Srimad Azhagiyasingar

I am writing here what comes to my mind when I think of Srimad Azhagiyasingar who recently left for his eternal abode. Forgive me for the length of the article, its coarseness and for any other error.

I had the great fortune of having both Samashrayanam & Bharasamarpanam performed by HH. Both were done on Tamil New Years day (Chithirai Vardapirappu) incidentally. 

On the day I had my Prapatti done, I was the lone person seeking his blessings. Me and my father had gone the previous day to request for the proceedings to be done. He had readily accepted. But the next day, he was feeling very tired as informed by his attendants. I persisted, and finally he saw me and accepted. 

I am very much into the mundane world and a very normal human being. But for the procedures, I had shaved completely not only my face, but had taken a small portion on the forehead, plus on the sides as well. You could say this was a cross between a regular tuft and a modern day haircut. He immediately noticed it, and was very happy about it. I guess this was the reason he consented to have the procedures done, though he might have preferred to take some rest (he could very well have said, you are still young, you could have it done later or I am not feeling well or only you have come, I can do it if a group of people request etc.etc.)

The procedure started, and my parents were standing beside me. It was April, as has already been mentioned. I sweat profusely, even without doing any activity. That day since HH was feeling very feeble, I had to bend down to listen to him, to repeat what he was saying. 

As usual I started dripping. HH noticed it again, and immediately called for someone to turn on the fans/cooler. He was not only taking care of my eternal wellbeing, he was also concerned about such minuscule things. 

I am very attached to the  Lord on the Hasthigiri hills- Lord Varadaraja. I have heard that Sri Kozhiyalam Swami, the preceptor to my maternal great-grandfather Sri Uttamur Swamy used to take the disciple very close to the Lord, and have the proceedings of Bharanyasam conducted. I have always desired to do the same, though I understand these days it would be highly impossible. Hence I desired that atleast these proceedings happen in Kanchipuram, so the proximity would bring some kind of a solace. 

Moreover HH himself might have said, with Lord Narasimha here, why would one go anywhere else? (though he himself was very much attached to Lord Varadaraja..I have seen him worship our lord during each one of the Brahmotsavams year after year without giving it a miss). He did not attend that particular year, maybe not the entire 10 days of festivities, because of his health. So I had to pacify myself with the nearest possible venue/time. 

***Please do not misunderstand me - I am not considering Sri Malolan any inferior but it is only my attachment to Varadan that made me think so. ***

When I was repeating what he was telling, it so happened that I kept getting a particular word wrong, repeatedly, and he kept correcting me, with utmost patience, each time. 

Once the procedures were getting wrapped up, the famous verse from Nyasa Vimsathi, by Swami Desikan was recited. In his mercy he split the verse into small words for my understanding. I know the verse by-heart and recite it daily, but could not comprehend in the beginning that this was what was being told by him, since he was splitting it word by word. 

Once it dawned on me this was the verse, I completed it by myself. And he was smiling gleefully and said "neeye sollittiya" - you have told it yourself. 

He appreciated even these small things. Again and again he kept blessing me all the while smiling. There are much learned scholars and more deserving people, but he paid attention to event the smallest things one could spot. 

This is another time when we had gone to seek his blessings. He had just had a burning charcoal piece burn his feet. He was feeling the pain of it, and showed it to all who had assembled, but still was smiling and blessing everyone. 

Each time I have gone to seek his blessings, if it was not too crowded, he would enquire about me. I would tell him I was Sri Uttamur Swamis great grandson, and he would respond with a smile, why didnt you have your initiation done by him? Why did you come to me? 

I have never told him an answer, just smiled back at him everytime. 

We have also heard from so many priests at many temples, how they have all equally enjoyed the magnanimity of HH. I have also seen a Sathadha SriVaishnava, an utmost devotee of the Lord get HH's blessings and have Samasrayanam done by him. I have been a beneficiary of his kindness to all and sundry, by being on the bus of the Mutt from Kanchi bus stand to the temple (to pick up all the Goshti members once they completed the recital near bus stand and drop them near temple to await the Lord's arrival). 

We have seen so many times, how he would slightly tilt his head and look at the Lord inside the Silver/Golden Mandapam and enjoy the beauty. We have seen so many times how during the daily routines, while doing Abhigamanam, he would look through the mirror to see how the Alankaram for Malolan has come. We have seen so many times how every bunch of flower, whatever colour they maybe of, however long the strand maybe, were very ably used up by him to decorate Malolan without any asymmetry or slightest discord or skew. We have seen how the elephant Malolan would literally jump with joy when it sensed his presence. We have seen how attached he was to the elephant. We have also seen how happy he was to look at bright young Veda students, how he appreciated them, literally patting their cheeks like a loving father would do to his son. We have also seen and heard from people how today Ahobilam is verily accessible, all without doubt the unstinting work and initiation of his HH. 

Well, things have to move on, and hence he has moved on to a different realm. 

I am eternally thankful to him and not able to do anything else, keep reciting his Thaniyan. Just as our Vaishnava philosophy says..one cannot repay the Master/Preceptor for the benign favor done to us through the initiation. 

Sri Lakshmi Narasimha Divya Paduka Sevaka Srivann Satakopa Sri Narayana Yatinda Mahadesikaya Namaha

OK

This writeup is really long overdue.. but here it comes finally. I shall add links to photos soon.

