Pongal Celebrations @ Balvihar

The real Happiness is in Giving & Happiness is an independent emotion. It does not depend on any external factor. How many of you agree with me on this??

I sincerely admit that my happiness is completely under my control and no external factor can affect my happiness. I can share my happiness with all & in turn multiply it. Only if I let can someone's action affect me. This has been the quotes of many great people of India like the Buddha, Swami Vivekananda and swami chinmayananda. All the sacred books like Bagavat Geeta also tell the same. But how far we keep that in our Minds & follow it. It takes a lot of patience & self analysis to follow it.. Everytime I get a lesson, I can take it as lesson or Hurt. If it hurts, my growth stops there but if I take it as lesson, I grow from there..

There are always areas of improvement. That's how one can continuously grow. here are the pics of Pongal celebration this year at our Balvihar. the kids in traditional dresses, came with lots of drawings and put the colourful Rangoli. We had kids perform the classical dance- Bharathanatyam & sing classical music. we also cooked Pongal & played the tamil game "Kolai kolaikka mundirika".

Gangai konda Chozhapuram

Gangai konda Chozhapuram

My long term Wish of visiting this place came true on my birthday! Another trip with my cousins.

We started from my home town in my uncle's car and  had to drive 135 KM to reach Gangai konda chozhapuram (from Gunaseelam). It took 3 hours to reach the place and on the way we saw a beautiful sight of a lake filled with birds sitting on the trees. It was an exquisite sight and was delight to the eyes. There was also  lake and ruins of the ancient cholzha palace enroute.

The significance of this place is that it has the same design as the Great Thanjai Periya Koil, built by the legend tamil Chozha king, Raja Raja Chozha. This one was built by Rajendrachozha the son of Rajaraja Chozha. The deities are the Same, Shiva is named Bragedeeswara & goddess parvathi is Brugannayaki or Periyanayaki. The Shiva Linga is too huge bigger than Tanjai periya koil I hope.
The Nandhi at the entrance is also stunning with its huge appearance and beautiful ornaments.

There were 2 main sculptures that caught my attention. They are the ones below.The Lord Shiva himself coronating the King Rajendra Chozha and Goddess lakshmi

 As per history, the king Rajendra Chozha conquered till River Ganga, brought stones from Ganga and built this temple. Hence, the name Gangai konda chozhapuram. The nerby town is also called Jayamkondan, the one who attained SUCCESS.

The temple is similar to tanjai periya koil in its set up. The outer Gopuram is incomplete and also the outer premises walls stand unfinished. One can find a huge Yazhi, a lion faced elephant like creature said to have lived in this world but extinct now. Below it is a outlet of the well near by. It is believed that the people can take bath there without being seen from outside, but the ones who take bath can see people standing out.

There is also a separate sanctum for Durga Devi having several hands and hands full of weapons.
The specialty is that people can visit the gopuram top as there are steps leading to it.  The temple has beautiful lawns and is neatly maintained.

With this I have completed the TRIPLE CHOZHA TEMPLES
1. TANJAI PERIYA KOIL- By THE GREAT RAJARAJA CHOZHA
2. GANGAI KONDA CHOZHAPURAM- By RAJENDRA CHOZHA
3. DARADURAM- By RAJA RAJA CHOZHA II
The Red Granite stones and the Unique Vimanam structure are the lucrative feature of all the three temples.
However the Legend RAJARAJA CHOZHA, someone I feel proud every moment, is definitely someone who I would like to meet if he were still alive and congratulate him for making such a Master piece that not even his Successors couldn't match up. The stunning top of the Tanjai Periya koil still has researchers, scholars wondering how the King brought the granite stones not found in its 100 KM radius!!

Reading tamil Novels like Amarar Kalki's Ponniyin selvan, Sivagamiyin Sabadam, Parthiban kanavu, I often dream how life would have been those days, how people would have lived those days! Visiting these places tells me few things for sure.

The kings of those days definitely had a good Culture , interest for Art & Architecture. Above all their LOVE FOR GOD had been and still is so Huge that these temples stands as an evidence and has WON over time. TIME is the only thing that HUMAN RACE is still working hard to win over in every possible way. I would say these KINGS have already WON over TIME,as I sit after several centuries writing this blog..

