I am penning down after a long gap, pardon me if they have never met your standards. I had an opportunity to visit Trivandrum, Kerala as a part of the campus placements initiative conducted by our organization. We along with our team were @ College of Engineering, Trivandrum on 12th Sep morning. We were told that the best brains in Kerala originate from here and it wasn't false. The two day activity brought a lot of excellent candidates in front of us with raging individual percentages (some made me envy them :-)), initiatives and actions. They seemed bold and expressive. The whole day was frantically hectic with briefings, assessments, documentation, coordination etc. The day ended @ about 10:15 PM IST.
Thiru Anantha Padmanabha Swamy Temple, Trivandrum, Kerala
From the very day I understood, am going to visit Trivandrum, had a desire to visit the majestic "Anantha Padmanabha Swamy Temple". There are specific darshan timings starting from 03:30 HRS to 04:45 HRS, 06:30 HRS to 07:30 HRS etc. I made up mind to visit the temple in the morning session. And as expected, the almighty woke me up @ 04:30 HRS (without an alarm). I was all happy getting up early, finishing up my daily chores and all set. It was conveyed that we should not take in our mobiles, cameras etc to the temple, hence left all of them back. The temple was about 2 kms from where I had put in, hence seeing to the benefits of the opportunity the weather offered I decided to walk. In the hindsight, I thought that this would compensate for my regular morning stroll.
I stepped out of the hotel at about 4:55 AM. It wasn't completely dawn and was mildly drizzling too. I was all excited to peep out, so early in the morning and that too in a new place, with me having limitations in language (Malayalam). The early morning walk in the drizzle was a blessing. I found my way asking the tea shop owners to the destination. Finally, the majestic gopuram was standing in front of me, clearly visible and calling me to walk in.
There was a shop just few steps before the temple entrance with a board stating "Dhotis available for sale and rentals". I understood, in temples of Kerala, men are permitted only to wear dhotis before entering the premises. I purchased one and deposited my other belongings in the cloak room. My attire changed and was looking like a keralite :-). It was about 5:10 AM. Before I could step out of the cloak / change room, it suddenly started raining heavily. Showers were pouring and one could easily enjoy the beauty of the falling drops amidst the sodium vapor lamps. I had two choices of limiting myself in the cloak room shed or go all out and rejoice the descending rain drops. I decided for the latter and started moving towards the temple.
The instance I entered into the gopuram, I could smell divinity. The lights were to the minimum, a semi dark premise, typical kerala temple style architecture were a feast to the eyes. As the doors of the sanctum were closed, I chose to walk around the temple. I could hear people sitting around in the corridors chanting mantras, the whole atmosphere was giving a lot of piousness and positivity. One has to feel it from inside. After I finished the parikrama, I joined the people who were standing in the line for lord's darshan. The gates were to open again @ 6:30 AM. There were about 20 odd people standing in the line ahead of me. Slowly as it dawned, crowd started coming in and the line became longer. We could hear nadaswaram, molam and the hymns being chanted. It was sufficient to provide energy for the whole day.
Finally, the moment came in, when we were allowed inside the sanctum. It wasn't well lit but that added to the beauty and to it's nature. I had to climb in a few steps and could see the lord in his anantha sayanam posture. The deity could be seen in parts (head, body and feet) across three doors. I prayed for a few mins and moved on. A priest was giving the abhishekam milk and chandanam. I received it with my heart felt dedication and walked out. A little ahead I could see prasadam getting distributed and went ahead to receive it. There were two parts to it. The solid prasadam was somewhat similar to puliyotharai with ginger and black pepper in it. The liquid was payasam poured in steel tumblers and given. I enjoyed both of them, washed the glass, returned it to where it belonged. Meanwhile, It had stopped raining and I could walk out with more light returning in the day. I came back to the counter, took my belongings and started walking to the hotel. It was about 7:15 AM, reached hotel and started checking my mails as like an another regular day.
But I feel, going around places, meeting people exposes one to a lot of interesting learning & experiences. And the visit to Trivandrum will remain as one of my memorable days in life.
Thanks for stopping by to read..........
I stepped out of the hotel at about 4:55 AM. It wasn't completely dawn and was mildly drizzling too. I was all excited to peep out, so early in the morning and that too in a new place, with me having limitations in language (Malayalam). The early morning walk in the drizzle was a blessing. I found my way asking the tea shop owners to the destination. Finally, the majestic gopuram was standing in front of me, clearly visible and calling me to walk in.
There was a shop just few steps before the temple entrance with a board stating "Dhotis available for sale and rentals". I understood, in temples of Kerala, men are permitted only to wear dhotis before entering the premises. I purchased one and deposited my other belongings in the cloak room. My attire changed and was looking like a keralite :-). It was about 5:10 AM. Before I could step out of the cloak / change room, it suddenly started raining heavily. Showers were pouring and one could easily enjoy the beauty of the falling drops amidst the sodium vapor lamps. I had two choices of limiting myself in the cloak room shed or go all out and rejoice the descending rain drops. I decided for the latter and started moving towards the temple.
The instance I entered into the gopuram, I could smell divinity. The lights were to the minimum, a semi dark premise, typical kerala temple style architecture were a feast to the eyes. As the doors of the sanctum were closed, I chose to walk around the temple. I could hear people sitting around in the corridors chanting mantras, the whole atmosphere was giving a lot of piousness and positivity. One has to feel it from inside. After I finished the parikrama, I joined the people who were standing in the line for lord's darshan. The gates were to open again @ 6:30 AM. There were about 20 odd people standing in the line ahead of me. Slowly as it dawned, crowd started coming in and the line became longer. We could hear nadaswaram, molam and the hymns being chanted. It was sufficient to provide energy for the whole day.
Finally, the moment came in, when we were allowed inside the sanctum. It wasn't well lit but that added to the beauty and to it's nature. I had to climb in a few steps and could see the lord in his anantha sayanam posture. The deity could be seen in parts (head, body and feet) across three doors. I prayed for a few mins and moved on. A priest was giving the abhishekam milk and chandanam. I received it with my heart felt dedication and walked out. A little ahead I could see prasadam getting distributed and went ahead to receive it. There were two parts to it. The solid prasadam was somewhat similar to puliyotharai with ginger and black pepper in it. The liquid was payasam poured in steel tumblers and given. I enjoyed both of them, washed the glass, returned it to where it belonged. Meanwhile, It had stopped raining and I could walk out with more light returning in the day. I came back to the counter, took my belongings and started walking to the hotel. It was about 7:15 AM, reached hotel and started checking my mails as like an another regular day.
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| Me in Hotel Keys, Trivandrum |
But I feel, going around places, meeting people exposes one to a lot of interesting learning & experiences. And the visit to Trivandrum will remain as one of my memorable days in life.
Thanks for stopping by to read..........
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