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 kilometers we passed by the Kudamkulam Nuclear Power station(Tirunelveli district of Tamil Nadu) which is said to be the largest nuclear power station in India. We travelled close by the colossal cooling towers . It was collaboration project between a Russian power company and Nuclear Power Corporation of India. The two units of the nuclear power plant which were completed in 2016 costed rs 17,260 crores and together produce 2x(1000 MW) power.
The electricity produced by a wi
nd
mill is directly supplied to homes instead of to a central power
grid. There is possibility that in near future families can
purchase a wind mill along with a house with solar panel roof. A family can
purchase such installation for life. Engineers at international
level are studying about such new systems.
Internet articles indicate that
the Muppandal wind farm produces 1500 MV of electricity and
is connected to Tamilnadu Electricity Board. This wind farm is said to be
largest in India at present and the third largest in world. In new
India several such wind farms can be set up in the windy coastal
regions and windy mountainous regions.The wind farm,for us who saw it for
the first time, looked unreal.
The wind farm is a symbol
of New India different from the prevailing view of India as
a land of bullock carts . The wind farm , the Nuclear Power Station at
Kudamkulam and other such projects like the Srihari Kota Space Station of
Andhra Pradesh are symols of New India .The area had millions
of coconut trees . Until I saw this vast country in coastal area I
did not realize that that coconut is one of our basic treasures.The salt
laden sandy soils near the sea canot support other crops.
2.SUCHINDRAM TEMPLE
At about 4pm(4-8-24) we
arrived at the famous temple town Suchindram (population 12,000 ).
It is at a distance of about 20 kilometers from Muppandal. The most
famous,majestic and beautiful “Thanumalayan” Temple here is a temple for the
Trimurthis ( the great gods Brahma,Vishnu and Shiva treated as a single
god and known in Tamilnadu area as god “Tanumalayan”). The name brings to
our mind the famous Sanskrit phrase “Srishti –Sthithi—Laya” which
correctly describes the respective duties of the above three forms of god
almighty of universe.It is the mystic,majestic, formless and
un-understandable god encompassing all universe.
The Thanumalayan Temple is an
important Hindu temple considered as very holy by both
shaivas and vaishnavas.It is stated that in the temple there are six daily
pooja rituals at various times from 5:30 a.m. to 9 p.m. There is a great 10-day festival in
December/ January period attracting hundreds of thousands of
devotees. The temple car is taken out in a grand procession during that
festival.
Legend says that the king of gods
Lord Devendra was under a terrible curse and
got released from that curse only by worshipping the
Trimurthy(Tanumalayan) form of god almighty at this temple.Tradition says that
Lord Devendra worships the Trimurthy form of god every night in
the midnight hour even now.
The Navaratri Mandapam built during
the16th century was constructed in Kerala style with wooden structures
.There are 1035 pillars with carvings in the area known as the
dancing hall.There is a Nandi statue, made of mortar and lime, which is 13 feet high. On the
pillars there are sculptures of various s scenes from Ramayana and Mahabharatha.
We spent about two hours inside
the magnificent temple complex. We prayed at most of the temples in the
complex but could not visit some as we had to reach Thiruvanathapuram and visit
Lord Anantha Padmanabha temple next day.We prayed at the magnificient Lord
Anjaneya statue in its matapam.
The seven storeyed main Gopuram
is studded with most beautiful,artistic and sublime sculptures of
gods . The temple looked as magnificent as Sri
Jambukeswara temple, Sri Villiputhur temple and Thiruchendur temple
all of which we saw earlier in this trip. It appears all these gigantic size
temples with most beautiful and artistic sculptures of gods were all planned in
a systematic way in a period of several decades or even a few centuries.
There are seemingly endless,long
and perfectly straight corridors made of large number of stone
pillars of 20-25 feet height . we wondered at the engineering
skill in handling huge stone slabs and stone blocks . Hundreds of years
ago there were no cranes. They probably constructed
kilometers long earthen inclined planes and made use of elephant power.
The South’s temples like Srirangam,
Jambukeswaram, Sri Villiputhoor, Madurai, Rameswaram,Thiruchendur have
much similarity in styles .( The great majestic Tanjavur Brihadeeswara temple
is of a class by itself).It is said that the Hampi Vijianagar style is
superimposed on the sculptural styles of these temples.Most beautiful
photos of Tanumalayan temple are available in plenty on the Internet. It is one
of the most beautiful temple complexes in the south showing great
perfection,sense of proportion and advanced view of temple art.
