"The emerald amidst the swirling waters
Of Kauvery and Kollidam
The sweet abode of the Lord
The Mystical Island"
Srirangam has forever been a fascinating place for me. There is some mystical element to this beautiful island still makes it intriguing and enchanting...Trichy and Srirangam are more than just places,they are a part of me, the only places where I feel I belong.. To describe the beauty and the glory of the magnificent temple, I can never find the right words...With great poets and artists failing to capture its splendor, I guess I will make an attempt, though weak yet heartfelt, to describe this wonderful place..
Every part of the temple or the place as such is associated with some wonderful legend...No one can point out the exact period in which this temple was built, though the popular belief is that the main idol was a gift from Lord Rama to Vibeeshana...The temple has been modified and rebuilt by so many dynasties that it has, I must say, evolved with man.. But through all these years, it has retained its soul, which still attracts thousands of tourists every year..
Srirangam leads the list of Vaishnava sthalas and it certainly deserves the honour.. The ‘Rajagopuram’ is 236 feet high with 13 tiers and is the tallest temple tower in Asia...The other gopuras though unknown are each unique and beautiful...There are innumerable sannathis but the main deity and the thayaar sanathi are the most popular...However some sanathis like the Chakarathaazhvaar, Dhanvanthri, Aandal and Kothandha Ramar are general favorites..The Dhavanthri and Kothanda Ramar sannadhi earn a special mention(not just because they are my favorites) but because the Dhanvanthri sanadhi is the most powerful and the Kothanda Ramar statue is one of the biggest and the most beautiful..There is a Desikar sanadhi and the mummified body of Ramanujar is still preserved in the temple! Some of the trivial things that have attracted me are the 'echo point' near the sanathi of the main deity (you are supposed to shout Ranga there and I love it) veral-kuzhis near the paramapadha vaasal (the goddess was believed to have peeped from there to see if her husband has returned) and ofcourse the stone tortoise near the sthala vriksham(which is where they hid the idols during the mughal invation)..There is a 'thulukka natchiyar' sanathi, which is dedicated to a Mughal princess who gave herself to the Lord..An interesting anecdote is that ummachi has chappathis for his breakfast everyday because of her!
In Srirangam there is no shortage of festivity because everyday something happens..The Ranga-Raja(king) is a lover of festivity and so any time you visit the temple there would always be some activity going on..There would be chariot festivals, vaahana valams, pallaquins and the usual stuff but the unique things about Srirangam is the "20 thirunaals" before and after Vaikunda Ekaadesi..There are Raa Pathu(festivities are mostly in the night) and Pagal Pathu(morning) and ofcourse the splendid Vaikunda Ekaadesi with the Lord in Rathanaagi(dress made of rubies!)..It would take a seperate post to describe the Thirunaals and I'll do that later..
The 600 acre island of Srirangam was formerly filled with coconut and mango groves (now they are being replaced by apartments..and I positively hate that!)..The veedhis(streets) which lie concentric to the temple(great town planning!) are filled with old-fashioned houses(even they are being replaced by apartments!) which really transfers us a couple of centuries back..
It is always a pleasing sight to watch people put kolam before the Lord comes for the veethi-ulaa(rounds), children playing in the late evening, people chatting in the thinnais(front of the house) and all the festivities drawing a huge crowd.. The sight of the Lord in a vahana coming for the veedhi-ulaa with the bright torches whose light stand in no comparison to the beauty of the Lord's face or the veena-ekaandham(its really heaven on earth) when they play veena to soothe the Lord before he sleeps are things you have to experience atleast once in a lifetime..
Srirangam is not a mere temple or a beautiful island...It is a cultural landmark and a perservator of tradition..It still binds people together, infuses in them the common love for God and their hometown and ofcourse fills them with great memories of their days there...I had wondered sometimes if how my life would have been if I had been born in a metropol...I know in that case it would have certainly been poorer,not having memories of this wonderful place, whose every aspect I love.. It is a traditional belief that Adi Sankara installed at Srirangam, a Yantra called Janakarshana Yantra to attract pilgrims to this sacred temple, but then even without that, the beauty and serenity of the Lord would have attracted millions...You will definitely see more posts about Srirangam and if you come down to Trichy, I'll be glad to take you around "The Island"!
Friday, April 14, 2006
Saturday, April 08, 2006
Ice-breaking
Buzz.....This blogger has been hibernating too long...
Some people did miss my aimless ramblings. So here is a post dedicated to all those sweet souls who spent their time to cheer me up and woke up the dejected writer in me to sharpen the pencil(err..keyboard?)again... These 3 months have really whizzed past giving me no time to stop and reflect. Maybe its time for me to do that..
I have learnt alot of things about life particularly about people and relationships in the past few months. I thought I could share a bit of the wisdom I gathered, but if you find this naive and stupid, just remind yourself that I am still a kid growing up.
Its was around three months back(some time after my last post) when I had enough of thinking about school days, that I cried ENOUGH!...Enough of pretending to be indifferent to the cold war that existed in my class...Now if you are wondering what this cold war was all about, it was the same old hostility between the guys and girls...Silly but so many of us face this in our classes and workplaces even in this era of equality among the sexes...Boys try to dominate and girls try to act smart and this results in a barrier that separates their worlds and prevents any positive flow of thoughts and ideas...To be honest, my life in class at that time was rather boring and I was kinda starting to regretting my decision for having joined my college..
I wanted to make a change but didn't know where to start...God certainly helps you are really determined..The help came through my school mate(incidentally my college mate too) whose friend was a guy in my class...So I got this guy's number and we started a casual sms chat...I was surprised to find out that we had so many things in common(including our moon sign, star..he he he..)... and there we were, great friends in just a couple of messages...We ended up talking about things as if we had known each other for ages...
