Gingee Fort

On the way to Thiruvannamalai we passed by Gingee. See the spectacular fort on the hilltop. Clicked these snaps on my return journey.

Arunachalam Temple - Thiruvanamalai - Panchamrutham

Don't forget to buy the panchamrutham when you visit the temple. The packing label is in the same traditional style. After seeing this I thought I should collect India's traditional / handmade items and their packing and post them on this blog. To start with I am posting the packing label from the Panchamrutham Bottle. Going forward I'll probably be posting a lot of labels from Sandanam (sandal) bottles, Agarbathi Packs, Temple Handouts etc. If you think you have something interesting to be displayed to the world please post them on the comments.

Arunachalam Temple - Thiruvanamalai

Shri Maha Pratyankara Devi Temple - Sholinganallur

This past Sunday (4th November 2007) we visited the Shri Maha Pratyankara Devi Temple at Sholinganallur on the Old Mahabalipuram Road (OMR). It was a spontaneous decision only the day before and told our driver that we'd be starting at 7:30 the next morning.

However it was an overcast Sunday, we managed to leave our house by 8am. The heavy drizzle limited driving visibility to a few yards. The stretch of road from Madhya Kailash till Perungudi has been asphalted with 3 lanes on either side with a generous amount of palm trees and other saplings lining the edges. For those of us who have known OMR in its earlier days its a pleasant surprise that we are catching up in infrastructure. We sailed through this stretch by taking in the new surroundings as though it was a dream. A few minutes the first pot hole brought us back to reality. Considering that a substantial stretch of the OMR is being laned and widened the driving stress on a rainy day is tremendous. Asking for directions only once at the bus-stand we took the road, that connects OMR to ECR, on our left. We reached the temple after about 30 minutes. We almost missed the temple when one amongst us spotted the kerala styled Gopuram just above a camouflage of trees and roof tops.

We picked a garland of lemon and the Archana Plate from the shops lining the approach to the temple. There are several deities to be worshiped in the temple complex

1. Nagraja Nagyakshi
2. Badrakaali
3. Viraja Kal Bhairavar
4. Dharmasaatha
5. Subramanyar (Murugan)
   
6. Uchista Ganapathy (Ganesha / Vinayaga)
7. Panchamukha Anjeneyar (Hanuman)
8. Shanaisvarar
9. Neela Saraswathi
10. Vaarahi
11. Sarabeswarar
12. Mahalakshmi
13. Annapoorni
14. Agni Devan
15. Sivasakthi
16. Shri Maha Pratyankara Devi
    

Shri Maha Pratyankara Devi is believed to remove the ill effects of black magic. On every Amavasai (New Moon) day, a Yagna is preformed at the temple using chillies. Inspite of the amount of chillies (bag fulls) being used the atmosphere is devoid of any pungent odour. To participate in this Yagna the temple charges Rs. 5000, you also have the option to pay Rs. 102 to have your Name, Gotram, Nakshatram and Raasi chanted during the Yagna.

After darshan, the hungry lot we were after skipping breakfast which we do when we visit a temple, had some Vada and tea at the nearby tea stall. Having hot Tea during a drizzle, when the cold wind caresses your face while you sip the steaming brew is something I cherish till today. We took the same route to return but this time the junta was out doing their Sunday shopping not caring for our driver's desperate honks and some of them missing the car by a whisker then swearing as we passed them by to reach home about an hour later.