Sri:

Travel diary (Tour to Mathura, Gokul, Badrinath divya desams)

Number of DDs: 5

Other places of interest: Lots

Travel bases: Mathura, Badrinath, Haridwar

Rough Expenses per head: 10000

Total number of days needed: Minimum 10

(Day 1: Aug 1 Fri)

Me and my friends Anantha, Lakshmi Narasimhan & Jayaraman, took the Tamilnadu express train to New Delhi. We had planned to go to Mathura first, and since Tamilnadu express does not stop at Mathura, we got down at Agra Cantonment station instead.

(Day 3: Aug 3 Sun)

We got down at Agra station. Got a pre paid taxi for Rs 900 to Mathura. Told the driver we needed to go to Sri Krishna Janmasthan. Since we needed to freshen up, we also asked him to look for a hotel. I guess Janmasthan is slightly separated from Mathura City. Hence there were not too many good hotels around. We went to one small hotel, took a room on rent for Rs 200 (bargained). We took our bath, and were ready. Meantime, we checked if we could get a cab to take us around to all the important places, and drop us at Brindavan for the night. We got a Maruti Omni for a package amount of Rs 1500 to take us to Gokul, Goverdhan, Barsana, Nandgaon and drop us at Brindavan.

On the way we saw Pothara Kund, where Sri Krishnas nappies were washed. Then one of the local guys took us to Janmasthan temple, and showed us around. In the same compound we find the jail like setup where Krishna was born, which the locals say is made of red stones, more than 5000 years old. There are also other shrines around. There is very strict security around, and we are not allowed to carry any electronic goods, etc. since the compound is shared with a mosque.

After this we boarded the van and were taken to Gokul. There are lots of small temples, and in fact each house there is considered a temple. We can see numerous boards that say Pracheen Mandir. There was a person who came with us as guide. Beware of these people, they sweet talk you into shelling out money as donations. They say your name will be inscribed on stone etc. and you can see a lot of such stones. The sad part is, even if you are not interested or not prepared, they emotionally blackmail you to pay it up. We visited Nanda Maharajas palace, birth place of Balaram and a few other places. We paid the guide Rs 50 and he was not happy with it. Such is the plight of these places and the tourists who come there.

We then went to Goverdhan giri. There is a small Giriraj temple where we had darshan, and proceeded to circumambulate the holy hill seated in our cab itself, since we were told it will take quite some time to do the parikrama. Once this was done, we had our lunch in one hotel. We were charged an atrocious amount, though we spoke in Hindi, and we could do nothing about it.

Then we proceeded to Barsana. This is the birthplace of Radharani. There is a temple there. We had reached a bit earlier than the temple time, and so we waited there. Place is very good. We have to climb a small hillock. There are lots of old buildings around. There we also went to “Mor Kuti”, “Dhangar”, “Maangar”, “Shyam Kuti” etc. There are a few more places as well, connected to Radha & Krishna's childhood days.

Then on the way to Brindavan we stopped at Nandgaon. Here again they say that this was the village from which Nanda maharaja hailed.

Finally it was time to go to Brindavan. It was around 9 PM when we got down at Brindavan. We had to pay extra money to the cab driver since we were delayed in finding the place of our stay for the night: Srimad Andavan Asramam.

We had called the caretaker earlier, and had booked a room for ourselves. Minimum needed facilities are available. Brindavan is a very big city compared to Mathura and other places we had visited earlier. It attracts a lot of foreign tourists as well, due to presence of ISKCON we felt.

(Day 4: Aug 4 Mon)

Lots of places are there to visit in Brindavan. We took rest for the night, and then proceeded early in the morning the next day. We first went to Rangji Mandir, which has South Indian style temple construction and day to day performance of activities. The places we visited later were Kaliya Dah, (the place where Krishna danced on the hood of the serpent Kaliyan), Cheer Ghat( where Krishna played with Gopis by taking their dresses away while they were taking their bath), Kesi Ghat (Yamuna river bank), Banke Bihari Temple (this was very heavily crowded, we had a very tough time having darshan) and of course ISKCON temple as well(heavily crowded again). There is also a big well maintained garden, which according to lore is the place where Krishna performed “Ras-leela”. Beware of monkeys in all places. They are experts in snatching anything from your bags, purses to glasses etc.

After the visits to these places, we went back to the Asramam and had our lunch there. We had arranged for prasadam prior to our leaving for the temple visits. We ate this, and had a bit of rest. Then we had one of the local help us get a cab to drop us at Mathura.

We caught a train from Mathura to Nizamuddin to start on our next leg of journey.

We reached just about in time to take the A/C special train from Nizamuddin to Haridwar.

(Day 5: Aug 5 Tue)

We reached Haridwar at around 345 AM. We had arranged over phone, for a cab to pick us up at the station. We started immediately, as our plan was to reach Joshimutt the same day evening. There are military gates in Joshimutt, and they are locked in the evening. Its better to reach Joshimutt before 4PM, if we need to proceed to Badrinath the same day.

We refreshed ourselves on the way. There are numerous little springs and mini waterfalls all around the Great Himalayas. Water is very clear, and tasty. By the time we crossed Rishikesh, there was enough light around, so we proceeded further. The beauty of the hills and the valleys is a sight not to be missed. The Mother Ganges, as she is rightly called, accompanies us for the entire trip. No wonder the sages of the old times preferred to do their penance in the beautiful and yet bestial Himalayas. All the way along we saw that the roads were earlier blocked because of landslides, and they had been cleared by the Border Roads Organization. They do a wonderful service to pilgrims by maintaining the roads. Not an easy task, considering the weather conditions, the extreme difficulties of the hilly range, animals, plus other natural & environmental factors.

