Please note that I added some photos to my post of Aug 29, 2008 (other Temples etc.)
Our next yatra planning is under way now. Before I go into those details,I want to mention a few tips.
Plan ahead: Look for bargain airfare if you are from outside India. We started with British Airways in 2006. The main reason being, to fly from Boston and they have direct flights to Chennai from London. No Mumbai mess to face!!!
The airlines staff was curteous, the food was good, the baggage was not lost, it arrived on time at both ends. So, again in 2007, we booked by BA. Now it is 2008. We are doing the same. What I did not know was that they also have provision for the frequent flyer miles. You have to sign up for it under 'executive member'. With that fancy name, I did not identify it as a frequent flyer type. So, I lost mileage for my previous trips. Now that they will start flights to Hyderabad in December, it is even more convinient for us.
Shop around:
Check other airlines also for comparison. It is worth the time. Some airlines match with any other web-published lower price if you challenge within a limited time specified on their websites. (you have to search for the small print though). You should have already confirmed a ticket with them before you claim.
If you are not on a limited budget, want to go with a group, then there are many organizations that travel in groups. For us, that was more expensive. So, we preferred to book our own air travel and use the local travel agents in India for domestic arrangements. Some of my friends went with the Chinmaya mission group and had great time.
Take your medications, vitamins, special snacks and so on. Have a small first-aid kit also. Carry a small notebook to keep tag of the day's events.
In Kerala hotels, they served warm/hot water to drink. Some added herbs. I enjoyed the idea. But if you don't like, you can always buy a bottle of water. Nirmala did not want the parboiled rice. But was happy to see that they had regular white rice - just ask for it.
Now our next yatra is to see more of the Jyothir lingams. As you know, we covered Rameswaram, Srisailam, Varanasi and Kedarnath. There are 8 more to see. Also like to see the 5 vinayakas and Shiridi. If any of my readers out there have any suggestions or comments please feel free to leave them here. We need all the help we can get. We are considering Vijaya or Lakshmi travels in Chennai. If anyone had any experience (good or bad) please let us know.
Also, do you have any comments on Karunamayi ashram and their activities (near Nellore)?
Thursday, September 18, 2008
Monday, September 8, 2008
Map of the major cities - yatra 2
This was my daughter Gayatri's idea to let the readers that are not familiar with the area know 'where is what'. In the future, I will add more.
View Larger Map
View Larger Map
Friday, September 5, 2008
Finale - Sulochana joins us
Kanchipuram (Kanchi)
Four temples: The following are famous and there are many other sacred places to visit here.
The first time I visited Kanchi was in 1962. My friend Ramamani wanted to buy her wedding sarees there. We took a bus from Tirupathi and there were three of us and we enjoyed the adventure trip. A local guide took us to the four Temples and the saree shops. We found out that all the best selection was sent to the big stores in Chennai. The next trip was with the children and Sulochana and her husband Krishna Pillai in 1993. We still have fond memories of that trip. We never tried saree shopping again.
Ekambreswara (Shiva), Kamakshi (Parvathi), Varadarajaswami (Vishnu) and Kanchi peetham. The two Peethadhipathi swamis were just finishing their discourses in two different rooms when we arrived. We just could enter one room. Rao talked to the older one for a few minutes. We came out and I sat in front of the huge statue of the previous(periavar)swami and the place was charged with His energy. I was blessed with His darsan in 1993 before He went into samadhi.
We also visited a Temple of Rajarajeswari in Nemali near Kanchi.
Rao first heard about this location from someone in the Rajarajeswari Peetham in Rush, NY and after a lot of inquiries found the exact location. Also, this time Nirmala made sure we got a driver that was a good driver, polite and knew where he was going. Rao was thrilled. He offered the huge package of Hershey's miniatures that he was holding on tight to the priest. We sat on the floor for the pooja. There were a few other devotees in the room. The priest did not offer our candy to the Goddess Bala. He saved it for a time in the future? It was like a shrine in a home. We, the three women did not feel any Temple vibrations at all!! They tried to sell their brochures etc. after the darsan.
Tiruttani:
For Nirmala, Rao and myself this concludes our visit of the six Murugan (Subrahmanya) temples.
In our student days and later on while I was on the teaching staff of SV university, we made several visits to this Subrahmanya Temple. It hasn't changed much.
This was one day trip. The next day trip the four of us made is the following.
The next list:
Kaanipakam: This place isvery near Chittoor. Sulochana was excited because she grew up in Chittoor. here, the temple is of Vinayaka.
