Blog 42 - Madurai to Tiruchi, then Neyveli
- ranganathanblog
- May 29, 2022
- 4 min read
Courtesy Google Maps – Distance About 132 kms.
Tiruchirapalli and Neyveli
In Tiruchi, I remember staying at a hotel close to the railway station. The name was either Sangeetha or some name close to that.
Once again, good ambience, good food, modest prices.
The reason I chose this photograph is to give the reader an idea of the immensity of the bigger temples, with which South India – especially Tamil Nadu – is studded. Wide corridors, sometimes starting as the 7th outer corridor and reducing in perimeter geometrically but not in width, to the innermost 1st corridor – the corridors being called ‘praharams’ in Sanskrit - each corridor containing thousands of pillars, each pillar containing carvings of things celestial, each carving done down to the utmost detail like ear rings, coiffure, dresses and the like. All these can be done with labour, but not without love of labour.
My first temple visit in Trichy was to Tiruvanaikovil Arulmigu Jambukeswarar Akhilandeswari Temple. It is one of the 5 most important temples dedicated to ‘Shiva’, the 5 being known as ‘Pancha Bootha Sthalam’ – Pancha meaning 5, Bootha meaning Element, Sthalam meaning place. The Five Prime Elements are represented in each of these 5 Temples.
The above site is for the pleasure of reading something primordial.
The 5 Prime Elements represented are
Earth, as in Ekambareswarar Temple in Kanchipuam
Water, as in Jambukeswarar Temple in Tiruchrapalli or Trichy
Fire, as in Arunachaleswarar Temple in Thiruvannamalai
Air, as in Kalahastiswarar Temple in Kalahasthi
Ether (Space), as in Thillai Nataraja Temple in Chidambaram.
My father was born in Thiruvannamalai and named after the deity, Arunachalam.
By far, the most important Temple of the five is of Lord Nataraja in Chidambaram. More on this later.
Here I was, in Trichy, in one of the five Sthalas, that of the Water Element, known as Jambukeswarar. His consort is Akhilandeswari, eulogised in song 200 years ago by Muthuswamy Dikshathar, with probably the best ever rendition coming from
MS Subbulakshmi. This is one of my own favourite songs and I was lucky enough to have the LP on board the ‘Chennai Perumai’, played on a ‘Grundig’ player and listened to numerous times.
Akhilandeswari-Ms Subbulakshmi
Song in praise of Akhilandeswari- Raga Dwijavanthi-Adi Talam- Composer Muthuswamy Dikshithar- Singer Ms Subbulakshmi
I spent the entire day there, from morning till night, only getting back to the hotel for a bath, change, eat and back again to the temple.
Wikipedia – the 2nd precinct of the Temple
There is a lot I can write about this temple but if I do so, then this narrative needs to be titled differently. I will desist.
I think I visited 4 other temples, of which Srirangam is one. Srirangam temple is dedicated to Vishnu who, here, is known as Lord Ranganathaswamy. (I was named Ranganathan). Another very large temple built by the Cholas, it keeps vitalizing the economy of the area, due to the pilgrims who swarm the place. It was a serene place when I visited in 1977. Later visits were not that enjoyable due to the vast crowds. Situated on an island of the Cauvery river, it is another beautiful conception of man imagining his Maker.
Srirangam Temple Gopuram
An aerial view of Srirangam
Some details of the architecture in Srirangam Temple
Courtesy Getty Images
No trip to Tiruchi is complete without visiting 3 temples; Jambukeswarar, Ranganathaswamy and Uchi Pillaiyar in Rock Fort. The last is a temple dedicated to Lord Ganesha, called Pillaiyar in Tamil. I climbed up the steep steps then. Later visits were confined to the temple at the foot of the hill.
Present day tourists and pilgrims are fortunate that they have web sites to consult and have every bit of information even before the visit. In the 1970s, one visited a place, found a book store near to the temple, browsed and bought books on the history and legends of the temple, so that you do not miss out on important spots, with the temple being such a massive one. 50 years later, searching on Google, I yearn to go back to revisit these places once more before I breathe my last.
Courtesy Google Maps – Distance 143 kms
My next leg of the trip was to Neyveli to meet my late cousin, Vatsala, whom I had been close to from my childhood days. Her husband was in the Accounts section of Neyveli Lignite Corporation.
Lignite is a brownish, muddish colored coal, probably the least efficient in the coal family, giving the least amount of joules (calorific value) when combusted. But it was estimated that over 2 billion tons was lying under the surface. To a power hungry nation, it was sufficient reason. Open pit mining was started. Power plants were started, with massive water tube boilers raising high pressure steam using this lignite as fuel, the steam being used for running turbo generators. Presently, it is designed to produce 3000 Mega Watts.
The open pit mines are an awesome sight where, when you are standing on the rim of the mine, you see massive excavators looking like small tractors far, far down. Massive 108 inch wide conveyor belts can be seen bringing the lignite over many kilometres.
There were many by-products from this open pit mining. Clay was used in manufacturing ceramics. Water aquifers that were found supplied water to the entire plant. Initially, the remainder of the water was pumped far and wide for irrigation purposes. Along with sufficient annual rainfall, cashew, jackfruit, vegetables, paddy, various grains, various spices and many other items are grown in plenty. Nowadays the excess water is purified and sent for consumption by the local populace. The fly ash from boilers is made into bricks. I have been the recipient of cashews from Neyveli for quite a number of years, till my cousin moved elsewhere. Most of the cashew is exported.
I spent a while in Neyveli being pampered by my cousin and her neighbour, another distant relative. A visit along with them to Cuddalore to see my Periamma – my Mother’s eldest sister, who was widowed – was also a part of the itinerary. One interesting fact about my Periamma’s late husband is worth mentioning. People with snake bites, almost dead, used to be brought to him from surrounding villages. Using some herbs, he used to revive them. He died pretty young.
===== Continued in Blog 43 =====
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