Stop 1: Swamimalai
Stop 2: Nageswaraswamy kovil
Stop 3: Ramanujan's house
Stop 4: Rajaveda Patashala
Stop 5 and 6: Lunch and Seeval factory
Stop 7: Darasuram
Showing posts with label heritage trip. Show all posts
Showing posts with label heritage trip. Show all posts
Saturday, 27 October 2018
Kumbakonam Trip: Day 1
Stop 1: Swamimalai
Stop 2: Nageswaraswamy kovil
Stop 3: Ramanujan's house
Stop 4: Rajaveda Patashala
Stop 5 and 6: Lunch and Seeval factory
Stop 7: Darasuram
Stop 5 and 6: Lunch, and a Seeval factory visit
Kumbakonam Trip: Stop 5: Lunch!:
Well, that was certainly something. After the Patashala, we drove to the Darasuram area, and sat down for lunch at the Paradise resort.
Of course, everyone went to the bathroom first, but once they had had a good discussion with nature, it was time for food.
Priya Thyagarajan called all the non-vegetarians to one side, but strangely hardly 10 people opted for non-veg. Those poor vegetarians missed out on something!
The serving-boys were all completely clued out on what they were serving, and when asked what a dish was, asked each other, until someone ran into the kitchen, or if Pradeep Chakravarthyep happened to be around, got an earful, and sent into the kitchen!
I didn't notice the veg items that much, they were decent. But what really caught my attention was the crab, and Kaadai(pheasant). A whole crab AND a full pheasant was put for all the non-vegetarians, and though the crab was super spicy, it was delicious!
We finished lunch with vanilla ice cream, and then sat around for a whle in food comas.
Pradeep and Priya now had a dilemma on their hands; go to Darasuram, hardly 1km away;go to someone's house in the middle of the city, and finish with Darasuram; or go to a seeval factory(this last option I was not so keen on, but having never seen Seeval before, decided to experience it. ) and then continue with option 2.
The verdict was Seeval. then coffee at the house, and finally Darasuram.
Stop 6: Seeval factory: Not much to say here, so I might as well link these two.
We were greeted by a two story structure, which called itself a 'factory'. I was very surprised. What kind of factory was this? But as we entered, I comprehended.
Right by the door is a basement structure, with the Seeval grinding machine, in a dank dark room. A line of clothes have been hung by the back, and there are bags of Seeval everywhere.
The man who worked the machine demonstrated it for us.
Seeval is pumped into the side, and comes spilling out onto our feet, as finely carved shavings. Before this, it is soaked for a week.
After shaving, it is left to dry for three days, and then sorted. We saw that too. Rows of women sat inside the house, packing the Seeval, which has been sorted into fine, and coarse.
Seeval is an essential part of paakku, an essential part of the Kumbakonam middle aged man. He will have a box of paaku or seeval on his oonjal, and a bit of Paaku tucked into the corner of his mouth, and his lips will always be stained be stained a bright red. We will encounter a few over the next few posts, but they may not feature prominently. Maybe a background appearance.
According to Pradeep Chakravarthy, Devadasi's had to know multiple ways of folding vethilai, as part of their training.
Sorted Seeval ready to be packed.
The sorting room
Well, that was certainly something. After the Patashala, we drove to the Darasuram area, and sat down for lunch at the Paradise resort.
Of course, everyone went to the bathroom first, but once they had had a good discussion with nature, it was time for food.
Priya Thyagarajan called all the non-vegetarians to one side, but strangely hardly 10 people opted for non-veg. Those poor vegetarians missed out on something!
The serving-boys were all completely clued out on what they were serving, and when asked what a dish was, asked each other, until someone ran into the kitchen, or if Pradeep Chakravarthyep happened to be around, got an earful, and sent into the kitchen!
I didn't notice the veg items that much, they were decent. But what really caught my attention was the crab, and Kaadai(pheasant). A whole crab AND a full pheasant was put for all the non-vegetarians, and though the crab was super spicy, it was delicious!
We finished lunch with vanilla ice cream, and then sat around for a whle in food comas.
Pradeep and Priya now had a dilemma on their hands; go to Darasuram, hardly 1km away;go to someone's house in the middle of the city, and finish with Darasuram; or go to a seeval factory(this last option I was not so keen on, but having never seen Seeval before, decided to experience it. ) and then continue with option 2.
