Day 2 of our trip dawned - a beautiful day. As mentioned in part 1 / 2 of the trip, the Hotel that we stayed at Trichy was a real good one. Thanks to our "guide" who helped us in booking Hotels and Cab for our trip, an avoidable discussion takes place as to whether should we check out by morning (max by 7:00 a.m.) or retain one room and then check out at a later point in time. We decide to retain one room; check out the other room and then my wife and I start. My sons stay back as the elder one is having cold.

Just like a family deity, there is the concept of Village Deity. The closest thing as an analogy is the concept of patron saint in some of the places in Europe and US. Village deity belongs to everyone in the village, regardless of anything. In our case, it is the Kanaga Thoniamman who is the protector of our village - in fact for both Kulithalai and Thimmachipuram. Our first halt is at this temple. The previous day we did not go to this place as the Temple got closed early and today even though the Poojari is not responding to our calls, we decide to go.

The one thing about the road route or train route from Trichy to some distance beyond Musiri is that there is Cauvery or the tributaries (or rather branches of Cauvery) that one can see. Over the last 2 visits, it has been an absolute privilege to see water flowing serenely (and at times not so serenely). The land is so fertile in these areas.

From Trichy to Thimmachipuram temple, the distance is about 48 kms. and will take an hour to reach. We start off without taking breakfast - idea being to have our breakfast in one of the roadside eateries. We go past via Gunaseelam, into Musiri and cross Cauvery and after some more travel lasting about an hour, we come across the temple that is located on the banks of Cauvery.

It is a small non-descript temple and as enter the Kovil, we don't see anyone but it is open. Then we are greeted by a Lady whose son is the Poojari and they are the caretakers of the temple. Her son, she says, has gone to a nearby village to partake in another "Poojai" and will not return until the next day evening. But she says, she will do a simple "Archanai" to the deity, "Thoni Amman". She also says we can take photos - unlike other temples where one can't take photo of the presiding deity.

We thank the Lady, donate some amount on behalf of my family, Veshtis to her son and depart. Our next goal is to have breakfast.

After traveling about 20 odd minutes or so, we come to a roadside eatery, located on the main road. It appears ok. We ask the Lady in the eatery what is available that is freshly prepared.

"Idly and Dosai are fresh and hot" comes her reply. My wife and I opt for Idly with some very tasty Sambhar. As is the custom in South India, the meals are served over Banana leaf. The only problem for me, is when liquid is poured on them, the liquid starts running all over the place - and if one is not careful, it can rest on one's dress as well. We put some drops of water underneath the leaf so that the Banana leaves are in place and don't fly around. The idlies are served with chatni and sambhar. The entire combination is delicious and is very good.

As we are thinking, what should we order next, as if reading my mind, the Lady comes to me and asks, "Sir, what will you like to order next?". I ask her, "What's available, again hot and fresh?" She replies, "Medu Vada. Taste it - you will like it very much". I say, "Ok. get me one". Promptly Medu Vada gets served. I take a bite of the medu vada and like, Anton Ego of the movie, "Ratatouille", am just transported into the 7th heaven. This is one of the best and delicious medu Vadas, I have had in a very long time. Golden brown with the perfect touch of crunchiness on the outside and inside soft - as soft as it can be - and perfectly cooked. Add to that the utterly delectable Coconut chatni - it is just wow, wow and wow! I order one more and so does my wife. We are just dumbstruck - relish the Vadas. Then we down filter coffee to complete the breakfast. In the meantime, the Driver completes his breakfast and sports a big and wide smile on his face, now that his petrol tank is also loaded with good food!! :-)

Once we are loaded, we proceed to Trichy. On way, the Driver says, "Can I take you one more Temple on the way? Few years ago, when I had another passenger, he took me to this temple. In case you are interested, we can go". We nod and he takes us to this unplanned visit. It might be unplanned, but to me it is a divine call.

We reach this temple, called the Thiru Sivakameswarar temple. An old Chola time temple, dating to about 1800 years back, this temple captivates our heart with its cleanliness and divinity that prevails here.

There are quite a few legends about the history of this temple.

One of them is associated with Manmadan and Rati Devi. It is in this place that when Bhagawan Shiva was doing penance, Manmadan, to disturb the penance shot an arrow at Bhagawan Shiva at the urging of Bhagawan Vishnu, Brahma and others. What was the reason for this? Again, a long story! But what happened was Bhagawan Shiva, even before Manmadan shot the arrow knew what was going to happen - and with his 3rd eye - destroyed Man Madan. (Manmadan, as per the Tamil legends, is the equivalent of Cupid). The arrow lost its direction and fell on Parvati - and she came out of her penance. Now that the arrow from Manmadan fell on her, she became one with Bhagawan Shiva. This is one of the reasons that is cited as to why the main deity is called Kameswarar and his consort is known as SivaKama Sundari. And Rati, the wife of Manmadan pleaded to Shiva to bring Manmadan back to life, which eventually he did. Hence, the main deity is also known as Vaidyanathar as well - Vaidyam in Tamil meaning medicinal / giving medical care. Nathar meaning God.

This sequence of events, I understand, can be seen in this temple - however, not knowing the historical reference, I missed this aspect of the temple, during my visit. There are more such events associated with this temple.

The grand and beautiful entrance to the temple.

I tried to pick some fruits (that had fallen down, but was told that one should not pick the fruits from the trees that have grown within the temple area).

In this temple, while we have Kameswarar and Siva Kama Sundari, we also see "Aishwarya Lakshmi". There is another legend associated with Deity and the Bilva tree located in this temple. The alankaram done to each Vigraha is just divine - that is the only word that comes to my mind. I have decided that next time I come to this part, this temple is going to be part of my routine. And also read up on the temples that am gonna visit so that I can understand the significance of events in a much better fashion. I also get to understand that this also is an old temple dating back to 1800 years. I suspect it could be about 2000 years.

Once we are done, we head back to Trichy. At the Hotel, we complete the check out formalities and head towards our next stop - Kumbakonam.

 

All the images are provided by the author.