Piligrimage to Tamilnadu...

Sri Lakshmi Nrusimha Parabrahmane namaha..
Srimate Ramanujaaya Namaha..
Srimate Sri Nigamanta maha desikaaya namaha..
Sri Narayana Yateendra Maha Desikaaya Namaha...

Finally, after a 3 months plan, we started off for the Tamilnadu tour.
PS: Along with Divya desams, we covered Siva, Paravati and other temples as well,as we thought its once in a life time occasion to go to those places. So we didn't want to miss anything.

So,6 of us, My mom, Grand Mom, Mother In law,father in-law, my wife and myself started by Chennai express to Chennai. My Colleague in office, Subbu arranged a cab(Tata Sumo) for us @Chennai. We got down at Chennai by 6AM and got freshed up at station itself. The cab guy came on time.Thus, we kicked off. We went straight to Kancheepuram(ofcourse had tiffin enroute :)).
Once we took the diversion from main road towards Kancheepuram, immediately we could see a big Raja Gopuram. Driver told us, that was Ekambareswara Temple(siva). It was huge. We went directly to
Kanchi Kamakshi Sannidhi. Rush was not there. However, we have to see the Amma Idol from far, and the priests over there applied some sort of decorative stuff on her face,making it unclear. However, we were happy at least we could get a glimpse of her. Then I inquired about the Divya Desam that is inside Kanchi Kamakshi temple, "Sri AADI VARAHA PERUMAAL" They asked us to go here, go there, and finally they said, we can only see him through a small gap, that too from a mirror. So we had that Darshan and came out.
Then we went to Ulaganadha Perumal Temple. Here the perumal is in Trivikramaavatara pose, with one leg to the sky and the other on top of Bali Chakravarti. Perumaal's size is Huge. Two eyes are not enough to witness the beauty and the majestic nature of Perumal here. IN the same temple we have 3 other Divya Desams. Tiru OOragam, when going to the darshan of Ulaganadha Perumal, there is a small opening on the left hand side, and inside we can see a small Perumal figure(with snake face). Unless we see to the left, its not visible, its Tiru OOragam. Outside in the same temple premises, we have Tiru Neeragam, Sri Jagadeeswara Perumal, Tiru Kaaragam, sri Karunakara Perumal and tirukarvannam.