The verdict was Seeval. then coffee at the house, and finally Darasuram.
Stop 6: Seeval factory: Not much to say here, so I might as well link these two.
We were greeted by a two story structure, which called itself a 'factory'. I was very surprised. What kind of factory was this? But as we entered, I comprehended.
Right by the door is a basement structure, with the Seeval grinding machine, in a dank dark room. A line of clothes have been hung by the back, and there are bags of Seeval everywhere.
The man who worked the machine demonstrated it for us.
Seeval is pumped into the side, and comes spilling out onto our feet, as finely carved shavings. Before this, it is soaked for a week.
After shaving, it is left to dry for three days, and then sorted. We saw that too. Rows of women sat inside the house, packing the Seeval, which has been sorted into fine, and coarse.
Seeval is an essential part of paakku, an essential part of the Kumbakonam middle aged man. He will have a box of paaku or seeval on his oonjal, and a bit of Paaku tucked into the corner of his mouth, and his lips will always be stained be stained a bright red. We will encounter a few over the next few posts, but they may not feature prominently. Maybe a background appearance.
According to Pradeep Chakravarthy, Devadasi's had to know multiple ways of folding vethilai, as part of their training.
Sorted Seeval ready to be packed.
The sorting room
Thursday, 26 April 2018
Travelling to Thillai - 6; Vaitheeswaran Kovil
Early the next morning, we were up, ready to travel another day. After a quick coffee, and breakfast, the van dropped us off at Vaitheeswaran kovil, the temple in the centre of the town, and the driver went back to get ready.
Vaitheeswaran kovil is a Chola era Shiva temple, but unfortunately, the sanctum was closed when we were there, so the only things we could see were the Nayak mandapams all around, and the temple tank.
The visit to Vaitheeswaran temple was very short, as the next place was GangaikondaCholapuram!
location: Vaitheeswaran kovil
Vaitheeswaran kovil is a Chola era Shiva temple, but unfortunately, the sanctum was closed when we were there, so the only things we could see were the Nayak mandapams all around, and the temple tank.
A three legged God
Half a king
The visit to Vaitheeswaran temple was very short, as the next place was GangaikondaCholapuram!
location: Vaitheeswaran kovil
Monday, 23 April 2018
Travelling to Thillai - 1: Senthamangalam
Chidambaram. The abode of the Nataraja. THE temple in Shaivism. The gold plated temple.
Every one must have heard of Chidambaram in some form or another. We undertook a trip there, over the Republic day weekend, and boy was it fascinating! Not only did we go to Chidambaram(known also as Thillai), but also to Gangaikkonda Cholapuram. Veeranam lake, Senthamangalam, Poompuhar, Tranquebar, Thirukadaiyur, and Cuddalore.
On a cold chilly morning, six people were assembled in a van, waiting for three more to join them. They were going for a heritage trip, and were rearing to go. Soon, the other three joined them, and they picked up on more person on the way, before hitting the highway, and heading to breakfast.
On the way of course, as was the nature of the group, the topics discussed were this that and the other, ranging from the most mundane to the bonkiest bizzare.
Soon we reached our breakfast destination, and our breakfast was ordered, and eaten in record time. Bills duly paid and water bought, we got back into the van, and headed to our first stop, Senthamangalam.
Senthamangalam was the capital of the Kadavarayars, a clan that began as minor chieftains of a village in the reign of Kulothunga Chola II, with Kopperunjinga's grandfather, who gained prominence in the Chola court, at a time when the king's power was starting to fade. His son fought in Rajaraja II's campaigns, and his grandson, who was born into a very prosperous line of local rulers, found himself ruling an area in South Thondaimandalam, with his capital at Senthamangalam.
1204-05, the Pandya Maravarman Sundara Pandiyan captured Thanjavur, and invited Kulothunga III to rule as a subservient ruler. Kulothunga dies soon after, and his successor Rajaraja III comes to power, over a stretch of kingdom contained to the Chola's heartland in 1216 AD
Rajaraja III wants to regain the old extents of the empire, at least upto Nellore and Kanchi, his predecessors Northern limits, with most of the peninsula, except for the Cheras observing subserviency.
Alas for him, his first folly was sending an army to defeat the Pandyas. Maravarman soundly defeated it, and in his haste to escape from Gangaikondacholapuram, and join his ally the Hoysala(with whom the Cholas had marriage ties) he took just a few people with him. This allowed Kopperunjingan to surprise, ambush and take captive the Chola when he passed through his territory. Rajaraja now was confined to Senthamangalam.
