Kanipakkam

During a recent visit to Chittoor in April, I visited the Ganesh Temple at Kanipakkam. This is a famous temple situated about twelve kilometers from Chittoor. It can be accesed from the Bangalore Bye Pass road as well as from the city. As we travel towards Chittoor on the Bangalore road, just before entering Chittor the road forks. The right hand of the fork leads into Chittoor town; the left goes onward to Bangalore. Journeying down this road for about three kilometers we reach the right turn for the Thirrupathi bye-pass. The sign post for Kanipakkam is clearly displayed and after a drive of about twelve kilometers we reach Kanipakkam which is on the left hand side of the road.

The temple has been beautifully renovated and the temple gopuram is elegant and imposing from the distance. Apparently, the temple attracts huge crowds as there are provisinons for handling long winding queues. Luckily, we had no problems as the day we visited was the date of the Final World Cup Cricket Match!

Opposite the main entrance which is reached by a covered pathway from both North and South is the temple tank. We washed our feet therein and thus purified entered the temple. The temple as such is slightly below ground level possibly because the original sanctum was once a pool of blood. The sanctumis a small shrine and the murthy is swayambhoo; a rock formation resembling the elephant headed God with a huge golden crown atop the “head” of the image.

On the way back after Darshan one of the priests who was distributing the holy water was kind enough to relate the sthala puranam or “story of the place”.

The Kanipakkam Sthala Puranam

The land where the temple is now situated had originally been donated to group of handicapped people by the local king. They were suffering from a diverse set of disabilities such as blindness, hearing impairment and so on. One day as they were digging a well for water, the trowel hit a rock. Blood spurted out from the place where the metal had made a gash in the rock and splattered on the handicapped people. Lo and behold they were made whole and regained their faculties. The blood gushing forth from the “wound” spread out and intermingled with the coconut water from the coconuts that devotees broke near the shrine. This liquid got collected in shallow pool which had an area of about a Kani (one and half acres) of land! Thus was derived the name Kani Paarkam or water occupying one kani of land. Eventually the diety was identified as Ganesh from the distinct ewlephat head and trunk. The miraculous property of this “water” flowing from the idol spread far and wide and people with incurable maladies flocked t o Kanipakkam for relief from their sufferings and a cure ofor their unfortunate condition. The water flowed freely and entered the nearby Bahula rive which was earlier flowing qqquite near the temple precincts. It has currently receded further.

How the river got its name is another miraculous story. Two brothers had wandered into a chieftain’s mango grove. Being extremely hungry, the younger of the two ate a mango. The owner who was the local chieftain ordained that the handsand legs of the “thief” be severed from his body! Thus cruelly mutilated for a minor offence, the younger brother was taken by the elder to Kanipakkam where they placed their complaint at the santum of Lord Ganesha. When the water of the river touched thw body the younger brother regained his limbs . In Sanskrit, Baahuy means hands or limbs and as it had made the limbs grow again this cleansing and curing river was henceforth called “Bahula”.

This story also gives credibility to a prevailing belief that people who are unjustly punished or accused can pray to the deity and obtain relief. Similarly a confession made openly and sincerely at Kanipakkam absolves the commiter of the offence from the sin or Papa. Under the Evidence Act a confession made before a maguistrate alone can be enforcedas evidence in a court of law. But British judges and subsequently Indian courts have consistently allowed and admitted as evidence the statement of a person who had heard the accused make an open confession at Kanipakkam! Nowadays the statement is taken as a relevant fact or corroborative evidence.

There is a temple to Hanuman nearby on a small hillock called Ardhakonda (Or part of a mountain). Thisd is in allusion to the popular belief that this hillock is a piece of the famous Sanjeevani Hill that fell down in this area while Hanuman was porting it to the battle field in Lanka. Due to paucity of time we could not make it there.

The temple is open almost throughout the day. The sanctum is open till 4:00 PM when it is closed for an hour to perform Abishekam. Avoid Sundays as it can be quite crowded on that day.

Maruthamalai

I was in Coimbatore on 13^th January. I visited the Temple of Lord Muruga on Marutha Malai. AS the temple was almost empty we had a lot of space to move around and enjoy the divine experience. My earlier trips to this shrine had been quick on-the-way to Ooty visits when I had no opportunities to savour the ambience. Moreover I could see huge improvements in the place. The rough-hewn steps leading up to the main shrine have been replaced by broad granite ones. The view of the main Gopuram Structure (Raja Gopuram - which is still under construction) from the car park is superb as the elevation rears up majestically with the mountain ranges towering up and above in the backdrop.