So after this, we kept on talking about the size of Sri Ulaganadha perumal. Then we went to Ekambareswara Temple. As I said earlier, the Rajagopuram of Sri Ekambareswara Templeis huge. One has to walk lot of distance from raja gopuram to the main temple. We were mesmerized by the structures over there. simply amazing. We hurried out to Varadaraja Perumal, the most beautiful Perumal. The moment we entered the temple, the temple was closed :(. They gave us Prasadam for rupees 10, which we had it fully as our. There was time till 3.30PM in the evening for the temple to open. So we went for shopping.
We returned at 3pm and stood in line, there is 5 rupees ticket for 3.30PM darshan. We had the darshan of Perumal.. It was so beutiful. Mom sang couple of songs in front of perumal.
Then we went and touched the Golden Lizard. Many tourists cover these three and go back, but our aim was to cover Divya Desams. We told our cab guy the temple names, he inquired
people over there and took us there. From Varada raja perumals sanniddhi, we went to Ashtabhuyakaram - Sri Aadhikesava Perumal Temple. Here as the name suggests, perumal is with 8 hands, with all different weapons in each hand. Next we went to Thiru Vekka - Sri Yathothakaari Temple, here swamy is in sleeping position with Yatotkari Mudra. Now comes the biggie Thiru Paadagam - Sri Pandava Thoodhar Temple, here the perumal is of 28 feet high..can u imagine? We were not expecting the perumal to be that big. when we went there, we couldn't see anything but the Utsavar. So when we lifted our head up, we then saw the perumaals Naamams,.. then we could figure out the perumal. Then it was clear. It was simply amazing. For me its the highlight of our tour.Then we went to Thiruparameshwara Vinnagaram - Sri Vaikunda Perumal Temple.Ohh I forgot to update, in Ekambareswara swamy temple there is a Divya Desam, Thiru Nilathingal Thundam - Sri Nilathingal Thundathan Perumal Temple, here perumal is in standing pose. Perumals original idol is damaged. New one is now installed. The last one for the day was Pavala Vannar and Pavala Vannan. Both of them together are considered as one divya desam. They are opposite to each other. We had darshan at this divya desam and headed back to chennai. Enroute we had darshan of Udayavar(Bhagavad Ramanuja) at sri Perumbadur(Bhagavad Ramanujars Birth Place). We came to chennai around 9.30, had tiffin at a hotel
opposite to chennai egmore station and boarded Nagore Express to our next destination, KUMBAKONAM. the TEMPLE CITY
Train was a bit late and we landed in kumbakonam at 6am instead of 4.30 am. We hired a taxi and took a room in hotel ARK. They also have a transport section luckily and I engaged a cab(sumo) for the day tour. Firstly we went to Sarangapani Perumal Temple. It has a huge raja gopuram. Swamy is in sleeping Bhangima. There are few cows here and we bought some bananas and fed the cows. Then the most important thing, Breakfast :D , we had a heavy breakfast and started off to Tiru Nageswaram. Here I need to tell one Point. Kumbakonam, though is called a Temple city, it is more famous for the Navagraha Temples. We didn't intend to go to them as we had no specific reason for the same. So we wanted to cover other temples. Tiru Nageswaram happened to be en route, so we visited this.
This is a temple dedicated to RAAHU. We went there on during rahukalam and priests were performing Abhishekam to the Raahu Moolavar. We witnessed that event and then had darshan at the Siva temple in the same premises. We boarded the cab and then went to Oppiliyappan, which is backside of Tiru Nageswaram. Oppiliyappan is very famous, Here naivaidyams are cooked without salt, hence the name. This place is also called Tiru Vinnagaram.Then we went to Nachiar Koil(trichi has a different nacchiar koil). Thirunarayoor - Sri Thirunarayoor Nambi Perumal Temple is popularly called as Nacchiar Koil in kumbakonam.Then the driver took us to a local goddess temple. Its a amman temple. Jayalalitha is a regular visitor to this temple. We visited Tiru Vidai Marudoor, Maha Lingeswar Temple.
It's a huge temple. Here we tried to take a snap inside the mandapams, and due to that flash, lot of bats came out..so we hurried out. The last temple before lunch was, Tiru Bhuvanam, a siva temple dedicated to kambeshwar and sarabheswari. Sarabheswari has a semi lion body here.
We had a good lunch(Saapaat :) ) and then started off. The first temple was Thiru Aadhanoor - Sri Aandu Alakkum Ayan Perumal Temple, temple was not open by the time we went there (3.30 PM). We waited and the priest turned up after some time. We had a good darshan here, swamy is in sleeping pose, with kama dhenu, sridevi,bhudevi on either side and brahma
from nabhi.Then we headed off to Thiruppullam Boothankudi - Sri Valvil Ramar Perumal Temple.This is the place where Rama blessed jatayuvu and gave moksham to him. Here in the garbhalayam we can see jatayu aswel.Next we went to one of the six famour shanmuga kshetrams, Swamimalai. There are about 70 steps. Temple was very calm. No Rush. We went and had a peaceful Darshan. We then proceeded to a temple called, white Vianayaka(courtesy cab driver). Its a small temple where vinayaka is in white color. There is also a huge siva temple in the same premises.
So we had darshan there and went to patteeswaram , a durga amma temple. Here also not a big rush.We had peaceful darshan and went to Nadhan Kovil, Thirunandhipura Vinnagaram - Sri Jaganatha Perumal Temple. Here perumal is holding a Gada(kaumodakeeyam).Last we went to the aadi kumbeswara Temple, the temple after which the town is named(kumbakonam). It a huge temple in the heart of Kumbakonam. Here we saw a Big elephant. We did little shopping , had our dinner and then headed back to home. This completed our second day of our trip.

Day3 started with a big yawn :). We visited chakrapani temple. It was not open till 8AM.so we waited and had darshan of perumal. From there we had breakfast and started our journey. We first visited kapisthalam, Gajendra varada perumal. Here perumal is in sleeping pose. Then we went Tirukkodalur, sri Aaduturai perumal. But unfortunately, it was closed :(. Then we went to a Sivan koil, there the premises was so big that kids were playing cricket over there. Then we went to Ganapati Agraharam, a small but a very beautiful temple dedicated to Vinayaka. Then en route we visited another Graha Temple, Tiru Chindaluru, CHANDRAN KOIL. There is a sivan temple and Goddess name here is Bruhannayaki.Then we entered the famous Tiruvaayur, the birth place of sri Tyagaraja. We visited PANCHANADESWAR, a temple dedicated to Lord Siva. Priests told us there that this is a 800 year old temple. Its very very big temple. There were lot of paintings on the walls(lot of them are not clear though). We visited the Tyagaraja Aaradhana Mandapam. It is here that Tyagaraja attained the Jeeva Samadhi. His Idol is very beautiful. There are few paintings and lot of songs scripted on the wall. I felt so happy to see those keertanas in Telugu script. It is here that the Tyagaraja Aaradhanotsavams happen every year. By the by, we also had darshan of the idols that were once worshiped by Tyagaraja(kanugontini..sri raamuni nedu kanulaara naa kamitammu teera)
Then we had darshan of Neelamegha perumal. These are actually 3 temples in an inverted L shape. These three are considered as one Divya Desam. The third one was our beloved Nrusimhaa's Temple :). We sang few songs there. Now we are in the Chola capital, Thanjavur.

