Ayer Malai- Madhiyam Sokkar!!

Rathnagirishwarar, at Ayer/ Ayver Malai

Madhiyam Sokkar

I ticked my long time pending to do list after visiting this hill top!  As planned we visited Kadambar in the morning, then Rathnagiriswarar in Avyer Malai in Noon & there is one more...!

A brief about the temple:

Rathinagireeswarar temple at Ayyar Malai is one of the sacred "Saivite" temple and is believed to be more than 1300 years old. The five pandavas were believed to have stayed here briefly during their exile hence it is called as Ayvar (In tamil means 5 people) malai(Means hill). It is also believed that the sage Aghastiya worshipped at this temple on the way to "Podhigai".There are many hymns about this temple in "Thevaram" by thirunavukkarasar (7th Century AD), Appar and Sundarar. Arunagirinadhar has sung about its glory in "Thirupugazh".There are lot of rock inscriptions from the 11th to 16th century AD indicating that the temple received patronage from the Cholas, Pandyas, Hoysalas and Vijayanagara kings.

My trip to Ayver Malai

Post our darshan at Kadambar temple in the Morning, (Refer https://valarpirai-ghayathri.blogspot.in/2017/06/kadamba-vana-nathar.html) we started to Ayer malai which is also near by Kulithalai, Karur District of Tamil nadu (Madhiyam Sokkar)in our car. On the way, we stopped under a shady tree for breakfast, opened the packing my uncle gave for our breakfast and finished our breakfast. This gave us enough energy to climb up the hill.

My cousin drove the car and along the road we could see the gigantic hill staring at us, challenging us for a climb!

The view of Ayer Malai from the Kulithalai Road

The road leading to the Hill. The steps are also clearly seen in the left side of the picture.

It was a (Muhurtha) auspicious day for the Hindus and there were lots of marriages happening in the halls at the foot of the hill. We could see average crowd, those who came to attend the marriages also came to visit the temple.

The Trek begins  from here!!

We (Me and my cousins) started trekking up around 8:30 AM.  As we begun the climb, we found lot os villagers worshipping their family deity, the security guard of their families (Kaval Deivam). there was a priest playing the damru or Udukkai and telling things to people, something what the village people believed that the God came in to him and answered their questions.

Ayyanar Temple, the deity of the local Villagers

Crossing this Mandapam, there was a huge rock to the left hand side with deity of Vinayagar. We planned to climb up the hill fast as we sensed that if the sun rises further up, at noon, this being a rocky mountain it will gain heat and we without wearing slippers or shoes, it will be too hot to climb. So we planned not to stop. The initial steps were uneven few of normal height, few longer. There are mandapams built for Shade in between without which climbing the hill is a challenge.

The mandapam with Pillayar

In between you can find the deity of Saptha Kannigaigal, the seven virgins to the left side of your path. The place was cool as the deities were placed between two huge rocks. Felt like walking through natural air conditioner

The SapthaKannnigal/ the seven virgins

One thing you will not miss enjoying is the stunt by the Monkeys in Ayer Malai. please carry a stick for a safer side. There are lots of MOnkeys with their kids. They will travel with you until the hill top looking for food, water. It must be very hard for them as we ourselves felt thirsty in the hot summer

Monkey beating the heat drinking the drops of water from the pipe!

After climbing up, you will have to wait until the priest comes. A main thing to note is that the pooja for Ratnagirishwarar happens only in Noon. We found few people carrying flower, water and milk from down the hill for the God. we reached the hill top slowly around 11. waited for half an hour. The Priest came and opened the Sannidhi/ sanctum by 11:30. All the people waiting entered the sanctum for the darshan of the God and goddess. One cannot miss the beautiful sight from the top of the hill. The breathtaking, awesome site. One thing was clear, if there had been water in Kauvery it would have been even more beautiful sight. The view made my thoughts roaming.

Every time I take off from any airport or land, I like looking down and all I see is lots of buildings arranged closely. The roads with lights which make it look like stars below. This sight is completely different. The plateau is rich brown soil and all I can see around are few hills and land, trees and few buildings here and there.

The View from the hill top! 

The first deity you will come across as you climb is the goddess SurumbarKuzhali, Guess the Goddess have a curly hair. This is said to be Sakthi Peetam. There are inscriptions on the outer walls of the Ambal Sannathi which I am not sure what language they are..! There are neem and other trees around the sanctum.

The Shrine of Devi Parvathi

The walls of the Devi temple have inscriptions. We could identify few tamil letters

   

We had the darshan of the Goddess and also the Lord Shiva as Rathnagirishwarar. We sang few songs in praise of the Lord, sang few Thevaram, few pathigams. The lord shiva is in Long Linga roopam. There is Nandhi in front of him and there a small window which lets in cool breeze in to the sanctum. 

I  was wondering how the kings those days must have deigned and built these temples. You cannot do a pradakshinam of Shiva here. There is no way to come around the God. there are also deity of other gods like Subramanya, Vairava Perumal, and other usual gods of Shiva temple. After Darshan, on the way out of Goddess temple, we walked up the corrider where we enjoyed the breathtaking sights and took a nap for 10 minutes enjoying the atmospehere in the hill. The wind was cool though it was 12 noon. We took some pics together, made some funny poses and enjoyed chatting for some time.

Walking down the hill was the real challenge as now the steps were hot as a stove in full flame. we actually ran down the steps towards every shade.Thank god for the shelters in between and the trees which gave us shade in places in between the steps. Climbing up during this time (post 12 noon) is not advised though we found few people climbing up the hill. We learnt that even the priest will come down around 2 PM.

I would suggest people planning for Darshan of Ayer malai to carry cotton shawls, a stick ( to scare the monkeys), water, a sun screen for your skin, caps and few snacks or glucose for energy.

Few things I realised while climbing up are:
 In Hinduism, climbing up hills are considered sacred. It not only healthy for the body but for also the mind. Its a challenge we take up for ourselves. When we can climb up such hills we learn that we can easily overcome challenges in our day to day life.

I wish every one reading this post visit this temple once and get the blessings of the Lord!

தென்னாடுடைய  சிவனே போற்றி !!
எந்நாட்டவர்க்கும் இறைவா போற்றி !!!