Our wanderings and perceptions

Rajnikanth - a name no more, its a brand. When the man decided to gift his fans with his movie release others made sure the brand is cashed-on on the event of his birthday. One that caught the eye was the e-greetings by the governmental postal department. Coming to his movie, we were lucky enough to get tickets on just the second day to watch Linga. Rajnikanth has literally carried off the film in his shoulders with the sparks of Santhanam for support. Other actors appear has mere minions. The Super star has been the hero of Tamil movie world for 40 years now is itself a magnificent achievement and speaks volumes of the brand called - Rajini. An actor in his interview said God has stopped manufacturing people like Rajini, very true. No one till now or in future will be able to scale such height starting from the lower most like the super star!

Maasil veenaiyum maalai madhiyamum veesu thendralum veenkila venilum mosu vandarai poygayum ponradhe Esan endhai inayadi nizhale sings the great nayanmar Appar. That was how we were blessed with Ramanatheeswarar darshan on a evening in Porur.   As the name suggests this temple came into existence due to Sri Rama's penance in the forest while accidently laying foot on a siva lingam. He had then worshipped Siva for 48 days as his penitence. Thus goes the history of this ancient temple.   The temple gopuram has been recently renovated. The statues in the gopuram stand evidence to Tamilian's sculptural skills. Known as 'Sthabathi' they have exhibited their art in various temples across the globe.   After entering the temple one is blown away by the magnificent look of it. The Kodi maram and Savagama Sundari sannadhi are immediate in sight. When you go further in across the vast praharam the Easwarar sannadhi is visible. Huge nandhi is at one end while the Sivan ...

Yaadhumagi nindrai Kaali! Yengum nee nirainthai Who better than the great Tamil poet Bharathi can praise Kaali.. Sri Kaaligambal temple at Chennai is were she occupies the throne for several years. Temple history states the Maratha king Shivaji had visited here during the 17th century. As the temple is situated in the very busy street in Mannady area one has to get through the traffic to reach the temple. Parking vehicles near by is an impossibility in Thambu chetty st. ; use the Armenian st.  entrance to the temple. Public transportation is recommended to reach the temple. Before getting into the temple don't forget to worship the first lord Ganesh just opposite to this temple in the street. Once inside the Kaligambal temple usual temple shops greet you followed by the urchavamoorthi just in the centre of the temple giving the darshan you would crave for. Going towards the main deity once would face a queue very often. Inside the sannadhi it very serene...

Karunai ulam kondavale Karumariamma Un kadai kannal nalam kodupai arul mariamma   As simple as the song sound Karumari is also the simplest God making the visit to  Thiruverkadu Karumariamman temple as visit to your mom's place. Situated 10 to 15 kilometers away from Chennai city, Thiruverkadu once a small village with paddy fields now houses many high risen apartments. This makeover does affect the God Karumari who is always eager to meet her kids. Devi Karumariamman Temple is just near the Thiruverkadu bus terminus. One could also take their own transportation from the city to reach here. There is also a huge parking lot available near by for 4-wheeler at a cost of Rs.15. The temple entrance stalls a number of shops selling all items for the temple workship. There is free darshan open to all round the clock, Rs.20 and Rs.50 for special darshans and other special pooja tickets are sold just before the temple entrance. Once you enter th...

Sri seetha lakshmana bharatha chathrukuna hanumath sametha sri ramachandra swami parabrahmane namaha sri anjaneya swami parabrahmane namaha! praying to the lord of braveness to shower strength so that we can face all ups and downs in life head on.  Yaayuputra has always been kind enough to provide all his devotees with huge amount of courage and here in Porur he is bound to bless that in abundance being Veera Aanjaneyar. The deity here is believed to have been erected by Vyasaraayar. Entrance to the temple have huge potraits depicting the history of the lord's existence here. All types of lamps lit in the temple are sold just near the main entrance. Agals (mud lamp) with oil, ghee, ellu and butter for aanjaneyar are available ranging Rs. 2 to Rs.5 each. The main deity Anjaneya's praharam is quiet small for people are let into this area in batches only during peak timings like Saturdays. Trishnam is given once you have worshoppied the lord. This temple is surprisingly is ...

