Kerala and Tirunelveli tour

[Guest guest]

Kerala tour and navathiruppathis

 

 

 

Keral is called God's own country and it is true because you can see more of God's creations in Kerala than anywhere else. I other lands man has destroyed what God has created. I mean the wealth of nature. The green forests and the coconut trees and other natural scenes of beauty can be enjoyed only in Kerala wherever you travel. Though our trip was a short one and we could not have an extended tour all over Kerala due to our age (even this was quite exhausting) we had a brief but memorable experience.

 

We proceeded to Palghat where a friend of ours Dr. Jaikrishna menon, known to me through internet as we are fellow admirers of the musician Madurai TNSeshagopalan, lived,. We were met by Jaikrishna at the station and he took us to his house where we met his family and spent some time with them. We went to the Guruvayurappan temple in Palghat maintained by the Chinmaya mission which was very beautiful with murals on the outer wall of the sannidhi and Gutruvayurappan was charming.

 

The murals along the wall of the sannidhi depicted scenes from dasavathara and there were some other paintings on the wall in the meditation hall. I could not drag myself away from the place. It is very well maintained and visitors to Palghat should not miss it.

 

We went to a Hanuman temple in Palghat inside the fort of Tippusultan, the Hanumanji there is supposed to be very powerful. It seems two Hindu soldiers of Tippu who were stationed there carved a figure of hanuman on the rock and later it was made into a proper temple

 

We were supposed to start for Guruvayur in the afternoon en route to Trichur by car but it started raining heavily and we left for Guruvayur in the evening in a taxi, since we would not allow our friend to drive and as a result and went to Guruvayur straight in a taxi. We reached Guruvayur in the night and the place was terribly crowded due to the next day being Good Friday and holiday and we manage to get accommodation in some hotel. Next morning we went for the darsan and the queue was extended far beyond the street in font of the temple and we had given up hope to get inside and was getting reconciled to see the Lord from outside. But Guruvayurappan willed it otherwise. Our friends Jaikrishna and his wife who came with us took us inside and made us stand in the queue for senior citizens which was not very long and we were able to have darsan with in an hour.

 

The feeling I had on seeing the Lord was something I have never experienced earlier even when the temple was not crowded. We were not even allowed to go very near the sannidhi , may be due to excessive crowd, but the moment I stood in front of the Lord I could feel the vibrations of divine joy coursing through me and this feeling I could experience again only in Trivandrum in the temple Padmanabha and in Thirukurungudi temple , Thirunelveli, though I visited many temples during our tour. These were the three places where I could feel the divine presence.

 

We could not do thulabharam as there was along queue and we were leaving for Ernakulam in the afternoon. Perhaps Guruvayurappan wanted us to come again to do it! Our friend NBNair sent me a sms asking me to go to the elephant sanctuary but I had already seen it during my earlier visit and we left for Ernakulam in the afternoon.

 

Indu kumar, a friend from internet , came to the station and she and her husband helped us with the luggage as we had to climb over bridge and no porter cared to come to the platform where the passenger train arrived.!. They took us to the Bharath hotel and were kind enough to arrange a taxi also to take us round the next day.. The next day we went to Thirupanithura to the temple Poornathraya sayee and to the Hill palace which houses several art pieces and jewels etc. It was really fantastic. We climbed the steps which were more than 60 I am sure, realizing only when we went half way up that there is a road around for car to travel. Nether our driver knew it nor the man who sold the tickets told us!. We managed to call the car for climbing down though, which was just as well as it started raining. But it was worthwhile though. In the confusion of calling the car etc we forgot to buy the postcards showing the art pieces of the museum.

 

Then we went to cochin and visited the Mattancheri palace and saw the mythological murals, depicting the whole of Ramayana there. To climb the stairs for the museum was a task and a fellow tourist a Frenchman helped me by offering his arm. Inside I ventured to go down to the Queens bedroom to see the murals there through narrow and steep steps and I had a tough time climbing up that nearly gave my husband a heart attack!.

 

Aferwards we rode round the port of cochin and saw the Chinese nets and walked along the spice street in Jewish town our hotel In the afternoon we went to the Hanuman temple adjacent to the Ernakulam Siva temple which contains a beautiful hanumanji and several statues inside. It was really worth seeing.

 

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The next day evening we went to trivandrum.

In Trivandrum another internet contact R.Suresh came to the station and we stayed in the hotel Aryanivas. Next day we took a taxi and went to Padmanabha temple. We had a good darsan of Padmanabha and narasimha, Rama and Hanuman inside the temple. The face of Padmanabha was not very clearly visible but in spite of that I fell in love with Him the moment I saw Him. He was simply gorgeous!.

As we could not see the palace, art gallery etc . the day being Monday when they are all closed and we went to varkala Krishna temple in the afternoon.. The Krishna there is beautiful reminding us of Guruvayurappan. Another friend from internet ,Anil Potthy from Kilimanur, another fellow admirer of TNSeshagopalan also came to see us in the hotel with his family.

