Tuesday, May 5, 2009

Kapaleeswarar Temple at Mylapore


It is Saturday..and my dear hubby was not feeling well and hence took off from work..He locked himself in a room to sleep off to glory shutting off the children’s prangs and shouting’s, yellings and quarrellings by me… ….Anyways, as usual as I was busy behind them not to do this ...that….locked the front grill and off to kitchen to cook something for lunch….Intrigued by silence in the front room, I thought of checking it out and to my disillusionment, both of my kids have opened the front grill gate and was playing with a water hose pipe bathing each other……both of them dripping wet right from head to toes….I shouted at them….running behind them to remove and change their cloths….sweeping and mopping the whole portico….My hubby gushed out of the room screaming “will you not allow me to sleep?”…..
On seeing my plight, he decided to cut short his nap and gave a helping hand in disciplining my kids…Thank God……………

After lunch, we all slept for a while….and my hubby started going over options to spend the evening ….My hubby always visits temple on Saturdays right from his school days…He wants to revive this habit….and hence was asking which temple should we go…..I suggested that we should go to Kapaleeswarar Temple in Mylapore. Soon after marriage, me and my hubby had been to this temple….and one more time some 7 years back after buying our Honda Activa……My hubby was scratching his head how to commute all the way from our home….We 4 hurled ourselves in the scooter to the nearest MRTS (Mass Rapid Transportation Service) loading my backpag with biscuits, water bottles…and of course, my camera…..It is 5.30pm but still the sun is sweltering hot…making us sweaty and sticky…





My hubby went to park the scooter while we head the ticket counter …there were 2 long queue…we waited for nearly 10 minutes to get our tickets…We ran hand in hand to get into
the compartment……We settled ourselves in a 4 seater…and children were thoroughly happy and eager to enjoy the trip….which we can read it in their face and eyes bubbling with excitement…..Vava slipped out of her seat the moment the train bellowed out its horn “BooOHhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh”…..she gave a hearty loud sound echoing the horn at every station…..inviting the attention of the co-passengers……She became the attraction the whole journey for them…..Monu was excited whenever a train crossed by……he, in fact, kept leaning over my hubby….with a line of shame tickling at the end of the mouth when couple of eyes focused on him…..Finally, we got down at our destination “thirumailai”….I stopped my hubby saying it is not ‘mylapore’….my dear, it is mylapore only….oh, it is thirumailai..that became mylapore…oh I C….Hearing these dialogues, monu…”Accha, is it bangalore?’…”No, it is mylapore”…..”Appo bangalore..”…Thanks to the rhyming ……We walked for 5 minutes or so….to reach our target “ the famous “Mylapore Kapaleeswarar Temple”… The Theppakulam .."water tank"...was a sight in the night....with lots of water.........
We left our footwear’s at the flower vendor where we got archana thattu….. It was well crowded being a Saturday and weekend….We followed the endless queue to reach the sanctum santorum….First
was the Goddess Karpagambal…
.(photo Courtesy : Internet)
blissfully decorated with mallikapuvu maalai’s…and then …………… Lord Kapaleeswarar……
(photo Courtesy : Internet)
It was so crowded that I almost hit the Gurukal with
the back of my elbow…he gave me a big look..I cajoled him saying “Sorry ma…”…..once again he gave me a big look………………..hahahaha……Gurukal ke aaappppa…..!!!....After a long wait, and requesting the special ticket holders to be seated endlessly..not heeding to our pleas…..we standing in the general queue, got exhausted and got our archana thattu back and had to just squeeze out of the swarmed crowd. My one end of the duppatta in one direction and the other end in another direction…Thank god, I joined my family who saved their shape and size by reconciling themselves in one corner intact….My hubby says..”God is omnipresent, omnipotent”..(Thonnillum irukkiraar..Thrumbimillum irrukkiraar)…..We finished our pradarkshnam …..and left the temple…with all the mental strain gone and was in eternal bliss and positive aura.
(photo Courtesy : Internet)
On the way back, I got couple of earrings from the roadside shops…..Then we headed towards the MRTS…and …. Waited for the big horn “BBOOOOOhhhhhhhhhhhmmmmmmmmmm”……Reached our destination…..We then headed to the nearest restaurant and had our dinner…..Fried rice, Chinese noodles, icecreams and fresh juice……came back home and hit the bed…and slept like log……
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About the temple : (Courtesy Internet)
The Kapaleeswarar Temple in Mylapore, Chennai is a very ancient temple. The original temple was submerged under the sea & the current temple structure was a later construction. The Moolavar is Kapaleeswarar & Amman is Karpagambal. There are separate annadhis for several deities such as Vinayagar, Annamalaiyar, Murugar, Saneeswara. There are several other deities such as Durgai, Dakshinamurthy, Chandikeswarar located within the main Sannadhis of Kapaleeswarar & Karpagambal. The temple tank lies opposite the tower.
Karpagambal is said to have worshipped the Lord in the form of a peacock (Mayil in Tamil) & hence the area came to be called Mylapore.
The temple architecture reveals the Dravidian traits, with its carved gopuram measuring about 37 metres in height. The temple is also provided with elaborate mandapams and a storage tank. The inscriptions on the temple structure are some seven and a half centuries old. The structure was renovated by the Vijayanagar kings in the 16th century A.D. The facade of the structure lies towards the east and the entrance is marked with Puranic inscriptions.
The temple flag mast has the shrine of Saint Gnanasambandar. Thirugnanasambandar, is said to have brought back to life the maiden Poompavai, daughter of Sivanesa Chettiar ( a Siva devotee) who was desirous of marrrying him, at Mylapore. The saint poet Tiruvalluvar lived here. The bronze idols of the 63 Nayanmars, the saints who were devotees of Lord Siva are placed in the Kapaleeswarar Sannadhi. The Punnai tree in the courtyard reveals the tale that eventually gave the place (Mylapore) its name. This tree is the oldest of its kind in the city of Chennai. Every year the Arupathumoovar festival is conducted & the 63 nayanmars are taken in procession.

5 comments:

  1. Very Interesting way to spend the saturday

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  2. WOW! I am surprised to see how clean that railway station looks. Looks like a fun trip to temple, great photos :)

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  3. Asha akka, MRTS is recently laid down..so it is kind of clean...only in pictures...We indians still need to imbibe some cleanliness when it comes to public places ...long way to go...

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  4. Wow that's a fun way to spend a saturday...

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