Thirunaagai

Thirunaagai

Recollecting my trip to Thirunaagai divyadesam brings back very fond memories. About two years ago, I got an unexpected long weekend. 24th Dec was a holiday which i missed out until the previous week and suddenly I had a 4 day weekend. I had not travelled to any of the divyadesams in the previous 6 months and i desparately wanted to use this weekend. But unfortunately due to the holidays, I could not get any tickets to anywhere.

I was feeling very disappointed and finally when discussing with my mother, the idea came up to visit nagapattinam for a darshan of Soundararaja Perumal.

So on the morning of 24th, I started around 5 am. The trip was unforgettable. I could not get a direct bus and had to take a multi-stop route - Chennai -> Pondicherry -> Cuddalore -> Chidambaram -> Mayiladuthurai (Mayavaram) -> Nagapattinam. I kept hopping from one town to another in the hope of reaching Nagapattinam the same evening. The entire day went pretty fast with a book on 108 Divyadesams for my company. I read a lot about the divyadesams, the pasurams and was completely immersed that i did not feel the strain of my travel. Finally, i reached nagappatinam around 5 pm and reached the temple in another 10 minutes.

The temple is a beautiful one, with a big Rajagopuram. Once i entered the temple, all tiredness had disappeared. I had a wondeful darshan of Neelamega perumal. The Perumal in Nindrathirukolam is so beautiful and there being no one else in the temple, i had a long darshan. The bhattar (priest) gave me a beautiful insight into the sthalapuranam as well as the pasuram by thirumangai azhwar. He also told me that i can go to thirukannankudi which is about 8 to 10 kms from here. After spending more than hour, i came out of the temple to try and find a transport to thirukkannankudi.

Thirukkannankudi

I spoke to a couple of people and they told me that there were not too many buses and also that i had to get down at aazhiyur and walk or take an autorikshaw (which is not easy to get late evening) for more than 1 km. Finally, i bargained with an auto driver to take me to thirukkannankudi and back to nagapattinam. It was already dark and the road was not so good and it was a good decision to take an auto.

I finally reached thirukkannankudi after 7 pm. I was very fortunate to be there at the right time. There was a temple festival and the utsavar was ready for the procession. The utsavar Damodara perumal, called so because He has the mark of the ropes which was used to tie him to the magizha maram (tree). The moolavar Loganatha Perumal in nindra thirukolam is a sight to behold. Since the utsavar was ready for the procession in the mandapam in front of the  moolavar sannidhi, normally, people will not be allowed to have a darshan of the moolavar. As i was wishfully thinking of having a closer darshan of the moolavar, the bhattar enquired about me, where i was coming from etc. On hearing that i was from chennai and travelling back the same night, he took me to have a darshan of the moolavar. This is one more incident where something happened when i was least expecting it.

The divya desam is known for " kaaya magizh, urangaa puli, thola vazhakku, oora kinaru, thirukkannankudi ". The bhattar gave the legend behind this and it was wonderful to hear the story. After spending an hour in the temple, i finally returned back to nagapattinam and from then onto chennai and reached home the next morning.

This was one trip i will not forget so easily as it happened out of the blue thereby reinforcing my belief that you can visit a temple only when He calls you.

Thiruneermalai

I seem to have slipped into my usual lazy mode. After a long time, back to posting my recent experience.

Thiruneermalai is one of the divya desams which is very close to my heart. This is a divya desam which i have been fortunate to visit on a regular basis over the last 13 years.

To give a background, Thiruneermalai comprises of a temple for Ranganathar on a hillock and a temple for Neervanna perumal at the foot hils. It is about 5 kms from Pallavaram.

I have been very blessed to visit this temple during multiple auspicious occassions - the brahmotsavam for Ranganatha Perumal and Neervanna perumal, the navarathri utsavam of the Thayar, Panguni utsavam, Ther thiruvizha, vijaya dasami, ratha sapthami utsavam, samprokshanai etc.

