Our wanderings and perceptions

Aadi koozh vaarthal is a religious occasion for most Tamil house holds. In the month of Aadi raagi koozh is served to all thirsty people around the neighborhood. Koozh is prepared and offered to Amman followed by the distribution. While offering koozh there are also other heathly eatables included in the Padayal.  The koozh preparation starts a day earlier. Rice is cooked first and raagi flour mixed in water is added to it and cooked till ragi gives a glazed look to the koozh. This is then left over night to ferment. The next day water is added to the koozh to get a drinking consistency. To this we add finely chopped onions as topping and curd to give that cooling effect. Once the koozh is all set we go about the padayal to the almighty Amman. Aadi, the Tamil month solely dedicated to Amman is for celebrating her and her kindness to her devotees. So we first offer the koozh to her in the Padayal followed by white rice and other items. The USP of Aadi koozh is that...

Planned for a short day trip to Pudhucherry over the weekend as a getaway. On a lazy morning left Chennai by 7:30 AM on the ECR. Around 9:30 AM had a breakfast stopover at Saravana hotel near Marakanam. But for that we had a continuous drive with not much traffic and good road to support till Puducherry. We went straight to Aurobindo Ashram. Leaving our foot wear in the opposite stall we had to switch off our mobile phones before entering the ashram. Due to renovation work, there are enough restrictions inside. After offering our prayers to the Mother we are allowed to sit around for sometime in meditation. As the Ashram closes by 12:30 PM there visitors were slowly decreasing. Our next place was the Manakula Vinayagar temple. This was crowded with devotees but we were able to get the darshan of Vinayagar in silver kappu in some time as the queue started moving fast. The adjoining class of young kids were praying Vinayaga in Sanskrit slokas, proving a positive vibe to the w...

கோடை மழை துளிகள் காண வந்தன உன்னை,   நீ இல்லாததால் ஏமாந்து தொங்கிவிட்டன உன் ஜன்னல் கம்பியில்..

நிறைய நிறைய கோபப்பட்டு கொஞ்சம் கொஞ்சம் கொஞ்சிப்பேசி கடல் நீளம் சண்டையிட்டு சில நொடி நேரம் சமரசம் செய்து பல காத தூரம் விவாதித்து நுனி புல் அளவு கை கொடுத்து - நான் இருக்கும் போதிலும், உன்னக்காக நான் உண்டு -  என்று சொல்லும் உறவே என்றும் நான் உன் அன்பன்!

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 pr...