I heard from him about a couple of guys who had a grudge against me in class...I decided to talk this out to the concerned guys the next day..My idea was ridiculed by the others and my close friend infact warned me to stay from them...But then I moved forward(this created alot of friction between me and my close friend in class)..I was contemplating on the choice of words but my smile worked much better...Again the ice was broken and I had new friends..
My friend organized a meet in the canteen and an open invitation was thrown to the entire class. It was the first of its kind..we surprised the guys by inviting them and they surprised us by turning up..There were 10 of us..6 guys and 4 girls..(my class strength is around 42)..The meet turned out to be a huge success as we had maximum fun...This was followed by a game in class(thanks to our chemistry lecturer for having been absent)..These were major ice breakers..
Three months have passed and we've had so much fun that looking at the last one week of our life together as a class(we will have to move to our depts. next year), we cant help but wonder how fast time flies..Classes are no longer boring, college rocks..to be more precise I-section rocks! We've treats and meets to look forward to, games to play, fun activities to do and surprises to plan ..There were many lunches and high teas we've had and the strength kept increasing steadily.. Our class was the only class to form a team and rock our intra-coll culturals..Our class won the maximum number of prizes(almost everyone won!)..We conducted a mock award ceremony and we are planning for a really good farewell party..We trust each other and we know we can always look back at these three months to cheer us up...Our only regret was that despite us being together for nearly a year, we became close only in the last three months...
There were some great truths I realized...
Its never too late to make friends.
Never judge people before you actually get to know them.
Everyone is good...Its just your outlook that varies..
To love life...you need to love the people around you ..and to love the people around you need to love yourself..
Never hesitate to break the ice...
It would never hurt to say a sorry even though there is no mistake on your part, if it could help someone feel better..
Everyone has different ways of making a relationship work...So be yourself and respect the other person's methods(though they are pathetic at times)
And when I feel lost and lonely(I do somtimes) I can remind myself that there are people out there whom I've not met so far, waiting to get to know me and somewhere there is a soul whose life would be changed if I step into it...
Some people did miss my aimless ramblings. So here is a post dedicated to all those sweet souls who spent their time to cheer me up and woke up the dejected writer in me to sharpen the pencil(err..keyboard?)again... These 3 months have really whizzed past giving me no time to stop and reflect. Maybe its time for me to do that..
I have learnt alot of things about life particularly about people and relationships in the past few months. I thought I could share a bit of the wisdom I gathered, but if you find this naive and stupid, just remind yourself that I am still a kid growing up.
Its was around three months back(some time after my last post) when I had enough of thinking about school days, that I cried ENOUGH!...Enough of pretending to be indifferent to the cold war that existed in my class...Now if you are wondering what this cold war was all about, it was the same old hostility between the guys and girls...Silly but so many of us face this in our classes and workplaces even in this era of equality among the sexes...Boys try to dominate and girls try to act smart and this results in a barrier that separates their worlds and prevents any positive flow of thoughts and ideas...To be honest, my life in class at that time was rather boring and I was kinda starting to regretting my decision for having joined my college..
I wanted to make a change but didn't know where to start...God certainly helps you are really determined..The help came through my school mate(incidentally my college mate too) whose friend was a guy in my class...So I got this guy's number and we started a casual sms chat...I was surprised to find out that we had so many things in common(including our moon sign, star..he he he..)... and there we were, great friends in just a couple of messages...We ended up talking about things as if we had known each other for ages...
I heard from him about a couple of guys who had a grudge against me in class...I decided to talk this out to the concerned guys the next day..My idea was ridiculed by the others and my close friend infact warned me to stay from them...But then I moved forward(this created alot of friction between me and my close friend in class)..I was contemplating on the choice of words but my smile worked much better...Again the ice was broken and I had new friends..
My friend organized a meet in the canteen and an open invitation was thrown to the entire class. It was the first of its kind..we surprised the guys by inviting them and they surprised us by turning up..There were 10 of us..6 guys and 4 girls..(my class strength is around 42)..The meet turned out to be a huge success as we had maximum fun...This was followed by a game in class(thanks to our chemistry lecturer for having been absent)..These were major ice breakers..
Three months have passed and we've had so much fun that looking at the last one week of our life together as a class(we will have to move to our depts. next year), we cant help but wonder how fast time flies..Classes are no longer boring, college rocks..to be more precise I-section rocks! We've treats and meets to look forward to, games to play, fun activities to do and surprises to plan ..There were many lunches and high teas we've had and the strength kept increasing steadily.. Our class was the only class to form a team and rock our intra-coll culturals..Our class won the maximum number of prizes(almost everyone won!)..We conducted a mock award ceremony and we are planning for a really good farewell party..We trust each other and we know we can always look back at these three months to cheer us up...Our only regret was that despite us being together for nearly a year, we became close only in the last three months...
There were some great truths I realized...
Its never too late to make friends.
Never judge people before you actually get to know them.
Everyone is good...Its just your outlook that varies..
To love life...you need to love the people around you ..and to love the people around you need to love yourself..
Never hesitate to break the ice...
It would never hurt to say a sorry even though there is no mistake on your part, if it could help someone feel better..
Everyone has different ways of making a relationship work...So be yourself and respect the other person's methods(though they are pathetic at times)
And when I feel lost and lonely(I do somtimes) I can remind myself that there are people out there whom I've not met so far, waiting to get to know me and somewhere there is a soul whose life would be changed if I step into it...
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