This past winter, with two weeks in hand for a holiday, we decided to go on a pilgrimage to South East India, mostly in the state of Tamil Nadu and we also touched Kerala. It was like visiting living museums. The art and architecture of these temples were extraordinary, the presiding deities still worshipped continuously for centuries, and the vibrations from the chanting of mantras still resonating in my mind. Throngs of worshippers crowd the temples from the surrounding villages, classical music and dance are still being performed in the temple ceremonies, and chariot tours of the deities still captivate the local villagers and tourists.
Tamil Nadu is the heartland of Dravidian Hindu culture. Due to its distance from the North, and the military might of the southern Deccan kingdoms, the region has been less exposed to northern influences and invasions by the non-Hindu rulers from outside India. The three powerful dynasties dominating this land were the Cholas, Pallavas and Pandyans. These dynasties have ruled this part of the country for over ten centuries, and have developed their very unique culture, cuisine, music, architecture, language and art. They have also been able to keep the Sanathana Dharma away from influences of other religions. Besides, this part of our nation is blessed with a vast coastline, Kaveri and Vagai river basins, and very fertile land. The most visible legacy of this uninterrupted blossoming of our heritage is the abundance of outstanding temples across the land. The unique feature of the Dravidian architecture is gigantic gateway towers or gopuras, which loom large over the villages and can be seen from miles away. Tamil Nadu contains nearly 300 of India's holiest Shiva temples, more than 100 dedicated to Vishnu, a few dedicated to the five sacred elements, and planets; and most of these temples have idols of Lord Sri Hanuman.
After a quick pilgrimage to our Lonavala Ashram, we started the tour in Chennai. We were very fortunate that Guru Maa took us with Her on this pilgrimage, which made the temple darshans and pujas even more special. We greeted the new year at the holy temple in Rameshwaram. We visited nine key cities and temples in nine days, and every temple was unique in its own right with a rich history and colorful legend behind it.
We started our tour at the holy site of Mahabalipuram, now known as Mamallapuram, which has a host of monuments and temples from the Pallava dynasty dating back to the fifth century. Most of these shrines were created to showcase art, and not necessarily for worship. There are about twenty monuments depicting many different styles of sculpture. The monuments here comprise of three kinds of rock-cut techniques: excavated cave temples, monolithic temple models and structural erections. The sculpted panel depicting Arjunas penance (Kiratarjuniya) happens to be the world's largest bas-relief. The shore temple, completed in the 8th century is a structural temple made from granite. This temple is now on the shore of the ocean. Most figures have eroded. But the Nandis guarding the boundary walls have survived for over a thousand years defiant of the untamed sea, as it was granted the boon of eternity! The Pancha Pandava Ratha are monolithic shrines carved out of granite boulders. The Varaha Mantaram is a rock-cut cave cell and mandapa dedicated to Vishnu. The Krishna Butter Ball (Venay Urunudu Kal) is amazing too. This huge semi circular boulder has been gingerly balanced on the rock for centuries.
The Matri Mandir in Auroville is an outstanding modern monument in the form of a huge sphere, which contains a white chamber in which sunlight pours down upon the glass globe in both the geographical and spiritual center of Auroville. It is a place, as The Mother described it, for individual concentration, for finding one's true self. The temple itself is the soul of Auroville. Earth from 126 countries was symbolically placed in an urn, now kept in a concrete cone from which a speaker can address an audience of 3000 without amplification. Due to crowd conflicts, we were not able to go inside the Mandir. The view of the globe-shaped monument is truly outstanding especially in brilliant sunshine.
KanyaKumari is the Land's End and the meeting place of the Arabian Sea, the Indian Ocean and the Bay of Bengal. The name of this city is derived from the temple dedicated to the Virgin Goddess Kanyakumari, a five-minute walk from the ferry terminal for the Vivekananda Memorial. According to legends, the Asuras led by Banasura, were gaining supremacy over the Devas leading to adharma. Mother Earth prayed to Lord Vishnu, the protector. The Lord advised that the devas should propagate Parashakti, who in a virgin form, would be capable of destroying Banasura. The Devas performed an Yagna. Soon. A virgin girl came to Kumari and began her penance. Meanwhile, Lord Shiva fell in love with her and arrangements were made for their wedding. However, Narada soon realized that Banasura would not be destroyed if they got married (since he could be killed only by a virgin). Narada played his usual tricks and the marriage never happened. Parashakti vowed to remain a virgin all her life and continued her tapasya. Soon Banasura came to request her hand in marriage. The Goddess spurned his request, and in the ensuing battle, the Goddess killed the demon king. The Goddess continued her penance. The deity of the Goddess stands as a charming young girl in her penance with a mala in her right hand, and a sparkling nose jewel. The image made of blue stone is believed to have been installed by Sage Parasurama.
