Kumbakonam

It had been my mom's long pending wish to visit Kumbakonam & Thiruvaiyaru.

As my sister & family also were planning for an outing over a weekend, we came together & planned a trip to Kumbakonam.

Hired a TT and planned the journey to start at 9:00 PM on Friday, 26th Oct 2012 night.
Everyone were getting restless as the clock kept ticking with no signs of us starting the trip till 11:00 PM. The Driver was on the way back from another trip.

My concern was that the Driver had been driving the whole day and he was supposed pick us up and drive the whole night!
He turned out to be a good driver and we felt safe with his driving, and sleeplessness did not bother him much.

So, the trip finally started and we picked up Malini & family...8 of us in a TT was ideal, as even 1 or 2 more in the TT would made the journey bit uncomfortable.
Malini & kids were excited & it was a good decision to travel together in a TT, rather than driving in 2 cars.


We reached Kumbakonam at 8:30 in the morning, well behind our schedule. I had made accommodation bookings at Sivamurugan hotel. The Rooms were clean, nice & spacious.
The A/C luckily worked well, which is a must have to beat the heat.

We quickly got ready, had breakfast and reached our destination - Sri Vijayendra Thirtha Mutt.
Sri Vijayendra Thirtharu is one of the most prolific writers in Dvaitha school of vedanta, who had mastered 64 arts.
Sri Vijayendra Thirtharu was the Parama Guru of Sri Raghavendra Swamy. Sri Raghavendra Swamy also spent his early years of his Sanyasashrama at this Kumbakonam mutt.


The Brindavana of Sri Vijayendra thirtharu is a pleasant sight with a huge construction of Brindavana at the center.
Every minute spent at the mutt was pleasurable. Though we had planned to visit the Mutt and move around Kumbakonam to visit other famous temples, we decided to stay back at the Mutt to view the Puja proceedings and carry out Namaskarams & Seve to the Gurugalu.

Lunch was served by 1:00 PM, and we left the mutt with a satisfying feeling of spending quality time with Gurugalu and getting his blessings.

We went back to the Hotel to get a power nap. We were up & ready by 3:30 PM. Our next destination was Thiruvaiyaru.

It took 1.5 hours drive to reach Thiruvaiyaru.
On the banks of Cauvery river, is the samadhi of the great saint & music composer Sri Thyagaraja.
As my mom is a Carnatic classical singer and is a great fan/admirer of Sri Thyagarajaru, joy was obviously seen in her face. She taught some basic singing to Mahima in front of the saint's samadhi.

She along with Malini, sang couple of Kirthanas and she felt very happy.

At this very place, Thyagaraja Aradhana festival is held in January when all leading Carnatic Singers come together to perform in chorus.

We then proceeded to Thanjavur which was 30 minutes away. Thanjavur is known for it's South indian art & architecture marvels. Thanjavur is famous for it's massive architectural wonder - Brihadeeshwar Temple.
It is also known as "Big Temple". True to it's name, it is indeed a massive temple and is supposed to be biggest temple in India.

The temple was constructed by the Cholas, with the main deity being Lord Shiva, surrounded by fortifications.

As we were running late & people running out of energy, we had to cut short the places to be seen in Thanjavur & return back to our hotel.

Each of us were very tired after a hectic day of temple visits & travelling, and a good night's sleep was so rejuvenating.
Sunday morning, we were scheduled to visit temples in Kumbakonam. My parents, Mihir & Mahima could just not get up in the morning..so, the remaining of us went ahead & started the temple tour at Kumbakonam.

Adi Kumbeshwarar, Nageswarar & Sarangapani temples were the important ones that we visited. Each of them are a class above other, with amazing architecture and massive construction.

We were back for breakfast at the hotel and joined the rest of us.

We checked out the hotel by 9:00 and proceeded our journey towards Chidambaram. En-route, We stopped at Bhuvanagiri. Bhuvanagiri is the birth place of Sri Raghavanedra Swamy. The house where Venkatanatha (Purvashrama name) took birth is now converted as a Temple.