Congrats Chennai ! Chennai's rare early year photos in Hindu's tamil edition today is worth your time, Chennai photos As responsible Chennaites, lets keep the city clean, continue to shower hospitality ( vandarey vazhavaikum chennai ), obey traffic rules, practice spirituality, flow with music and and enjoy filter kapi-pongal-vadai-sambhar :-)

Our recent trip to Thiruvannamalai from Chennai in our car left us us with some perceptions. Sharing them here at the reader's discretion. After we crossed Maraimalai nagar we were near a moffusil bus stop and saw the driver of the state run SETC bus driver giving hand signal to the car before to over take him. After that car went another car and we were the third car to cross. After we had crossed 40% the Chennai to Nagarcoil SETC bus came go its right and dashed on the 60% of our car. Got down to see the green paint of the bus on the silver blue of ours and the frame of the rear side left door broken. Traffic came to a halt and soon the public asked us to stay clear of the way and fight it out offline. A policeman came to scene and looking at the scenario correctly deduced that the bus driver was wrong and asked them to compensate for the car's damage. Both the bus driver and conductor argued with the policeman and said they don't have any money to pay. Then it was d...

Namasivaya  vaazhga, Nadan  thal vazzhga , Imai podum   yennenjil   neengaadhan thal vazhga. Kokazhi aanda guru mani than  thaal vaazhga, Agamam aagi  nindru annippan vaazhga, Yekan anegan  iraivan adi Vaazhga We decided to utilise the Independence day holiday (caught up with PM's I-day speech by end of day; received his wishes through sms) to worship Arunachaleswarar at Thiruvannamalai. Took NH 45, NH 66 and the bumpy SH9 to reach Thiruvannamalai in 4 hours, its the Chengalpat-Tindivanam route.  Due to the holiday the temple was open the whole day, lucky us. We went straight to Sevva madam (referred by a friend) in sannadhi street just near the temple's east gopuram. Got ourselves refreshed before we headed for Sivaperuman's darshan. Just the over look of the temple from the entrance was mesmerising. When we entered the first pragaram, we encountered Murgan sannathi. Its the place where lord Muruga gave his glorious darshan to ...

Sree Ram Jai Ram Sree Ram Jai Ram Sree Ram Jai Ram floats gently in your ears as you enter the Aanjaneya Swami temple in Nanganallur. Arulmigu Aadhi vyadhi Hara Bhaktha Anjaneyar confers you with his darshan right at the entrance. As we go inside the temple we can learn how contemporary it is. The first God we see is the first in Gods - Vinayakar. Next is the sannadhi of KodhandaRama, Aanjaneya's favourite god - lord Rama blesses us along with Sita, Lakshmana and Aanjaneya himself. As the name suggests Rama can seen with his bow (Kodhandam) and Sita in her glorious. Any number of eyes would not be enough to witness this darshan.  As we move into Aanjaneyar sannadhi, the bhakthi in his face captures us. The calm and composed Aanjaneyar is in prayer to his lord Rama. The 32 feet Aanjaneyar does depict valour but most importantly is an epitome of bhakthi. We pray to Aanjaneyar when in need of bravery and this lord instigates bhakthi with his huge presence. This image remains al...

Namo Namo Narayana Hari Hari Govindha Ezhumalai Mel Irukum Thirumalai Pathiyenagi Thirupathi Thirumalai Vasa Venkata Valampuri Sankei Valampuri June 2014 saw us keep a full stop to Tirupati trip deferment. Took the Take Grand Northern Trunk Rd at 11:30 AM via Guntur-Chennai Hwy and Tirupati Rd to reach Tirupati by 3PM. Being a week day (Tuesday) we expected to get a easy darshan but Permal devotees were overflowing in Thirumala. One could witness a bharatha vilas in Tirupati. Earlier near the start of the climb all vehicles and passengers had to go through a security check delaying the onward journey of all devotees. The trip up the hill was picturesque and the path was well laid. We could reach uphill within 20 minutes in car but this is slowed by the no overtaking restrictions and checking done to on arrival uphill to ensure there is no speed driving. Code readers are used to verify this - hitech at the his highness's place. Our excitement to worship t...

When the country is swept by Modi wave (happy to get a government under Modi enjoying full mandate), Chennai still manages to reel in the May heat forcing us to take off from work. Typical of any summer vacation we planned a hill station vacation. Googling various hill stations in Tamil nadu, short listed the less commercialized ones, Kotagiri Kalvarayan Hills Gopalaswamy betta Z eroed in on Kotagiri as it was on our familiar route :- Chennai->Salem->Coimbatore. Again turned on to Google to help us decide on the right place to lodge in Kotagiri. Based on reviews and rankings on the place, price and food - 'Heavenly Stay' merged as the winner. Called them and informed them of our plan to visit. Next step was to pack and start.   Started at 7 AM from Chennai on a Wednesday morning after loading our car with its tank full of fuel. Wanted to cross the city borders before the traffic could hit its peak. Had breakfast at the muc...