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Showing posts from July 27, 2014

Prince Charming holds court / fort......

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A thickly wooded rocky outcrop forms the  backdrop with lush tropical vegetation and gurgling brooks. A vast fort with sacred pools at the foothills. Would a  Prince Charming - an Azhagar - wish for a better address ? Azhagarkoyil or Tirumaaliruncholai  has everything going for it. Enchanting setting, wonderful architecture , great artistic flourishes .....and now, its a certified no plastic-bag  zone too ! Even in summer, it is breezy here , thanks to the hill, whose summit is 1409ft high.  Azhagarmalai has a very ancient history and the temple is considered  The Oldest Vishnu shrine in Tamil Nadu.( 3 to 4 BCE) It has been a place of worship since pre-sangam times , when  Mayon was the native  Guardian Spirit - he was later assimilated into the idea of Vishnu. Seyyon , who later became Murugan /Subramanya , also  had an abode  in these hills named Pazhamudirsolai.  Archeologists have found Jain and Buddhist vestiges in the hills and foothills and there is a school of thought , the

The Rock-Cut Abode of Murugan

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Tamil Nadu is an awesome place for those interested in history, religious architecture, ethnic diversity .....Just hit the road from anywhere to anywhere and be assured that you'll stumble upon a Temple every two kilometers - old , new, ancient, modern.....in every hamlet worth a sign board.  There are those  New ones assaulting the eye with  psychedelic pagodas in electric  pink, fluorescent green and varnished gilt . Which , during "sacred" months, are advertised by  shrill songs, amplified to reach everyone within a 2km radius. There are the gorgeous giant Ayyanars with Horses.  There are  Ruins , massive pagodas  taken over by weeds and bats, that seem mysterious yet enticing. And there are the Living  Temples that have been thriving for a millenium, continually venerated by generations , bridging the past to the present and awaiting the future with self assured majesty and nonchalance.  Just a short dash away from Base Camp Madurai are two enormous temple complex