The desire to visit the Kanchi Kamakshi Amman temple and the lure of owning an authentic Kanjivaram sari drew me to Kanchipuram; in February, this year.
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| Ekambareeswarar temple – Lord Shiva’s worshipped as Panchamahabhoota (Earth) here. |
The ‘golden
lizard’ in the last temple eluded us as no one guided us properly.
Legends say
that Goddess Kamakshi worshipped a Shivalingam under a mango tree and was
rewarded with marriage to her consort Lord Shiva; and also that Adi
Sankaracharya enabled the unique, meditative representation of the Goddess
here, by placing a divine Chakra before the idol.
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Mural of the legend of Kamakshi Amman temple – Rewards of penance |
Though it was Maha Shivaratri, the temples
weren’t very crowded. We managed to see three temples in the morning. The
temples in Chennai generally close at 12.30 p.m. and re-open at 4.30 p.m. Hence
we had to wait till 4.30 p.m. to visit the Vaikuntha Perumal temple. So we visited
the sari shops for the traditional, patented, handloom Kanjivaram silk saris.
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Varadharaja Perumal temple – Shower of blessings |
After nerve-wracking
selection (and haggling), as all the saris were equally enticing, I zeroed in
on 3 saris. We had made some acquaintances in the Chennai Express, on our way
to Chennai, who fortunately turned out to be sari-shop owners in Kanchipuram.
Armed with their visiting card, we landed in their shop, much to their delight!
Again, I purchased 2 lovely saris. Apart from two for myself, the rest were for
my family members. Meanwhile my husband was becoming restless, owing to hunger
pangs!
We had lunch
at a restaurant that served authentic, three-course, South-Indian meals on
banana leaves. We treated the auto-driver to lunch. Alas, I could only eat
curd-rice, my staple lunch in my sight-seeing jaunts, thanks to a delicate
tummy!
The auto-driver
then pocketed his fare and showed us the Vaikuntha Perumal temple, a heritage
structure, from afar. More than 2 hours remained, for it to open. We wandered
around and bought 3 Tamil DVDs, reasonably priced at Rs. 30/- apiece, from a
shop. Then I bought some beautiful metal and acrylic bangles. The wait for the darshan of the Lord was proving to be
expensive! Tactfully, my husband suggested that we should start walking towards
the temple, as it would be opening shortly.
Vaikuntha Perumal temple – Priceless heritage!
Again, we had
to wait for 2 hours, till the pujari finally
made his way there, at 5.30 p.m. I explored the temple’s surroundings and captured
some splendid shots of the lion-pillars and carvings on its inner walls. By
then, two groups of visitors had come and left, without darshan as the pujari had
the key to the sanctum-sanctorum.
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Lion-pillars in the Vaikuntha Perumal temple – Silent testimonials |
My patience paid off! When we paid
obeisance to the beautiful idols of Lord Vishnu and Goddess Laxmi, I was moved
immeasurably. We started our return journey to Chennai, watching illuminated
floats of Lord Nataraja and Goddess Durga, in street processions, en route. We
felt truly blessed.
When we read the news about the
havoc wrought on this serene place, due to this winter’s floods, we prayed
fervently that all would soon be well.
The copyright of this travelogue and photos belong to Mrs. Priya Ramesh Swaminathan.
How to reach Kanchipuram from Pune?
By train and road: From
Pune to Chennai by train, (20 hrs.) then by bus to Kanchipuram (1.5 hours from
CMBT, Chennai) or taxi. (Distance:
1125 kms.)
By air: Flight to
Chennai, then by road to Kanchipuram ( 5-6 hrs.) (Distance: 889 kms.)
This travelogue was published in 2015, in Sakal Times newspaper, published in Pune.
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