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.

A day at Hill Palace Museum, Thripunithura

My hubby was on one of his official cochin trip and he decided to take the family also along with him this time…..Being a keralite by birth, I hardly been to any places in Kerala except my native town, Thrissur and married to my hubby whose native town is Palghat, I’ve been to couple of houses there…..Hardly visited any places…except Guruvayoor, couple of times…..
We stayed in Cochin for 3 days…My hubby leaves to office in the morning to visit his customer and plant ….my children and me alone in the hotel …watching TV…eating lunch from the hotel's restaurant.... the typical kerala dishes…cooked in coconut milk, coconut oil….calling the “Room services” 5 times a day..to clean up the mess my children has done…tearing papers….spreading the whole place with bit and pieces of paper….killing time someway or the other…..Evening we go out for dinner or the nearby park…….On hearing my pathetic situation and my sulking face, my pragmatic hubby decided to drop us off at Hill Palace Museum, Thripunithura, ½ km drive from our hotel the next day…..and he is off to his work once again…..We, three of us, climbed all the steps to reach the hill top..and my children got exhausted…They asked me to carry them on my hips….I tried to cajole them and divert their attention to flowers and garden around…My son was not interested to go inside the museum…I can understand…that it is way above their age to appreciate the archeological property of our historic country…But he got freshed when he saw a Big elephant structure right in front of the museum…..Waah!!! he was shouting at the top of his voice attracting other visitors around..I have to hush him always….We went from one room to another…looking at the ancient coins, the ornaments…my daughter says “I want this ear ring ammey”…”It is diamond, da..costly…we can’t afford…”…She continues..”But I liked it”…The lady standing next to me gave a big smile to me hearing my daughter’s callous request…..We moved to another room with lots of porcelain vessels…mostly Chinese….one of it was broken/cracked…my son says “Pottiya paathram..enda ividey vechirikkiyunu….thuurakallaiaandu….aiiyee…”..( Broken vessel..why have they kept here?..without throwing….)….”Sabthathillu samsarikenda, Monu…Avaru pidichu porathakkum namalley..”..(Don’t speak loudly…they will throw us out)…He was not convinced with my answer….” The next room had some costume display of King’s and Queens..with the hood…My son exclaimed..”Nooku ammey….chudithaar…ammey dey polla…..thoppi vechirukkinu…”..(look amma, chudithaar..similar to yours….”…”Shhhhhh”…I go…On seeing the knife displays …my son wants knife..”Ennekku eduthu tha ma…”…(Give me the knife)…I dragged him out of the room……My daughter was still sulking that she didn’t get her ear-ring…..Appa!!! I was envious of my hubby…Why me alone?...... Another room had this 'Simhasana' (the throne or the king's chair)….My son wanted to sit on that…”Chair ammey…red colour seat…”…yeah..yeah..“Nammukkum onu vanghichu vekkiyam….”..(We will buy one for our house..)…”Seri seri…Acchan aduthu parayam namukku vedichutharan”…(yes, yes…We will say to Acchan to buy one for us…)..My children now only realized that Acchan is not around to visit the museum…Their focus turned to Acchan…”evidey anu acchan, ammey?” (Where is acchan, amma?)….”Office”….We reached the final exit…my son once again got earthed near the entrance where this big elephant..Nandi…statue was there…luckily, it was fenced by the movable post…my son’s enthusiasm …one of the post down tumbling with a loud noise “thud”…I looked around to see if any official people is around…I tried to lift the post to keep it back in its position…It’s hardly moving…turned all the direction to see if someone had seen this…Then we 3 vanished in a split of a second…and reappeared near the “footwear” collection counter…..My face turned towards the museum entrance in case if some official person is following us….No one …Grt8 escape….We took some pictures…..in front of the tharavadu…..and took the stairs once again back…My children got exhausted by then…I offered some chocolates and biscuits and water…Called up my dear hubby to find out his position…..he says “will be back in 1 hour”…”1 hour”…What am I to do there with 2 “about-to-get-restless” kids?......I looked around and my curious eye darted on the welcome sign of “children’s park”…ok….We hurriedly entered the park…hardly occupied by children….few love pairs here and there…busy 'tête-à-tête ing….My kids started with their enquiring questions about them %^%^&@#$@$…We went to another corner of the park leaving some privacy for the lovers….swing, slides, and what not….and killed time till my hubby turned up to take us back to the hotel……
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About Hill Palace Museum : It's the largest archeological museum in Kerala and is the official residence of the Kochi Royal Family. The museum was established in 1865. The oldest building in the complex is a single storeyed Kerala style 'ettukettu' constructed around 1850 AD with an adjacent pond, temple and urappura. The other buildings are a combination of traditional and western architecture. In 1980, the palace was taken over by the Department Of Archaeology and later converted into a Museum. Set on top of a hillock and surrounded by terraced garden with fountains, ponds and lawns, this palace-turned-museum displays 14 categories of exhibits including paintings, murals, sculpture in stone and plaster of paris, manuscripts, inscriptions, carvings etc. The collections displayed in the museum are mainly from the Travancore Royal House, Paliam Devaswom and from the department of Archaeology. It has a gold crown embedded with precious stones and many valuable coins, ornaments , majestic beds and samples of epigraphy. The museum also displays 200 antique pieces of pottery and ceramic vases from China and Japan, Kudakkallu (tomb stone), Thoppikkallu (hood stone), menhirs, granite, laterite memorials, rock cut weapons belonging to the stone age, wooden temple models. There is an amazing array of plaster cast models of objects from Mohanjodaro and Harappa of the Indus Valley civilization of North India. The museum also houses a gallery of contemporary art.
Paliam gallery in the museum contains the collections donated by the Paliyathachan's family. Paliyathachan's were hereditary Prime Ministers to the Cochin Maharaja’s for a long period. This gallery was opened in 1991. The gallery of cabinet Hall displays royal furniture's including the 'Simhasana' (the throne or the king's chair). Exhibits in the numismatic gallery are denarius (roman silver coins), punch marked coins, coins during the period British period etc.
In Portrait gallery, oil portrait of the Maharaja’s of the Cochin State are exhibited. This gallery also contain certain thanjavur paintings. Various wood carvings which are part of Enadimangalam Temple belonging to14th century as well as unique ivory items, wooden sculptures etc are displayed in Wood Carvings gallery. Heritage museum which was opened in 1995, exhibits traditional household utensils, art effects and religious worship materials.
Courtesy: (Internet)