The place is also verified, certified by the Govt. agencies, based on the records, that the site was indeed the house where Venkatanatha was born.

Though there is no trace/remains of the house, It was a great feeling to be right on the land where Rayaru was born, grew up and spent many years as a child.
We were offered Prasadam at the temple.

We then visited a small shrine of Sanjeevini (Lord Hanuman) nearby. Venkatanatha used to offer daily puja at this temple.

We quickly proceeded to Chidambaram, and visited the famous Nataraja Temple, Another massive temple with beautiful carvings.
We were present for the Puja & Abhishekam, which was a treat to watch. We were offered yummy Puliyogre, Curd rice & Panchamrutha as Prasadam.


Everything went as per the plan & schedule. The remaining part of the trip was unclear...There were thoughts of visiting Pondy.
As the kids wanted to play at a beach, We finally decided to goto nearby Cudloor instead.

Silver beach at Cudloor was a beautiful, clean & a nice beach...we were all excited and changed to swim suites and started walking towards the Beach.
And then the weather played a spoil sport....It started raining heavily and very windy.
Though we were carrying umbrellas, the winds were so terrible and could not manage with Umbrellas. After staying at a shelter for a while, the rains subsided and we all started playing at the beach.

Our happiness was short lived, within half an hour the rains again started. This time it was even bad. The combination of Rains & Winds was horrifying.

We ran towards the change rooms and waited for the rain to subside...We left from there and started our journey back to Bangalore.

En-route we crossed Thirkoyilur by around 9:00 PM, where another Guru of Madhwa parampare - Sri Raghothama Theerthara Brindavana is there.
Though we did not have much hope, we just stopped to see if we can get a peep, and to our pleasant surprise we were let in to have darshan.

We happily entered the Mutt and did some Namaskarams. This was a great end to an amazing trip.

It was indeed a fulfilling experience to have visited Sri Vijayendra Theertharu, Sri Thyagarajaru, Sri Raghavendra Theertharu, Sri Raghothama Theertharu, and visited few great temples of India.

Though it was a spiritual trip, the group, the journey, the beach added the fun aspect to the trip. The Journey was lively as we kept ourselves busy playing Anthakshari, dumb charads & word building.


Parents, Malini & BIL were all happy that the trip really went well. Luckily all my R&D, exploration on the hotels, places & scheduling went well and was executed as planned.

Another trip worth documenting, places to be recommended for everyone to visit.

Our next destination - Nava Brindavana, Hampi...

Mumbai Local

Yet another official trip to Mumbai this week & for the first time I used Mumbai local train to commute.

It was one hell of an experience travelling on one of the longest routes, from Vashi to Malad.
I had to opt for Local train travel for couple of days on this route as it was too expensive to travel by auto/taxi.

I could actually see all that I had heard about Mumbai local trains - life line, efficiency & the insane crowd.

It is truly the lifeline of Mumbai with loads of people cutting across age, gender & class, using these trains each day.

For the person I am who hates crowd, had to be amidst a sea of people...as I entered the station, I was amazed with the no.of people waiting for the train...I was wondering if I would ever be able to even make an attempt to board the train. The train came & I was still thinking if I have to skip this & wait for the next train...as the train stopped, each of us on the platform were literally carried into the train...with such a mass of people, one would expect a stampede. All I had to do was to go with the flow.

Once inside the train, It was literally jam-packed & could not just move any part of the body.
My hands & legs were just unmovable...for the first time ever, I was stuck & locked with people!

I was sweating, legs aching & was waiting for the journey to get over.

One of the prominent stations - Kurla arrived, and 90% of the crowd got down in a span of 30 seconds. I was facing & standing in the way of 100s of people who were rushing out of the train...It was like 1000s of Bees rushing out of the comb when its hit. I was pushed out of the train & had to again get back after the shock of my life of being manhandled :)

The worst part was the stink with my face amidst 100s of raised hands...it sounds disgusting, but it was indeed disgusting!