The sunrises and sunsets are truly spectacular at KanyaKumari especially when you are standing at Lands End near the triveni sangam of three seas. Vivekananda chose the rock for his meditation because of its positive and pious vibrations. The penance of Kanya Kumari probably attracted him!
The Padmanabhaswamy Temple (the only temple which we visited outside Tamil Nadu in nearby Trivandrum, Kerala) is over 5000 years old. It is believed that the temple was constructed on the 950th day of Kalyug. A saint called Divakar was offering prayers, when Lord Vishnu appeared in the form of a tender child. The saint got very attached to the child, and pleaded him never to leave him. The child accepted the saint's plea on condition that the saint would never display anger towards him. The saint agreed. The child became very mischievous as the years passed. Once, while the saint was in meditation, the child started playing with Shaligram used for worship. The saint lost his patience, forgot his commitment and lost his temper. The child immediately disappeared. The saint could not bear the loss and searched for the child night and day. Finally, he saw a child disappearing inside the hollow portion of a big tree. The tree fell to the ground and assumed the shape of the recumbent Mahavishnu. The figure was too huge. The saint pleaded the Lord to shorten his size so that he could worship him. Since then, Lord Vishnu is being worshipped here in the form of 'Anantasayana'. There are three doors to the holy sanctum through which you can worship Lord Vishnu.
The Suchindrum Temple has the renowned shrine dedicated to Lord Sthanu-Mal-Ayan: the holy trinity in one form. It is also known for the 18 feet idol of Lord Sri Hanuman. According to the legend, Anasuya was totally devoted to her sage-husband, Sage Atri at Gnanaranya, now known as Suchindrum. Narada, to humble down the pride of the three Goddesses, provoked their jealousy by narrating the matchless devotion of Anasuya to her husband. The three wives then send their husbands, Brahma, Shiva and Vishnu to visit Gnanaranya to test Anasuya's chastity. The three Gods went to Atri's Ashram disguised as old Brahmins. Once at the Ashram, they requested to be fed and Anasuya began serving them food. However, the told her that they won't eat the food unless it was served in her nudity. Perplexed at the request of the three Brahmins, Anasuya sprinkled her husband's 'Padatheertha' and transformed the old men into three babies. After feeding them as desired, she nursed and rocked them to sleep. Atri rushed back to his Ashram, and Anasuya narrated the whole incident to her husband.
In the meantime, after a long wait, the three Goddesses were advised by Narada to visit Gnanaranya and beg Anasuya for MangalyaBiksha. Anasuya pointed them in the direction of the cradles, but the three Goddesses could not distinguish between the three babies to identify their husbands. Then, Anasuya advised them to perform severe penance in Pragna Theertham. After completion of the penance, the three Goddesses returned to Gnanaranya and were reunited with their husbands. The three Gods and Goddesses appeared before the Sage and his wife and blessed them. Since then, the three Gods have been worshipped in Suchindrum. Even Lord Indra came to Suchindrum to worship the Trimurti in the form of Sthanumalaya to purify himself from the curse of Gautama. That is how the name of Gnaaranya was changed to Such-indrum.
The 18 feet idol of Lord Sri Hanuman at Suchindrum is truly magnificent. He is depicted here in his Visharupa Darshan given to Sita at the Asoka forest. We had special puja performed with butter and rose water. Guru Maa also offered a huge Mala of Tulsi leaves to Her Baba. It was an amazing sight to see the priests standing on a specially created platform to perform puja of the huge Baba.