SHAMBO MAHADEVA! MAY THE NAME OF THE LORD BRING PEACE TO THIS WORLD!!!

சத்ரு சங்கார வேல் பதிகம் / Shatru Samhara Vel Pathigam

தடங்கல்கள் நீங்க இந்த ஸ்லோகம் சொல்வது நல்லது.

************

சத்ரு சங்கார வேல் பதிகம்

************************************

ஸ்ரீ கணேசாய நம :

ஸ்ரீ குமார குருதாஸ சுவாமிநே  நம:

காப்பு

சண்முகக் கடவுள் போற்றி ! சரவணத்(து) உதித்தோய் போற்றி!

கண்மணி முருகா போற்றி ! கார்த்திகை பாலா போற்றி!

தண்மலர் கடப்ப மாலை தாங்கிய தோளா போற்றி !

விண்மதி வதன வள்ளி வேலவா போற்றி ! போற்றி !!

நூல்

அப்பமுடன் அதிரசம் பொரிகடலை துவரை வடை

அமுது செய் இபமுகவனும்

ஆதிகேசவன் இலட்சுமி திங்கள் தினகரன்

அயிராவதம் வாழ்கவே !

முப்பத்து முக்கோடி வானவர்கள் இடர்தீர

முழுது பொன்னுலகம் வாழ்க!

மூவரொடு கருட கந்தருவர் கிம்புருடரும்

முதுமறைக் கிழவர் வாழ்க !

செப்பரிய இந்திரன் தேவி அயிராணிதன்  

திருமங்கலம் வாழ்கவே !

சித்த வித்யாதரர் கின்னரர்கள் கனமான

தேவதைகள் முழுதும் வாழ்க !

சப்தகலை விந்துக்கும் ஆதியாம் அதிரூப

சரஹணனை நம்பினவர் மேல்

தர்க்கமிட நாடினரைக் குத்தி எதிராடிவிடும்

சத்ரு சங்கார வேலே. (1) 

சித்தி சுந்தரி கெளரி அம்பிகை க்ருபாநிதி

சிதம்பரி சுதந்தரி பர

சிற்பரி சுமங்கலி நிதம்பரி விடம்பரி

சிலாசுதை விலாச விமலி

குத்து திரிசூலி திரிகோணத்தி ஷட்கோண

குமரி கங்காளி ருத்ரி

குலிச ஓங்காரி ஹ்ரீங்காரி ஹாங்காரி ஹூங்

காரி ஈம்காரி அம்மா!

முத்தி காந்தாமணி முக்குண துரந்தரி

மூவர்க்கும் முதல்வி ஞான

முதுமறைக் கலைவாணி அற்புத புராதனி

மூவுலகுமான ஜோதி

சக்தி சங்கரி நீலி கமலி பார்வதி தரும்

சரஹணனை நம்பினவர்மேல்

தர்க்கமிட நாடினரைக் குத்தி எதிராடிவிடும்

சத்ரு சங்கார வேலே. (2)

மூரியுள முப்பத்து முக்கோடி தேவரும்

முனிவரொடும் அசுரர் கூடி

முழுமந்த்ர கிரிதன்னை மத்தாகவே செய்து

முற்கணத்(து) அமுது பெறவே

கோரமுள வாசுகியின் ஆயிரம் பகுவாயில்

கொப்பளிதிடு விடங்கள்

கோளகையும் அண்டங்கள் யாவையும் எரித்திடும்

கொடிய அரவினைப் பிடித்து

வீரமுடன் வாயினால் குத்தி உதிரம் பரவ

இரு தாளிலே மிதித்து

விரித்துக் கொழுஞ்சிற(கு) அடித்தே எடுத்(து)  உதறும்

விதமான தோகைமயிலில்

சாரியாய்த் தினம் ஏறி விளையாடி வரு முருக

சரஹணனை நம்பினவர்மேல்

தர்க்கமிட நாடினரைக் குத்தி எதிராடிவிடும் 

சத்ரு சங்கார வேலே. (3)