Kanipakam is a small village on the bank of Bahuda River.
"Kani" means wetland and "Pakam" means flow of water into wetland. The idol here is 'swayambhu' meaning self manifested in the local Bahuda river(baahu means arm, there is a long sthala purana that goes with this name). The water is supposed to be as sacred as the holy waters of Ganga (Ganges).
They say that the idol is still growing in size. At present, we can see the knees and the abdomen of the idol. Sri Varasiddhi Vinayaka as up-holder of truth.
If there is a dispute, people in the dispute take a holy dip in the temple tank and swear before the Lord. It is taken as gospel truth (and then what happens?). I think the holy water is like a truth serum and the people involved tell 'the whole truth, nothing but the truth'.
I just want to mention again the other places we visited. No details remembered.
Arthagiri, Ponnai (Navagraha), Vepanjeri (Temples for planets, Dasa avataaras, Lakshminarayana, Ashta Lakshmi).
Tengaal (brass Venkateswara) , Samadhi of a Yogi (a mouna swami)
Tiruvannamalai: (Ramana maharshi aashram), Arunachalam
The first time I visited this place was in 1961 when I organised a trip as a student. Ramamani was already a lecturer in the Women's college and she was our staff member in charge. That is when I met her and we became very good friends.
This time, we saw everything leisurely. The place has grown a lot and just beautiful and as peaceful as it was in the sixties. We did the parikrama (by car ofcourse) around the hill. It was the month of Karthikam and the famous karthika deepam(light) was seen everywhere from Tirupathi onwards.
Arunachalam and Sri Ramana Maharshi ashram
One must make this trip in their life time. The ashram is so peaceful inside as well as outside. Absolutely no disturbance of any kind. Please click on the names to see more details
Golden Temple of Lakshmi Narayani:
This is a more recent addition to the area. Very modern, situated in a park like setting. Ample parking for cars and buses outside the compound.The wait and the walk was very long. Sulochana was exhausted. Rao kept close watch of her. The actual shrine was very small and the darsan was quick. The end of the darsan line was much closer to the entrance/exit area. So, we did not have to walk the great distance to the exit gate. I would go here again, not for the spiritual reason, but to see it as an exhibit of beauty and uniqueness.
From here, Rao and I made our trip to see our beloved Lord of Puttaparthi, Sri Sathya Sai Baba. It was an overnight journey, we had beautiful darsans during the day and we made it a one day stay there. After we returned to Tirupathi, we went to Tirumalai to see the Lord Venkateswara and that culminated our yatra-2.
The rest of it was one day trip to Hyderabad to see my family. By then, I was exhausted with these back to back one day trips. I returned to the USA on Dec 19th, spoke with my first grand daughter Geethanjali whom I missed a lot and on Jan 9th, Sharanya, my second grand daughter was born. Rao enjoyed his extended stay in India till Feb 27th.
Here is Geethanjali:
Here is Sharanya
See you all soon during my yatra 3.
Four temples: The following are famous and there are many other sacred places to visit here.
The first time I visited Kanchi was in 1962. My friend Ramamani wanted to buy her wedding sarees there. We took a bus from Tirupathi and there were three of us and we enjoyed the adventure trip. A local guide took us to the four Temples and the saree shops. We found out that all the best selection was sent to the big stores in Chennai. The next trip was with the children and Sulochana and her husband Krishna Pillai in 1993. We still have fond memories of that trip. We never tried saree shopping again.
Ekambreswara (Shiva), Kamakshi (Parvathi), Varadarajaswami (Vishnu) and Kanchi peetham. The two Peethadhipathi swamis were just finishing their discourses in two different rooms when we arrived. We just could enter one room. Rao talked to the older one for a few minutes. We came out and I sat in front of the huge statue of the previous(periavar)swami and the place was charged with His energy. I was blessed with His darsan in 1993 before He went into samadhi.
We also visited a Temple of Rajarajeswari in Nemali near Kanchi.
Rao first heard about this location from someone in the Rajarajeswari Peetham in Rush, NY and after a lot of inquiries found the exact location. Also, this time Nirmala made sure we got a driver that was a good driver, polite and knew where he was going. Rao was thrilled. He offered the huge package of Hershey's miniatures that he was holding on tight to the priest. We sat on the floor for the pooja. There were a few other devotees in the room. The priest did not offer our candy to the Goddess Bala. He saved it for a time in the future? It was like a shrine in a home. We, the three women did not feel any Temple vibrations at all!! They tried to sell their brochures etc. after the darsan.