Meenakshi Sundareshwar Temple in Madurai is one of the largest and wealthiest temples, and most beautiful too. It is over 2500 years old. Madurai lies on the banks of River Vaigai, and is the oldest city in Tamil Nadu. Madurai means the nectar city. It is believed that the Pandyan king built a great temple, and a lotus shaped city around the temple. On the auspicious day when the temple was to be inaugurated, Lord Shiva appeared and blessed the land and the people with the divine nectar, which was showered on the city from his matted locks. The city was henceforth known as Madhurapuri., later shortened to Madurai. It soon became the seat of Tamil scholars. References to this city have been found in the Ramayana and Arthasashtra. Marco Polo has believed to have visited the city too. The Meenakshi Sundareshwar Temple dominates this holy city. The principle shrines are those of Sundareshwarar (Shiva) and his consort Meenakshi (Parvati). The complex contains 12 towers, and the aerial view is breathtaking (one kind shopkeeper allowed us to go to the terrace of his shop which made it possible for us to look at the entire complex).
The legend behind this temple is even more interesting. Goddess Meenakshi was born out of the holy yagya, being performed by King Malayadhjan for progeny. The king's wife, Kanchanamala was a devotee of Goddess Parvati and was blessed by Her in a previous birth. Parvati rose from the holy yagya as a three-year-old girl! The king was sad, but then a divine voice advised the king to raise her as a son, and that her third breast would disappear as soon as she saw her consort. The girl grew up, and was later crowned the Virgin Queen of the land. The Queen was victorious in many battles, and later attacked Mount Kailas. She defeated all the soldiers, and then Shiva appeared himself to fight with the Queen. But, no sooner that she saw Shiva that her third breast disappeared. The queen threw down the weapons and ended the war. Soon they were married in Madurai. The Lord ruled the Pandyan kingdom under the name of Soundara Pandyan for many years. He performed several divine acts during his reign. Lord Shiva made his divine son, Murugan to be born his mortal son, named as Ukkira Pandyan. After the coronation of the prince, the Lord and his Consort entered the temple and changed themselves into Somasundareshwar and Meenakshi.
Till today, the priests perform a wedding ceremony of the Lord and the Goddess every year during the Chitra festival. The temple complex is simply marvelous with thousands of sculptures. It also has a thousand pillar mandapan. One of the towers has five monolithic pillars. Each pillar has little pillars chiseled exquisitely. Each of this little pillar produces musical sounds of different notes, when you press your ears against it and tap any of the pillars. These pillars are now known as the musical pillars.
In Madurai, we tasted Indian hospitality again. A distant friend arranged for hassle-free darshan of the temple, and then took us out for a hearty vegetarian meal in one the best restaurants of the city. The restaurant owner also welcomed us personally, and after a short meeting requested to have darshan of Guru maa (who was resting at the hotel). Faithfully, he came for the darshan, and then his wife and friends arranged for a Pravachan of Guru Maa!! Guru Maa was able to preach the story of Hanuman in Madurai without any pre-planning!
Rameshwaram has one of the 12 Jyotirlingums of Lord Shiva, and a major pilgrim center. The origins of this temple is associated with the epic, Ramayana. The temple is situated on an island in the Gulf of Mannar across Sri Lanka. This temple has one of the most monumental corridors, 1200 metres long. Sri Ram, having vanquished Ravana, begins his journey towards home. Their first stop is Ganthamathanam (now known as Rameshwaram). Sages, including Muni Agastya, welcome him. Muniji advises Sri Rama to install and worship a Shiva Lingum on that spot to get rid of the sin incurred when he killed Ravana. Sri Hanuman gracefully offers to go to Kailash and bring the Lingum. Sri Hanuman is delayed, and since the auspicious hour to perform the puja is soon approaching, Sita Mata makes a Shiva Lingum out of sand. Sri Ram soon begins the pooja, and is blessed by Shiva-Parvati. They proclaim that who takes bath in Dhanukodi, and pray the Shiva Lingum would be purified of all sins and blessed with progeny. This Shiv Lingum was now named Ramalingum, and the holy site's name was changed to Rameshwaram. In the meantime, Sri Hanumanji performs penance at Mount Kailash since he was unable to meet Lord Shiva. Lord Shiva then appears and gives Anjenaye two Shiva Lingums. He returns to find out that Sri Ram had already performed the puja. Not to disappoint Hanumanji, Sri Rama advises him to place one of the Shiv Lingams (now known as Vishwanatha Lingum) to the north of Ramalingum, and proclaims that Vishwanatha Lingum should be worshipped prior to RamaLingum. The other Lingum was placed near the entrance of the temple, where later the idol of Sri Hanumanji was placed and worshipped till today.