உக்ரமுள தாருகன் சிங்கமுக சூரனும்

உன்னுதற்(கு) அரிய சூரன்

உத்திகொளும் அக்னிமுகன்  பானுகோபன் முதல்

உத்தண்ட அசுரர் முடிகள்

நெக்குவிடக் கரி புரவி தேர்கள் வெள்ளம் கோடி

நெடிய பாதங்கள் கோடி

நிறையிலா அஸ்திரம் வெகு கோடிகள் குருதி

நீரில் சுழன்று உழலவே

தொக்கு தொகு தித்தி திமி டுண்டு டுடு டகுகு டிகு

துந்து திமி டங்கு குகு டிங்கு குகு சங்கு கென

தொந்தக் கவந்தம் ஆட

சக்ரமொடு சக்திவிடு தணிகை சென்னியில் வாழும்

சரஹணனை நம்பினவர் மேல்

தர்க்கமிட நாடினரைக் குத்தி எதிராடிவிடும்

சத்ரு சங்கார வேலே. (4)

    

  

அந்தியிற் பேய் உச்சியுறு  முனி காட்டேரி

அடங்காத பகல் இருசியும்

அகோர கண்டங் கோர கண்ட சூனியம் பில்லி

அஷ்டமோகினி பூதமும்

சந்தியா நவ குட்டிசாத்தி வேதாளமும்

சாகிநி டாகிநிகளும்

சாமுண்டி பகவதி ரத்தக்காட்டேரி முதல்

சஞ்சரித்திடு முனிகளும்

சிந்தை நொந்(து) அலறி திருவெண்ணீறு காணவே

தீயிலிடு மெழுகு போலத்

தேகம் எல்லாம் கருகி நீறாகவே நின்று

சென்னி இரு தணிகை மலையில்

சந்ததம் கலியாண சாயுஜ்ய பதம் அருளும்

சரஹணனை நம்பினவர் மேல்

தர்க்கமிட நாடினரைக் குத்தி எதிராடி வரும்

சத்ரு சங்கார வேலே. (5)    

கண்டவிட பித்தமும் வெப்பு தலைவலி இருமல்

காமாலை சூலை குஷ்டம்

கண்டமாலை தொடைவாழை வாய்ப் புற்றினொடு

கடினமாம் பெருவியாதி

அண்ட ஒணாத ஜுரம் சீதள வாத ஜுரம்

ஆறாத பிளவை குன்மம்

அடங்காத இருபக்து  மேகமுடன் நாலு லக்

கத்தில் எண்ணாயிரம் பேர்

கொண்ட பல நோய்களும் வேல் என்(று)  உரைத்திடக்

கோ என்ன ஓலமிட்டுக்

குலவு தினகரன் முனம் மஞ்சு போல் நீங்கிடும்

குருபரன் நீறணிந்து

சண்டமாருத கால உத்தண்ட கெம்பீர

சரஹணனை நம்பினவர் மேல்

தர்க்கமிட நாடினரைக் குத்தி எதிராடிவிடும்

சத்ரு சங்கார வேலே. (6) 

மகமேரு உதயகிரி அஸ்தகிரியும் சக்ர

வாளகிரி நிடதவிந்தம்

மா உக்ரதர நரசிம்மகிரி அத்திகிரி

மலைகளொடு மதனம் சுமவா

ஜெகமெடுத்திடு புட்ப தந்தம் ஐராவதம்

சீர்புண்டரீக குமுதம்

செப்பு சாருவபௌமம் அஞ்சனம் சுப்பிர

தீப வாமனாதி வா

சுகி மகாபதுமன் அனந்தன் கார்க்கோடகன்

சொற்சங்கபால குளிகன்

தூய தக்கன் பதும சேடனோடு அரவெலாம்

துடித்துப் பதைத்(து) அதிரவே

தக தகென நடனமிடும் மயிலேறி விளையாடு

சரஹணனை நம்பினவர்மேல்

தர்க்கமிட நாடினரை குத்தி எதிராடிவிடும்

சத்ரு சங்கார வேலே. (7)