We got down at Devprayag, our first stop and our first target for the day. This is the place of confluence of rivers Alakananda and Bhageerathi. From here on the river is named Ganges or Ganga. We had our bath in the ice cold water. We had been warned numerous times, that the water here is not just cold alone, but comes with such brutal force. So we took enough precaution against such warnings.

Then we proceeded to have darshan of the Lord in the temple. This is called as Kandam ennum kadi nagar as per the praises of the Azhvars. Perumal is seen as Rama here.

Then we proceeded further, on the way encountering the 5 places where confluence of rivers takes place, known as the Pancha prayag – Deva prayag, Rudra prayag, Karna prayag, Nanda prayag, Vishnu prayag. Devprayag is the confluence of Alakananda & Bhageerathi, Rudraprayag is the place of confluence of Alakananda and Mandakini, Nandaprayag of Alakananda and Nandakini, Karnaprayag of Alakananda & Pindar, and finally Vishnu prayag of Alakananda and Vishnu Ganga. From Rudraprayag the road branches, one towards Badrinath and the other towards Kedarnath.

On the way we also come across a place called Garuda Ganga. We were told by some of our friends that the stones collected from the riverbed of this river, would repel the bad effects due to “naga dosha” etc in one’s horoscope. There is a small shrine for Perumal and Garudan has a separate shrine nearby. The approach to this is not very easy. When we went to get the stones, we found that the water was extraordinarily fast flowing and extremely cold as well. Anantha managed to put his hand in the water and pick up a few stones, and then he felt as though he had lost sensation in his hands for some time. Such was the effect the cold water had on him. We shared the sacred stones and then proceeded, as there was not much to see around, and also since we had to rush to Joshimutt.

We had lunch on the way in one of the many hotels on the roadside, someplace close to a town called Srinagar. Everywhere on the way we found that rice is available though of not very good quality. Packaged water is available but the pricing is very high for such products, as the shopkeepers say that they bring these products up by negotiating a very difficult terrain.

We proceeded towards Joshimutt. We got ourselves dropped near the temple. We have to climb down a few steps to reach the temple as the road is at an elevated level. The temple was closed but we could have darshan through the grill gates. This is the place where Sri Adi Sankaracharya established one of his four famous centers. This is also the place where the processional Idol of Sri Badrinath perumal is brought and kept during the winter season as it is said the temple in Badrinath would be completely covered by snow. We had reached Joshimutt just in time, so the driver said that we get down, walk on foot for some distance and visit the temple, whilst he would cross the gate and wait for us on the other side. Since there was no one in the temple, and as such nothing much could be done by us, we rushed back to the cab and started our journey towards Badrinath, having crossed the last hurdle.

On the way we reached a place called Pandukeshwar. This is named after the Pandavas. We were warned by army men all around that it was about to rain, and we start immediately so that we dont find ourselves in any trouble on the way. We had tea in a small shop, and it started to drizzle. There is another gate near where we had stopped to relax ourselves for a few minutes. Immediately we were asked by the army men to start. So we rushed back to our car and started on our way. This was one of the most trickiest and heart stopping leg of our journey, as we could see that the roads were very bad in shape, and there was the imminent danger of a landslide happening any moment. With the grace of Perumal and blessings from our elders we managed to negotiate this and reached Badri safely around 7 PM. We went to a hotel called Paramarth Lok which is very close to the temple. There we booked a room for ourselves. We were told that the temple would be open till around 8 PM so we rushed but we were unfortunate as the temple doors were being closed just then. We did manage to circumambulate around the temple and returned to the hotel, having dinner on the way.

(Day 6: Aug 6 Wed)

We woke up at around 3 AM, and were told that it was the custom to take bath in the natural hot water springs nearby the temple before one visits the shrine. So we proceeded there. Its a wonder that while at one place there is very hot water naturally occurring (science shows its due to presence of sulphur), just nearby ice cold water flows as Alakananda. Badri shrine is located just on the banks. We had to cross a small bridge constructed over it on the way from our hotel. We can hear the noise the river makes. Such is the force with which the water flows. There are shrines for Badrinath, (a separate shrine houses the processional idol), for Thayar Sri Aravindavalli, and various other smaller shrines. Even today the customs as ordained by Sri Sankaracharya are being followed. We were told there is a small shrine just below the steps for Sri Ramanuja but we were unable to locate it, since we were all directed to a Ramanuja Kootam. There is a small shrine called Sakshi Gopal, where it is said, once we visit the temple in Badrinath we have to come to this shrine and tell to perumal so and he records it for us. There is also a place called Brahmakapalam where rites to the deceased ancestors are performed.

In the holy shrine of Sri Badrinath, we were allowed to have darshan a few times by going round. There are ticketed sevas, but we found it was not necessary. There are Kuberan, Narada, Nara, Narayana, Garuda & Sri Badrinathan in the shrine. In the early morning seva, abhishekam is performed, and at the end of it, the moorthys are shown to the devotees one by one and their significance explained. Badrinath perumal is seated in padmasana, as though in deep meditation. The moorthy is not very big, and so one would have to carefully see.

After a very satisfying darshan, we proceeded back to the hotel, packed our things up and started on our way back down to Haridwar. On the way we went to Mana, which is on the Indo-Tibetan border. There are quite a few places to visit here. There is a small cave shrine for Veda Vyasa, and it’s said this is where he meditated, and wrote the Mahabharata & other puranas. There is the mighty river Saraswati, which flows very closeby, and its just deafening. We can see the river coming down and then disappearing between the rocks. There was a small water outlet from a stonewall marked as Manasarovar water. There is also the Bheem Pul or the bridge that Bheema is supposed to have created. Legend says that the Pandavas, after deciding to leave the kingdom went through here on their way to heaven. Draupadi being a lady could not cross the river as the banks were quite far apart, while the pandavas had crossed already. So she called out to Bheema, who in turn threw a big rock over the river, such that it formed a bridge over which Draupadi could walk across and cross the river.

