Thirumaiyam.

Thirumaiyam is a temple carved out of solid rock. It is at the base of a fort of Pandian kings ,who had installed the presiding deity 2000years earlier .Additions to this temple were made by a long line of successive kings.

Vishnu is in a reclining position. The deity is much bigger than than Sri Ranganathar at Sri Rangam.The chieftain who became a robber baron and then turned into Vaishnavaite saint 'Thirumangai Aazhwaar' has visited this shrine in 9 th century and has sung several verses in praise of the reigning deity.

I had to bend double to circumbulate ,as the prakaram or corridor is constricted by a overhanging rock wall.The circumbulation was over in a trice . Just few hours earlier I had circumbulated the long corridors of Rameshwaram that was so tall and broad that it could easily accommodate several elephants walking side by side.And it had taken me ,quite a while to complete the circumbulation.

There wasn't a soul in sight.I had this ancient temple all to myself after the young priest showed the aarti and explained the history of the temple.In days gone by the stone walls must have reverberated with Vedic chantings and sounds of nadaswaram .Now there was no sound at all save for the occasional squeaks of tiny bats whose droppings lay every where.

An atmosphere so still that it took me to the past and to ruminate over it.