Early morning, we first went and took a bath in the holy waters of the sea. Then, we took bath in the 22 'theerthams' in the form of wells in the various parts of the temple. These theerthams were Mahalaxmi, Savithri, Gayatri, Saraswati, Sethu Madhava, Gangamadana, Kavathcha, Gavaya, Nala, Neela, Sangu, Sakkara, Brahmaati Vomochana, Surya, Chandra, Ganga, Yamuna, Gaya, Shiva, Sathyamirtha, Sarva and Kodi. The waters of these wells are very holy and have medicinal qualities. After the holy baths, we then proceeded for darshan and puja of the Lingums. It was truly an amazing experience. The wells were all situated around the main temple sanctum and yet each tasted differently, some salty and some sweet; some were cold, and some were warm! And, the water in these wells have never dried since centuries. We were very fortunate to be here on New Years Day, and also completed 108 Sri Hanuman Chalisa Path in the morning.
The Brihadeeswarar Temple in Thanjavur is one of the greatest artistic accomplishment of the Chola period and built around the 10th/11th centuries. This temple has been built without using bricks, lime mortar or clay. The stones are merely placed one above the other, and held in place due to sheer weight. The crowning dome rests on a massive granite block and must weigh at least 80 tons. How was the heavy stone raised to such a height? Opposite the main sanctum is the raised Nandi mandapa. The Nandi here is the second largest monolithic Nandi in India and must weigh over 25 tons and is 12 feet tall. The main deity is that of ShivaLingam, known as Adavallan. There is shrine for Lord Sri Hanuman on the left of the Nandi platform. We happened to be in Thanjuvar on Hanuman Jayanti (celebrated by South Indians in January), and there were many processions in the city of Lord Sri Hanuman. It is one of the few South Indian temples where the main sanctum is taller than the gopura. I thought this temple complex is the most breathtaking of all the temples we visited. At the entrance of the temple, a live elephant blessed us.
The Nataraja Temple in Chidambaram was built between the 12th and 13th century. In this temple, Shiva is seen in the dancing posture of Ananda Tandava. We reached the temple just in time for the evening Aarti, and found space right next to Sri Hanumanji! The deity of this sthala, Nataraj dances to the rhythm of the cosmic sound in the form of Om ? the pranava mantra. The dance of Nataraja interprets the fivefold manifestations of creation, preservation, destruction, illusion and salvation. Through this dance, the Lord performs the functions of Brahma, Vishnu, Rudra, Maheshvara and Sadasiva. The drum in his hand performs creation, the hand bestowing grace-benediction, the fire in the other hand represents destruction, the leg is trampling the dwarf Muyalaka represents liberation and grace. The temple is also known for its ten sacred pools, and known to have miraculous healing powers for the faithful.
It was a great pilgrimage. We had enjoyed the pujas and darshan, and also appreciated the great beauty of the temple architecture. We also got a lot of ideas from these temples for our Lonavala Ashram. For instance, the collection boxes were uniquely designed. Also, the musical instruments used for the aartis were also amazing in size, sound and clever design. The tasty prasad at these temples, along with the truly amazing flower garlands, and fresh jasmines, roses, lotuses and kevda made it a journey full of aromatherapy. Rangolis are made at the entrances of all temples and all homes, small or big. The rangoli or kolam in drawn outside the house every morning with rice flour except during the time of mourning. Apart from signifying that all is well in the home, it is also a charm against evil spirits. The rangoli design does not have any loose ends. All lines must met so that the evil powers are captured inside the kolams and not permitted to enter the house or temple. The snake, whose sinuous coils provide the basis for the patterns, performs this feat.
The art and craft of the region is also outstanding. These art and craft continues to flourish since centuries, and is being passed on from one generation to the other. The amazing Thanjavur paintings, the bronzes of Swami Malai, the contemporary art of Chola Mandala village, the stone sculpture of Mahabalipuram, the hand woven silks of KanchiPuram, and on and on. There was art everywhere, and in every day today ritual. |
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