திங்கள் பிரமாதியரும் இந்த்ராதி தேவரும்

தினகரரும் முனிவரோடு

சித்ரபுத்திரர் மௌலி அகலாமல் இருபதம்

சேவித்து நின்று தொழவும்

மங்கை திருவாணியும் அயிராணியொடு சப்த

மாதர் இரு தாள் பணியவும்

மகாதேவர் செவி உறப் ப்ரணவம் உரைத்திட

மலர்ந்த  செவ்வாய்கள் ஆறும்

கொங்கை களபம் புனுகு ஜவ்வாது மண வள்ளி

குமரி தெய்வானையுடனே

கோதண்டபாணியும் நான்முகனுமே புகழ்

குலவு திருத்தணிகை மலைவாழ்

 பங்கயக்கர குமர

சரஹணனை நம்பினவர்மேல்

தர்க்கமிட நாடினரைக் குத்தி எதிராடிவிடும்

சத்ரு சங்கார வேலே. (8)  

மண்டலம் பதினாலு லோகமும் அசைந்திட

வாரிதி ஓர் எழும் வறள

வலிய  அசுரர் முடிகள் பொடிபடக் கிரவுஞ்சம்

மாரி  எழத் தூளியாக

கொண்டல் நிறம்  கொளும் அசுரர் அண்டங்கள்  எங்குமே

கூட்டமிட்(டு)  ஏக அன்னார்

குடல் கை கால் உடல் மூளை தலைகள் வெவ்வேறாகக்

குத்திப் பிளந்தெறிந்து

அண்டர் பணி கதிகாமம் பழநி சுப்பிரமணியம்

ஆவினன்குடி ஏரகம்

அருணாசலங் கயிலை தணிகைமலை மீதில் உறை

அறுமுகப் பரமகுருவாம்

சண்டமாருத கால சம்ஹார அதிதீர

சரஹணனை நம்பினவர்மேல்

தர்க்கமிட நாடினரைக் குத்தி எதிராடிவிடும்

சத்ரு சங்கார வேலே. (9)

மச்சம் குதித்து நவமணி தழுவ வந்தநதி

வையாபுரிப் பொய்கையும்

மதியை முத்தஞ்செயும் பொற்கோபுரத்(து)  ஒளியும்

வான்மேவு கோயிலழகும்

உச்சிதமான திருவாவினன் குடியில் வாழ்

உம்பர் இடர் முடி நாயகன்

உக்ரமயில்  ஏறிவரு முருக சரஹணபவன்

ஓங்கார சிற்சொருப வேள்

அச்சுத க்ருபாகரன் ஆனை   முறை செய்யவே

ஆழியை விடுத்(து) ஆனையை

அன்புடன் இரட்சித்த திருமால் முகுந்தன் எனும்

ஹரி கிருஷ்ண ராமன் மருகன்

சச்சிதானந்த பரரான ஈசுரர்தந்த 

சரஹணனை நம்பினவர்மேல்

தர்க்கமிட நாடினரைக் குத்தி எதிராடிவிடும்

சத்ரு சங்கார வேலே. (10)

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Coorg or The Kudagu

Coorg

Coorg or the Kudagu is a district in the state of Karnataka,India where the famous south Indian river Kauvery originates. You can plan a short trip over a weekend or a long weekend of 3 or 4 days to Coorg.

The beautiful flower blossomed with rain drops on it

If you planning to start from Chennai, you have Kauvery express during night, which will pick you after your dinner @ 9 PM and drop you at Mysore for your breakfast. From Mysore, you will have a 2-3 hour Journey to Coorg

Always pre-book vehicles for journey & also your accommodation while you travel to any such hill stations. Always include Jerkins, Umbrellas, socks, shoes, Sweaters, Mufflers in your packing in addition to your usual dresses.

The climate:
The season is during the months of June to August, when it rains in Coorg.
We visited during the month of July and during the month of July, the climate is very cool and quite unpredictable. Within few moments, there is rain and the next moment there is mist everywhere. It drizzles on and off and the movement of the wind along with the drizzle make it a lively thing to watch. It is like a wave  in the air. There were only few minutes of sun shine seen.