The next day we went to kudhiramaligai, the palace where maharaja Swathithirunaal was staying and wrote all his songs. The palace, adjacent to the temple of Padmanabha, itself is exquisite with intricate wooden sculptures with the outside wall being marked with the sculptures of wooden horses which gave the name Kudhiramaligai. The whole structure is of wood and more than the paintings and other art pieces the place has the splendour of having housed the great composer and musician , Swathi thirunaaL a great devotee of Padmanabha, whose temple could be seen from his chamber where he used to write his songs. We could visualize the scholars and musicians who used to throng the chambers of the king, who held concerts and conferences in the palace. The aura of learning and music was very much present there and whole place reverberates with devotion, knowledge and music.

 

We went to to chithra art gallery which houses the paintings of ravivarma and others and went back and rested for a while and started for Thirunelveli.

 

In Thirunelveli we stayed in Hotel janakiram and the next day we took a taxi and went round navathiruppathis. The driver rushed through because we had to see all before the temples close as otherwise we had to wait four hours or so. Though we have had darsan of all the perumals except inThirupperai where due to the utsavam Perumal came back only in the early hours and the bhattar went to sleep. Most of the places it was ekantha seva as there was nobody including the bhattar in the temple due to Utsavam and Perumal being returned in early morning. In Thirukkurugur it was thrilling to see the puliyamaram where Nammazvar sat in dhyana and we had darsan of Nammazvar also. Apart from that there are two places where I was much impressed . They were Thirupulingudi, Perumal kaaisinavendan, kidandha thirukkolam , the lotus stalk from His naval going and joining brahma on lotus on the wall. Perumal is so long and feet cannot be seen. But enna azagu! I lost my heart to Him . The second one was Thirukkolur Vaitthamaanidhi perumal also kidandha kolam, where you can see the nerves on His feet avvalavu thathroopam!

 

That evening the taximan said we can go to Thirukkurungudi but he said that we could not see vattapparai in the evening and I said in that case I am going only the next day since it is most important to see Ramanuja in vattapparai. So we went to sanakaranar kovil and saw sankaranarayanan

 

 

The next day was the best day in our tour when we went to Thirukkurungudi which was famous for many reasons.We were told to see the son of Jeer D.Ramanujam by the taxi fellow himself and we went to his house and were welcomed warmly. He took us to the temple and that day being the day of Garudaseva all the five nambis were assembled in the main mandaopam and we could see them in one place. Jeer was having his darsan and we were able to see the rituals connected with it and I took photos of all the five perumals later and also of one man who was tall and was wearing 12 thiruman in his huge body and he reminded me of nampaduvaan and I took his photo also.. We had the darsan of Thirukkurngudi nimbi and also kidandha nimbi anfd irundhanambi. Seeing Thirukkurungudi nimbi who was also vasshnava nambi and vaduganambi I could not help feeling the exhilaration to think of His infinite mercy to His devotees and felt the same ecstasy as when seeing Padmanabha and Guruvayurappan.

 

 

After that we went to see the Jeer and He blessed us and I took photos of him with my husband.

 

Then we went to Ramanujam's house and he was talking to us about the importance of the kshethram and late took us to see the vattapparai. We had good darsan of Ramanuja and Thirumangai axvar of whom I took photo. I did not go down to see Ramanuja on vattapparai as I did not want to risk it but saw from above.I have a photo of the same anyway. We could not see thirupparkadal nimbi for the same reason as in

Thirupperai, and also malai mel nimbi which was difficult for us we were told. On the whole it was a very satisfying experience in Thirukkurungudi

Earlier on the way we went to vanamamalai where due to recent rains the whole temple was flooded but somehow with the help of the people there we went in and had darsan. We also bought the thailam bottle from ennaikkinaru.

In the afternoon we went to then thiruppathi thiruvenkatanathan kovil. We tried to see the sculptures in krishnapuram but the place was dark and it was a dissappointment. Especially when They did not allow photos also. I took photo stealthily though which gives an impression of the quality of the sculptures.

 

The next day I woke up with terrible pain on my left hip and could not even walk Fortunately it was better on seeing a local dr. who gave an injection and pain killer and the next day I even ventured to Nelliappar temple as I could not possibly leave Thirunelveli without seeing Nellai Govindan who is really a huge Perumal in reclining position. We had archanas there for Perumal .

 

On returning to Chennai my hip pain returned and also shoulder pain and I saw our doctor who said that it is due to out hectic traveling and climbing the steps but nothing to worry about and it will take sometime to come back to normal. In kerala especially everywhere we had to climb numerous steps , whether it is a temple or a palace, to say nothing of climbing up and down the trains four times in ten days. In the end of it all the pain was terrible while returning. Any way it is all worth it though but I think we should take care not to have such a hectic programme in future. But we are getting older every year and have to finish our travels before we become immobile! At this age when we have time and means to travel the body is not cooperating!

 

 

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