Koiladi.Temple

After visiting koiladi in the morning for a darshan of Appala Ranganathar[27.1.13] and on returning to our lodgings i was in a dilemma .Should i write or not write?Since if i write i'll write as it is and i am sensing strongly that whatever i write about my observations on the land ,people , temples, life etc , is torn to bits by politicians and journalists, in minutes and is gleefully carried off for themselves the bits that suits their ends best .

After packing up to return to the stables i stood on the balcony and the Raja gopuram towered majestically into my view with Ranganathar in his calm repose in the central niche .The lord of all.The personification of truth who presides over all equally and existing eternally.

Seeing him my dilemma dissolved as i decided that if what i write can bring about some good to some nameless, faceless and voiceless persons and does not cause harm to any one ,why not go ahead and just do it.so i have done just that.
Earlier as we left the lodge to the temple a  group of men in the white and white the attire of politicos stood around talking in the veranda The cabbie explained that the lodgings was a favourite spot for  political workers of all hues to congregate for a chat and that this group belonged to the one ruling this state.Tamilnadu.
The way side to koiladi  from Srirangam has retained its rural character with rolling fields of rice, sugarcane and plantains,. much as in times of those saint poets..A board said Ponni  [kavery]delta .
In some places land was cleared and clay bricks were shaped and dried and in several others huge concrete machines and lorries were stationed and at few other spots sand was heaped in huge dunes and were scooped up by bull dozers ,as lorries lined its sides.All these activities on the land that looked too fertile to be so trifled with.

Passed kallanai dam that was as bare as a bone picked clean .Just 2 years back on my last visit ,it was filled to the brim and was gushing out of the sluice gates in frothy fury !

As we neared koiladi 20 kms away from Srirangam banana fields were drying in the early growth and not as it does when it is fully mature .Obviously the water from borewells were being saved for the rice crops.

The temple however was a pleasant surprise, Gone are its dilapidated run down appearance,that it presented  2 years back on my last visit.
The gopuram had a fresh coat of paint and the walls of the temple were no longer crumbling.The cracks had not only been filled but the entire building was strengthened .Several workers were busy in the renovation work which i hear was speeded up in the past one year mainly due to the diligent efforts of Sri Vellukudi with  also the govt pitching in.

Two year back Kavery had worn a glittering deep blue coat and flowing merrily in full swing and full of life near the Kallanai as well as in the canals by the side of the fields  and on the side of this koiladi temple whist the temple had looked old and lifeless.Now the temple is glowing in its new lease to life but the river on its side is supine and dry!

The priest of this small but very ancient and sacred temple was bent on clarifying and rectifying the defects in Divya deasam guide books that the main deity of this temple --Ranganathar 's right hand lay on the head of Markandeya rishi seated on the floor and not on the appam[sweet delicacy] pot ,as is wrongly mentioned in those books.He wanted the devotees to know the exact traditions and not fall prey to hearsay.