Tiruttani:
For Nirmala, Rao and myself this concludes our visit of the six Murugan (Subrahmanya) temples.
In our student days and later on while I was on the teaching staff of SV university, we made several visits to this Subrahmanya Temple. It hasn't changed much.
This was one day trip. The next day trip the four of us made is the following.
The next list:
Kaanipakam: This place isvery near Chittoor. Sulochana was excited because she grew up in Chittoor. here, the temple is of Vinayaka.
Kanipakam is a small village on the bank of Bahuda River.
"Kani" means wetland and "Pakam" means flow of water into wetland. The idol here is 'swayambhu' meaning self manifested in the local Bahuda river(baahu means arm, there is a long sthala purana that goes with this name). The water is supposed to be as sacred as the holy waters of Ganga (Ganges).
They say that the idol is still growing in size. At present, we can see the knees and the abdomen of the idol. Sri Varasiddhi Vinayaka as up-holder of truth.
If there is a dispute, people in the dispute take a holy dip in the temple tank and swear before the Lord. It is taken as gospel truth (and then what happens?). I think the holy water is like a truth serum and the people involved tell 'the whole truth, nothing but the truth'.
I just want to mention again the other places we visited. No details remembered.
Arthagiri, Ponnai (Navagraha), Vepanjeri (Temples for planets, Dasa avataaras, Lakshminarayana, Ashta Lakshmi).
Tengaal (brass Venkateswara) , Samadhi of a Yogi (a mouna swami)
Tiruvannamalai: (Ramana maharshi aashram), Arunachalam
The first time I visited this place was in 1961 when I organised a trip as a student. Ramamani was already a lecturer in the Women's college and she was our staff member in charge. That is when I met her and we became very good friends.
This time, we saw everything leisurely. The place has grown a lot and just beautiful and as peaceful as it was in the sixties. We did the parikrama (by car ofcourse) around the hill. It was the month of Karthikam and the famous karthika deepam(light) was seen everywhere from Tirupathi onwards.
Arunachalam and Sri Ramana Maharshi ashram
One must make this trip in their life time. The ashram is so peaceful inside as well as outside. Absolutely no disturbance of any kind. Please click on the names to see more details
Golden Temple of Lakshmi Narayani:
This is a more recent addition to the area. Very modern, situated in a park like setting. Ample parking for cars and buses outside the compound.The wait and the walk was very long. Sulochana was exhausted. Rao kept close watch of her. The actual shrine was very small and the darsan was quick. The end of the darsan line was much closer to the entrance/exit area. So, we did not have to walk the great distance to the exit gate. I would go here again, not for the spiritual reason, but to see it as an exhibit of beauty and uniqueness.
From here, Rao and I made our trip to see our beloved Lord of Puttaparthi, Sri Sathya Sai Baba. It was an overnight journey, we had beautiful darsans during the day and we made it a one day stay there. After we returned to Tirupathi, we went to Tirumalai to see the Lord Venkateswara and that culminated our yatra-2.
The rest of it was one day trip to Hyderabad to see my family. By then, I was exhausted with these back to back one day trips. I returned to the USA on Dec 19th, spoke with my first grand daughter Geethanjali whom I missed a lot and on Jan 9th, Sharanya, my second grand daughter was born. Rao enjoyed his extended stay in India till Feb 27th.
Here is Geethanjali:
Here is Sharanya
See you all soon during my yatra 3.
Return to Tirupathi and more
We had a very comfortable train journey. Sireesha, in spite of all her busy schedule, gave us package food and we enjoyed that. Nirmala called the cook and the maid and announced our arrival. So, our next meal was ready in Tirupathi. Since sireesha had a washing machine in her house, we did not bring much dirty laundry home this time.
I still had a few days left to return to the USA. Sulochana was just waiting to go with us somewhere. Since her preference was to travel only by car, she could not join us on those other strenous journies. If it were a day trip, and in a car, she said she would join us. We decided on going to Kanchi (Kancheevaram), Nemali, Tiruttani, Tiruvannamalai (Arunachalam). For a little while, Nirmala teased her by saying that we cannot afford a Taxi and that we are going by bus. Sulochana tried to convince Nirmala that she herself would bear the total expense. Finally, we told her that she was included and the cost would be divided and she was happy. I was so happy that I could spend time with her also. We three have been friends since our teens and every one of my visits to India, I spent time with them.
