Photos of Tibetan temple on the way to Coorg in Karnataka

Photos by J.Praveen.

Photos of Taj mahal and Rishikesh.

Photos by Sruti.

Photos of Rishikesh,on the way to Delhi,Delhi and Bombay

Photos by Vidat.

The 'net' outcome

The monitor is monitored,
The censor is censured,
The tapper is taped,
The stalker is stalked,
The intruder is intruded,
The eavesdropper is eaves dropped,
The aggressor is aggrieved,
The usurper is usurped.

Net is truly a great leveller.

Photos of elephant camp at Guruvayur.

Touching optimism....RTE.

Read the long and well crafted explanations of the concerned minister that seeks to allay the fears regarding RTE on a daily.

The banishing of corporal punishments is welcome.The move to pass all up to 10 th will be welcomed by all students.School would become so much more fun! A meeting place for friends to play, tease , gossip and learn only if one really wants to and thus have a whale of a time!School life would be one long picnic![ How i wish i were 4 0 years younger.]

The bit about rich and the poor kids getting to know each other and learning from each other ---for the rich an exposure to the rough and wild life of street smart kids that would make them more charitable and kindly towards them and for the poor a regular peek into the luxurious and cosseted life style of the rich which may motivate them to work hard to achieve such a life style ,is very touching.This optimism ,pure and simple to fight insurmountable class schisms made me choke with emotions ,for a moment!

As long as the burden of funding the attempts to create a classless, sharing and caring society is not passed on to the shoulders of hardworking middle class parents of school going children and as long as a child from a poor background is not made to feel an outsider, a misfit amongst well to do classmates ,i would be out of my mind to continue complaining against the RTE and incur the risk of being labelled bourgeoisie , a stumbling block by all the well meaning , enlightened members of a liberal society who seem to have given up on the State's ability to attract students from all strata of society.

Yet try as i might i am unable to shake off that wretched feeling that the state is trying to ride piggyback on its citizens in this matter.

Truth.

There are two sides to truth.

One is that it is bitter and therefore ,difficult to swallow,

The other is that it is funny and therefore ,difficult to believe.

Back.

Whilst waiting for the signal to change near the very silk store at Ernakulam, that Shahruk khan was endorsing with a lopsided leer on our entire route, saw glossy cars of every shape and size brand new and shiny gliding by, that reminded me of Chennai.

After a pleasant week of eat ,travel and pray a ,break from my monotonous routine i was going back.
Back to boredom, back to house work and back to my computer with my nanny waiting anxiously to hover over me.

The thought of my protective nanny made me laugh.Not one of those driving down the street know about me ,nor i them.An unknown Indian like them .Yet to my nanny i am some thing precious and famous who is in need of constant snipping, monitoring and sheltering!

Photo: Eranakulam city.

Photos of kalady.

The Saradhambhal temple at the birth place of Adi Shankara at Kalady.

The Krishna temple near the crocodile ghat .It is adjacent to a Rigvedic patashala.
A closer view of the Krishna temple
The Periyar river near the Saradambhal temple popularily known as crocodile ghat.
An memorial in honour of Adi Shankara dedicated by Sri Jayendra saraswati the shankaracharya of Kamakoti peetam.It has within the entire route map of Adi Shankara's digvijaya .
Kalady town.

Those interested in seeing a video of the Poorna river/ crocodile ghat, kindly visit my you tube channel--sujataism1

Kalady.

On the way to Eranakulam from Guruvayur visited Kalady the birth place of Adi Shankaracharya.
How could i give it a miss after traveling all the way from Chennai and it was barely a few miles away ?
The temple is beautiful ,situated on the banks of the river Periyar /Poorna on the very place a young Shankara visited often and is said to have been snared by a crocodile that let go off him only when his widowed mother Arayamba finally gave in to her only child's keen desire to take up sanyas at so tender a age.

The temple dedicated to Saradambal has a stone lamp post within, that indicates the cremation spot of Shakara's mother.The cremation was performed by Shankara himself in pursuance of the the promise extracted by his mother in lieu of her granting him permission to take up sanyas ,that he would do so though the orthodox sections of the society frowned upon a sanyasi to undertake funeral rituals of a close relative.This was first discovered only in 1910 by 33 rd Shankaracharya of Saradambhal peetam who along with the generous support of Raja Rama of Travancore built this temple.Their satvic portraits adorn a portion the wall inside .Lillies in a colour i have never seen before,' purple' were in full bloom in the pond within.

The dedication and the burning desire in one so young to revive Hinduism that was slowly gathering dust ,to its former glory and to establish it as the religion of this sub continent , all on his own,is really astonishing! And it all started from here ,a remote corner in Southern India!

He seems to have taken birth only with this sole mission in mind and expired soon after at a young age of 32 ! Innumerable achievements in scholastic field and incomparable contribution to Hinduism at a breakneck speed in those slow paced times!

Aazhwars hymns on Thirugadkarai and ThiruMoozhikalam.

Namaazhwar 's song dedicated to Ghadkarai appan.

Urugumaal nenjam vurin paramandri perugumal vetkaiyum yen seigen thondenen theruvellam kavi kamazhthiru Kadkarai maruvi mayan than mayam ninaithore'! 9.10.6 Thiru vaimozhi.