The Hoysala ruler Narasimha swept down the country, and realising what had happened to Rajaraja, he started devastating the country. He even went as far as Rameswaram, and defeated Maravarman's successor.
Rajaraja was freed in due time, and Kopperunjingan was allowed to rule on as a vassal, but he was a vassal only in name, just like all the other kings swearing fealty to the Cholas at this point. The Hoysalas now took the stage, mediating between the Pandyas and Cholas, making sure neither got too powerful, and ensuring that both stayed within its control.
By 1279, Rajaraja's successor Rajendra III was dead, and the Chola line came to an end. The pandyas, under Jatavarman Sundara Pandiyan then controlled South India.
Source: Nilankanta Sastri's 'Chola'.
Every one must have heard of Chidambaram in some form or another. We undertook a trip there, over the Republic day weekend, and boy was it fascinating! Not only did we go to Chidambaram(known also as Thillai), but also to Gangaikkonda Cholapuram. Veeranam lake, Senthamangalam, Poompuhar, Tranquebar, Thirukadaiyur, and Cuddalore.
On a cold chilly morning, six people were assembled in a van, waiting for three more to join them. They were going for a heritage trip, and were rearing to go. Soon, the other three joined them, and they picked up on more person on the way, before hitting the highway, and heading to breakfast.
On the way of course, as was the nature of the group, the topics discussed were this that and the other, ranging from the most mundane to the bonkiest bizzare.
Soon we reached our breakfast destination, and our breakfast was ordered, and eaten in record time. Bills duly paid and water bought, we got back into the van, and headed to our first stop, Senthamangalam.
Senthamangalam was the capital of the Kadavarayars, a clan that began as minor chieftains of a village in the reign of Kulothunga Chola II, with Kopperunjinga's grandfather, who gained prominence in the Chola court, at a time when the king's power was starting to fade. His son fought in Rajaraja II's campaigns, and his grandson, who was born into a very prosperous line of local rulers, found himself ruling an area in South Thondaimandalam, with his capital at Senthamangalam.
1204-05, the Pandya Maravarman Sundara Pandiyan captured Thanjavur, and invited Kulothunga III to rule as a subservient ruler. Kulothunga dies soon after, and his successor Rajaraja III comes to power, over a stretch of kingdom contained to the Chola's heartland in 1216 AD
Rajaraja III wants to regain the old extents of the empire, at least upto Nellore and Kanchi, his predecessors Northern limits, with most of the peninsula, except for the Cheras observing subserviency.
Alas for him, his first folly was sending an army to defeat the Pandyas. Maravarman soundly defeated it, and in his haste to escape from Gangaikondacholapuram, and join his ally the Hoysala(with whom the Cholas had marriage ties) he took just a few people with him. This allowed Kopperunjingan to surprise, ambush and take captive the Chola when he passed through his territory. Rajaraja now was confined to Senthamangalam.
The Hoysala ruler Narasimha swept down the country, and realising what had happened to Rajaraja, he started devastating the country. He even went as far as Rameswaram, and defeated Maravarman's successor.
Rajaraja was freed in due time, and Kopperunjingan was allowed to rule on as a vassal, but he was a vassal only in name, just like all the other kings swearing fealty to the Cholas at this point. The Hoysalas now took the stage, mediating between the Pandyas and Cholas, making sure neither got too powerful, and ensuring that both stayed within its control.
By 1279, Rajaraja's successor Rajendra III was dead, and the Chola line came to an end. The pandyas, under Jatavarman Sundara Pandiyan then controlled South India.
Source: Nilankanta Sastri's 'Chola'.
Senthamangalam temple, with some fort walls
Koperunjingan(I and II) inscriptions-the only rulers to have carved here
A partial Telugu inscription
Inscriptions
Mandabam outside
A well with quite a bit of water.
Parts of the fort walls
A horse directly opposite the temple, on the other side of the tank. Fenced off, and overgrown.
There is a pair of them.
Location: Senthamangalam
Monday, 29 January 2018
Stop 2: Nageswaraswamy temple
Entering the temple by the main gopuram, you come across a large open space. To one side is a passage that runs along the wall on one side, and the temple on the other. Nithya Balaji and I found a chariot there; a horse and a wheel. Her theory was that the alternating spokes were for the different hours of the day, and another set of lines for day and night.