Before Sulochana joined us, we made a day trip of the following. I never knew about this before, unless it was something new. Anyway, I would highly recommend this one.
We were ready early and were in the TTD bus stand by 8 a.m. We paid 89 rupees, I think, per person. Each of these Temples gave a different rice item as prasadam and so, we did not have to go anywhere to have lunch.
Here is the list of Temples: (These are around Tirupathi).
Venugopalaswami in Karveti nagaram
Kalyana Venkateswara in Narayanavanam
Vedanarayana in Nagalapuram
Annapoorna sametha Kasiviswanatha at Bugga
Srivalli Kondeswara swami at Surutipalle
Prasanna Venkateswara in Appalaayagunta
I still had a few days left to return to the USA. Sulochana was just waiting to go with us somewhere. Since her preference was to travel only by car, she could not join us on those other strenous journies. If it were a day trip, and in a car, she said she would join us. We decided on going to Kanchi (Kancheevaram), Nemali, Tiruttani, Tiruvannamalai (Arunachalam). For a little while, Nirmala teased her by saying that we cannot afford a Taxi and that we are going by bus. Sulochana tried to convince Nirmala that she herself would bear the total expense. Finally, we told her that she was included and the cost would be divided and she was happy. I was so happy that I could spend time with her also. We three have been friends since our teens and every one of my visits to India, I spent time with them.
Before Sulochana joined us, we made a day trip of the following. I never knew about this before, unless it was something new. Anyway, I would highly recommend this one.
We were ready early and were in the TTD bus stand by 8 a.m. We paid 89 rupees, I think, per person. Each of these Temples gave a different rice item as prasadam and so, we did not have to go anywhere to have lunch.
Here is the list of Temples: (These are around Tirupathi).
Venugopalaswami in Karveti nagaram
Kalyana Venkateswara in Narayanavanam
Vedanarayana in Nagalapuram
Annapoorna sametha Kasiviswanatha at Bugga
Srivalli Kondeswara swami at Surutipalle
Prasanna Venkateswara in Appalaayagunta
Nagercoil and then back to Ernakulam
Nagercoil:
Here was the famous Temple for the snake God, Nagaraja. As we entered, on our right hand side, there was a separate worship place for the snakes and there was a snake pit. I have visited so many such places in India from childhood. But I never saw a real snake anywhere. Nirmala and I went around (did the pradakshinam to the Naga prathishta) three times inspite of the horrible smell of eggs and broken shells all over. The entrance to the main Temple of Nagaraja was from the side, accross from that snake pit area. Some how, Rao was already inside the Temple. There, we had darsan of Nagaraja, Shiva, Keshava Krishna, Parvathi etc.
We decided to stay in Nagercoil again on the 7th. But somehow, this time, accommodation was a problem. No vacancy in many places. Finally got a (so so) room in the same Chitra Hotels. We checked in around 8 p.m. and left for Ernakulam on the 8th around 8:30 a.m. Rested for two days - but went saree shopping, visited a beauty salon(got hair dyed with natural herbs (only Sireesha and I went there)), visited more local Temples and it was time to return to Tirupathi. We could not believe that the trip was over. This was the most comfortable trip we had!!!
Two more posts coming before I conclude Yatra-2.
Here was the famous Temple for the snake God, Nagaraja. As we entered, on our right hand side, there was a separate worship place for the snakes and there was a snake pit. I have visited so many such places in India from childhood. But I never saw a real snake anywhere. Nirmala and I went around (did the pradakshinam to the Naga prathishta) three times inspite of the horrible smell of eggs and broken shells all over. The entrance to the main Temple of Nagaraja was from the side, accross from that snake pit area. Some how, Rao was already inside the Temple. There, we had darsan of Nagaraja, Shiva, Keshava Krishna, Parvathi etc.
We decided to stay in Nagercoil again on the 7th. But somehow, this time, accommodation was a problem. No vacancy in many places. Finally got a (so so) room in the same Chitra Hotels. We checked in around 8 p.m. and left for Ernakulam on the 8th around 8:30 a.m. Rested for two days - but went saree shopping, visited a beauty salon(got hair dyed with natural herbs (only Sireesha and I went there)), visited more local Temples and it was time to return to Tirupathi. We could not believe that the trip was over. This was the most comfortable trip we had!!!
Two more posts coming before I conclude Yatra-2.
Tuesday, September 2, 2008
Tirunelveli to Kanyakumari to Suchindram
This was a beautiful drive. In addition to being a scenic drive along the waters we saw plenty of wind power sites. The project site is approximately 12 kilometers northeast of Kanyakumari. With more than 1,000 mega watts of wind turbines already installed in the region.
