28-29 Nov 2009:
It is dad's 60th birthday and we set out on our way to Thirukadaiyur, which is where Lord Shiva apparently saved Markandeya from Yama's noose of death. The bus journey from Tambaram to Mayiladhurai was agonizing, thanks to the Ultra-Deluxe's (UD)late departure and then the magnificent stink of the pillow covers. We were so relieved to reach Moogambigai Residency in Thirukadayur after hopping onto another transit bus under the cover of early morning rain. I bought the Trichy edition of Hindu, which I spread out on the dining table at the hotel's attached restaurant. I settled for a modest plain dosa, a set of puris and a coffee. It felt good to just read the Sunday Hindu with a cup of coffee with rain splattering outside. Soon after, I flopped onto the hotel bed to snooze for a while even as the rest of the family had their breakfast. We took an auto to go the main Abirami temple to keep up the time with the usual abhishekams and archanais.
The overall experience at the temple could have been better if only the priests and the devotees had showed little more patience and consideration. Everyone seemed to be fighting for vantage spots, while the priests recited the mantras in an seemingly disinterested way and appeared to be too keen on winding up the entire process. We took few photos of dad and mom with their garlands and new attire within the temple premises, which normally is prohibited in majority of the temples. After about 2.5 hrs of activity within Lord Shiva's abode, we proceeded to the nearest hotel for a sumptous lunch ( sumptuous more because of the prolonged gap between breakfast and lunch ). Even though I was full to the brim, I checked out the prasadams after returning to the hotel room and another disappointment was in store. Of late, many temples disperse prasadams more as a rote and show no genuine interest in making the bhojanam tastier. There might be few detractors who might think prasadams are not meant for satisfying the taste buds, but I beg to differ. If someone makes and offers any kind of food in any of the holy places, it is a reflection of the mindset of the people in charge of those places. The heavy lunch ensured that we got decent rest, before we packed our things and headed to the bus stop to take us to Thiruvarur. Bro set on what turned out to be a long journey of close to 13 hours, from Thirukadaiyur to Erode. Man, he has some patience and perseverence, be it at work or travelling:-) The government UD bus back from Thiruvarur to Chennai was very comfortable and we reached Tambaram bus station on time at 4:30 in the morning. For all the humid climate in Chennai, the bus ride was unusually pretty chilly. To drive away those chills we had piping hot coffee at the long standing Bhats hotel in Tambaram junction. But for the hot beverages ( read as coffee, T and masala milk ) the rest of the hotel is in absolute dumps.
Update for 4th Dec - A morning visit to the temple followed up with rava kesari and ven pongal :-). An afternoon siesta, Indian batting collapse of sorts against SL on teletube, and a long drive to Sathyam for Kandaen Kaadhalai. To round it off, 3 aloo parathas and one samosa and then a bite into the butterscoth cake bro got home for dad' s bday. Wasnt that a fruitful day ? ( Had a banana and a guava as well :-))
P.S : I was clueless when my supervisor at work asked about the significance of the temple at Thirukadaiyur, so for ignorants such as truly yours -
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thirukadaiyur
http://www.pariharam.com/TempleAbiramiAmman,Thirukadaiyur.aspx?