Meaning: The fragrance of saffron coloured flowers wafts through the streets of Gadkarai,
I think of the amazing actions and unique qualities of Mayan who is enshrined here to bless all!
My heart is melting and i am unable to stem the overflowing tide of desire to know and experience mayan.
What am i to do?

Thirumangai aazhwars hymn in praise of Thirumoozhikalam.

**Paniye parangkundrin pavalathirale! Muniye! Thirumoozhikalathu villake! Inniyai! Thondarom parugu innamudhai kaniye!Unnai kandukondu uainthozhindene!....7.10.1 Peria Thirumozhi.

Meaning: One who has risen in snow filled Himalyas ,dazzling like a heap of corals ! Munivar! The bright light of Thirumoozhikalathan! Sweet one ! Sweet nectaraine fruit who can be drunk by devotees ! By prostrating before you I have saved myself.

Photos of Thiru Gadkarai and Moozhikalam.

Thiru Gadkarai temple.
Side view of the temple
Sannidhi of a yogi [in the temple ]who took his life for being wrongly implicated in a crime by the,then ruler.Pujas are performed by local people to appease the Bramha rakshasi form he took after his demise.
Moozhikalam temple.

Moozhikalam and Thirugadkarai.

Left Guruvayur at noon for Ernakulam our final halt and visited the last two divya desams -Moozhikalam and Gadkarai on the way.

Had a very peaceful and long darshan at Moozhikalam that i was denied by the stampeding crowds at Guruvayur ,that pushed me in and out within few seconds.The idols of all the temples i visited so far except for Sri Padmanabha and Adi kesava perumal are all similar and small and generously coated with chandan or bearing a smiling golden face .

Moolavar is Moozhikalathan /Sri Sukthinatha perumal and thaayar is Maduraveni nachiar.

In ancient times Harita maharishi is said to have spent several years in tapas in this place till Bhagwan appeared before him and gifted Sri sookti the samahiti that delineates the rituals to be performed 5 times a day and the benefits that are derived by doing so.

Later Lakshmana is said to have worshipped and consecrated this deity as a prayashchitham for doubting Bharat's intent when the later arrived with his army to Chitrakoot to persuade Rama to return to Ayodhya.Bharat forgave Lakshman with sweet words /moozhi kalam in this very place.People in here refer to the Bhagwan as Lakshman.

Then we reached Thirugadkara the final divye desam in malainadu ,near Ernakulam.It is a beautiful ,huge and serene place and we were in time to witness the evening arti.

Moolvar is known as Gadkarai appan and thayar as Perunselvanayagi. . This Bhagwan is regarded as Vamana.This is the very place where MahaVishnu set his feet on the head of King Bali and pushed him under ground in Vamana avatar.Onam is celeberated with great pomp and grandeur in this temple.
The hustle and bustle of the city outside and the lack of space is compensated by such spacious and quiet temples .

I started this trip by having a darshan of Sri Padmanabha in the huge temple complex at Trivandram ,struck by the beauty of the deity as well as Adi kesava's at Thiruvattaru and wound it by a satisfying darshan of Vamana in sylvan sorroundings atThiru Gadkarai.

RTE...contd.

Constitution affixes the responsibility on the State to provide free education to all upto 14 years of age.

If the State expects all its ordinary hard working citizens and not billionaires or of itself to be of charitable disposition on the mould of MotherTheresa or Florence Nightingale than what is the need for a govt , police ,etc?

Aazhwars hymns on Vithvakode and Thirunavai.

Only Kulasekra Azhwar has sung hymns in praise of the deity enshrined at Vithvakod.They are 10 ..the following is one of them.

**Meen nokum neelvayal choozh 'Vitruva kottamane'!Yen paal nokayagilum un patratral patrilen thaan noka dhu thuyaranch seidhitinum thar vendhan kol noki vazhum kudiponri irundhene'..... 690. Perumal Thirumozhi.

Meaning: Thiruvithvakottama! You reside in a place that is surrounded by water that fishes long to make it their home!
Even if you are not attached to me ,i am attached to you!
Like those subjects of a garlanded king ,who causes them great misery , yet cherishing the fond hope of his benevolence,in future!


ThiruNavai.Both Nam aazhwar and Thirumangai Aazhwar have dedicated their verses.
*~~~~~~~~~~*
**Arrukum vinaiyayin aagahthu avanai niruthum manathu ondriya sindhai yinarku verithan malar solaigal choozh T'hiru Navaai ' kurrukum vagai undu kolokodiyerkke?.......
By Nam azhwar 9.10.8 Thirumozhi

Meaning: He is capable of cutting all Karmas of all those who place him in their thoughts with single minded devotion and concentration.
He is the One who is enshrined in the place called Thiru Navvai that is surrounded by gardens of scented flowers and groves of trees!
Is there a short route to this place and emancipation for a person as wicked as me?

Photos of ThiruVithvakod and Thiru Naava temples

Sri Vithvakode temple,the main sannidhi ,which was consecrated by Arjuna.
The sannidhi consecrated by Bhima is on the immediate right.The Bharatpuzha river is at the front.
The sannidhi consecrated by Yudhishtra is on the left .
The sannidhi consecrated by Nakulan and Shadevan at ThiruVithvakod temple
Thiru Navai temple