Mailam Murugan Temple

MAILAM MURUGANUKKU AROHARA

Kundrirukkum Idam Kumaran iruppidam!

Yet another Murugan temple along the Chennai Trichy National Highway!!

we set off early morning around 6 AM on sunday  from Chennai and reached Mailam , crossing Chengalpattu, Melmaruvathhur and Dindivanam. A rode to the left goes 4 -5 KM from the Highway which leads to a small hill top on which is Mailam Murugan temple. The temple is bei enough with enough steps and bold Gopuram and Mandapams. The temple is popular in the area where one can have the darshan of Lord Muruga, the Son of Lord Shiva with his consorts- Sri Valli and Devasaena.

The Lord must be 5 feet tall and is with his wives on either side. The majestic Gopuram invites you with the main sactum within. There is seperate sannadhi for a sage inside the premesis of the temple.

The Mandapam to the Left of the main temple provides space enough to conduct functions like Marriage, Ear pearcing ceremony and various prayer offereings to the god. there are stage like set up at the end of this wide hall specially for marriages where the temple preists conduct the wedding.

The  outer Prahara/ the surrounding of the temple is beautiful and spacious with decorative roof and idols of Shiva family on top  and sides of them.

 There is alos a Go-Shala or cow shelter and quite enough number of cows are seen well maintanined.

The paintings of the Siddhars , peacock and Mailam murugan are seen within the main hall

The office room of the temple is outside the main hall 

The Hall also leads to the main Sanctum of the temple on one side.

I noticed a couple offer their prayer of placing their Kid in a swing made of saree tied to Sugarcane sticks held by the kids Uncles(must be). The kid was taken around the temple premises that way.

Lingaraja temple, Bhubaneswar

Bhubaneswar

Bhubaneswar is yet another temple city of India!
Though, not a metropolitan city like Chennai, Banglaore, this city is quite good and one must never miss the Cheap tasty tender coconut on the streets of Bhubaneshwar!


Lingaraja temples is one of the must see places in Bhubaneshwar, though there are lots of temples to be visited ! Below are few pics of the temple complex & its surroundings.

Lingaraja Temple Tower

I, along with my friends' Mom & dad set to have the holy Darshan of Lingaraja, one fine morning. Lingaraja temple is Bold and big. The street leading to the temple is busy and as usual you will see flower shops and shops offering coconut plates and Pooja things and prasad in the outer premises. there are stalls where you can place your slippers / mobiles & collect them back after your darshan. The temple is typical oriya style with separate sannadhi for all the Hindu Gods. There is this stamba or pillar in the entrance of the temple & there are quite a lot of Shiva lingas incluing Amarnath. There is separate sannadhi for Bhubaneswari, after whom the state capital of Bhubaneswar is named after.

The Smiling vendor selling coconuts and flowers for darshan

The Local flowers & Diyas (Lamps) that are offered in the temple

Naga Linga Flower having a Linga in middle & a Naga like cover over the top. This is speciallay offered for Lord Shiva

The main deity of the temple is Lord Shiva called as Lingaraja and his wife Parvathi. we were let in to offer pooja in main sanctum of the Lord who is in the form of shiva Linga and after darshan you can also see a Huge Ganapathi in the left side, kanchi Vinayak and several other deities within small small towers in the temple. There is also a sacred tree called Kalpa vruksha in the temple. 

One thing I love in orissa architecture is meticulousness. They have paid attention to minutes details in the Art. I would say, the beauty of the Art lies in How meticulous the artist has conveyed the depth of his skills in the artistic form he does. the more the details, the awesome it looks!

Local Morning Market 

 

Temple Compund

Prasad Stalls

Flower stalls

Through the streets

Different types of Spinach in local market

despite all the busy schedules of all people, He is also busy in search of something ;)

After wonderful darshan of the God & Goddess I peacefully  we had good breakfast in a small hotel- Ganga Jamuna. we had Idli, Uthappam  and Upma in Orrisan style:)

Hotel Ganga Jamuna where we had our breakfast

A special thanks to my best friends' parents who made it a wonderful day!

Us

Kalakshetra and the Katha

Kalakshetra!


This place in Chennai has been in my places to visit since last year(2018). Thanks to Raji Aunty, who made a combo offer of visiting the venue plus the wonderful opportunity to listen to Mrs. Visaka Hari's Hari katha ! How could I miss such a wonderful opportunity.

The entrance welcomes us with beautiful Kolams

In front of the Rukmini Arangam

Walking through the venue was like walking in a garden. The campus is a famous spot in chennai known for its ARTISTIC TOUCH with its contribution to the traditional dance forms especially!!. Yes. I need not talk about the great Madam Rukmini Arundale, people already know volumes about them.
I must agree that I could not take my eyes off those pretty girls in Traditional attires of Bharathanatyam and sarees with a well tied hair, big maroon Bindi on their forehead.  The campus was calm and well maintained. The auditorium (Rukmini Rangam) also carried the same poise as the venue, serene and I quite likes the stage set up! The chairs were all made of bamboo sticks everything looked eco friendly.

 The Topic for the Katha on the day was "Trinity of Carnatic Music". I just love listening to Visaka Manni. I admire the way she tells the story, relates to various topics and makes us actually taste the emotion, the feel of every bhava!. Student of the Great Lalgudi Jayaraman sir, I admire and respect her attitude. Not all can carry such a knowledge with humility. Hats off. I have become quite a fan of her. Listening is the best way to gain knowledge. That is why our education system from age old days had been via listening through ears and has been carried forward. Felt like I attended a un-tiring lively lecture demonstration class of Music

I need to re-listen to the recording to remember lot of things..
But few of the points that really grabbed my attention are her

1. Presentation of Simmanandhana Thalam.
2. Explanation on the way of handling of Sri Thyagarajar Krithis
3. The new Ragas composed by Shyama sastri and rendition of the raga

It was definitely a full meal feast for me that evening and I happily returned home wondering how these people accomplish great things! One thought definitely stuck me.. They did not do seeking Greatness! They sang all these experiencing GOD, loving GOD and so, anything with GOD as the target doesn't need proof of Greatness. It is GREATNESS itself:). For GOD loving them back is seen by the greatness they achieve in the minds of people.

Any great thing that is achieved in this world was never done with achieving greatness as the Goal. The Goal was GOD/ selfless ness that makes them Great!