My Musings

Vasu and Rajalakshmi came to our house from Hyderabad on 3rd Feb 2015. After a visit to temples around Kumbakonam (Navagruga koils) they came to Chennai on 8th Feb. Vasu suggested we go to Kanchipuram; we gladly agreed and we two with them left house at 7AM on Monday the 9th Feb for Kanchipuram. We took Arun's car. First we stopped at Vedal where a museum is opened apart from the huge Shiva statue. After this, we proceeded to Kanchi, and had our breakfast at Sri Rama's Cafe. Then to Sri Kamakshi Amman Koil, Kumarakottam Koil, Sri Ekambareswarar Koil. Then at 12 noon we went to Sri Sankara Mutt. Sri Sankarachariyar was to give darshan by 1PM, so we waited. We had the darshan of Sankarachariyar and then left for Lunch at Sri Rama's Cafe. After lunch we went to Vijaya's friend Kalpana's house at East Raja Veedhi. We rested there for an hour chatting with Mr. Nithyanandam and Mrs. Kalpana. Very sociable persons. Then at 4-15PM we went to Orirukkai where a beauti...

KOILS in Tamilnadu Thousands of temples, small and large, abound in Tamilnadu. Times of India has highlighted some of these in today's (19 Jan 2012) issue. We will start with the 1000-year old temple of Thanjavur (Periya Koil). The Chola king Raja Raja Cholan built this Brihadeeswara temple in 1010. It is big in all respects - a gigantic stone Shiva lingam fills the Garbha Gruham, its tower (vimanam) is 216 feet tall.The temple's magnificence coupled with engineering marvel takes your breath. The structure has been built without using mortar.The Gopuram is unparalled for its geometric perfection, and masterly craftsmanship. The monolithic Nandi, the gigantic Dwarapalakas take your breath away. The inscriptions and the sculpture speak about the various karanams of Natya Shastra. You can read more about this temple, Raja Raja Cholan (Arul Mozhi Varman), his queen Lokamahadevi, and his sister Kundavai in Kalki's novels. Kanchipuram is one of the seven sacred cities ...