Then there was some sane crowd as I got a seat & could gather some sense to realize what was happening around me.

To add to my woos, I had to change 3 trains to reach the destination every time...with an anxiety to find the right platform, train, boarding & alighting each time.

In another instance, I could not alight at my stop because of the crowd & confusion around...when I overshot & alighted at the next stop, one of the railway staff stopped me for a random ticket check...and he asked me to pay fine for overshooting. My bad Hindi added to my problem, as I had to explain in English. He then asked why am I speaking in English & am I not an Indian...I had to counter him saying I very well speak another Indian language which he cannot understand....finally, got away after I explained my situation.

And all this was on 1st class...u can imagine the plight on the 2nd class. The only difference between the two class is the cost. 1st class costs 10 times more than 2nd class with no extra comfort...the intention is only to reduce crowd, which is nullified during the peak hours.


At the end of the trip, I am happily sitting & waiting for my flight back home, laughing at the situations I had been thru.

Each journey left my body aching, stressed out & had to take pain killers before going to bed.

I can only appreciate the efforts & pain each Mumbaikar who goes thru this painful journey each day.

One has to only make a choice to run thru this stressful train journey or opt road transport, which turns out to be costlier and the traffic woos.

Mumbai traffic is also something I always hated...not because of the traffic jams, but because of the indiscipline, carelessness of the road users...Autos, taxis, cars, bikes none of them seem to follow traffic rules, as they simply don't care for pedestrians, lane discipline & traffic signals.
No one seems to be educated in Mumbai to stop when signal turns red.

In the words of Oprah Winfrey during her first ever visit to Mumbai said "Traffic signals Lights are not there for your entertainment...one needs to stop when it's red and move when it's green".

A trip to Thirkoilur & Pondy

Pious, Sultry & the beaches...That's how this trip over the weekend was experienced.

Another trip planned at the last minute; the destination was Thirkoilur, Tamil Nadu. My mom & sister always wanted me n Preeti to visit Thirkoilur & take blessings from Sri Raghothama Theertharu, for a long time now. I also wanted a break from by routine and was planning a drive before the Petrol rates hit Rs. 80 in Bangalore!

So, while planning the route to Thirkoilur which is 240 KMs from Bangalore, I realized Pondicherry was just 75 Kms away! We then extended our trip and got Mihir & Mahima too on board.

We started our journey on Friday, 18th May by 3:30 PM; Picked up Mihir & Mahima on the way.
After a hectic drive through JP Nagar, BTM & Silkboard traffic, we hit the toll roads by 4:30 and the traffic delays were compensated on the Highway.

Stopped en-route at Kamat near Krishnagiri for coffee & snacks break.

There were lot of confusions with our stay, as accommodation at Thirkoilur was not confirmed and we had to reach before 10:00 PM for us to explore possibility of getting a room there.
Other alternative was to stop at Thiruvannamalai (which is 40 KMs before Thirukoilur) which is a bigger town and could stay overnight there.

Drive till Krishnagiri on NH7 was good, but once we were off the National Highway, the roads were bad & the ride was bumby which took a toll on our energy.

By the time we reached Thiruvannamalai, it was already 9:00 PM and we were yet to have our dinner.

Language being a barrier in Tamil nadu, as people over there either do not want to or do not know anything else apart from Tamil, I managed to find a Udupi hotel. The owner over there luckily knew Kannada and he did not recommend us to goto Thirkoilur at that time, as no one would be available.
So, we ended our journey there & stayed at the same hotel which had decent A/C rooms.
A/C room was a great relief from the hot air outside even at 9:00 PM in the night!

Saturday early morning we checked out the room and reached Thirkoilur by 6:15 AM, as planned.

Thirkoilur hosts the moola brindavana of one of the famous Gurus of Sri Madhwa parampare (14th Guru) - Sri Raghothama Theertharu.