We were left very thirsty and panting for breath. We had heavy sweating as well, though it was fairly cool to cold all around. There is very little oxygen I guess, due to the elevation and hence taking even a few steps we found to be a very difficult thing to do.

Then on the way back, we had lunch in some hotel on the roadside and drove around without any hitches. Having said that we were also happy and thankful that the same road which we had crossed the day before, had been blocked due to heave landslides, and they were cleared when we were coming back. Himalayas, as such are beautiful, but can be bestial as well at times.

On our way back it was raining, though it was not much of a problem. Our driver was worried that we should get down to from the hills completely, and reach the plains before it starts getting dark. We managed to do just that, though we had to stop on the way for a few minutes since we had a flat tire and it needed to be changed. We reached Haridwar and we asked the driver himself to leave us at a hotel. The hotel where we got a room, was ok sorts. It was pretty close to the station and there were many shops around. We had dinner in a Gujarati restaurant just opposite to the hotel. We paid the driver and tipped him generously, making him very happy. We thought it was only fair, since the driver had been sleepless for nearly 3 days, and had driven around for close to 700 Kms through very rough conditions. He was very well behaved, and was very courteous.

(Day 7: Aug 7 Thu)

Full day we took rest, while Jayaram went around to visit Manasadevi temple. Later in the evening, Jayaram, Anantha and Narasimhan went to witness Ganga Harathi, which is a very spectacular site.

We had kept this day as buffer, since we were told that Badri trip could turn out to be very unpredictable, due to landslides happening anywhere on the 350 km road stretch.

(Day 8: Aug 8 Fri)

We started early in the morning, and boarded a train from Haridwar to Nizamuddin. We got down and had lunch in the station. Later we boarded the Rajdhani express from Nizamuddin to Chennai.

(Day 9: Aug 9 Sat)

Complete day was spent in the train. At around 830 PM got down at Chennai Central. Thus ended a very satisfying and unforgettable trip to North India.

Addendum to Madurai Tour Diary

This is a followup to the latest article on travelling to the Pandiya Divya Desams.
We (my father, mother, wife and self) went on a small tour to 8 Divya Desams through a tour operator. Being an organised tour, this would seem more optimized in terms of distance travelled, time taken versus the number of temples covered.

First we took the Podhigai Express from Chennai to Srivilliputhur via Madurai. Got down at Srivilliputhur, freshened up and went to Thiruthangal first. Had darshan there, and then came back to Srivilliputhur.

After lunch proceeded to Madurai, Koodalazhagar sannidhi. Had darshan there, and then went to Kallazhagar temple (Thirumaliruncholai). On the way back took the path leading to Thirumogur temple. Had sevai there. Then proceeded to Thirupullani. On the way had dinner, and halted at Thirupullani for the night.

A word about the timings: Kallazhagar temple is supposed to be open till around 745. Thirumogur again closes around the same time. So please be advised that you might have to rush to the temples to avoid disappointment.

In Thirumogur temple renovation work is going on. Samprokshanam is due shortly, and once completed, the temple should be back to its glorious self.

Next day early morning, went for Sethukkarai, had sankalpam and performed Sethusnanam. Then came back and had darshan of Jagannatha Perumal and Darbha sayana Ramar.

Had lunch and then proceeded via Paramakkudi, Sivagangai, Thirupathur to Trichy. On the way had darshan at Tirukoshtiyur and Tirumeyyam.

Boarded train from Trichy to Chennai.

Entire journey we travelled by Tempo traveller. So for those who can afford to pay for the entire trip by road, by making their own travel arrangements, this would be the best travel plan as they can cover all the 8 Divya Desams in and around Madurai, as against the 7 that we covered, as per the earlier blog entry.

Sri :

This is a writeup on our tour to Madurai and divyadesams around Madurai. This was the first concious step taken by me, towards having darshanam of all the deities in the 106 Divyadesams.

Thanks to my dear friends Anantha and Lakshmi Narasimhan, this and the subsequent trips were planned and executed exceptionally well.

Number of days: 2

Expenses: Roughly 3000 Rs per head(including train, local stay etc)

Travel Base: Madurai

Number of Divyadesams: 7(covered in this trip.. Can also go to Tiruppullani from Madurai)


Day 1 (Nov 30 Fri)

We boarded the Pandiyan Express Train No.2637 from Chennai Egmore to Madurai. There are lots of trains and buses to Madurai.

Day 2 (Dec 1 Sat)

We reached Madurai around 7 AM. We planned our stay at Anantha's relatives place. There are lots of facilities for boarding and lodging since Madurai is a very big city.

We freshened up, and started our journey. The plan was to cover the following places, in the span of two days.

Koodal Azagar Perumal Kovil - Madurai
Tirumalirunchoolai - Kallazhagar Kovil - Madurai
Tirumogur Kalamega Perumal Kovil- Madurai
Sathyagirinathan Perumal Kovil - Tirumeyyam
Sowmyanarayana Perumal Kovil - Tirukoshtiyur
Vatapatrasayanar Perumal Kovil + Andal Kovil - Srivilliputur
Ninra Narayana Perumal Kovil - Tiruthankal

We started for Azhagar kovil. This place is around 21 km Northwest of Madurai. There are very frequent bus services from city center, Periyar bus stand [not Matuthavani bus stand]. Bus route number 44 LSS is the most suitable. One can get off right at the temple gates. By bus it takes around 45 mins.