There is a separate shrine for Shiva and one for the divine mother Parvathi too! Apparently Murugan is a dutiful son here sincerely taking care off his parents. Ganesha the Big Brother is as usual ubiquitous. There is huge Ganesha idol just next to the sanctum and a beautiful Valampuri Vinayagar with trunk twisted to the right near the Dvajasthambam. As we get down from the main shrine, we can see the Pancha Vrksha Vinayagar at the base of five intertwined trees with dendritic profusions all around. Nera the Pancha Vrksha Ganapathi is a stone slab with an image of Murugan in bas relief. The sculpture depicts the Warlord sitting on a peacock with its tail feathers spread out like a fan behind the Lord. The Vel or spear in his hand is directed downward as idf piercing our ignorance (maya) and Ego (ahamkara)!

This sculpture reminded me of the pillar sculpture at Perur where Arumuga Nayanar or Murugan is depicted in three dimensional splendor seated on a peacock. The craftsmanship is so exquisite that the sixth head is carved on the reverse side and can be seen from behind the pillar! The Perur temple has been recently renovated.

A little down is the Adhi Moolasthaanam where the swayambhu idols or stones representing Muruga, Valli and Devayanai are enshrined.

About sixty steps or so further down is a shrine to Pambatti Siddhar, one of the Eighteen Seers who are renowned in the Sidhha Lineage. Due to lack of time (!) we couldn’t go there. I made up my mind to visit this shrine as well as the Shiva temple at Perur on my next visit to Coimbatore.

Matthur

Every temple in India has a tale behind it. Mathur situated 10 kilometers on the left of the Thiruthani-Thirupathi road is no exception. When work was underway for laying the railway line, the diggers discovered a beautiful statue of Devi Mahishasuramardhini under the ground. The eight-foot high idol depicted the multi-armed manifestation of Durga on a lion piercing the asura with her three pointed spear. The Asura is ignorance; Devi is Light. They have built a nice little temple near the railway track. The place is a divine location with open fields, a small tank with water and in the distance the mountains running in a continuous range.

The Neem Tree (Azadirachta Indica) situated right in front of the sanctum sanctorum, which is intertwined with a Peepul Tree or Arasa Maram (Ficus Religiosa) is the Sthala Vrksham. The Neem tree is the symbol of Shakthi or Energy and the Peepul tree is the male. Thus when these two trees grow intertwined in a place they symbolize the natural meging of energy into matter to create life force. While Neem and Peepul trees are worshipped on teir own, the reverence shown to these twinned trees is even greater. Further, the local lore has it that the Devi out of her infinite compassion takes on herself all our sorrows and bitterness. Symbolizing this transference of bitterness, the leaves of the neem tree in front of the sanctum sanctorum at this temple are devoid of their usual sharp bitterness. The leaves of this tree are offered as prasadh to devotees at the temple.

A rare view of the Sholinghur Temple

25.12.2010

I made my annual pilgrimage to Sholinghur today. As we had spent the night in Sriperumbudur, we took the Kaveripakkam route. We took the right at Kaveripakkam on the Chennai-Bangalore highway after the Kancheepuram cutting. We passed through Banavaram which the railhead for Sholinghur and made our way to Sholinghur. On the way we could glimpse the holy hills on our left from quite far away. The Kaveripakkam road runs radially and meets the Arokonam connecting road very near shoilnghur. So we got a rare glimpse of both the hills in a line. So, here is a shot of Chinna Malai with the shrine of Yoga Anjaneyar on top and behind it at a dizzying height is the Yoga Narasimhar Temple atop the Periya Malai, where Lord Narasimha and Amirthavalli Thayar reside. You can see the Gold Leaf Plated Vimanam of the Lord shining brightly in the morning sun.

Thuravoor Narasimhaswamy Temple

09.12.2010

There are numerous temples for Krishna and Bhagavathy Matha in Kerala. Temples for Shiva or Mahadevan as he is known here also abound. But a temple for Narasimhamurthy (The man-lion deity)? My curiousity being aroused by Mr. Unnithan I decided to visit the Narasimhaswamy temple at Thuravoor on the way back from Kayamkulam to Kochi Airport.

The temple is quite visible from the main Highway. There is a huge temple tank and behind it the Temple in typical Kerala style. Adjacent to the main shrine there is anot

her for Sree Krishnan. This shrine is a cylindrical or rounded structure with a conical shikhara. There are a few interesting murals (wall paintings) of Narasimhavatar. One depicts the lion face with the body elided. The rakshasa king Hiranyakashibu is on the lap of the deity and

two of the eight hands of the Lord are tearing out his entrails. The lowest pair of arms hold the body firm. The third pair is depicted as taking the entrails to the gaping leonine maw with sharp pointed teeth. The upper most pair of arms is raised aloft holding the symbols of Vishnu, the Disc and the Conch. A truly gory depiction bringing out the Ughram or ferocity of this anthropomorphic incarnation. And below this bloody spectacle stands Baktha Prahalad hands clasped in devotion and eyes closed in the ecstasy of Love for the Lord.

