To Thirumaiyam

Left Rameshwaram in the morning , wading through a sea of devotees , mostly from North India who were all converging at the sea , that is just a quarter km away from Rameshwaram temple, to take a dip and then proceed to the temple and pour water from the very many sacred wells within, on one self and then have the darshan of the Siv ling.

I remember my fathers injunction that a Hindu must take a dip in Ganges preferably at Kasi and complete the cycle by bathing in seas off the coast of Rameshwaram.

We were proceeding to Thirumaiyam ,another Divya desam, near Karaikudi.The journey's ,long,hot and dusty tedium was not relieved by the the landscape. It was dry and barren with a measly sprinkling of fallow fields.It is no wonder that men from this region left their homes to eke their livelihood in distant lands.

Though there are no rivers ,there is no dearth of water . Every village has huge ponds or tanks brimming with water. Dug in ancient times and maintened well, till date.Tractors abound the roads carrying mainly men and firewood, that of the branches of the thorny trees.Large houses of a by gone era ,abut the narrow streets of the towns we had to pass through. Most of these famous 'Chettinad houses' are padlocked.

Having reached Thirumaiyam temple several hours earlier than the evening pooja , I spent the time admiring the ancient sculptures arraigned in two rows, in a wind swept silent hall , the silence sliced only by the bleating of a kid[goat]and the distant cry of a startled peacock.

A blue board declares that the temple is under the control of ASI