Avoid travelling to this place by bus on festival dates and public holidays, as there is too much crowd, especially while returning.

After a very good sevai of Perumal, Thayar,and other deities around the temple, we left for Tirumogur. Thirumogur is off the highway connecting Madurai and Melur, leading to Chennai. From Othakadai on Melur road, take right and travel 3km to reach this place. Awesome thirumeni for perumal here. Famous Chakkarathazwar. Ksheerabdhinathan is also present.

Note:

There is no direct bus to reach this place. We can get off at Othakadai on any Melur road bound bus, take a mini bus from there. Also one need not go back to the city center from Azhagar kovil. Thallakulam stop has a few connecting buses. However, autos are available at reasonable rates and are the quickest and easiest way to reach the temple. It might cost around 100 for a return trip.

Follow this link for a map of Divyadesams in and around Madurai.

http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UTF8&hl=en&msa=0&ll=10.260871,78.723221&spn=0.473639,0.891953&z=11&msid=100205665891520877919.00045d2f88e3825ea5ddd

Disclaimer: No driving directions are given. This is just an indication.

We reached home, had our lunch and rested for an hour in the afternoon. Then we left for Srivilliputur. If you stay in Madurai City, you can reach Srivilliputur via Tirumangalam. Tirumangalam is like outskirts of Madurai and is a very important junction connecting the by-pass and arterial roads. From Tirumangalam, plenty of busses are available for both Tiruthankal and Srivilliputur. It takes about ninety minutes to reach Srivilliputur and around the same time for Tiruthankal.

We reached Srivilliputur, had sevai of Andal, Rangamannar, Andals birthplace (nandavanam which Periyalwar used to tend to), Periya Perumal (Vata-patra-sayee), Periyalwar. A place with very high religious significance, being the birthplace of two Alwars.

From there we went to Tiruthankal via Sivakasi. There are plenty of buses available. One can get down very near to the temple at Tiruthankal. Amazingly beautiful perumal here. We heard that people from Kerala had come here for patch-work, with special plant-based colored paints for the Tirumeni of perumal. Just recently the procedures were completed and the Perumal was literally glowing. Being a Saturday, all temples were crowded but we had nice darshan.

After having splendid sevai at both Tiruthankal and Srivilliputur, we reached madurai [ connected into city via Tirumangalam, taking a local bus, thus saving over an hour]

Day 3 (Dec 2, Sat)

Next day, we left for Tirumeyyam and Tirukoshtiyur. We boarded our bus at Periyar bus stand to take a Pudukotai bound bus. Reaching Tirumeyyam by bus takes close to 2 hours. The important junction on the way is Tirupathur. Not to be confused with the Tirupathur near Vellore. From Tirumeyyam, one can take autos to reach the temple. Always take the auto for roundtrip, as the temple is in a remote place. There is a Siva temple and our Perumal temple. Most tourists who come to this place visit both temples. So please be specific to the auto driver which temple/s you would like to visit.

One cannot forget the super darshanam we had of Sathyagiri nathan and Tirumeyyar. Especially the Perumal seen lying down and the story that is told by the preist, its like a snapshot taken out of some animation movie. And all these have been sculpted on the rocks of a small hillock. (Hence Satya-giri). Also the temple pond here is worth mention. Its octogonal in shape and the water is very good.


From Tirumeyyam, one has to travel back to a junction called Tirupathur some 10km away. From there, one has to take bus to Tirukoshtiyur. All Sivagangai bound buses stop at Tirukoshtiyur. Auto is again the suggested option. The trip may cost around 200 Rs.

Tirukoshtiyur is of course famous because of its association with an incident that occured in Sri Ramanuajars life. The Ashtanga vimanam is famous here, and one can climb through very narrow steps to go up. One can have the birds eye view of the villages surrounding the place. May pay some tips to the person who takes us above.(the gate is locked and keys are kept by some local people who act as security) He even explains the story, though as is commonly and wrongly projected, he tells that Sri Ramanujar proclaimed The Mantram standing on the tower. (More authentic accounts tell that he only revealed the meanings of the teachings he had obtained from Tirukoshtiyur Nambi)

There is a separate shrine for Sri Nambi as well. And since Sri Ramanujar was a disciple, he is seen on a pedestal lower to that of Sri Nambi.

When one does circum-ambulation of the temple, one can see two huge Narasimha Perumal deities. In one of the moortys, Perumal is seen holding Hiranyan by his tuft with one hand, another hand holding Hiranyans hips, yet another hand holding his Poonal(sacred thread, Hiranyan was son of a Rishi or a Brahmin, and so he had the poonal too). With one leg, Perumal locks Hiranyans legs so that he does not escape and run away.

Narasimhar at Tirukoshtiyur

In the other moorty, we find Perumal killing Hiranya with his bare nails. These are moortys of Perumal in a terrible state of anger, and thus, for the lighthearted people might seem very terrifying. :)

Narasimhar at TiruKoshtiyur

It takes a whole session to have sevai of these Perumals and get back to Madurai. We reached Madurai around 2 PM. Had lunch and rested for the afternoon.

In the evening we went to Koodal Azhagar Perumal Kovil and had excellent darshan of Perumal and Thayar. We also had sevai of Perumals in all the three levels of the gopuram, though there was not enough lighting available. This is yet another Ashtanga vimana temple. This temple is right in the center of the city. It is at walkable distance from the Madurai railway station.

