Our wanderings and perceptions

குயிற்குஞ்சு முட்டையைக் காக்கை தன் கூட்டிலிட்டால்   அயிர்ப்பின்றிக் காக்கை வளர்க்கின்றது போல்  இயக்கில்லை போக்கில்லை ஏனென்பதில்லை   மயக்கத்தால் யாக்கை வளர்க்கின்ற வாறே  - திருமந்திரம் Thaanthondreswarar resides very near to the famous Ekambareswarar temple. Saint Upamanya worshipped Sivan at this temple.As per the board above the six pillared mandap is 16 feet in height, a 21 feet Thaanthondreswarar statue is erected above the entrance. The temple also houses Panchamukeshwarar, Nandikeswar and Rishabeshwar each of 6 feet height. The Pillaiyar sanctum in the left corner sits right below the temple and gets the shed of the branches. This is the temple entrance with the Sivan statue. Thiruchitrambalam!

குண்டலங் திகழ் தரு காதுடைக் குழகனை   வண்டலம்பும் மலர்க் கொன்றைவான் மதியணி செண்டலம்பும் விடைச் சேடனூர் ஏடகம்   கண்டுகை தொழுதலும் கவலை நோய் அகலும்  - திருஞானசம்பந்தர்  Very near the Katchabeswarar temple is a small street which end up with Amareshwarar temple. Nectar from churning the paarkadal is the reason behind the Lord's name here. Amareshwarar temple stands humble tucked in a small lane. It has separate shrines for Lord Ganesha and Lord Muruga. This is one of the 108 Sivan temples of Kanchipuram. Temple is under going changes and seem to be getting to a modern age look. Just saw Airawateswarar temple on the way, its on the other side of the Katchabeswarar temple.

தீயினுள் தெறல் நீ  பூவினுள் நாற்றம் நீ  கல்லினுள் மணியும் நீ  சொல்லினுள் வாய்மை நீ அறத்தினுள் அன்பு நீ  மறத்தினுள் மைந்து நீ  வேதத்து மறை நீ பூதத்து முதலும் நீ வெஞ் சுடர் ஒளியும் நீ திங்களுள் அளியும் நீ அனைத்தும் நீ அனைத்தின் உட்பொருளும் நீ sings Paripaadal about the Perumal. The Varadharaja Perumal is the iconic temple of Kanchipuram, "Kachi ekamba, Kanchi Varadapa". The temple is a little away from town, its in Chinna Kanchipuram. Currently under renovation, we can see supporting structures throughout the temple. The main gopuram as seen from the road outside is around 100 feet wide. Its a huge temple complex housing five praharams. Due to the on going work and the super heat of summer we had to restrain from going around all the praharams. All praharam's are surrounded by wooden structures for maintenance work. There separate sanctums for Alwars - Nammaalvaar, Manavala maamuni, Thirupaanaalvar and Periyaalvar. Once we cross all the praharams and rea

After hearing rare reviews about the movie, decided to see it at once. Online tickets were readily available for the evening show. This is dubbed to Tamil from Telugu unlike Bahubali and so the story too is viewed from the other region of the country. The film has a scene where hunger strike happens for separate Telugu state from the Madras presidency. Though Savithri had lived in Chennai during her last days the film is narrated from the Telugu industry point of view. Few scenes could have been from Tamil industry side and from Gemini Ganesan's end to give us the audience a more holistic view of the biopic. That said and done, this is a excellent attempt on an actor's biopic. In most scenes we tend to forget Keerthy Suresh and see only Savithri on screen, its surprising how she donned such a heavy role with ease in the nascent stage of her career. Never thought the doll heroine of Remo, Bairava, can pull this through. The maya bazaar  scene is worth all the pennies. The

பூமிமேல் புகழ்தக்க பொருளே உன்னை  என்னானாய் என்னானாய் என்னின் அல்லால்  ஏழையேன் என்சொல்லி ஏத்துக்கேனே! - Devaaram Yet another drive to Kanchipuram. Headed straight to Kamatchi Amman dharisanam. Being a Wednesday morning and summer vacation, it was sparsely crowded so had a quiet long dharisanam of the goddess with half moon alangaram. Came out of the temple with in 45 minutes this time. Visited Kumarakottam next and here again had a fulfilling  dharisanam of Murugarar. This temple does Annadhanam every day from donations received from devotees, its INR 1250 per day. With ample time in hand, decided to explore some of the lesser known temples. So we headed to Mukkadeswarar Temple which is just on the way out of Kumarakottam. Covered by various shops, a small entrance leads to this age old temple belonging to the Pallava dynasty. Similar to  Kailasanaadhar temple  this temple too is under the Archaeological survey of the Indian Government. The main deity morning dharshan time is

Its been more a year since the passing away of former Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu. The iron lady and an able administrator was laid to rest at the MGR memorial premises. Having seen the memorial on television sets all through last year during various happenings, decided to make a direct visit now to see how well it has been brought up. Nothing much has been done since the cremation, plans are in place by the government to give it a phoenix shaped dome. Hope her memorial gets its glorification in the near future. Due to summer vacation the memorial is thronged with huge number of visitors, many from other districts of Tamil Nadu.

This film made a great impact with a message in spite of the attention it garnered being a silent movie made after 3 decades. When people have to take to streets to bring awareness on pollution due factory residues and the fight against sterlite, this movie just hits the core. Just shows how powerful a cinema can be. When one goes to a theatre for entertainment, the movie maker also tries to give that to the maximum and rake in profit. But here is a movie which is a fantastic mixture of enjoyable cinema with the much needed thought provoking base. A good batting track is laid down by the Director with a strong backing script. The DoP and Music director have taken advantage of it. They have played each ball bowled to them to a hit. When you feel sympathy for the five youngsters, its because they have simply lived those characters. At the same time the wrath Prabhu Deva receives from us and pity towards the end shows his acting is a class apart. The scenes we thought are do

In the middle of Chennai city's hustle bustle landscape there is an eco park. This place was in the wish list but could only make it this time on a late evening. One can reach this place in less than half an hour from the central of the city. The entrance will lift your brows - two huge aquariums on either side and the name in the centre with a boat, fishermen and net. Food court building is the first thing to be seen as soon as you enter. Amble parking space is available  through multi-level parking infrastructure. Its Rs.25 per hour for parking. Leave the food court to your right and walk further to the left side to get to the entrance ticket counter. Its Rs.20 per head and separate tickets for fishing, 3D picture and boating. One can see info about fishes and coral reefs detailed in the lobby to the ticket counter. While standing in the queue to buy the entry ticket or later we can go through these in leisure. As seen below the info is available in both Tamil and English.

While transiting through Muscat airport for the first time the impression it gave was that of a humble small time airport. The flooring was old and no ample waiting space with broken chairs in waiting area. So had to just hang around the gate till it opened up. During that time read flyers saying that the target is to become one of the top airports in the world by 2020. Then what is this that's before your eyes, clear mismatch! Once the gate opened the queue extended to the adjacent two gates as the area was small. As the queue started moving, a fellow passenger working in Muscat joined behind and asked if it's the same flight  he's looking for and got introduced. He said Muscat is a cosmopolitan place and no one is left out. Lot of Indians work here and enjoy good climate with access to native food as well.  Now with everything going well what about the airport was our question to him. From the airport bus which was taking us to the aircraft he showed us the adja