Temple Trip - 1
I wouldnt say I am a very religious temple. Infact these days I am wondering if I am going on the path of being an atheist, considering the lack of any religious activities at home. Thankfully this weekend vetoed that out :)... not that I am believer that lighting the lamp daily or visiting the temple every week proves that I am religious.
So, with the Mr. gone to meet mama dearest, I had the Sunday free - so decided to make best use of it - doing something which he probably would anyway not been party to - temple hopping in Malleswaram. Like I said, I dont consider myself too religious - in the traditional sense because I dont know many Slokas, or dont know what needs to be done on certain festival days - but I have a very good relationship with gods in my own way. I love temples in my own way - I love the chanting of mantras, the lamps being shown in Aarthi, the variety of decorations that are done to the gods and goddesses using flowers, the most amazing colored sarees and jewellery, the smell of the incense, the slightly wet floors due to the theertham falling down when people receive it, the ringing of bells and in some temples the beating of the drums and above all not to forget my two most favourites - Kolams and malli poo.
We started off by visiting the Circle Mariamma temple. I must say I was quite disappointed. Having crossed this particular circle couple of times or more, while cycling, I have always been fascinated by the gorgeous facade of the temple - picturing a very big statue of a Devi. Unfortunately the temple was being repainted, so I could only have peeks of the facade from in between the gaps of the thatched covering around the temple.I was not quite impressed by the inside of the temple. There needs to be a certain kind of structure missing in the inside of the temple. It was not quite clear where one must go next and so on. Also I liked it when there is a bit of fresh air circulating inside and a bit of cleanliness that was missing here. Strangely though
, this was the only temple that gave us prasadam that evening :) .
We took an auto from there to go to the next temple that we thought will be the start of the rest of the visit. The first time we cycled to Veena stores we got a flavour of the galis of Malleswaram - they are all made of roads that are either a steep up or down. The Auto too us through such galis and such narrow ones, it almost felt that we drove inside one home and came out from the other side of the house :).. The kids had never seen such small roads and were quite amazed how people even had cars in such houses.
We reached the most amazing place I have ever seen. It was like a Temple Square. A big area on the road that houses only temples on both sides. I just wished I could stay there forever. We first went to the Gangamma temple. OMG! the idol of the goddess was so radiant. But a better version of the goddess are the two statues that are outside the main sanctum sanctorum. The life size idol of the Ganga devi on the left side is outstandingly radiant. Dressed in the most beautiful embroidered maroon saree and adorned with two Thali chains admist other ornaments - what stands out are her eyes - they have been painted just so beautifully that they look real. It is as if the goddess can stare into your soul and find your inner desires and soothe all your troubles just by looking at you. Her lips were also painted so lively - they glowed and had the most peaceful smile on them. The other goddess that was outstandingly cute and beautiful was the tiny version of the goddess - I am guessing which is used for for processions outside the temple. She was wearing the most beautiful orange-violet saree I have ever seen. Though her eyes were sort of mismatched - left eye and right eye did not match ; she had the cutest little feet that I have seen. What the kids loved the most about this temple was that we were given a lemon each along with a flower as a prasadam - their favourite - lemon.
Opposite the Gangamma temple is the most fascinatingly cute little Shiva temple I have ever seen in my life. The area surrounding the temple is large with many big tall trees and small paths and even some small benches - it was getting dark by that time so we could not explore much (maybe another day during daytime). The temple inside is very tiny, in comparision, and has the most unique layout. It is a two level layout - with a tiny pond right in the center of the temple. Stairs are laid around the square pond where people can sit and watch the fish and the turtles swimming in biss in the tiny pond. From the top level, one can see across at the other end a huge gold plated background depicting Lord Shiva, Parvathi and Nandi and a small Nandi idol on the ground. Water pours out of the Nandi's mouth, which falls through a hole into the floor below into a pot and directly on top of the Lord Shiva's linga to depict as if Nandi is doing pooja to the Lord. It is the most aesthetic thing I have seen I felt. Wonder who thought of this brilliant idea. The water from the side of the Shiva linga then flows back to feed into the pond. The best part of the temple that it is open to air. Sitting there, in the darkening evening, with a slight breeze flowing watching and hearing the sound of the water, while viewing the swimming fish and turtles - it felt very therapeutic. I just wanted to stay there forever. Big M started feeling hungry and they were giving prasadam packets - 40 rs - for 2 laddoos and 1 Holige - both of which were very yummy - because of being shared with two other kids sitting next to us. A small cat came over to sit next wanting to be petted. Very reluctantly we left the temple as we had 3 more temples to cover ..
