Southern pinnacles of faith

Southern pinnacles of faith

 

Madurai - City of gopurams

 

My enthusiasm knew no bounds when I had a chance to travel to Madurai, the temple city of Tamil Nadu lying on an impressive jagged coastline. Earlier known as Madhurapuri, Madurai prides in having a rich heritage of temples and manmade monumental glory that would take you back in time.

 

The greatest landmark of Dravidian architecture in India, the 2500-year-old temple city of Madurai on the banks of river Vaigai is undoubtedly the second largest city in Tamil Nadu with soaring gopurams. 

 

Meenakshi Temple

 

The magnificent Meenakshi Sundareshwar temple on West Tower Street has five prominent, intricately carved colourful gopurams. We entered the shrine through west gopuram that has multi-coloured images and stone sculptures. The nine-storied west gopuram is highly adorned with 1,124 sculptures and the southern gopuram is the tallest soaring at a height of 48.8 metres. All the gateways display sculpted tales from Indian mythology.

 

We entered the temple comprising two sanctorums- the first devoted to Lord Shiva and the other to his consort- Meenakshi. The chief attraction is the Meenakshi Amman temple with walls and ceilings richly laid with colourful sculptures of gods and goddesses. It was a divine experience for us visiting the shrine that forms one of the largest temple complexes of South India. There are other wonders in the shrine like richly embellished musical pillars, the Hall of Thousand Pillars with 985 pillars, huge mandaps and a lotus tank in the temple complex. 

 

Tirumalai Nayak Palace

 

Another 2 km away from Meenakshi temple is the 17^th century Tiurmalai Nayak Palace on Palace Road that was built by King Tirumalai Nayak, the prominent ruler of Nayak dynasty in 1636. One can get to know more about the ancient Chola paintings, Vijaynagar paintings and the Pandya art at the palace. Set in soft tones, the palace is an example of Indo-Sarcenic architecture that stands as a memorial of the bygone ruler where he lived and held court. There are two residential portions- Swarag Vilasam and Ranga Vilasam and a rectangular court at the centre flanked by intricately carved tall columns.

 

Rameshwaram-A journey back to epic times

 

Rameshwaram Shrine

 

 Tucked away around 174 km from Madurai on the Gulf of Mannar is the tiny island of Rameshwaram that is truly a remarkable pilgrim destination and is considered as one of the four pilgrim centres in India. The pilgrim resort evokes the charm of the epic era and for those wishing to pay a tribute to Lord Rama and his victory over the kingdom of Ravana, Rameshwaram is the perfect choice.

 

On our way to Rameshwaram, we crossed the Pamban Bridge or the Indira Gandhi Bridge built over a bay spanning over 2.2 km. Being the longest bridge in the country, the Pamban Bridge connects Rameshwaram with the mainland.

 

We visited Ramanathaswamy temple housing one of the 12 jyotirlingams in India. Better known as Rameshwar shrine, the temple was visited by Swami Vivekananda way back in 1897. The entrance of the shrine bears a huge gopuram rising to a height of 38.4 metres. The shrine is devoted to Lord Ramanathaswamy with wonderful glimpses of artistic grandeur, carved pillars, ornate ceilings and adorned corridors that are longest in Asia.

 

We also visited Gandhamardana Parvat on the hillock that forms the highest point on the island. The legendary shrine has the footprints of Lord Rama. Our visit to Sethubandh deserves mention since it has a fabulous display of floating rocks and stones used by Lord Rama in the bygone era to build the Ram’s Bridge connecting India and Sri Lanka. There is the five-faced Hanuman at the entrance of Sethubandh.

 

We wended our way to Dhanushkodi, a barren island on the southernmost tip of Rameshwaram. At a distance of 18 km from the pilgrim resort, Dhanushkodi has the ruined, historic shrine of Kothanda Ramaswamy or Vibhishan temple where Vibhishan had surrendered to Lord Rama.

 

Kanya Kumari- Holy land on southernmost tip of India

 

The shores of Kanya Kumari

 

Nearly 300 km from Rameshwaram down south, is the sacred land of Kanya Kumari, also popular as Cape Comorin. A visit to the land is a must for all travellers since ages for it marks the merging of three great seas of the Indian sub-continent – the Indian Ocean, the Bay of Bengal and the Arabian Sea. For us, travelling to Kanya Kumari was something out of Great Expectations since the land has been sanctified by great souls like Swami Vivekananda and Thiruvalluvar.

 

The merging of three seas presents an unforgettable sight. We first headed to the reputed ancient shrine of Kanya Kumari that houses the deity- Goddess Kanya Kumari adorned with a diamond nose ring that glitters in the dark. The shrine is for only Hindu pilgrims. We paid obeisance to Lord Ayappan temple at the entrance and there is an age-old shrine of Adi Shankara.

 

The highpoints of our trip to Kanya Kumari was the 20-minute cruise to the colossal Vivekananda Rock Memorial and the Vivekananda Kendra standing in the midst of the sea. Swami Vivekananda had arrived here in 1892 and meditated for three consecutive days on the rock from December 25 to 27. 

 

In contemporary times, Vivekananda Memorial stands on the rocks created by Eknath Ranade. We could view the towering statue of Thiruvalluvar, the great Tamil poet at a height of 133 feet adjacent to Vivekananda Rock Memorial. The Holy Church of Lady Ransom stands prominently on the mainland.

 

Mandapam at Vivekananda Rock Memorial

 

The Rock Memorial constitutes a mandapam bearing a giant statue of Swami Vivekananda with an “Om” symbol installed at Dhyan Mandapam. Built in 1970, the mandapam has been consecrated by Swami Vishweswarand of Belur Math. We sighted the Pada Mandapam and digging the mythology, one gets to know that Goddess Parvati had meditated in the incarnation of Kanya on the spot marked as “padam” symbol.