Within the main temple at suchindram
there is another marvel .In “Aalankara Mantapam” area there
are four musical pillars . Each pillar consists within it four lean smaller
cylindrical pillars of 18 feet height and of about six inches in diameter
.All the four lean pillars merge at top and bottom into the main
bulky pillar. The small inner pillars,when tapped, produce musical notes of the
Indian raga system! The priest demonstrated this to the wondering devotees
including us. It is said that the Hampi Vijayanagar’s expert sculptors brought
this art of musical pillars into several south Indian temples.
It is said that the temple was
mainly renovated in the 17th century . There are very
ancient inscriptions some dating back to 9th century AD. It is stated
that the Nayak dynasty king Thirumalai Nayak and later the Travancore
Maharajas—-(responsible for the reconstruction of Lord Anantha Padmanabha
temple at Thiruvananthapuram)— were responsible for the reconstruction of
Suchindram temple.
While the temple is Vaishnavite
there are large populations of Shaivites in the towns and villages
in the area. It was because in ancient times the area was ruled by
kings who followed the Shaiva form of Hinduism . However in later times
both the Saivite and Vaishnavite philosophies became equally
popular .
3.THE VIVEKANANDA MEMORIAL AND
SRI THIRUVALLUVAR MEMORIAL.
About 15 kilometers further we came
to the sea side and its enldless sandy shore .it was about 5-30 pm
( 4-8-24).witin a few meters there was the sea with only small boulders
or protection wall and cement steps separating us from water.there is a
nice cement road parallel to the sea. hundreds of people were
coming,many among them perhaps tourists .We reached the area of the
famous Vivekananda rock memorial and the magnificent monolithic
statue of the great Tamil saint Sri Thiruvalluvar both located in the sea just
half kilometer away from our side(the very edge of the land of our great
Indian republic. The places are situated on two small hillocks in the sea
near to each other.
The area was crowded with evening
visitors.many two wheelers were on te road. We parked our veicle
near some shops and walked.we got some group photos taken by
it some individual photographers. It was a long walking trip in sand among the
hundreds of people in the temporary bazaars on the sand. Not too faraway were
visible many multistorey buildins and other houses among the large number
of coconut trees and other trees.
*****
Swami Vivekananda is a magnet of
Modern India who thrilled Indian youth with his successful tour of America(USA)
at the turn of 19th century bringing for the first time to western
audiences on a large scale the sublime ancient Hindu philosophy of the
Vedas.His speeches and writings also electrified Indian youth and made
them feel proud of ancient culture and philosophy of India.His views
appear relevant even in present times. He pointed out the defects
in the Indian social system and made the youth to think about removing
those defects and modernizing India and inculcating a balanced modern
outlook and a cultured moral outlook.
It is said swami Vivekananda
meditated for many days sitting alone on the rock where the memorial is now
constructed. It is said that Sethupathi kings of Tamilnadu played an important
part in the meteoric rise of Swamy Vivekananda. For the youth of India Swami
Vivekananda even today remains a big magnet.
Near Vivekananda memorial in the
sea waters (about 400-500 meters away)is the monolithic Sri
Tthiruvalluvar statue 135 feet high .Sri Thiruvalluvar is
considered the greatest saint,moralist ,philosopher-poet of Tamil country
of ancient times just like Maharshi Valmiki of Ramayana times and is
revered in Tamilnad as a prophet and also as god by some sections of people .
It is believed that the great philosopher was born in 31AD .He is famed
as author of the famous “Thirukkural”. The Thirukkural is a
much revered moral work containing 1330 couplets
which tell about necessity of a moral and ethical life and also about necessity
of taking practical realistic view. The book is translated into most
languages of the world . The Tamilnad government declared 15th January
every year as “Tthiruvalluvar Dday”. The great saint stressed te need to
lead a moral and ethical life for all people from kings to commoners.
*****
We could not visit the
memorials because our programme schedule was tightly fixed and the air
tickets back home were already booked.The Vivekanand rock memorial was
inaugurated in the year 1970 and is just half a kilometer from main land.
The majestic monolithic statue of Thiruvalluvar inaugurated in the
year 2000 was another half kilometer distant from the Vivekananda
rock.There was also Gandhi mandapam a few meters away on our side.All three are
symbols of Iindia’s spiritual culture . There is a multi-storeyed
circular building with spiral stair case to te top to serve as
viewing point .The sea is on three sides—the bay of Bengal,the Arabian sea and
the Indian ocean.
We stayed for more than an hour
at this place . Thousands of people were there in the evening
hours and the area was like a big fair. There was a big seaside temporary
bazaar selling all kinds of trinkets and instant foods . For us from a
faraway place,standing there the land’s end at the southern tip of the
mighty Indian Republic was a mightily thrilling experience .
Our people purchased a few big
conch shells with the images of rock memorial etched on them. For myself
I purchased a special a costly pen only next day in the city .it is in
remembrance of spending time for an our near the most inspiring Vivekananda
rock.
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