.... so to be continued....
So, with the Mr. gone to meet mama dearest, I had the Sunday free - so decided to make best use of it - doing something which he probably would anyway not been party to - temple hopping in Malleswaram. Like I said, I dont consider myself too religious - in the traditional sense because I dont know many Slokas, or dont know what needs to be done on certain festival days - but I have a very good relationship with gods in my own way. I love temples in my own way - I love the chanting of mantras, the lamps being shown in Aarthi, the variety of decorations that are done to the gods and goddesses using flowers, the most amazing colored sarees and jewellery, the smell of the incense, the slightly wet floors due to the theertham falling down when people receive it, the ringing of bells and in some temples the beating of the drums and above all not to forget my two most favourites - Kolams and malli poo.
We started off by visiting the Circle Mariamma temple. I must say I was quite disappointed. Having crossed this particular circle couple of times or more, while cycling, I have always been fascinated by the gorgeous facade of the temple - picturing a very big statue of a Devi. Unfortunately the temple was being repainted, so I could only have peeks of the facade from in between the gaps of the thatched covering around the temple.I was not quite impressed by the inside of the temple. There needs to be a certain kind of structure missing in the inside of the temple. It was not quite clear where one must go next and so on. Also I liked it when there is a bit of fresh air circulating inside and a bit of cleanliness that was missing here. Strangely though
We took an auto from there to go to the next temple that we thought will be the start of the rest of the visit. The first time we cycled to Veena stores we got a flavour of the galis of Malleswaram - they are all made of roads that are either a steep up or down. The Auto too us through such galis and such narrow ones, it almost felt that we drove inside one home and came out from the other side of the house :).. The kids had never seen such small roads and were quite amazed how people even had cars in such houses.
We reached the most amazing place I have ever seen. It was like a Temple Square. A big area on the road that houses only temples on both sides. I just wished I could stay there forever. We first went to the Gangamma temple. OMG! the idol of the goddess was so radiant. But a better version of the goddess are the two statues that are outside the main sanctum sanctorum. The life size idol of the Ganga devi on the left side is outstandingly radiant. Dressed in the most beautiful embroidered maroon saree and adorned with two Thali chains admist other ornaments - what stands out are her eyes - they have been painted just so beautifully that they look real. It is as if the goddess can stare into your soul and find your inner desires and soothe all your troubles just by looking at you. Her lips were also painted so lively - they glowed and had the most peaceful smile on them. The other goddess that was outstandingly cute and beautiful was the tiny version of the goddess - I am guessing which is used for for processions outside the temple. She was wearing the most beautiful orange-violet saree I have ever seen. Though her eyes were sort of mismatched - left eye and right eye did not match ; she had the cutest little feet that I have seen. What the kids loved the most about this temple was that we were given a lemon each along with a flower as a prasadam - their favourite - lemon.
Opposite the Gangamma temple is the most fascinatingly cute little Shiva temple I have ever seen in my life. The area surrounding the temple is large with many big tall trees and small paths and even some small benches - it was getting dark by that time so we could not explore much (maybe another day during daytime). The temple inside is very tiny, in comparision, and has the most unique layout. It is a two level layout - with a tiny pond right in the center of the temple. Stairs are laid around the square pond where people can sit and watch the fish and the turtles swimming in biss in the tiny pond. From the top level, one can see across at the other end a huge gold plated background depicting Lord Shiva, Parvathi and Nandi and a small Nandi idol on the ground. Water pours out of the Nandi's mouth, which falls through a hole into the floor below into a pot and directly on top of the Lord Shiva's linga to depict as if Nandi is doing pooja to the Lord. It is the most aesthetic thing I have seen I felt. Wonder who thought of this brilliant idea. The water from the side of the Shiva linga then flows back to feed into the pond. The best part of the temple that it is open to air. Sitting there, in the darkening evening, with a slight breeze flowing watching and hearing the sound of the water, while viewing the swimming fish and turtles - it felt very therapeutic. I just wanted to stay there forever. Big M started feeling hungry and they were giving prasadam packets - 40 rs - for 2 laddoos and 1 Holige - both of which were very yummy - because of being shared with two other kids sitting next to us. A small cat came over to sit next wanting to be petted. Very reluctantly we left the temple as we had 3 more temples to cover ..
.... so to be continued....
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