Appa later pointed out the various distanced lines on the wheel, marking hours, minutes, seconds, days , months and years.
It was a very pleasant day, so the lack of sunlight didn't let us see whether it was true or not.
But a Pradeep Chakravarthy moving at full speed form the gopuram into the temple caught our attention- that as well as his calling to us, and we entered the temple's mandapams.
We had soon gone into an open-to-sky section though, with a lot of inscriptions and figurines.
According to Pradeep Chakravarthy: This was an Aditya I (Chola) temple, constructed when the Cholas had left Parzeyarey as dominion chiefs, and wanted to be the supreme rulers of the Tamirz lands. They had had enough of being petty chieftains, so the warlord Vijayalaya Chola seized Thanjavur in the mid 800's. That was the beginning for them, and the end for the Pallavas. Soon they had conquered most of the delta region and shifted the capital to Thanjavur. Now they wanted to be seen as great rulers, so they started building larger temples, and associating themselves with long forgotten Sangam ancestors who were acclaimed as having done some great deed or the other.
Their temples started to get more complex only with Aditya I and Parantaka I.
This is one of those temples built by Aditya, and has verya simple style. It has a base piece with some simple carvings, a plinth, some idols in niches, some pillars around them, a piece above their heads, again simply carved, and another piece on top before the gopuram. The temple in its originality had only 1 shrine, and the niche images(which unfortunately have been damaged due to sandblasting) around it with inscriptions. Each succeeding dynasty added to the temple, right upto the Nayaks and Marathas. I think I even saw a Tamil Nadu Arasu(Government of Tamilnadu) elephant.
Some of the idols in these niches are believed to be of the royal family. They are being vandalised and defaced now, though.
We looked at the inscriptions, trying to decipher them for a few minutes.
Then we went inside to listen to some songs sung on the temple. As we were moving round the temple though, we spotted an Ardanadeeswarar. Pradeep jumped at it and said " You can see an example of how men and women are of different proportions here". The Arthanadeeswar has been made of stone, with one hip higher than the other, and that leg bent, keeping both sides the same height, but maintaining the male:female ratio.
After listening to the songs, we were directed to a small temple on the outside of the mandapam we were sitting in. This is a sun worship temple. One of the original gods in Vedic times, and still slightly worshipped at the time of the Cholas, this was built for the sun worshppers. Sun worship was not practiced in the Vedic region alone, but also in Zorastrianism.
The Sun slowly evolved and merged with Vishnu. Who is worshipped in Konarak. This temple, with its time chariot and sun temple, may have been the basis for the Konarak temple in Orissa.
The Sun slowly evolved and merged with Vishnu. Who is worshipped in Konarak. This temple, with its time chariot and sun temple, may have been the basis for the Konarak temple in Orissa.
We then left exited the temple, and went back to the common area outside. Here, I asked Pradeep Chakravarthy about a pair of lions that i had seen. He then told me the difference between Chola lions and Pallava lions. These were Chola lions, identifiable by the shape of the pillar, the space between the head and the pillar and the decorations on the pillar.
We then took pictures with the horses and wheels, and everyone stood around posing with them. As I walked to the chariot on the other side of where I had seen it first, I noticed a set of steps going up to behind them. I made a mental note of it, and after taking my pictures, walked up those stairs and stood behind the horse, and took some pictures from there. Someone asked Priya Thyagarajan to sit on the horse for a picture, and she started climbing up the plinth by the side of the horse. Then when she had been struggling for a few minutes, she noticed me standing there, and said "how did you get up there?" . "There are stairs" I said.
She:" couldn't you have told me that earlier?".
We then took pictures with the horses and wheels, and everyone stood around posing with them. As I walked to the chariot on the other side of where I had seen it first, I noticed a set of steps going up to behind them. I made a mental note of it, and after taking my pictures, walked up those stairs and stood behind the horse, and took some pictures from there. Someone asked Priya Thyagarajan to sit on the horse for a picture, and she started climbing up the plinth by the side of the horse. Then when she had been struggling for a few minutes, she noticed me standing there, and said "how did you get up there?" . "There are stairs" I said.
She:" couldn't you have told me that earlier?".
Then I descended and after some more clicking, it was time to leave. We got back into the bus, but got out the same instant as our destination was very close by.
The chariot that inspired the Konark sun temple.