Neervanna perumal is the sthalathipathi, along with the thayar Animamalarmangai. Thirumangai azhwar has sung 10 pasurams and he starts with "anrayar kulakkodiyodu animamalar mangai udanbalavi..." in praise of the thayar. He described the thayar as one who is decked with ornaments (azhagiya abaranangalai soodikondu..) and hence the name animamalarmangai.  To my limited knowledge, this is one divya desam where thirumangai azhwar has sung about the thayar. The thayar is so beautiful that you will want to come back to the divya desam just for her. The legend says that the azhwar had come to see the Lord and he was surrounded by water and he waited for 6 months for the water to drain before he could get the darshan of the Lord. Hence the name Neervannan. Legend also states that Valmiki did his penance here and Lord Ranganathar appeared before him as Rama.

The Ranganathar temple on the hillock also has separate sannithis for Narasimhar and Thiruvikramar. Thirumangai azhwar sings that by visiting this temple, one gets to visit the 4 divya desams - Thirunaraiyur (Nindran- comparing Neervannar to Thirunaraiyur Nambi), Thiruvali (Irunthan - Narasimhar) , Kumbakonam (kidanthan - comparing Ranganathar to Aravamudhan) and Thirukovilur (Nadanthan -Thiruvikramar). During one of my earlier visits, I thought of the day when i could visit these 4 other divya desams and prayed to the God that I see Him here in Thiruneermalai as the others that the azwar has compared. Over the years, by His grace, I was able to visit all the other 4 divya desams and could only shed tears of joy for the bhaghyam.

Coming to my recent visit, I had the bhaghyam of visting the temple on one of the saturdays of the tamil month of puratasi. It also happened to be the navarathri utsavam for Animamalarmangai thayar. The utsavam started with the thirumanjanam of the thayar, a wonderful sight for the blessed ones. After the thirumanjanam, the thayar was decked in ornaments, garlands and taken in a procession within the temple. The thayar was so beautiful that i lost myself and time came to standstill. The feeling was such a profound and beautiful that cannot be expressed in words. The entire utsavam was held over 3 hours and i did not notice time had passed so quickly that i had to rush to get a darshan of Ranganathar in the hillock. I was visiting the temple for the first time since the samprokshanam and hence had not had the darshan of the moolavar for more than 18 months. I went up the hill and was blessed with a wonderful darshan despite the crowd on the auspicious day. Ranganatha perumal and was without His kavasams and what a wonderful view of His thirumeni. No wonder that Thondaradipodi azhwar mentions that he does not want moksham but rather be in Srirangam to sing praises of Lord Ranganthar.

Every time I visit this temple, i get a special feeling, as if i am coming home, probably because my father's native was close to this divya desam.

Sri Animamalarmangai thayar sametha Sri Neervanna Perumal thiruvadigale saranam

Sri Ranganayaki thayar sametha Sri Ranganatha Perumal thiruvadigale saranam

Kumbakonam Visit

Kumbakonam Divya desams

Coming back after a long time, and I pray to Lord Aravamuthan to make me write more.

The next day morning we left Trichy around 5.30 am by car to travel to Kumbakonam. We did not have any plans but only to come back to Trichy by 4 pm so that we can visit Srirangam once again before we travelled back.

Thiruccherai
Since we had left early morning, we planned to reach ThiruCherai, the divya desam which was farthest from Kumbakonam town so that we can cover other divya desams as we travel back to the town.

Thirucherai is another example of the big temples in the chola nadu. The corridor was long and we had to climb several steps to reach the sannidhi.

Saranayaki sametha Sri Saranatha perumal sannidhi was beautiful. The Lord and His consort in Nindra thirukolam were beautiful, a sight to behold. The bhattar explained to us about Thirumangai azhvar's visit. When the azhvar visited the divya desam, Perumal "salagramam soozha kaatchi aLithaaraam" - the Lord was surrounded by salagramam. The azhvar could not step on the salagramam and hence travelled to the temple on his knees. As i heard this, i could imagine the azhvar travelling on his knees and suddenly felt a pain and tears flowed from my eyes. Intha Divya anubhavam made me to resolve to all the divya desams.

