AN ENCHANTING TALE OF OUR TOUR OF SOUTH INDIA-PART 8 of 20

 

A 25-tonne stone bull taking an oil bath and other stories

 

After Tirupati, we visited Thiruvannamalai and had the darshan of the renowned Annamalaiyar (Lord Shiva) temple. From there we proceeded to Chidambaram.

 

Performing sandhyavandhanam (salutation during twilight) at Chidambaram

 

Chidambaram Nataraja Temple is a temple dedicated to Nataraja, the form of Shiva as the lord of dance. The temple complex is huge, spread over an area of 40 acres in the heart of the city. It was a wonderful experience moving around the temple admiring the wall carvings displaying various dance postures.

 

It was evening when we came to the temple pond. My father asked me to perform sandhyavandhanam , which means 'prayer during the twilight'. It is a mandatory religious ritual with recitation of the Gayatri mantra, to be performed thrice daily (at dawn, noon, and dusk) by those initiated through the sacred thread ceremony. As my thread ceremony was conducted only a couple of weeks back then, my father made me perform the evening sandhyavandhanam by the temple pond. It was a huge pond and there was no one around. It was quite a contrast compared to the hustle and bustle at Tirupathi. There was complete silence except for the chirping of birds. The reflection of the clouds on the pond, bearing the orange and the red hues of the setting sun looked enchanting. This must be heaven, I thought. I felt thrilled while repeating the mantras that my father recited for me. It was a divine experience that I could recall every time I perform sandhyavandhanam.

 

Trivia on Swamimalai and other temples

 

After having the divine experience at Chidambaram, we visited Vaitheeswaran Koil where Shiva is worshipped as Vaidyanathar or Vaitheeswaran meaning the "God of healing". People believe that prayers at this temple can cure many diseases.

 

We then travelled to Mayavaram. There we visitedca Shiva Temple. There is a statue in this temple depicting goddess Amman in a peahen form worshipping Shiva Lingam.

 

We then proceeded to Kumbakonam. This town is popularly known as a "Temple town" due to the prevalence of several temples. The famous Mahamaham festival, which happens once in 12 years, is celebrated here. This festival attracts lakhs of devotees from all over the country.

 

From Kumbakonam we travelled to Swamimalai another abode of Lord Karthikeya. One has to climb 60 steps to reach the temple. People say that each of the sixty steps represents the sixty Tamil years.

 

A 25-tonne stone bull taking oil bath:

 

After Kumbakonam, we landed at Tanjore to visit the renowned Brihadeeswara (Lord Shiva) Temple, built by the Chola emperor Rajaraja I.

 

Just before the entrance to the sanctum stands, Nandi, the Bull the guard to Lord Shiva. In this temple, the statue of Nandi is quite huge. It is about 7 feet tall, 20 feet long and 11 feet wide. It is sculpted out of a single block of stone. As we stood watching in awe of this huge monolithic structure, we saw a priest of the temple coming out with a large drum of oil to perform abhishekam (ritual bath). Even though he had a large quantity of oil with him, it was only enough to drench the head and the hump of Nandi. We kept wondering that how many more drums of oil would be required to perform the full abhisekham.

 

Inside the sanctum, another surprise was awaiting us in the form of a huge Shiv Lingam that was about 30 feet tall. This one is also made out of a single block of stone. There were special platforms erected which were used by the priests to climb up to perform rituals on the Lingam.

 

The pyramid of the temple is more than 200 feet high. But what is more interesting is the 80-ton monolithic octagonal block perched atop the pyramid. How it was even put up there, with the technology that was available during that period? The temple was built about one thousand years back. Where did they find such massive blocks of stone and how it was moved from the source to this place? We kept wondering as we moved around the Temple.

 

In the next episode, I will share how my mother’s alertness saved a gold ornament from being stolen.