Friday, 22 December 2017
Stop 5: Thiruvudaimaruthur
A long name to chew on. But we had plenty of time, having to cut across the length of Kumbakonam(already a small town).
For the reader, let me break it down. Thiru(a title assigned to almost all temples) Vudai-Maru-Thur.(Pronunciation:Theeru Veedey Maroo Dhoor).
This is an ancient Chola temple built on 107 acres. Magnificent, right? Wrong! The authorities have had a field day removing all the inscriptions and some pillars, replacing them with modern...stuff from the 70's, when renovations took place.
Right now, the only reason we were going there was to see a lamp, burning out of Marathi love.
The Bhonsles were in Thanjavur, having ousted the Tanjavur Nayaks. Amar Singh, or Amarasimha, uncle to Serfoji II, will feature, but for now, we will settle for his son, Pratapasimha. Pratapasimha was to be married, engaged to a cousin. But soon before his wedding, he died of an illness. His fiancee then decided that even though they were not yet married, she would take on the duties of a widow. So she comissioned a 1000 lamps, to burn in perpetuity, in the temple which they patronised.
999 were made in a divine form. The 1000th lamp was made in her own form, to show her devotion to her God and to her husband to be. This is the only lamp left burning.
So said Pradeep Chakravarthy, in the van.
But this lamp's oil had gone cold, figuratively speaking. As we entered the temple, we noticed the grandeur of the place, but we were all busy following Pradeep. We were in three batches. The batch right ahead, even ahead of Pradeep, rushed on through, oblivious to everything, following his directions.Through a series of corridors, lined with an array of many eras of pillars, and modern paintings on the walls, Finally we reached a pair of wooden doors. But what is this! They were being shut! We ran forward, and squeezed our way through, I being in the middle group, with Pradeep, as the temple authority tried to push us back, shouting rudely. A few of us made it. The majority did not. Priya ran back, and coaxed and cajoled him to open it, but he insisted we had overshot the time. It was 12:05. The temple was apparently closed by 12. He told those of us who had gotten in, to take a side route and exit the temple premises.
Luckily that rushing, forward group had got to have a quick look at the deity before the last set of doors were closed to them and they were chased out.
We glumly walked by the side of the temple, leaving the premises.
Luckily, the next item on the agenda was a palace, with no opening or closing time - the palace of Amarasimha Bhonsle!
After our almost fruitless visit to the grand temple, we were in Thiruvudaimaruthur , and passing some old structures on the road. Balaji Thatha, who was sitting at the opposite window pointed out a building with intricate window lintels, with weeds spilling out of them. He said that he had been impressed by the structure. Simultaneously he asked Pradeep if we would be stopping there. Apparently that was the palace!
In 1792, the regent of Serfoji/Saraboji II, Amarasimha, declared himself Raja of Thanjavur. But in order to do this, he had to prove that Serfoji's adoption by his father, Thuljaji,(he was not the biological son of Amarasimha's half brother) was reason enough to prove that he was the true regent. Unfortunately, some of Serfoji's father's Ranis, including a very powerful one contested that, and with the help of a Christian missionary Schwartz who had happened to be a friend of theirs, (and who hoped to spread Christianity in the tiny state of Tanjore through this) they battled out Amarasimha's contention in court.
So that he could be the legitimate ruler, Amarasimha also locked up Serfoji in a small room, and starved him, in the hope that he would die. The Governor used this against him.
Amarasimha tried to bribe some priests, and present his case in Bengal, but the Governor General, Welleselly, the brother of the famous Duke of Wellington, had some Bengali pundits look into the matter, and they said that according to Hindu custom, an adopted son had equal claim to the throne as a biological one.
That more or less ended Amarasimha's suit, and in 1798, he was forced off the throne of Thanjavur, but Serfoji, feeling some pity, let his uncle rule as a regent in Thiruvidaimaruthur, with a court, which became a centre of art and learning, some poetry and music being composed here.
Now the palace lies in pieces. One section, the entrance, has been bought to be restored, and was where we entered from. The large portion abutting the road has been let out to shops, and the part of it that faces inward is not visited for fear of snakes. The centre has been demolished.
The temple: Thiruvudaimaruthur Mahalingaswami temple
After some time here, speaking to the caretakers and looking around, we headed off to a very late lunch in a village lefted from the 19th century which was to be our final stop: Sengalipuram!
