ADHVAGATI

  Everything about Srirangam Ranganathaswami Temple is MEGA . It reflects even in the word usages : everything  is prefixed by "Periya" (= Big/Mega)  : The temple is Periya Kovil, the God is Periya Perumal , the Devi is Periya Piratti , the music is Periya Melam, the cooking of neivedyam is Periya Avasaram, the sweets offered is Periya Paniyaram, the holy bath is Periya Tirumanjanam .......periya list .  The Island town formed by the bifurcation of River Kaveri into two streams ( Kaveri and Kollidam)  is not merely a geographical feature , but , to people of Faith , a spiritual space that is not of this world , A Sacred Realm , the Rangam,  ruled by that Enchanter Supreme : Ranganatha  (Arangan, in Tamil)  The  Vaishnavas of Southern India  fiercely uphold that the Temple of  Ranganathaswami at Srirangam  is a phenomenon  that exists between The Two Treasured Realms  (UbhayaVibhutis) of the Primordial Purusha , ...

  UTTIRAMERUR , near Kanchipuram , is a busy small town now , with all features of a typical Tamilnadu mofussil layout- full of  shops, dust, loud voices, floral and frying aromas , white heat , sweaty brows , ox carts, forests of  Dish Antennae, flex-posters announcing weddings/ deaths and  kuthupaattu beats throbbing from public transport vehicles as well as multicolored little shrines....in short, full of life.   It might very well have been just as lively a millenium ago too. For starters, it was a good enough sized settlement for Pallava Nandivarman II to have built  a three tiered shrine to Vishnu in His three poses - standing , seated and reclining. Just like the grand one in Kanchipuram. The SundaraVarada Perumal Temple spread across two acres has undergone additions and alterations in succeeding centuries , making it a magnificent monument . Not content with the three main Vishnu alters , there are additional alters to Vishnu  giving anu...

  Dharmapuri was always on peripheral vision , as one of the names that popped up on highway signboards during occasional journeys to Grandmother's natal village in Musiri District. Never a pit stop . But the name was  invariably commented upon : Dharmapuri : a City upholding Dharma......why, how, by whom ? Never found out !  Dharmapuri entered The Bucket List of Must See Destinations only when interest in Nolamba Architecture fizzed up a few years ago among like-minded friends. Dharmapuri had one treasure hailed as a cornucopia of refined Southerrn Nolambavadi Sculptural Art : Kamakshamma Temple , built in 9 CE , when Thagadur , ie ancient Dharmapuri, was an important junction on a busy trade route of Nolambavadi -32000 .  Nolamba-Pallava King Mahendra had also developed the settlement of Mahendramangalam, within Thagadur region , which is today  called Adiyamankottai . What is today called Dharmapuri , was Thagadur in Sangham Era - both the District and the ...

GANGAIKONDACHOLEESWARAM :  The name seems actually longer than the little town end to end .  The Second of the GREAT LIVING CHOLA TEMPLES celebrated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site . And justly so . What Rajendra-I achieved , first as a co-ruler with his father Rajaraja and later as Emperor, is truly unparalleled in history of South India , as glorious as the best in India and as note worthy as any in the world of historic times . It is just unfortunate that not much press was given to him in our country's history books , either due to  poor initiative by southern historians or the preoccupation of pan Indian writers with Empires only north of The Vindhya Mountains. It is only now that there has been a rise , with a vengeance, in outpouring of pride and love for the Imperial Cholas , their achievements, their arts and Culture.  We know from documented evidence , that the great king Raja Raja Cholan was not quite in his prime when he finally inherited the Chola empire...

South Indian region is fairly crowded with temples , big and small, Tamil Nadu  being especially rich in such built heritage - almost one temple cropping up every two or three kilometers as one traverses its roads.   Each settlement  preserves its oral traditions about its origin as a shared memory ; often a defining  episode of  some local significance .  Sthala Puranas , though primarily of Puranic content , borrow lots of elements from  such local traditions too. Hence each local purana is unique though the over all template can be common with many others .  For instance , the most famous template is the story of  The Cow voluntarily letting out  her milk over a mound that eventually reveals a hidden lingam . Who the cow belonged to, how the ablution was discovered and who raised the temple over the found lingam are variables unique to each different place.  Another common motif in Sthala Puranas , is The Dream , in which Go...

 Eastern philosophies generally spiral down to the principle of Nothingness. Matter does not matter. It is all about the Inner Space,  Chit-Akasha, Nirvana, Shunya , Formlessness , in whatever way it is understood . Yet , Faith has inspired humans to create wonderous monumental art forms  dedicated to that Formless, which is yet given a Form as a crutch to meditate upon till the mind finally evolves to attain the desired No-Form state of Bliss.  During Medieval times, remarkable stone temples were  built right , left and center in South India for grand Icons that have continued to hold undiminished sway over the populace to this day .  In the midst of all that , someone came up with the idea of  enshrining the Formless , as formless.  A superb and lavish  monument was built, a pedestal ( avudai)was consecrated in the Sanctum, above which was ....nothing. Fittingly, the Lord is called Atma-natha-swami . Avudayarkoil , also known as Thiru Perun...

I am nuts about Dravidian Religious Architecture and Iconography. Not for me the modern jazzy marble and vitreous tiled, neonlit shrines with the gods decked up like filmstars in rhinestone and sequins-ed polyester costumes......There is something undeniably comforting about an ancient stone monument, holding in its dark, oil stained , echoing interiors the accumulated energy of centuries of reinforced faith and prayers. The sculptures, both inside the sanctum and in the circumambulatory corridors , seem to attain an august benevolence only if lit by softly glowing oil lamps. There was this period of obsession with visiting old temples once. Read up on various categories of temples in the Cauvery belt of Tamil Nadu , made notes, set out on trips to take in as many on the list as possible. For each one had some unique feature, even if it conformed, over all, to a set pattern. Mama, ever enthusiastic, ever obliging , agreed to be co-traveller and off we went in his LPG powered...