Tala Kauvery:
Thala cauvery is the origin point from where the holy river Kauvery starts her journey.
The walk from the place where the Cab dropped us to the thala cauvery temple was awesome. Actually all we could see were white mist. We couldn't even see the person standing at 3 foot distance. In few moments it started raining. In the cool climate we sheltered in the nearby shops where the owner made us Garama garam Pakodas (Hot Pakodas). Had them accompanied with ginder Tea.. Wow! a nice experience..!!

Once the rain receded a little we walked to the temple. It was a beautiful temple with a shrine over the origin point. few people took a holy dip besides the rain. It must have been shivering. The monument of the bell at the entrance attracted my attention. We went around the temple enjoying the drizzle and returned back to our Cab.

Thriveni sangamam

Very few Kilometers down below Thala Kauvery is Thriveni Sangamam where there are 2 other streams joining hands with the holy Kauveri. I took a holy dip here and had darshan of the Lord at
Bhagamandala temple. The temple was clean and we had the prasad. Walking back to the cab, took some pics and started back to our hotel.

Raja's Seat
This place is quite a garden with a seat where the late King of Coorg had sat to enjoy his leisure and see the sunset & sunrise. The view from this place is awesome as down below you can see the hills, the green valleys, plateau, agriculture fields, the zigzag roads and the vehicles moving in them. Often the mist covers the beautiful sight for all you see is white mist blocking the sight. You will have to wait for them to clear and enjoy the nature.

Kids can enjoy a small ride in a toy train here.

Abbey's Falls

Abbey's falls is overflowing in the month of July- August. Though you cannot take bath here, the sight of the fall overflowing gives overflowing joy to the eyesight & the mind. The walk to the fall from the main road, listening to the buzzing sound quieten the mind out of all the thoughts and the snowy white water rejuvenates every cells. I had goose bumps having the sight of the falls. It rained 4 times in the 20 minutes time I spent there. This On & Off rain with its drizzles made me long for something hot to drink & I enjoyed the Coffee of Coorg in the coffee shop on the main road.

Dubare & White water rafting

We also enjoyed white water rafting near the Dubare forest. The dubare forest is famous for the elephants, but it was closed that day. We enjoyed watching river Kauvery flowing amidst the trees near the forest. what a lovely sight. I would have stayed there for even longer. My thoughts went several centuries back as described by Amarar Kalki in his novel, "Ponniyin selvan". How rich and prosperous the river had been in the past. It was a feast to my eyes & I will say as one among the best moments of my life

Few of us planned and enjoyed the White water rafting. The rafting was a good experience. Post my earlier experience in river Ganga, I was quite comfortable to jump  and plunge in to the water. There was water roaring at some hurdles and the entire journey of 5 kms was totally enjoyable with greenery set as boundaries running parallel to us. The river was wide and we also saw the Nisargadhama Bamboo forest as one of the banks of the river.


The walk
 Aah!!.. I always like to go on a walk in hilly places to just feel the climate, environment and enjoy nature. The walk was quite pleasant in the evening and we stopped at some places having fun touching the "Touch me Not" plant which was abundant all through the region we walked.

Tips for Packing:

In addition to the dresses you carry for the stay, carry the below items
1. Always carry an umbrella as the climate at coorg is unpredictable.
2. Jerkins/ sweaters, Mufflers
3. Socks, Gloves
4. Appropriate Footwear as it also rains and your shoes may get soaked, have  a pair of sandals too
5. 2 pairs of extra dresses  if you have plans of getting holy dip @ Thala Kauvery and Triveni sangamam

Thiru Eengoi malai

Thiru Eengoi malai

Thiru Eengoi Malai is yet another temple of Lord Shiva, who is seated on a hill top. After the darshan of Kadambar@ kulithalai in the morning, Ayer Malai Sokkar in the afternoon, we took rest in Gunaseelm in my Uncle's home and it was adhoc plan as we did not plan earlier. I would say it was the wish of the Lord Himself.