For the reader, let me break it down. Thiru(a title assigned to almost all temples) Vudai-Maru-Thur.(Pronunciation:Theeru Veedey Maroo Dhoor).
This is an ancient Chola temple built on 107 acres. Magnificent, right? Wrong! The authorities have had a field day removing all the inscriptions and some pillars, replacing them with modern...stuff from the 70's, when renovations took place.
Right now, the only reason we were going there was to see a lamp, burning out of Marathi love.
The Bhonsles were in Thanjavur, having ousted the Tanjavur Nayaks. Amar Singh, or Amarasimha, uncle to Serfoji II, will feature, but for now, we will settle for his son, Pratapasimha. Pratapasimha was to be married, engaged to a cousin. But soon before his wedding, he died of an illness. His fiancee then decided that even though they were not yet married, she would take on the duties of a widow. So she comissioned a 1000 lamps, to burn in perpetuity, in the temple which they patronised.
999 were made in a divine form. The 1000th lamp was made in her own form, to show her devotion to her God and to her husband to be. This is the only lamp left burning.
So said Pradeep Chakravarthy, in the van.
But this lamp's oil had gone cold, figuratively speaking. As we entered the temple, we noticed the grandeur of the place, but we were all busy following Pradeep. We were in three batches. The batch right ahead, even ahead of Pradeep, rushed on through, oblivious to everything, following his directions.Through a series of corridors, lined with an array of many eras of pillars, and modern paintings on the walls, Finally we reached a pair of wooden doors. But what is this! They were being shut! We ran forward, and squeezed our way through, I being in the middle group, with Pradeep, as the temple authority tried to push us back, shouting rudely. A few of us made it. The majority did not. Priya ran back, and coaxed and cajoled him to open it, but he insisted we had overshot the time. It was 12:05. The temple was apparently closed by 12. He told those of us who had gotten in, to take a side route and exit the temple premises.
Luckily that rushing, forward group had got to have a quick look at the deity before the last set of doors were closed to them and they were chased out.
We glumly walked by the side of the temple, leaving the premises.
Luckily, the next item on the agenda was a palace, with no opening or closing time - the palace of Amarasimha Bhonsle!
After our almost fruitless visit to the grand temple, we were in Thiruvudaimaruthur , and passing some old structures on the road. Balaji Thatha, who was sitting at the opposite window pointed out a building with intricate window lintels, with weeds spilling out of them. He said that he had been impressed by the structure. Simultaneously he asked Pradeep if we would be stopping there. Apparently that was the palace!
In 1792, the regent of Serfoji/Saraboji II, Amarasimha, declared himself Raja of Thanjavur. But in order to do this, he had to prove that Serfoji's adoption by his father, Thuljaji,(he was not the biological son of Amarasimha's half brother) was reason enough to prove that he was the true regent. Unfortunately, some of Serfoji's father's Ranis, including a very powerful one contested that, and with the help of a Christian missionary Schwartz who had happened to be a friend of theirs, (and who hoped to spread Christianity in the tiny state of Tanjore through this) they battled out Amarasimha's contention in court.
So that he could be the legitimate ruler, Amarasimha also locked up Serfoji in a small room, and starved him, in the hope that he would die. The Governor used this against him.
Amarasimha tried to bribe some priests, and present his case in Bengal, but the Governor General, Welleselly, the brother of the famous Duke of Wellington, had some Bengali pundits look into the matter, and they said that according to Hindu custom, an adopted son had equal claim to the throne as a biological one.
That more or less ended Amarasimha's suit, and in 1798, he was forced off the throne of Thanjavur, but Serfoji, feeling some pity, let his uncle rule as a regent in Thiruvidaimaruthur, with a court, which became a centre of art and learning, some poetry and music being composed here.
Now the palace lies in pieces. One section, the entrance, has been bought to be restored, and was where we entered from. The large portion abutting the road has been let out to shops, and the part of it that faces inward is not visited for fear of snakes. The centre has been demolished.
The temple: Thiruvudaimaruthur Mahalingaswami temple
After some time here, speaking to the caretakers and looking around, we headed off to a very late lunch in a village lefted from the 19th century which was to be our final stop: Sengalipuram!
The entrance to the temple
Just inside the temple
The wall
Thiruvudaimaruthur palace
Palace windows from the road
Richly decorated windows
The palace
From the entrance
Inside the temple
A pano of the area enclosed within the walls of the palace, taken on the steps that lead to the terrace. The man in the dhoti, pointing, is the caretaker.