The very sight of Bruhadeeswara temple (They also call it "Big Temple") was so terrific. We had darshan of Bruhadeeswara and Bruhannayaki( if anyone remembers, there is a Dikshitar kriti,,..ambaa neelambari....in that, he mentions, "ambarishu modalu ninnu pogadaga..aadhaaramaina bruhannayaki").During childhood, we used to wonder how these idols and temples would look like..now it became a reality. I dont have words to explain the architectural beauty of this temple. It is this one temple that will showcase the Chola's dedication to the temples and their architecture. Then we went to museum and saraswati Mahal. Witnessed some rare paintings and manuscripts. We boarded our Vehicle and then started for one of our main destinations of the tour SRIRANGAM...TIRUVARANGAM

We were travelling and we saw a board that srirangam is 5Kms from there, we moved our head towards right and we could see the Rajagopuram. So imagine the height of the Gopuram, we were a able to see it from 5kms distance(diagonally it may be less).
We took room at Piligrim Palace lodge, right next to the Raja Gopuram, the one that was opened by the 44th Azhegayashingar of Ahobila Mutt. We had one darshan of Sri Ranga Naaayaka on that evening and took rest. Next day morning, we had darshan at 9.30AM. There they give prasadam for 6 rupees. You can buy any of pulihora, chakkara pongali, daddojanam(curd rice) etc. so if you spend 12 rupees, your lunch is over. We heartily ate that prasadam, and spent time watching the paintings and the architectural beauty of the temple.
Srirangam temple is of 7 Praakarams in the front, 7 Prakarams from back and 2 from side, which means, 16 Gopurams. You can imagine how one will feel entering into this Vaikuntham.. Garudaalwar itself is around 15 feet high..We had darshan of perumal thrice. The very sight of ranga,Sri Ranga(Ranga ranga ranga pati Ranganadha..nee singaarale terachaaya Sri Ranganadha) was awesome. He was so beutiful.. I wished I stayed there for ever. Luckily the priest standing there was from guntur. He identified us as telugu people(as amma sang a song) and he made us stand there for some time and we had a great darshan.

There is one place called VIEW POINT(Next to andal sanndhi), ticket is 10 rupees for that, if you go there, you can see all the 16 Gopurams of Sriranga naayaka temple.

We had darshan of Sri Kodanda Rama, Sri Ranga Nayaki Thayar , Sri Ramanuja Brundavanam etc. We've spent the whole day in the temple premises. It rained heavily in the evening. I spoke to one cab guy to pick us at our romm the next day and take us to all the surrounding places in and around Srirangam/Trichi..so that ends Day 5.

Day6..

We started of with Jambukeswara temple, a very old Siva temple(one of the 5 element siva temples, here the element is water). Here Amma name is akhilandeswari. No darshan here till 9AM. So dont go before 9, if you want to go early, go before 7.30am. Then we started for Thirupper Nagar, Sri Tiru Appakudduthan perumal temple . You have to cross beutiful lush green meadows to reach this place. We saw a Big Peacock crossing the road. Here perumal is in sleeping pose, Left hand is giving darshan to Indra, and right hand is giving aaservadam to markandeya. Bhudevi is in sitting pose. Here thayar is Komala valli thaayar.

Then we went to the other end of Kolladam to go to Thiru Anbil, Sri Sundara Raja Perumal and Tiru valli thaayar. Here perumal is in sleeping pose, with sri devi , budevi and brahma alongside him. Then we went to Tiruvellarai, Sri Pundareekaksha Perumal. Its a beutiful perumal temple.Its constructed by shibi chakravarti. Its older than Srirangam temple. Legend says its more than 6000 year old temple. There was a utsavam going on there when we went there. Moolavar is Punadarikaksha perumal, with Garuda, aadisesha , Markandeya and bhudevi.

Next we went to Samayapuram, a durga devi koil, which seemed to be very famous among locals. It took us 2 hours to get darshan. We went to Mukkamba park and had some relaxation
there. We went to Gunaseelam , Balaji Temple. Then we completed the day with uttamar koil and nacchiara koil. On that night we boarded the train to Kanyakumari.

