Hi ,
I am here with yet another blog entry after a long gap.Well, I could not really find time to post a new entry and now at last i m back .
RCT(10)
This isn't any kind of formula. It is the Tour Number. Recently, I had been on a tour with my family Rameshwaram,Chennai,Trichy for exactly 10(RCT{10}). Well, I was very excited and shopped for almost a month. We toured with Nirmala Travels. It was very well organized and we really thank them for a problem free,complaint free tour.
We started off on a lovely Sunday morning.Visited Kanchipuram(Tamil Nadu). Below is the list of places we visited.
Kanchipuram,Mahabalipuram,Chennai,Pondicherry,Chidambaram,Trichy,
Tanjavur,Rameshwaram,Madurai,Suchindram,Kanyakumari,Trivendrum,
Cochin,Kalady,Guruvayur.
Only problem was with the weather.Sun in Tamil Nadu loved me so much that he caused some burns on my skin. Food was really good in Tamil Nadu.
Kanchi : Shiva Kanchi and Vishnu Kanchi. As name says,Shiva Kanchi Temple for Lord Shiva.The Shivalinga here is called as Ekambareshwar. It is the place where Goddess Parvati worshipped Lord Shiv under a Mango tree that would bear 5 to 6 varieties of fruits and survived for almost 3000years(I actually dont remember the exact number of years) .Vishnu Kanchi Temple has Lord Vishnu .Well, i really dont remember much about this temple except there were two cute elephants.
Chennai : Capital City Of Tamil Nadu.I had visited thisplace two years back when i got a chance to participate in TV Games Show for Udaya TV (SunNetwork) titled 'Bangarada Bete'. This time we visited Mahabalipuram,Astalakshmi Temple ( A Three floor Lakshmi temple) really good one,VGP Golden Beach, Parthasarathy Temple ( has Lord Krishna with his brother and grandson.The temple also has AC System that really cooled us ). Our tour manager Mr.Balakrishna was clever enuf that he showed us the city when we were caught up in traffic signals.
Pondicherry : A well planned, clean city.Has really good liquor shops. The Aurobindo Ashrama and the Vinayaka Temple worth a visit. I dream Bangalore will one day be as clean as this Pondicherry.
Chidambaram : A very big temple , private property of the Deekshits. Well there are only 300 brahmins (Deekshits ) residing now. Has 4 sabhas , I remember only 2, rajya sabha and Naatya Sabha. They say If a dancer performs once in the Naatya sabha ,the dancer will gain popularity and will be even more good dancer.Some Indian actress have performed there before.
Trichy : Famous Rock Fort Ganapati Temple (420 Steps) the entire city can be viewed from this temple. This place reminds me of our Commercial Street. Sri Rangam Temple ,yet another temple here .Elephant,Cow and Horse show their presence for the Morning Pooja. This temple has 300+Kgs Gold on its Gopura.This is place where we gotta our Kaveri River.
Tanjavur : A very large temple,nice place to hang out.Has the 3rd Largest Nandi in India.Made Of a single hard rock.Has nice art .
Rameshwaram: This is the place I really loved and wanna visit again. The Pancha Lingas, Samudra Snanam, 22 Well Snanam, Lakshmana Teertha, Rama Teertha, Hanumantha teertha,those floating stones of Rama Setu. Really Superb!!! Well There is a good tale about those Pancha Lingas which I can t put up in this post.This is getting very lengthier.
Madurai : Madurai Meeanakshi,the Goddess who blesses with her Eyes.Very Powerful.Tour Manager told us the ladies here are powerful than Men. Parvati's avatar as Meenakshi and marries Sundaresha(Lord Shiva) , beautiful story behind this too. This is very beautiful temple and the carvings inside the temple ,really feast to eyes.
Suchindram : The Local Guide Suresh was too good, too enthusiastic that we enjoyed the place. Main Deity Dattatreya , Shiva ,Vishnu and Brahma embedded as a single god. The temple has musical pillars . A very special Ganapati idol{ Elephant face with a lady body}. Suchindram is the place where people believe that Lord Indra comes to this temple and baths in the well inside the temple and performs pooja in the evening.Around 2 lac devotees visit this temple for the Procession.
Kanyakumari : I need not talk about this place. I have no words to define this place.
Trivendrum : Sri Ananthapadmanabha Temple,the most richest temple has 86000 crores worth gold n diamonds.The only temple not invaded by the Muslims. The temple has some restrictions ,men in dhotis is mandatory and does not allow ladies to wear salwars, only hindus allowed in.
Cochin : The Ferry Boat travel here is the most memorable one. Vasco Da Gama reached this place first and has the first Church.
Kalady : Shankaracharya's home, his story is what Kalady is all about.
Guruvayur : This was the place where I felt a bit tired as we had to wait for a long gap for Guruvayurappan's darshana. Very beautiful temple,heavily crowded.
All the temple gopuras looked nearly same to me and each time I see those photographs I am bit confused in naming the places.
Well this RCT(10) is meant for People aged 40+. But I too enjoyed it. There was entertainment on Wheels,Music,Quiz,Puzzles,Games,Movies and Jokes kept me Alive!!!
I have posted few photographs here
I know this is too much to read. Well , The reader can read this in installments and please dont forget to leave your comments.
Your comments are precious.