I was in Kanyakumari in 1987 with my children and my friend Sulochana. Since it was a bus trip then, we must have travelled in the night time and hence i could not recall seeing these. This is located in the Tirunelveli district of Tamilnadu. On the south is the Indian Ocean, Southwest is Arabian sea and also borders Kerala on the North and Northwest.
We arrived too early and the Temple was not open yet. Even the little shops were not ready for business.
The main attractions here are the Kanyakumari (the youthful form of Mother Goddess) Temple, Vivekananda memorial which can be accessed by a ferry and the rock where he meditated, some exhibits, also a recent addition, a memorial to Tiruvalluvar, the author of the philosophical work Tirukkural. I saw a church at a distance - a beautiful view.
We had darsan at the temple around 4 p.m. We decided not to stay overnight at this location. But we were getting hungry. The driver said that the food would be awful here. Then we saw a sign Hotel Tamil Nadu. We drove to that place and since they served vegetarian food in that hotel, we had meals and buttermilk. The total cost was only 166 rupees.
SUCHINDRAM:
Again, this was my second visit to this place and I was looking forward to the pooja for my favorite Hanuman.
"Suchi" means purifying and the place where Indra was purified (of what that I don't know) got the name of Suchindram. The Temple has many musical pillars which have been carved out of single granite blocks 18 feet high.
The Nandi image in the temple, which is 13 feet high, 21 feet long and 10 feet wide, is one of the biggest of its kind in the country. The Temple Prakaram reminds one of those at Madurai and Rameswaram.
The Hanuman statue in the Suchindram temple is 22 feet tall and has been made out of a single granite block. I had special pooja sponsored for a young man suffering from cancer. I sobbed, prayed and begged Hanuman to cure him and give him long and healthy life. The priest adorned (on our behalf) the idol with a huge garland made of betel leaves.
On our way back, during conversation, Nirmala found out that our driver was soon to be married to a Hindu girl. So, Nirmala took it upon herself to lecture him about two things. One, that he is only 23 and too young to get married and second, to make sure that he converts to Hinduism and not to convert the girl into Christianity.
He gave a beautiful smile and went on with his life!!!www.googlemaps.com
I was in Kanyakumari in 1987 with my children and my friend Sulochana. Since it was a bus trip then, we must have travelled in the night time and hence i could not recall seeing these. This is located in the Tirunelveli district of Tamilnadu. On the south is the Indian Ocean, Southwest is Arabian sea and also borders Kerala on the North and Northwest.
We arrived too early and the Temple was not open yet. Even the little shops were not ready for business.
The main attractions here are the Kanyakumari (the youthful form of Mother Goddess) Temple, Vivekananda memorial which can be accessed by a ferry and the rock where he meditated, some exhibits, also a recent addition, a memorial to Tiruvalluvar, the author of the philosophical work Tirukkural. I saw a church at a distance - a beautiful view.
We had darsan at the temple around 4 p.m. We decided not to stay overnight at this location. But we were getting hungry. The driver said that the food would be awful here. Then we saw a sign Hotel Tamil Nadu. We drove to that place and since they served vegetarian food in that hotel, we had meals and buttermilk. The total cost was only 166 rupees.
SUCHINDRAM:
Again, this was my second visit to this place and I was looking forward to the pooja for my favorite Hanuman.
"Suchi" means purifying and the place where Indra was purified (of what that I don't know) got the name of Suchindram. The Temple has many musical pillars which have been carved out of single granite blocks 18 feet high.
The Nandi image in the temple, which is 13 feet high, 21 feet long and 10 feet wide, is one of the biggest of its kind in the country. The Temple Prakaram reminds one of those at Madurai and Rameswaram.
The Hanuman statue in the Suchindram temple is 22 feet tall and has been made out of a single granite block. I had special pooja sponsored for a young man suffering from cancer. I sobbed, prayed and begged Hanuman to cure him and give him long and healthy life. The priest adorned (on our behalf) the idol with a huge garland made of betel leaves.
On our way back, during conversation, Nirmala found out that our driver was soon to be married to a Hindu girl. So, Nirmala took it upon herself to lecture him about two things. One, that he is only 23 and too young to get married and second, to make sure that he converts to Hinduism and not to convert the girl into Christianity.
He gave a beautiful smile and went on with his life!!!www.googlemaps.com
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)