he gave a better one. Time and again he re-instates that when we aspire to see
him once, he gives us double/triple the joy. It is very true too that one should
not ask favours from the Lord. When we ask for something material, he grants
our wish but when we don’t ask him, he will give 100 times more than what we
wished for. And as the saying goes, we don’t get what we desire, we only get
what we deserve.
The rudra
theertham is the temple pond is of significane and also the Shiva temple at
mammiyur is a must see after seeing guruvayurappan. It was at the instruction
of lord shiva that guru and vayu installed guruvayurappan here. Hence, this
temple must be visited. Just ½ km from the temple, we can walk upto this
temple. One can also get fresh banana chips near the temple.
In the evening,
we went to the elephant camp which is around 3kms from the temple. There are
around 63 elephants in the camp which is fully maintained by the temple. It is a
good attraction for kids to see so many elephants at one place. Then we visted
the Venkata perumal temle and parthasarathy temple which are close to the
railway station.
Whatever I
write or say is short of words to express the happiness and the ecstacy in me.
One has to experience these feelings by actually going to these places. I hope
this blog will give some guidelines to people who read it.
Fully satisfied
and happy . we left to our destinations on 18th night.