Thuravoor is a main area of the Gowda Saraswath Brahmins. The temple was built by one Ravi Naik a devotee of Lord Narasimha who was told by the Lord himself to install an idol at the location of the present temple. The Lord also sent two divine sculptors to carve the idol. The sculptors worked in secrecy and instructed Ravi Naik not to peep. The overenthusiastic devotee hearing no noise from inside, could not resist himself and peeped in at the last moment. The sculptors were gone but the idol of Lord Narasimha was there almost complete and wondrously beautiful, except for the tip of the finger of one foot. The temple is now under the control of the Ko0chi Dewaswom Board. The original Narasimhar idol was moved for safety to the Anantha Narayanapuram Temple in Alapuzha.

Ochara Parabrahma Temple

The last time I was in Alapuzha was during my annual Sabharimala trip when we passed through the town to visit Ambalapuzha, Mannarshala and Haripad. Before that, quite a long time ago I had taken a pleasure trip on a Kettuvellom or house boat from Quilon to Alleppey. En route on the backwaters we visited Vallikaavu. We heard about the Parabrahma shethram in Ochara, but due to other preoccupations, couldn’t make it.

This time, I was able to do it. The temple has a gopuram with a Rishabam on it. The shrine is an open air shrine. The long walk from the main entrance leads to a huge spreading peepul tree that is the embodiment of the all-pervading single-self- which- is- in- all; the Parabrahma. Parabrahma is not to be confused with Brahmaji the creator who is but one manifested form of this total being. In Sanskrit Param means beyond or ultimate. The Parabrahma is the one-in-all-all-in-one essence of the manifested and unmanifested being which goes beyond shapes and forms. This is the Virinchi-Narayana-Sankaratman referred to in the vedic chant. As this concept can never be depicted in any form, the formless whole is worshipped without a temple or shrine. The tree symbolizes it with its spreading branches that seem to extend everywhere. Behind this shrine is another and a third dedicated to the naga deities. This place like Mannarshala is a surviving cult of pantheistic worship where nature is worshipped as the manifested form of the unmanifested un-knowable whole. In keeping with the holistic tradition, there are no Brahmin Pujaris. The acolytes are all non-brahmins who are traditionally responsible for the upkeep of the shrine.

The words of the song, “Yenna thavam saidhanaai, Thaye yashodha, yengum nirai Parabhrahmam unnai, “Amma”, endru azhaika, yenna thavam saidhanai?” (Oh Mother Yashodha, What penance did you that you had the privilege of being chosen by the all pervasive Lord to call, “Mother!.”) rang in my ears as I perambulated the trees and paid obeisance to the Lord of the World who is everywhere and Nowhere i.e. Now Here!

For a moment I glimpsed the totality of the whole and therein saw myself seeing the whole…! Like the Divine mother, and Arjun later in the Mahabharath war, I reeled and failed to grasp it!

Ochara temple is the only temple for Parabrahma in the country.

Siruvaapuri

After conducting a second batch of the programme on Change Management and Leadership, I visited the nearby temple of Murugan at Siruvaapuri also called Siruvaayoor.

You have to take a left a little before Gummidipoondi and drive about 5 kilo metres from the main Chennai-Kolkata High Road to reach the Temple. The temple has become quite popular recently and has been well renovated and maintained.

The idol of Muruga is majestic and well carved. The Peacock and many other idols here are made of Maragatha Kal (Green Granite Stone).

The bronze idol of Valli Manavala Peruman iss great with Muruga and Valli depicted as facing each other, the God holding Valli's hand in his.

The Temple is famous because of two reasons.

• It is belived that people who place small stones in the shape of a house behind the Aadhi Moolavar Temple will build one in a short while. This was confirmed from personal experience by a senior executive of Greaves Cotton who accompanied me to the Temple.
• There was a woman in this village called Murugammai who constantly chanted the name of the Lord Muruga. Her husband enraged at this cut off her hand. In stead of crying out in pain she merely uttered the name Muruga and entreated the Lord to stop her sufferiung. It is told the the Lord appeared before her and made her hand whole again.
• Nakkeerar had a vision of Murugan on a Peacock here. There are 4 Thirupughazh stanzas on Siruvaapuri.
• The name takes its origin from the fact that Lava and Kusa, the Sons of Rama, had stayed here. This is also claimed to be the place where they, armed with mere bows and arrows, fought the army of Rama which had elephants, horses and warriors in it. As they were skilled in archery this place was called Siruvar(boys)-Ambu(Arrow)-Edu(Take). Which became Chinnambedu and then Siruvaapuri. This could also be the famed Kusalavapuri where the brothers ruled.

A small yet satisfying temple. As it was Friday there was not much of a crowd.