A day at the abode of God...

Kumarakovil and Suchindram are two temples I visited today along with my family. We had arranged for a bus to pick and drop us there and back.

Everybody was ready and in the bus and we headed off to Kumarakovil. Kumarakovil is an ancient Murugan temple situated in Velimalai.

Courtesy: http://www.nanjilonline.com/tourism/kumarakovil.asp

It was a wonderful experience there. There were very few in the temple and we went around slowly and praying piously. The temple seemed very ancient and was very quiet and peaceful. As we went our way around the temple, we were directed to a idol of Shiva. Here the story was that Shiva is meditating. So you had to call out to him and only then pray, as otherwise he may not hear you. Here we clapped and called out before we prayed in front of the idol. As we came out, we saw a group of people who were singing aloud to the lord while they stood there. In this group was a old man who was was leading the chorus. He voice was filled with devotion and made you want to stay rooted to the place as you listened to him. But the rest of the group that was with him would begin by the time he completed half a sentence. And that was a cacophony. So we stood there for sometime listening to half a sentence filled with devotion and another sentence that was a cacophony where you could neither make out head nor tail. Now my brother was to take the Kavadi so as soon as arrangements were made we left the singing group to themselves. This time we went once again into the temple as a procession behind the Kavadi. After the prayers we left, towards our next destination.

Our next destination was the Suchindram Temple

The Suchindram is another ancient temple dedicated to the Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva. It also contains well known and worshiped figure of Hanuman as well. The temple is close to Nagercoil and is well renowned. It was one of those temples that I had learnt about in History at school. The entire temple was filled with exquisite and intricate carvings that left one with a sense of wonder and bafflement. This was my first trip to Suchindram as well.

Pic Courtersy: Wikipedia

We entered the temple and went to get the receipts for the various Puja's at the temple. My uncle had gone to one such corner. Upon his return, we saw that he was accompanied by another man who offered to take us around and explain the things inside the temple. Now we weren't too sure if it would work out and whether it was advisable to have someone like him accompany us.

But as we went in he narrated the story of how each idol came about and what they signified. We were actually able to understand a bit of the background and take in the beauty and also pray. As we moved from one part of the temple to the other he should us some of the well known carvings and the hstory behind them as well. He also led us to the musical pillars for which Suchindram is well known. He beat upon these pllars and we heard the different notes. Many of the pillars there gave away vibrations and notes that we not only pleasing to the ear but also left us smiling. The sheer magnificence of the place and the beauty left one spell bound. How were these achieved by our forefathers so many hundreds of years ago...one would be left wondering...

We also came across the Hanuman idol here. This idol is one of the biggest Hanuman idols. We had wanted to do the puja for Hanuman as well. The guide who was with us made it possible for us to participate in this. We stood very near the idol as the process of garlanding, putting butter and washing the legs of the deity with Rose water (pani neer) took place. It was a wonderful experience made even more better by the presence of a good guide.

As we left the second temple, we left with a sense of satisfaction, happiness and inner peace. It was a wonderful day...a day at the abode of God... 

Revisiting Memories...

Two weeks ago we had Inflore being held at Rajagiri. It was Inflore 2013...

Forget the fact that I wanted to head back and check on how things were this year..with the programs, the quiz  the panel discussion...basically the entire works. I tried making plans, checking up with people, trying to  get people to make it that day while praying that I didn't have to report to office that day.

So what was it that I really wanted? More than checking out Inflore, this visit was a journey to the past, a chance to meet up with people exchange stories and revisit old memories.

Just planning the visit and the ride to Ernakulam brought on memories...We reached Ernakulam and as the car drew nearer to the gates, excitement mounted up. We met people, our classmates and batchmates, the juniors (who for some strange reason remembered us) and the faculty as well. We spent time walking around, catching up on gossip, exchanging stories and the time just flew by. Very soon it was late in the evening and we set off for the class dinner that we had planned...

The dinner was an unexpected sort of event. Four of us girls with about ten of the guys. It was quite late when we reached back but the time spent at the restaurant seemed to fly by as people cracked jokes and pulled each others legs. It just seemed like another day out from college.

In fact, we had made plans for Sunday as well. Lunch at Kayees, followed by some time at Kashi and then some north indian treats...Some time spent roaming about in Fort Kochi and then some time at Hanish's place. It was an amazing day and had to end early as we needed to head back home and work.

The day ended soon and with a heavy heart we left...We left with the heart filled with memories, sweet times and a longing to stay back for a bit more...as we headed back...back to the newly joined corporate life...