As I stated in my earlier post, it is still in practice that people take darshan of Kadambar in the morning, Sokkar of Ayyer malai in the noon and Maragathacheleswarar in the Evening. I was surprised to see that even the pooja happens for these temple in the respective times only. For Sokkar of Ayer malai, we had to wait for the priest who came around 11 am and opened the temple. Like wise the Thirueengoi malai was opened only for the evening darshan.

Thiru Eengoi Malai view from the foothill

The Steps leading to the hill top

Temple:

 The Lord Shiva of this temple is called Maragathachaleswarar and the goddess parvathi is called Maragathambigai.This temple is said be more than 2000 years old. This temple is located near Musiri, Tiruchirappali. All the three temple I mentioned are within 10 km circumference. The Steps of these temple look just like stones simply assembled. They have been painted in red & white. I would say there may be around 400 to 500 steps to the hill top.

The Ambal & Shivan sannadhi Gopurams

The main entrance leading  of the temple

Our trip:

We (Me & my cousins) started from Gunaseelam after a small nap followed by refreshing and a hot tea from my uncle's hotel @ gunaseelam. We left gunaseelam by 4:50 PM. we reached the temple by 5:15 PM. We can have a quick glance of the hill from the main road. There is also Lalithambal Peedam adjacent to the temple which we missed visiting that day.

As soon as we reached the foot of the hill, we parked our car and we could see a Sannidhi of Rishi (supposedly Bogar, correct me if I am wrong). Then starts the steps to climb up the hill. The steps were small unlike the ones in Ayer malai and we could see the hill top, it gave us a small happiness that we would be able to reach the top soon. We carried water with us. Left the slippers in the car.

We halted in between just to feel the breeze and atmosphere. The sight from around 300 steps was nice but it would have been lovely if we had water in the river Kauvery. I really felt sad and something was bothering me since then. I simply closed my eyes and imagined how beautiful it would be if there was water flowing in the river. It will be a feast to the eyes. The sight also had Ayer malai in straight line. The opposite bank had Ayer malai and in this bank of Kauvery is Thiru Engoi malai.

I sincerely prayed Lord Shiva that soon I see water flowing though the river and all green scenery around this place. Now I must not forget mentioning about the 100s of Lorry on the river beds. It looked like toys arranged in a straight line from the hill top. Those were for looting the sand from the River. I mention it as looting because there must be norms for taking sand. Also, why has human race become this greedy that we are ready to fore sake anything(even basic needs) for our Luxury?

The view from half way through the hill top

Water is a basic need, a necessity. Its an elixir of Life. Without water, we all will die. We already have exploited many of the resources. We may leave nothing for the future generations. I request all those who read this blog to save water. Have some social responsibility. We came empty handed in to this world. But we exploit every resource available here and make a mess out of this world before we leave. Remember, we take nothing back... Still, why is that we dance as though everything is ours?
Its all HIS. Thinking deeply, we will definitely get the answers. (I turned Sentimental & of course spiritual)

Getting back to our climb up, we saw few people whom we saw in Ayer malai return back with the prasadam after darshan. Hope they also made the trio darshan on the same day. The Majestic Gopuram invited us and the compound wall was as of those in palaces. entering the sanctum, we gave the fruits for the God and had the darshan of Maragatha Lingeshwarar or the Maragathachaleshwarar. We sang songs in praise of the lord . To left of the God was the goddess Maragathambigai. We also sang songs in praise of the goddess.

I cannot miss mentioning the sannathi of the Tamil God Murugan, who was in the form of Bala Dhandayuthapani as in Pazhani. Still in my eyes, we sang several songs in his praise. Came a round about the temple, got the prasadham, felt the divine bliss and started climbing down the temple. Before we got down, the temple priest got down quickly. As it was dusk, it slowly started becoming dark and there were only few lights that were on the steps down the hill.

Special thanks to the Lord by Whose grace we had a wonderful day!
அவனருளாலே  அவன் தாழ்  வணங்கி !!

A special thanks to my cousins by whose support this trip was possible!

For further details refer:
http://temple.dinamalar.com/en/new_en.php?id=841

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 !!!