MIXED BAG

M17-SRI ANANTHA PADMANABHASWAMY TEMPLE THE CONCLUSION  By PragyanSharma Polavarapu We had lot of shopping at the big bazaars on the  temple streets. We had a lot of work packaging our samans. We came to hotel and took food and rested  and talked a lot on phone to our relatives at Hyderabad. Our plan was now to move to the sea side resort at Varkala to  celebrate  our daughter’s  birth day(in a simple way). I may specially add here  that only  because of initiative of our daughter and son-in-law we planned this hurried very long temple trip a month before and this temple trip proved a most wonderful and most holy trip .  Seeing so many great ancient temples lifted our souls.We fixed the dates of the long trip in such a way that we would visit Lord Anantha Padmanabha Swamy temple  before the birth day date. We were very happy and satisfied that we could implement our plan. On the way we  saw many of Kerala’s famed  “backwaters”....

By PragyanSharma Polavarapu  (A)INTRODUCTION (1) The temple’s gopuram(the holy tower) is 100 feet high and has magnificent sulime sculptures of Hindu gods . There is a magnificent sculptured corridor directly leading upto sanctum sanctorum and it has 360  majestic stone pillars of great hight with beautiful sculptures of  gods. In addition there is the famous “Ottakkal Mantapam” a little monolithic entrance mantapam before the sanctum . It has a base stone platform (2mx2mx2.5 feet). Half of this platform extends into the sanctum sanctorum. Thus its surface in the Ottakkal mantapam is as holy as floor of sanctum sanctorum. Only a devotee who sacrifices all his wealth and belongigs to god and surrenders to god can stand on it. The great Travancore king Marthanda varma who renovated and reconstructed the temple donated the entire kingdom to Lord Anantha Padmanabha.  (2)Since 2000 years or more  there was lot of sea trade  (by huge  sail boats) with an...

  BY     PRAGYANSHARMA POLAVARAPU   (VRS.SOMANCHI) (1)   We reached Tiruvananthapuram at midnight on 4-8-24 and stayed in the hotel already booked there by us . On  morning of 5-8-24  we got ready at 6am and started for the temple. We were there before the time suggested by the guide( 8am). I could not believe my eyes . We were at that moment in the majestic Sri Anantha Padmanabha Swamy temple by the sea side and we were  a full 1300 kilometers  away from our home! The gopuram is decorated with most sublime and most artistic sculptures of gods . I wondered how the sculptors could create such sulime art on the temple towers and the many  pillars and in the mantapams we saw in various temples. It appears a great temple art renaissance took place throughout south India.All the temples renovated reconstructed during last 300-400 years in south India (particularly in the far south) possess most sublime temple art. Even ordinary perso...

  BY     PRAGYANSHARMA POLAVARAPU   (VRS.SOMANCHI) SRI SUCHINDRAM TEMPLE , SRI VIVEKANANDA ROCK, SRI TIRUVALLUVAR TEMPLE –ALSO MUPPANDAL WIND FARM. I remember we started early  at about 1o’clock  in the afternoon(4-8-24) from Thiruchendur after a little rest after food. We had important  places to visit  on our way to Thiruvananthapuram which is about 200 kilometers away. The direct journey would take  four and half hours but  we would be slowly travelling and the journey may  take two or three hours more. We travelled close by the sea.It was a most pleasant journey for us from distant Deccan Plateu lands i.e.from Hyderaad city. Now of course we actually started from Pune, Maharashtra and would be returning there for a  stay at our daughter’s house. We travelled  among millions of coconut trees and often in close view of the sea.  (1)MUPPANDAL WIND POWER FARM. After journeying for about  70...

  BY     PRAGYANSHARMA POLAVARAPU   (VRS.SOMANCHI)   (A) At about 4 pm on 3-8-24  we started from Rameswaram to  Thiruchendur (220 kms, 5 hours journey, Thuthukudi district )  to visit  the famous and most holy and most beautiful  sri  Murugan temple. We  travelled  near to  the southern sea boundary. For us who  live in  land-locked Hyderabad 1100 kilometers  away it was really a thrill to travel very close to sea coast and journey  amidst  millions of coconut trees and endless greenery. The sea  “was here there and every where”. When winds are strong the waves grow to huge size and look like  foaming  angry horses.It was night around 10 pm when we reached  Thiruchendur. We just went to the nice hotel and took rest.  The Tiruchendur temple is  said to be the most popular and most visited temple in Tamilnadu .The temple is of huge proportions just like th...

  By    PRAGYANSHARMA POLAVARAPU   (VRS.Somanchi) (1) On 3-8-24 morning our people went  for holy bath in the sea and for the ceremonial baths in the 22 “Thirthams”(holy wells) . Most unfortunately I felt  extremely tired and could not go  and also kept our grand-children along with me .The  feeling of missing  these “Holy Snaans”( holy baths)  will always pain me — being in Rameswaram coming from  our place 1000 miles away and and not visiting the holy places. I pray to Lord Shiva and Mother Parvathi and Lord Rama and Mother Seetha– to forgive me for this big lapse. Luckily  our people brought a bottle of holy waters containing waters of Agni Theertham and other theerthams. We mixed this holy water in the water  we used in the hotel for bathing. While visiting other holy places on Rameswaram island I went to the sea two or three times and sprinled  the holy sea water  ( i.e. water from the sea near holy Rame...

BY     PRAGYANSHARMA POLAVARAPU   (VRS.SOMANCHI) The fact that the great temple complex was built within 500 metres of the sea and on solid and rigid stone platforms (using huge blocks of granite stones obtained from distant places) proves that the creators of those temples possessed  extraordinary architectural, engineering skills equal those of modern enginees and thought most scientifically like modern engineers. It is said  that the ancient kings of Jafna ( a small peninsula in northern SriLanka and about  90 kilometers from Rameswaram island at tip of south India)  were followers of  Shaiva Hinduism and so were  interested in developing the  Lord Shiva temple at Rameswaram and supplied stones (perhaps  big stone slabs and sculptured stone pillars) by ship to Rameswaram island and also sent workers . It is to be noted that the country of SriLanka  is  a  Buddhist country for last 2000 years and 80 to 85% ...