This is a relaxed plan for having sevai of Perumal and Thayar in Divyadesams around Madurai. We did not have Tirupullani in our plan, which is the other Divyadesam that could also be covered. Tirupullani is close to Ramanadapuram. One can have Madurai as the travel base, visit Pullani, and come back to Madurai to cover other temples.

By a little bit optimization one take sevai at Koodalazhagar kovil before leaving to Tirumeyyam. As Tirumeyyam is more close to Trichy, one can also have darshan at Tirukoshtiyur, travel to Tirumeyyam and from there proceed to Trichy, take train from there to Chennai.

Addendum to Naimisaranyam tour diary

This point was missed when I had posted the earlier diary on the blog page.

Thanks to my cousin Srinivas for reminding me about it.

When we were going to Naimisaranyam from Sitapur, the nearest town indicated on the milestones on the highway read "Hardoi". Our driver, who is a native of Sitapur district, told us an interesting legend associated with it.

Seems this Hardoi was the place where Hiranyakasipu stayed. Maybe where he did his penance to get those terrible powers that he had. Since he hated Hari or Lord Vishnu, he was a "Hari Drohi". Hence the place was named as "Hari Drohi" which got corrupted to "Hardoi". Sounds logical?

When our driver told this, my friend Amit Verma who is also from Sitapur, and who had accompanied us on this trip told us that even to this day people from that village are kind of unpredictable. They cannot pronounce "r" properly, and try to evade it when they encounter the syllable. For eg. instead of "Mirchi" for Chillies, they say "Michchi". Even "Hardoi" itself is pronounced as "Haddoi".

Interesting?

Naimisaranyam & Ayodhya Tour info

Sri:

Travel diary (Tour to Ayodhya & Naimisaranyam divya desams)
Number of DDs: 2
Other places of interest: 3
Travel bases: Lucknow, Allahabad
Rough Expenses: 8000 (Ours : 36000 for 3 persons, because we took flight back to Chennai)
Total number of days needed: Minimum 4

(Day 1: Oct 28 Tue)

Me and my cousins Srinivas & Sriram, took the Raptisagar express train to Lucknow. This train runs only on selected days of the week. Train starts from Chennai Central at 1145 PM.


(Day 3: Oct 30 Thu)

We reached Lucknow at around 11 Am. We were delayed by nearly 90 minutes. We had arranged for a cab to pick us up at Lucknow station, through a friend.

Since we had hired a cab through a friend, it worked out much cheaper to us. The driver charged us Rs 4.50 per KM inclusive of diesel. Night charges extra Rs 100 per night. The rates may normally be around Rs 5 – 5.50 /KM. In all we had travelled from Lucknow to Manikpur, and the vechile had to return to Lucknow. So we paid 6000 Rs for the entire trip by cab.

Total distance travelled : Around 1250 kms inclusive of return trip to Lucknow.
Total no of days cab was hired: 3 (from Oct 30 11 AM, entire Oct 31, Nov 1 till 4 PM).

We also heard there are lots of buses available to almost all the places we went to. Once the main city/town is reached one could also take share autos to visit the important places, they are available in plenty in all the places.

Map #1

We took the cab, and proceeded straight to Sitapur, where one of my colleagues is from. Sitapur is on Lucknow- Delhi National Highway. The road is very good, except for a few patches. Sitapur is about 80 Kms distance from Lucknow. On the way we passed the village of Shidoli. Through the driver we came to know that there is a direct route to Naimisaranyam from Shidoli, and one doesn’t need to go to Sitapur. On the national highway, we need to take a left turn to take this road, and there is a board that says “Naimisaranyam Dham”. If we take a right turn instead, according to the driver, we could proceed to Ayodhya.(see map #1) I guess Lucknow could be taken as the travel base, and one could avoid traveling all the way up to Sitapur. For those who are net savvy, the entire route we took is here in this link.

Map #2

Once we reached Sitapur (around 2 PM), we refreshed ourselves, and had lunch. Then at 330 PM, we proceeded to Naimisaranyam. This place is also called Nimsar by the localites. On the highway, we took a right turn at the Hardoi bypass, and to go to Naimisaranyam, we need to take a left turn. (see map #2) The road again is in pretty ok condition, except for a few places.

**We were warned that there are lots of dacoits around on the road, and to complete our darshan and catch the highway before it turned dark. **

But luckily we had no such problem, even though we left Naimisaranyam much after it got dark. Naimisaranyam is about 35 kms from this junction. On your way, the road forks, and the left one leads to a place called Dadeechi Kund, and the right one leads to other places. Once we proceed on the same road, we come to Chakra teerth. This is one of the most important places to be visited. There is a big circular well (pond?). Legend says the source of the water is unknown, and the depth goes all the way down to Patala lokam.

Chakra Theertham

**Be warned, as we were by my friend from Sitapur, who also accompanied us, there are lots of people who will try to cheat you for some quick money in the name of guide / darshanam / sankalpam / prasadam etc. Also be warned of monkeys. They were there in almost all places we went to.**

We then proceeded to Vyas Gaddi. Here we have an idol for Jaimini rishi, sishya of Veda Vyasa. There is a big tree, under which Vyasa rishi is supposed to have written all the puranas, and split the Vedas into four, as we know them today. This tree is supposed to be over 5900 years old. From here a small path leads to the sacred Gomati (Gomukhi) river.

Gomathi River

Vyas Gaddi : 5900 years old tree

From there we proceeded to Hanuman Gaddi, and on the way we found the Ahobila Mutt. Here we have a shrine for the presiding deity of the Mutt, Sri Lakshmi Narasimhan. There is also the Brindavanam (holy tomb) of the 43rd pontiff of the said Mutt. There are a few rooms available here.