Day 7.
We stepped down at Nager Coil and I spoke to cab guy the previous day for picking us at nagercoil.We frehsed up at station and started off to Trivendram, the capital of Kerala.
The route was amazing. It was full of coconut and Banana trees. It rained continouesly. Though the distance is just 80Kms, it took us more than 2 hours as the road is very narrow. So we arrived at Trivendram and there the rule is one cant enter temple with modern clothes. There is an arrangement there for piligrims that they give the traditional clothes for rent. Though we had the clothes in our Vehicle(sumo), the driver went out during that time, so we took the clothes on rent(15 rupees). But be ware of the people who try to give you oil to pour in akhanda deepam and people trying to give you the pooja sets. They charge heftily. So just ignore them and walk directly to the Moolavar Sanndihi. The very sight of Ananthapadmanabha takes your breath away. You can't see him from a single door. There are 3 doors through which you have to see him. Its a awesome sight. There we had lunch in the form of prasadam. Immediately we started back to Kanyakumari.
We bought a ticket for that ferry ride(20 rupees only,both sides). We boarded the ferry and landed at the Vivekananda Rock Memorial. The current is very high in the ocean and the sea is very rough. The ferry guys had tough time transporting the passengers. We had a good photo session there and then boarded the ferry again to go to Tiruvallur's statue. From there we landed back on the shore and had darshan at sri kanyaka parameswari temple. Some
shopping was done and then we went to Suchindram. We couldn't see the sunset due to clouds. Suichindram is a temple dedicated to trimurthy's. Though they claim so, more importance is given to Siva's temple here. Then we went to Nageswara Koil(nagercoil is named after this). Its a temple dedicated to Nagaraja. We headed back to railwaystation for a train to madurai(10.40 PM passenger). Thus Day 7 was concluded...

Day 8
We landed in the pandian capital,Madurai at 5.30AM and had our bath and all@ station itself. We put the luggage in the cloak room and headed for Madura Meenakshi temple. Its a huge temple, identical from all sides. Not much rush as we had darshan in 10 minutes time. We had darshan of Sundareswara as well. The temple is huge with rich architecture. We had good time
watching the structural beauty of the temple. Then we did some shopping. By 11 am, we were out of temple. Then we engaged an auto to goto Tirukkoodal sri Koodal Azhagar Perumal.The temple was flocked with lot of piligrims on that day on some marriag ocasion. We had darshan of perumal there and then went to Tirumala Nayak's Palace. Its a big palace, though much of the once existed palace is no longer there. We had lunch@saravana Bhavan and headed to Station by 2PM. We had our train at 4PM to Rameswaram. We landed in Rameswaram by 8, but before that,at around 7PM came the Pamban Bridge. This bridge is unique, generally any bridge wil have walls, but this doesn't have any walls and more over its on a sea. So one step outside your train means, you are in the middle of the SEA. Its simply Amazing.

As I said,we landed in Rameswaram by 8 and then took the room in kariveni Satram(next to
temple). We were informed about the process of the darshan so we slept early to wake up by 3.00AM


Day9

We woke up at 3 and got ready to go to temple. The procedure is first we have to have the darshan of spatika linga, for this they issue a ticket for 50 rupees from 4.30 AM onwards. The darshan starts by 5. We went there by 4 but already there was a big queue. We took the ticket and had darshan at around 5.45AM. We came out and headed for SEA. Here sea is without any waves. As per Ramayana, when rama wanted to build the bridge across the sea to the Lanka, the waves were causing lot of disturbance, so he ordered Samudra the sea god to calm down. So here there are Zero waves. Infact you can find more ripples in your bath tub than in rameswaram. Amazing. So we had a good sea bath, and then went to temple with wet clothes, ofcourse not inside temple. Here there are 22 wells , dug by the Ram's army during their project of constructing the bridge. So the process is to have one bucket of water from each well and then change the clothes, and then go to the darshan. So we engaged a guide for this. He charged 350 rupees(close to 60 rupees per head). The official ticket is 25 Rupees per head. We need to buy this ticket. This is not part of the guides fee. So we engaged him and he took us around the 22 wells. At each well, he poured one one bucket of water on each of us. After 22 wells were over, we thought we couldnt have managed without a guide, so if anyone is planning to go there, do engage a guide. We then went to room changed our clothes and then went for the darshan. It was quick and we came out by 9AM.

We had a good breakfast and then engaged an auto to go to places in and around Rameswaram. First we went to Dhanushkoti, here there is a Kodanda Rama temple. This is the place where the bridge was constructed and this is the place where the Vibishina was given saranagati. Then we went to Kalam's house , the house of our Ex president APJ kalam. Their family runs a sea shell business. We did some shopping there. Then we went to Gandamadana paravatam. Here sriraams Paada mudra is there. Then we visited some teerthams. Raama teertham, Lakhsmana Teertham, Seeta Teertham , they are sort of ponds/koneru. We saw some stones that floated on water. I myself lifted the stone and put it in water, it floated..amazing. Then there was a krishna temple,which is of north indian style and one Ramalayam. We had darshan at both those places and returned back to our room. We had a train at 8.40PM in the evening, to Kachiguda. So we boarded that train and came back with lot of memories which we will cherish for our life time..

I know there are lot of gramitical mistakes in this post,as I wrote it in a very hurried manner as I dont want to forget anything before i put them on web/blog. so please take the essence of what is written and leave the grammer to English language :)