Temple Trip - 2
... and the saga continues.
My friends tell me that I associate every small thing into a story and make a big deal out of it. I guess that is what I am doing here, making a 3 hour trip to Malleswaram sound like a 15 day trip to Switzerland 😉...
So, after saying bye to the fishies, the turtles and the 'beku' cat at the Nandi Thirtha temple, we plodded (read M&M plodded) to the next temple - the Laxmi Narasimha temple - which had a big queue lined up to see the god, who got covered with the 'sacred' screen - while the esteemed pujaris had their 'secret' conversations with the almighty. I always wondered why they close the screen and what they do behind - wish we could have a sneak peek sometime. So, at the time of the Hide 'n' Seek, they ran the bell loudly and there was a guy beating a big drum rhythmically. It was so mesmerizing the twin sounds - i felt transported to a place in my mind where I could dance unlimited to no audience except my own self. We waited and waited ... the holy pujaris would go one from one Sannidi to another but didnt show signs of opening the drapes and kids got restless and finally my mom suggested we go around the temple and come back - and as she mentioned - we did so, but still the drapes would not open. So, we decided to give this god a break and bug another one - and walked to the next and last temple - A Shiva temple again...
This time we had to climb up some steps to reach the temple - which hosted probably the smallest shiv ling I have seen and it seemed to have sprouted from the bottom of the earth itself. There I met my 'competitor' - this Aunty (well technically i am also an Aunty now - but she looked older than me) was wearing a beautiful black silk saree with an orange border. She was wearing awesome matching bangles and the blouse was designer - it has such wonderful embroidery work. Amma and I couldnt take eyes off her. By the time we came out of the temple, it was quite dark. The surroundings were so peaceful and calm - the dimly lit Gopuram was fascinatingly serene.
When we came down we peeped into the Lakshmi Narasimha temple, hoping to get a bit of the prasadam that was smelling awesome.. No such luck - guess Ummachi(the name we use for gods when we talk to little kids) was not pleased with our impatience...and decided we should not have any prasadam. But we got to go very very near to the God's idol - oh that was magnificent.
I was so satisfied, I told amma that this will carry me on for another 6 months, but Big M so done she said no more temple visits for another year!!!
Walking through the lovely narrow houses and shops lined streets we happily reached Maiyas for a yummy dinner. There I realized another Vishnu/Krishna temple that we seemed to have missed :( ... Ah! Well for another time maybe ... We walked through the very very narrow "East Temple Street" savoring the sight of unending vegetable and flower shops, picking one or two veges here and there to reach amma's Holige Mane - where we got some really scrumptious Holiges... coconut, dhaal, badam ... and they had other flavours too which we were not brave enough to try ...
The wonderous evening ended with M&Ms each getting a cone of Joy chocolate ice cream (and peace in the car for us as they were busy devouring it)...
I am now waiting for the next exploration of temples in Malleswaram.
My friends tell me that I associate every small thing into a story and make a big deal out of it. I guess that is what I am doing here, making a 3 hour trip to Malleswaram sound like a 15 day trip to Switzerland 😉...
So, after saying bye to the fishies, the turtles and the 'beku' cat at the Nandi Thirtha temple, we plodded (read M&M plodded) to the next temple - the Laxmi Narasimha temple - which had a big queue lined up to see the god, who got covered with the 'sacred' screen - while the esteemed pujaris had their 'secret' conversations with the almighty. I always wondered why they close the screen and what they do behind - wish we could have a sneak peek sometime. So, at the time of the Hide 'n' Seek, they ran the bell loudly and there was a guy beating a big drum rhythmically. It was so mesmerizing the twin sounds - i felt transported to a place in my mind where I could dance unlimited to no audience except my own self. We waited and waited ... the holy pujaris would go one from one Sannidi to another but didnt show signs of opening the drapes and kids got restless and finally my mom suggested we go around the temple and come back - and as she mentioned - we did so, but still the drapes would not open. So, we decided to give this god a break and bug another one - and walked to the next and last temple - A Shiva temple again...
This time we had to climb up some steps to reach the temple - which hosted probably the smallest shiv ling I have seen and it seemed to have sprouted from the bottom of the earth itself. There I met my 'competitor' - this Aunty (well technically i am also an Aunty now - but she looked older than me) was wearing a beautiful black silk saree with an orange border. She was wearing awesome matching bangles and the blouse was designer - it has such wonderful embroidery work. Amma and I couldnt take eyes off her. By the time we came out of the temple, it was quite dark. The surroundings were so peaceful and calm - the dimly lit Gopuram was fascinatingly serene.
When we came down we peeped into the Lakshmi Narasimha temple, hoping to get a bit of the prasadam that was smelling awesome.. No such luck - guess Ummachi(the name we use for gods when we talk to little kids) was not pleased with our impatience...and decided we should not have any prasadam. But we got to go very very near to the God's idol - oh that was magnificent.
I was so satisfied, I told amma that this will carry me on for another 6 months, but Big M so done she said no more temple visits for another year!!!
Walking through the lovely narrow houses and shops lined streets we happily reached Maiyas for a yummy dinner. There I realized another Vishnu/Krishna temple that we seemed to have missed :( ... Ah! Well for another time maybe ... We walked through the very very narrow "East Temple Street" savoring the sight of unending vegetable and flower shops, picking one or two veges here and there to reach amma's Holige Mane - where we got some really scrumptious Holiges... coconut, dhaal, badam ... and they had other flavours too which we were not brave enough to try ...
The wonderous evening ended with M&Ms each getting a cone of Joy chocolate ice cream (and peace in the car for us as they were busy devouring it)...
I am now waiting for the next exploration of temples in Malleswaram.
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