**As in most parts of UP, here power supply is awfully bad. Hence visitors are to go prepared to face the worst. There are absolutely no facilities here. **

Hence it is also advised to inform the Bhattar or his wife, Mr/Mrs Lakshmi Narasimhan. The contact details are given separately. If you don’t partake food outside, it is advisable that you contact them and make arrangements. In fact I had also heard that once they are apprised of your arrival, they could also make arrangements to pick you up from Lucknow and for other local travel.

Inside Ahobila Mutt : 43rd Jeeyars Samadi (Brindavanam)

From the Mutt, we proceeded to Hanuman Gaddi. This is a temple for Hanuman, carrying Rama and Lakshmana on his shoulders. This is a huge idol of Hanuman.

We then proceeded to Sukhabrahma Asram, as advised by the Bhattar at Ahobila Mutt. But since it was already dark, though we could locate it, it was closed by then.

We went to Devaraja Perumal temple, also the presiding deity of the divyadesam. It is very close to Hanuman Gaddi, but again in the dark we were not able to locate it. It is called “Sone Khamba”, essentially meaning the Dwajastambam, to the local people or as “Ramanuja Koot”. Many people generally miss this, as we had no information given to us by anyone about the existence of this temple. It houses Perumal, Thayar, and Ramanuja & first Parakala Jeeyar in separate shrines.

Ahobila Mutt : Sri Lakshmi Narasimha Swamy Temple

Then we went to Balaji Mandir, temple of Tiruvenkatam udaiyan. Here vaikhanasa system of rituals is followed as in Tirumala, and there is a separate shrine for Vikanasacharya.

There were a few more places, but due to lack of time, and since it was already very dark, we had to proceed to Sitapur. Hence we missed out on visiting Dadeechi Kund. We reached Sitapur at around 830PM. Took our dinner and stayed at my friends place for the night.


Day 4(Oct 31, Fri)

Next day early morning, we took our bath and started for our Ayodhya. We dropped my friend in Lucknow and hence had to touch Lucknow. But, as per the driver’s words, we could have taken the road that proceeds to Ayodhya from Shidoli, instead of touching Lucknow. The road he said was quite ok. Traveling from Lucknow might mean a few more kilometers, but the road is excellent, as it is national highway all the way. We had called Sri Yamunacharya, the swami who takes care of Ammaji mandir in Ayodhya and informed him of our arrival. The Bhattar’s wife in Ahobila mutt, Naimisaranyam, gave his number to us. On the way we had breakfast. We proceeded to Ayodhya, and there we first went to Ammaji mandir. We reached this temple at around 11 AM. There is a Kothwali Ayodhya police station.(see map#3). The road on the opposite side to this police station leads us to Ammaji mandir, and the Sarayu River. We had darshan at ammaji mandir, and went to Sarayu. We were surprised to see the breadth of the river. It was astounding, to say the least.

Sarayu River

We had kept our bags in a small room, in Ammaji mandir, so we paid Rs 100, though the priest didnt insist on it.

Map #3

We then proceeded to have darshan of Ramlala at the (in)famous Ramajanma bhoomi, marked in the map as Ram Lala. We were told the access was closed, and would be reopened at 2PM. The timings here I think are from 6 AM to 11AM and from 2 PM to 7 PM. I guess its the same across the other places as well. We then went to Valmiki ashram. We need to retrace the route to Kothwali Ayodhya police station, and from there take a right turn to go to this temple. Again due to our ill luck this temple was also closed. Exactly opposite to this temple is another famous temple called “Char Dham”. This was also closed. Hence we walked back to the main road.

Ayodhya : Kanak Bhavan (?)

We visited yet another Hanuman Gaddi here too. We had lunch and then we went to stand in the queue for having darshan of Ram lala. To our happiness we found there was only a sparse crowd.

**We have to make sure that we don’t take anything inside, not even a paper / pen / pencil etc. each one has to undergo three levels of personal head to toe security screening.**

After this we went through a maze of passages and suddenly before we could realize we were informed that we had come to the temple, and were asked to have darshan. There was a makeshift army barrack / tent kind of arrangement, where the deities are present. After having darshan here we came out and immediately proceeded to Nandigram.

Ayodhya : Fort/ Hanuman Gaddi

There are a few more places one could visit, like Janaki bhavan, Kanaka bhavan, Swarg Dwar etc. But since our timing had messed our plans, we had to leave them all out for a future visit, and proceed to Nandigram.

Ayodhya : Ammaji Mandir Entrance

From Ayodhya, one has to go to Faizabad. From there one has to proceed on the highway to Allahabad on the Pratapgarh route. Nandigram comes on the way and is known to the local people as Bharathkund. It is about 20 Kms from the junction in which we turn left to proceed towards Allahabad. Here there is a big pond, which is called Surya Kund. There is also a temple called as Bharath-Hanuman Milan temple, where we find beautiful statues of Hanuman and Bharath in embrace. There is also a separate shrine for Sri Ram’s charan paduka, which Bharath is supposed to have worshipped.

Sri Ramas Padukas worshipped by Bharatha

Again this place is a very small village and there are no facilities available here as well.

