Our wanderings and perceptions

ஈசன் அடிபோற்றி எந்தை அடிபோற்றி தேசன் அடிபோற்றி சிவன் சேவடி போற்றி நேயத்தே நின்ற நிமலன் அடி போற்றி மாயப் பிறப்பு அறுக்கும் மன்னன் அடி போற்றி சீரார் பெருந்துறை நம் தேவன் அடி போற்றி  s ings Thiruvachagam in Sivapuranam to  the  A lmight S i van. Mallegeshwarar temple is situated in Mannady, Chennai among a busy residential area. Main deity Mallageshwarar is in the form of lingam resides in the innner sanctum along with Maragadhambhal. A huge outer lobby of the temple takes you towards a broad set of steps. To the right of the lobby is the temple car inside closed area. When you go down the steps there is the huge outer praharam. First seen is the pond, followed by ghoshala, Pillaiyar and Murugar sannadhis, Navagrahas, finally the temple kodimaram and the entrance with Nandi thevar. Entrance to inner sanctum Mallegeshwarar temple was renovated recently for kumbhabhishegam and our time of visit was with the 48 days and a evening towards a sunset hence a combi...

T h e new morning in Karaikudi was filled with Manjuvirattu excitement. 'Thanthi TV' OP van ou tside our hotel added to it. Ha d a quick breakfas t at Jaintika and left immediately to Siravayal village , 2 k ms from Karaikudi. The narrow r oad from the highway leading t owards the Jalli kattu ground was filled with crowds marching , 2-wheelers wit h 3 heads and 4-wheelers with the bulls. Its a mega event. The bulls and fighters had to register before-hand to participate. Bull just arrived The bulls were brought to mini tempo vehicles . On reaching the ground the bulls tied to the tempo are let free and brought to ground. There they are t ied to trees or po sts before being let out for Manju virattu. Taken inside the circle Manju virattu registration inv ol ves the process of registering , checking bull's health . Some families are bri ging in the ir bulls much later in the day missing the registration. S o they let the bulls loose in the outer pace of th...

A s we covered Namakkal and Kolli in a day, decided to move out of this town the next day and travel to a region in TN which we haven't been to - Chetti nad. Drove via Trichy and reached K araikudi in 3.5 hours. Had to roam a round to find a good accommodation. While chettiyar house type hotels were highly pr iced, t he lower pr iced ones were poorly maintained. Finally zeroed in on Abhirami paradise for Rs.2000 per night. After checking in, the rec eption organized a pricey guide for us who could not drive. Selvakumar was our guide for Chettinad. He fi rst took us to a local rest aurant for lunch, w here only variety rice was available. Two scoops of rice is place d on the bana na leaf place d before us for Rs. 40 to Rs.50 each. We asked him to take us around chettinad heritage sites . Our first site af ter lunch was Th irumayya m fort, not the best place just after lunch. We had to again g o back to high way to Trichy to visit the fort. A tanker i s place d at t...