Azhvargal seitha bhagyam perumalai pattri pada pEru Kidaithathu. Naam pala janmam seidha karma, nammal intha kovilgalai sevikka mudinthathu.

Sri Saranayagi thayar samedha Sri Saranadha perumal thiruvadigala saranam.


ThiruNaraiyur ennum Nachiyar Kovil
We then travelled to Thirunaraiyur. Another beautiful Divya desam. A long corridor leading to the sannidhi. This is one of the divya desams wherein the Perumal in 5 different forms including Naraiyur Nambi. The perumal in this divya desam is regarded as the acharyan for thirumangai azhvar.

The bhattar told us that the Perumal in this shetram was the acharyan of Thirumangai azhvar performing the "panch samskaram" to the azhvar. enna kudupinai for the azhvar. i was reminded of enna thavam seithanai yashoda. If yashodha was baagyasaali, then what about the azhvar.

It was a sight to behold the Perumal is in 5 different forms along with the Thayar. The only other temple were i have seen the perumal like this is in Parthasarathy temple in Triplicane, Chennai where the Parathasarathy is seen with his family.
Another speciality is the Kal Garudan. Garudazhvar has a separate sannidhi. The kal garudan is said to fulfil one's wishes.

The idol is made of stone and the perumal procession is in this idol. I was told that when the Lord is taken on the Kal Garudan for procession, there are 4 bearers, which increases to 8, 16, 32, 64 and finally 128 when the perumal leaves the Gopura Vaasapadi. Similarly, after the procession and when the perumal enters the temple, the number of bearers starts to decrease from 128 to 64, 32.. and finally 4 when he reaches the sannidhi. If we talk about the bearers being tired having to carry the lord and hence require more people when they leave the temple, how do we explain the reverse. A lot of times science does not have an answer when it comes to faith.

Sri Vanchulavalli thayar samedha Sri Srinivasa perumal thirvadigale saranam.

Thiru Anbil & Uraiyur

Thiru Anbil

After visiting Thirupper Nagar (Appakudathaan), we drove to have the darshan at Thiru Anbil. It seems in the olden days, people used to cross the river kollidam to visit either Anbil or Thirupper Nagar in small boats or across when the river was dry.

The Perumal here is known as Vadivazhigiya Nambi. He is so beautiful that the he is called as 'azhagan'. There are few divya desams where the Lord is called beautiful and this is one of them. The others that come to my mind are Kallazhagar, Azhagiya Manavalan..

By the time we reached Anbil, it was around 7 pm and the night had set. While the town (market place) was a bit crowded and had the usual sounds, the temple was silent and practically empty.

The Moolavar is in the sayana thirukolam, one of the beautiful postures. The utsavar was beauty personified. I started my divya desam pilgrimage at Srirangam and on the same day this was the third temple where the Perumal is in the reclining posture. This perhaps, if i look back in time, may be one of the reasons of my fascination to the Perumal in the sayana thirukolam. The other may be the fact that I have been a regular at Thiruneermalai for over 10 years now, where Lord Ranganathar at the hillock is in the reclining posture.

Anbil - as the bhattar told us is a place filled with Anbu (Love). Perhaps the perumal here wanted the name to remain so that the future generations can take a cue from Him.

The Thayar is a thani kovil nachiyar, with a separate sannithi for her. After a good darshan in the quiet evening, the return journey was spent almost in silence. My mother and I could not help but reminisence the whole day starting at Srirangam, going onto Uttamar Kovil, Thiruvellarai in the morning and Thirupernagar in the evening.

Uraiyur

As we were came near to Thiruchi, the driver told us that he can take as to Uraiyur which is another divya desam located within the city. He said we can try our luck to see the temple to see if the temple was still open.

Somehow, we knew the temple might be open and the perumal will provide us darshan. The whole day had gone very well for us, as we had planned two days to visit all the divya desams around Srirangam and here we were close to completing all of them in a day. We told the driver to take us there.