Ayodhya : Tulsi Udhyan

From here we proceeded to Allahabad via Pratapgarh. Allahabad is about 120 kms from Ayodhya. We had to cross the Gomati river enroute. We reached Allahabad at around 830 PM. We stayed at a place called Shiva Mutt. This is in a place called Dharaganj, very close to the Dharaganj Police station. Dharaganj itself is very close to Prayag, just about 15-20 minutes drive. Not many facilities to eat here. The people here were not very helpful either. We had a harrowing time to make arrangement for a room, and for dinner, though we had called them well in advance to make sure we got a room for our stay. There is another alternative that we could have used; Bangur Dharmashala which we heard is very well maintained. We had a small room given to us, and upon inquiring for beds, blankets etc, we were given couple of mats. They said they dont insist on any rent as such, so we paid Rs 200 for one nights stay.

Nandigram : Surya Kund

Day 5(Nov 1, Sat)

Next day morning we woke up early, and proceeded to Prayag. Our friends in Chennai had told us that we would have to take a boat to reach the place where Ganga and Yamuna rivers mingle with each.

**But when we spoke to the localites there, we were told that the boat ride is unnecessary, and most people take it only for entertainment. **

Also we could see that the rivers mixed at a spot, which was not very deep. Hence we walked, for quite a long time, and reached the spot. Here we took the holy dip in the Sangam. After which we got ready and proceeded to Chitrakoot.

We took the road that leads to Jhansi. I guess this is a national highway, but for most part was in shambles.

**Chitrakoot is about 130 kms from Allahabad. There are no facilities on the way, no towns. In fact we could notice that there were very few villages on our way, and most of the lands were barren. We were in desperate need of an ATM, to take some money to pay the cab driver, but we could not locate one. Hence again people are warned to make prior arrangements. Once we leave Allahabad there are no facilities at all.**

At around 1030 AM we reached Chitrakoot. This place is otherwise also called Karwi. This is a big village / town. Here we luckily located an SBI ATM on our return trip. There is a railway station here too, and a few trains stop here as well.

**Another piece of warning: we had not taken with us enough drinking water, and had to suffer. We got one from a local medical store on the way to Chitrakoot village, but found ourselves duped. Hence it is advisable to take plenty of safe drinking water in hand. **

Chitrakoot village is about 10kms from Karwi. Again lots of monkeys are there everywhere. There is also an alternate way of reaching Karwi. Chitrakoot is actually on the border of UP & MP, and about 70 kms from Satna, MP.

Chitrakoot : Inside Gupt Godavari Sita Gufa

Here again there is a small road, quite good, which takes us to our destination: Gupt Godavari. There are a few direction boards that will guide us, so it is not necessary to take the help of local guides. The road forks here, and the one on the left leads to Sati Anasuya ashram, and the one on the right leads to Gupt Godavari. We proceeded to Gupt Godavari. The car is to be parked about 100 meters from the actual spot. There is a ticket counter, where one needs to get tokens for entry (10 Rs each). After climbing a few steps, we go to the first cave, called Sita gufa. The entrance is just enough for one person to pass through.

**We have to be very careful as there is not enough lighting, plus the walls & floors of the caves could give lots of scratches if you don’t watch your step.People with breathing trouble are advised to take enough precautions.**

There is a small pedestal on which Rama, Sita and Lakshmana, dressed in ascetic robes are to be seen. It is believed that Sita took bath here. People are let in batch by batch. Then we come to the second cave, the one that Rama & Lakshmana used. This is even more adventurous, as there is knee-deep water as well. A very richly rewarding experience. At both the places, the source of the water is not known. We even tasted the water and it was very sweet. The water that thus collects flows as river Mandakini Ganga.

Chitrakoot : Sati Anasuya Asram

After that we went to Sati Anasuya ashram, which lies on the banks of a small river called Narmada, which Anasuya is believed to have brought on earth by her power. Here is where she taught Sita a lot of things about life.

Since it was time for our train, we had to rush out of the place. Hence we missed visiting 2-3 other places, like Hanuman Gaddi (yet another), which we came to know from our fellow passengers on the train to Delhi. But we were content with Gupt Godavari itself as it was an amazing experience in itself.

Chitrakoot : Narmada River near Sati Anasuya Asram

We then proceeded to Manikpur, which is about 30 kms from Karwi. Manikpur actually is a junction, and trains, which run between Eastern parts of India and western parts, stop here. The road is quite ok. But our driver warned us that there could be danger of dacoits here. There was very little inhabitation till we reached Manikpur. A person in Karwi told us that Manikpur is a bigger town, but it was actually the opposite. This place was like any other village we had seen earlier. We had a tough time again finding some place where we could get something to eat. Luckily there was a railway refreshment counter, from which we could get some snacks. Karwi seemed to be a much bigger place.

**For people who don’t partake food outside, please carry something in hand. This rule applies to people who do eat out too, since there are not many decent eateries around.**

We took the UP Sampark Kranti Express out of Manikpur, to Nizamuddin. There are a few trains that stop at Manikpur. Hence if someone wishes to travel to Chitrakoot by train, they can take this route, but there are no facilities at all here.

We reached Delhi early in the morning next day (Nov 2, Sun). We went to IIT Delhi and then Aurobindo Asram. There we refreshed ourselves, had lunch at Adyar Ananda Bhavan in Green Park, (abt Rs 30 by auto) .We had South Indian meals, after what seemed a very long time. And then in the evening caught our flight back to Chennai. Thus ended a very wonderful trip to Divya desams of Ayodhya and Naimisaranyam.


Temple Timings:

Ayodhya: Most temples : 6 AM to 11 AM, 2 PM to 7PM (esp RamJanmabhoomi)
Other places: We didnt see any board/info. Guess temples are mostly open through the day

Contacts & Modes of Travel details:

Click on the pic below