It is a popular belief that he is a great healer and people with all kinds of health ailments come over here to get the Guru's blessings.
People share stories of mentallly challenged, physically challenged, childless being cured with his divine power.

There is a practical way of sharing the Guru's healing touch to the devotees at the Mutt.
All the devotees are lined up and the priest generously sprinkles holy water, imaginably the water used for brindavana abhisheka.

The peaceful atmosphere, temples inside the Mutt campus, friendly Mutt staff, "non-commercial" attitude of the Mutt, Puja procedures adds up to the sanctity of the place & one's belief in his holiness.

The huge Brindavan which is open to the air gives ample view to each & everyone in the Mutt, with ample space for all devotees to sit & pray Sri Raghothama Theertharu, helps the devotees to peacefully spend time at this serene place.

We did all sevas & namaskarams possible to our satisfaction, though the heat was always bothering us and had to literally run to complete our pradakshinas as the heated cement flooring were unbearable to walk on, by noon.

The Mutt campus was huge & had ample space for us to relax & for kids to play.

Before the puja at the Mutt was scheduled to begin, we visited Sri Thrivikrama Temple nearby, which is an ancient & a massive one.
The idol of Sri Thrivikrama is quite huge (around 6 Ft) with the Right Leg lifted towards the sky.

Right outside the main sanctum sanctorum, resides Goddess Durga. My mom had some offerrings for the goddess in form of a Saree & some other stuff.
The best part was the Saree that was offerred, was draped on the Idol in front of us and the priest performed puja. This was truly mesmerizing & Preeti had her moments with the goddess!

We later returned to the mutt to witness the Puja procedures.

This was immediately followed by a good heavy lunch at the Mutt. We rested for a while and continued our journey towards Pondy.

Drive to Pondy was enjoyable. At Pondy we had requested Mr. Vasant Maiya to book accommodation for us.
Once we reached Pondy by 3:00 PM, Mr. Mihir who works for Mr. Kothari (Mr. Vasant Maiya's friend at Pondy) was waiting for us at the Guest house and ensured we were comfortable at the Guest House.
Unfortunately, the room did not have A/C and all of us found it very difficult to manage as the Fan was not sufficent to beat the scorching heat.

We could not stay at the room for long and we headed out to take a dip in the Beach. The water was very salty there & was not the cleanest beaches, but it did little to control our excitement to play in the water.

The kids enjoyed the beach thoroughly & were in no mood to get out of the water.

It was very sultry & humid once we were out of water and we all badly needed a shower, so we headed straight back to the room.
We came down to have Dinner at the Canteen, but it was closed by 8:00 PM. We then started exploring nearby restaurants and finally landed at hotel Suruguru, which Mr. Kothari had shown us last time we visited Pondy.
Everyone liked the restaurant as the A/C was very effective & food was amazing. We ended a good day of hectic activity and we needed a good sleep. Inspite of unbearable weather, we were too tired & we managed to get a good sleep.

Sunday, again we started the day very early and went for a good walk on the Beach road.

Had good breakfast at the canteen, got ready by 10:00 AM and started from the Guest house.

We then headed towards Osudu Lake, which was a huge one. The kids had a good time at the park.

Boating was next in the list.

We then headed towards Auroville. As we had to walk a lot at Auroville to see places, it was tiring for us, specially parents.

We somehow managed to get a glimpse of the MatriMandir.

Tired & Hungry, we rushed to the Restaurant at Auroville.

Each of us had good memories of the trip. As kids were around, all of us were pre-occupied with kid's safety & needs.
The kids too were fun & good company through out, with their innocence & mischiefs. Even the kids had a great time with their parents not around and we spoiling them with choices of theirs ;)
The Word Builder game the kids played on the way back was full entertainment for all of us.

As usual, the drive was one of the best features of the trip.
I must say, people in TN just do not have traffic sense and do not care for traffic rules and drivers were very arrogant & careless on roads.

The GPS & Maps on my phone, helped to navigate with ease even in the remote corners of the route.