We got down and almost ran in. Only to find we had sufficient time for the divya darisanam.

The perumal, Azhagiya Manavalan is in the Nindra thirukolam and He is seen with his consrots Sridevi and Bhoodevi nachiyaar. There is no utsavar in this divya desam and the Ranganathar from Srirangam comes here for the Panguni Utsavam.

The bhattar told us that the Perumal here is in the kalyana kolam, with the prayoga chakram - sudharshanam chakram ready to be used. After having an excellent darshan, we moved back to our hotel. As we having our dinner (prasadam bought from Srirangam kovil earlier in the day), we were wondering why the Perumal in Uraiyur has the Prayoga chakram when he is in the kalyana kolam. Probably, it was meant for us to find it out on another day.

The day spent well, a complete surprise for my mother and me that we had the darshan of all the divya desams around thiruchi. Since we had the tickets back to our town only on the next night,we suddenly decided that we will visit Kumbakonam divya desams the next day. More about that in my next posts.

Sri Ranganayaki thayar sametha Sri Ranganatha Perumal thiruvadigale saranam.

Thiruvellarai

The Thiruvellarai Divya desam experience was a beautiful one. We were driving in our car from Srirangam for quite some time into the countryside. Quite some time later, after one disappointment wherein we mistook another temple as the divya desam, we reached the divya desam.

The temple walls are big, and the imposing and unfinished Raja Gopuram made me feel what a beautiful sight it would have been, had it been completed. I was awe-struck at seeing the unfinished gopuram. It was so huge and old. A couple of unique sights in this temple - one there were two entrances to reach the Pundareekaksha Perumal. The Uttarayana Vaasal and the Dakshinayana vaasal. Each of these entrances are open only during that period - Utttarayanam or Dakshinayanam. The Perumal in the Nindra Thirukolam, along with his consorts is a sight to behold.

Apart from these two entrances, there is also a third one - the naazhi kettan vaasal. According to the bhattar, the thaayar of this sthalam stopped the Perumal when he retuned late one night and asked him why he was late.

On the day we went, the thirumanjanam for the Bali Peedam was conducted. This was a prarthanai that was being fulfilled. The bali peedam is so huge and the thirumanjanam went for more than an hour. The crowning glory was the huge lotus garland for the bali peedam. I had never seen such a garland made of lotus flours till date. The temple also has a tank within the walls and the thirumanjanam was done using this water.

This was the last temple we visited that morning and later in the evening we visited Appakudathaan, Anbil and the Uraiyur temples.

Uttamar Kovil - ThiruKarambanur

From Srirangam, we reached Thiru Karambanur. This is a special divya desam wherein you will find separate Sannithi's for Vishnu, Shiva and Brahma. The sthala puranam states that the Shiva's Brahmahatthi dosham was rectified after he got alms from the Thaayaar at this kshetram. The same is also told in a couple of other divya desams as well.

Perumal - Purushottaman is in sayana thirukolam. The Lord reclining on Adhiseshan is a beautiful posture, always inviting for one more glimpse and I can never be satisifed to leave the temple. I have seen in so many divya desams, the Perumal in sayana thirukolam looks so beautiful that I find it difficult to leave the sannithi. I had this feeling in several temples including ThiruNeermalai (near Chennai), Sthalasayana Perumal (Mahabalipuram), Yadhothkari Perumal (Kanchipuram). I have visited these temples a lot of times and each time i get the same feeling every time. More about these kshetrams in later posts.

During our visit, electricity was not available. I was initially a bit irritated since I felt I could not get to see the Lord in full splendour. But once in the sannithi, the oil lamps in the sannithi and the aarathi showed the Perumal in all splendour, in natural light. I was awe struck and felt a divine feeling. Would not the Azhwars had the same darshan in those early days.

This divya desam can be reached easily from Srirangam. It is less than half an hour by a vehicle.