Monday, 6 November 2017
Stops 2-4: Panchavanmadevi Pallipadai, Thirumetrali temple and Parzayarai temple
The van stopped in the middle of nowhere. To one side were fields, and a village. To the other side, rice fields stretching as far as the eye could see.
We got out of the bus, and went down a narrow street, that went around a village. There it appeared; a temple wall, in the middle of more paddy fields, some vimanam sticking out above the wall. In the van, Pradeep had mentioned to us that the temple was practically unused. For us, the priest and the local collector had opened up and cleaned it.
Through a small gopuram, we entered the temple. Pradeep asked us all then to maintain silence, for a few minutes. He asked us to take in the atmosphere of the place. We stood in silence, around the entrance. Total silence, except for the call of a few birds.
Then we entered. The temple has a narrow entranceway, so we entered few at a time. Inside there was some place to sit, with a large area and a few pillars. The next sanctum, the sanctum sanctorum, had the Lingam.
Pradeep then asked us to close our eyes and sit for a few minutes. Then he explained :(for the benefit of readers: this is all to get people curious as to what was unique about the place).
This temple, was actually built on the sight of the burial place of Rajendra Chola's aunt. She was a patron of temples, so when she died, a Shaivite sect asked to use her resting place as a temple. The Shivalingam rests over her body.
This sect believes that the fastest way to reach God is through death. And to die, they do whatever is shunned by society. They rub ash from cremation sites over their bodies, live among the dead, and and live a very unhealthy lifestyle.
There are quite a few Pallipadais in South India. They are usually built over the resting place of a king, or important royal person in society. One has already been covered by me: Rajaraja's grandfather, Parantaka I's Pallipadai, in Melpadi.
We then left the inside of the temple through a small opening in the wall, and went around the outside, admiring the niche idols, and the inscriptions.
One of the inscriptions mentions Panchavan Madevi. Right before that, the word Pallipadai has been scratched out. This sect held prominence in the court of Rajaraja and Rajendra, but in the ensuing years, they lost prominence. Disgusted with that way of life, later on, someone has defaced the inscription, trying to remove that segment of the temple's life.
Entrance gopuram
The smudgy place was where the word Pallipadai was
Just inside the temple
The temple from afar
From here, our plan was to go to Thiruvudaimaruthur, but a man who was a local historian, who happened to be there at the Pallipadai when we were, told us of an Aditya I Brick temple, just a short walk away. So we walked back to the van, and took the parallel street to a magnificent Chola temple.
This temple, built in the reign of Aditya, in the traditional brick style, was said to be built in 888ad. (or 15th year of reign) Towards the end of his reign. This region falls under the old Parzeyarai (or 'old court') region, where the Chola kings ruled from, before VijayAlaya captured Thanjavur.
The temple was supposed to have had a bronze image of Brahma about 4 feet tall, but which was stolen some years back, narrated the historian, BalaPadhmanabhan. The idol, luckily, was found in Trichy a few months later. It is now kept locked up, and only an image has been put on display.
The temple is more or less falling apart. The roof of the first room has gone, and the doors of the sanctum have been replaced with grill gates. The temple is very simple, built in brick, with plastering, but the plastering is slowly falling off.The niche idols are all the old Chola ones, but in a couple of cases, like the Brahma, only images are displayed. There is, leaning against a subshrine, an inscription from the year of construction of the temple, mentioning Aditya I having commissioned it.
Thirumetrali Aditya temple. (warning: the priest may not be available at all times to open the temple. )
temple from the end of the road
view of the temple through the remains of the doors
If you notice, the area in front of the temple has only walls, and a floor, no roof. The roof may have crumbled, and/or been vandalised, as is more likely, over the centuries.
some old pillars which were probably in the first room, now lying discarded.
Vimanam
Nandi
After spending some time here, we went back to the van, and headed to Thiruvudaimaruthur, but first put in a stop at Parzeyarai. The temple of the city was locked, though, and our guides decided not to ask for the key!
The Gopuram alone of Parzayarai was fascinating enough. The lower section is made of stone, and the top is brick, with plants growing out of it. We stood around for a while, looking and talking, before heading on to Thiruvudaimaruthur.
Main Gopuram
Just inside
Some traditional games on the floor
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