And finally, as I was leaving the temple, a thought stuck me - is having separate sannithi's for Vishnu and Shiva, Perumal's way to state Vainavam and Saivam are only means to reach the ultimate truth. I am still trying to understand...

Thirupper Nagar - Appakkudathan

During my visit to Srirangam, we also went to 5 other divya desams around Tiruchi on the same. One of them was Thirupper Nagar - Appakkudathaan. This temple is about 25 kms from Tiruchi. We hired a car to go to all these divya desams and by Sri Ranganathar's blessing were able to cover all the other 5 on the same day.

The temple is on a small hillock and the Moolavar Appakudathan is in the sayana thirukolam. The sayana thirukolam of Perumal is always a sight to behold. what a beautiful sight. The utsavar is Appaala Rangan. I had read before going to this temple that the Lord held a kudam filled with appam and hence the name Appakkudathaan. The Naivedhyam for the Lord is Appam on daily basis. When we are the sannidhi, the bhattar told us that the Lord does not hold the appa kudam. In fact I saw a gap between his thirukai and the appa kudam. Since then, I have been wanting to get this clarified with the learned people, but so far have not asked them.

The temple itself is on the banks of river kollidam and unfortunately when we went there was no water in the river. I could not but imagine the days when the river was in full flow and temple on a hillock on the banks of the river.

During our darshan, when the bhattar told us that Nammazhwar attained Saranagadhi in this divya desam and the last paasuram was in the temple, I had a knot in my stomach and throat. This feeling was lingering in me for a long time and even now, when I think of the visit i get a feeling that sometimes take me out of this world.

Sri Kamala Valli Thaayar Sametha Sri Appakudthan Thiruvadigale saranam...

Fortunate enough...

When I first started this blog, my intention was to share my travel experiences including the routes etc. But over a period of time, I could not get on with the writing.

I started my Divyadesam journey at Srirangam in July 2004 and penned my first thoughts in September 2006. In last two 4 years, due to many reasons, mainly my laziness, I have not written as much as I wanted to.

Finally, I have made a promise to myself to atleast write once a month. I plan to write about the divyadesams that I have been fortunate enough to visit.

During the last 4 years, with Sri Ranganathar's blessings, I have visited 72 divya desams. Over the next postings, I will continue to share my experiences in this site.

Srirangam

For a long time, I wanted to start on a trip to visit the 108 divya desams - holy shrines of Lord Narayanan. I have visited a few temples in Kanchipuram, in and around chennai but wanted to start on the yatra. The Journey in search of the ultimate truth.

Finally, it happened in July 2004. I was in bangalore then and my mother wanted to go to Srirangam for a weekend. We left bangalore on a friday and reached trichy on saturday morning.

After getting a room in a hotel opposite the main bus stand, we hired a taxi for the day. The plan was to visit all the 6 divya desams around trichy. We left for Srirangam at around 8am. Srirangam - aptly called "bhoologa vaikuntam", was a busy town. The last time I had visited Srirangam was in 1997. What a change it was. The town was bustling with activity, everything was seemed to move at a hectic pace. Lot of tourists, visitors and the local folk moving in one direction - towards the Raja Gopurum.

We got out of the taxi outside the Raja Gopurum. What a site - Kaana Kan Kodi Vendum - I never felt that I would realise the meaning of the phrase. We went to the Chakrathazhwar sannithi first. Then as we entered the main temple, the huge Garudan welcomed us. The phrase again hit me. Since there was a long queue, we got a special ticket and went to have dhashan of Sriranganathar. The Lord's majestic reclining posture had me in awe. We then went to have a dharshan of Sri Ranganayaki thayar.

By the time we had dharshan of Lord Ramar, Krishnar, Yathothakari and Udayavar, I realised the meaning of the phrase - Kaana Kan Kodi Vendum was lost. The huge mathil suvar, the beautiful tank, the prakarams all made me realise how small we were. For some time, time had come to a stand still. What a beautiful feeling. manasu panchu pol anathu...