namma mejura

Thirumalai Nayak Palace, originally uploaded by carola_vanlimborgh.

There used to be a sound and light show at Thirumalai Nayakkar Mahal. But it was degraded (a few non-working lights, noise in speakers etc.) and gradually went out of operation. Efforts are on to revive it again.

Hope it doesn’t turn out as dumb as the earlier one. I’ve hosted an international traveller for a show of previous version (4 years back) and he was thoroughly disappointed.

The remaining one-fourth of Thirumalai Nayakkar’s Palace itself is a magnificent reminder of previous era. It is worth visiting there in the day time. It has also become a preferred cinema shooting location for song sequences.

But if you plan for an evening of Sound & Light show at Mahal, don’t set your hopes high.

While walking on bye-pass road, a Maruti Omni pulled ahead of me. A young man on back seat called out a name - ‘Annamalai, Annamalai!’. At this, a dirty man in rags (who lingers on the fringe of road and seem to have lost in a world of his own) came over to the car, and collected a pack of food & water.

Now, if this sound familiar, you might know or heard about Akshaya Trust of Madurai. Ever since the life of a 5-star hotel cook who’s visit to home town (Madurai) evoked an absolute turnaround on his career, many mentally unstable roadside souls were fed daily. Mr. Krishnan is taking care & feeding them daily for the past 6-7 years without fail.

The Maruti Omni is one belonged to Akshaya Trust donated by well-wishers. Curious about name calling, I approached the car and asked about it. The young man who helps Krishnan in this routine said ‘we named him!’.

Krishnan & his Akshaya Trust got coverage in Media. Yet not many seem to know. You can read a media report here. And also at their own website www.akshayatrust.org

A short news feature available at YouTube on Akshaya Trust

And a more detailed coverage by this blogger Marcie who ran a marathon to raise funds for Akshaya Trust.

Pandia or Pandian is a name closely associated with Madurai. The Pandian Kingdom ALWAYS ruled from Madurai. So the prominent train to Madurai was named Pandian Express & the state roadways corporation with Madurai as headquarters was called Pandian (PRC) till all such corporations were merged and named blandly as TNSTC. Even rural folks in southern Kerala refer Tamilians as ‘Paandimaar’ instead of ‘Tamizhan-maar’.

We take it for granted that Pandia is an ancient Tamil name. Well, I came across the following detail at Pandia website (while visiting this link, just scroll above - not down - to read about Pandia)

Pandia was a Greek moon-goddess of light and enlightenment and daughter of Zeus and Selene. She was reckoned to be one of the most beautiful goddesses on the Olymp. There is a particular Homeric hymn that gives us the story about Pandia. Then again, others say that Pandia is the daughter of the Hindu god Krishna.

This is quite new to me. Does Krishna had a daughter named Pandia? Are Pandians known as descendants of Krishna? Or, Pandia & Pandian are two completely different names not be confused upon? Are there any other reference to the origin of Pandians of Madurai? Just curious.

City buses in Madurai were a changed lot now. Even 3 months back, we can spot only a few ‘Low Floor, Deluxe’ buses on city roads. Now it easily outnumbers the ordinary ones. Most buses plying within city were these low-floor types now.

These private-built buses look sturdier than regular ones. Automatic doors, air suspension were welcome addition. But it has started showing signs of wear & neglect due to characteristic poor maintenance.

State transport corporations quickly adopted Lalu’s technique of charging more without raising basic ticket prices. Bus fare on low floor buses were 200% to 250% higher than basic fare.

The following were the ticket fares between Periyar Bus Stand & TIrumangalam (approx: 20kms):

1. Basic fare: Rs . 5.50 [red bus with big yellow band in middle]
2. LSS fare: Rs. 6.50 [blue & yellow chequered ]
3. City Exp: Rs.10.00 [green & yellow]
4. Low Floor: Rs.11.00 [saffron & yellow - visually distinct]

It seems more than 90% of buses in this route were low floor - as it serves high commuter traffic of south-bound mofusil travellers, who find it easier/time saving to visit Tirumangalam than to visit Mattu Thavani Integrated Bus Stand (MIBS).

How does it perform in cost-conscious Madurai?
Daily wage earners depend mostly on city buses. You should see the expressions in their face, when three consecutive buses to their destination were all ‘low-floors’. They even have a nickname for it - ‘kollakara bussu’ (pirate bus) !!

With the rains from a storm near chennai, the climate is cool here. Madurai is spared from the deluge but all tanks were filled to the brim. The Kirudhumal River is desilted at last minute to drain excess water from Madakulam tank. I think ‘Kirudhumal River’ might qualify for ‘World’s Narrowest River’.

We expect to eat Madurai mann for the next 3-4 days as the roads dry up.

The Central Vegetable market very near to Meenakshi Amman Temple belongs to Madurai Corporation. It should have moved to outskirts along with the paddy & flower markets. But somehow got stuck in red tape.

With the security angle to Meenakshi Amman Temple, now vehicles were not allowed in newly renovated Chithrai streets. The market in parallel street [north avanimoola street] is all the more chaotic with parking space problems. The market also suffers due to time restrictions on lorry movement within city.

Madurai Corporation proposed to temporarily shift it near Mattuthavani Integrated Bus Stand (MIBS), but TN Govt turned down the proposal [the hindu]. Proposal to build a permanent complex is still pending.

Unable to bear the bureaucratic delay, the shop owners of Central Vegetable Market were building a market complex at the outskirts on their own. At an estimated cost of 20 Crores with bank loans, this is a collective effort which should have originally done by government. The shop owners & Tamilnadu Chamber of Commerce were now lobbying Madurai Corporation to recognize the complex.

With the proposal to open 50 farmers market [ulavar sandhai], the government may not be very interested in a private-owned central vegetable market.

Cinema halls in Madurai were slowly turning over to online booking for some of their premium tickets. Since the Ganesh theatre (at Kuruvikaran Salai) was taken over by Adlabs, the tickets of Adlabs Ganesh are available through their site - just as other Adlab theatres all over the country.

For other theatres like Priya Complex, Ambika - Mookambika and a few others, there is limata.com. The site doesn’t look confident inspiring. But nevertheless they do offer a mobile number as an alternative to book & get home delivery. Please comment below if you already booked through these sites. It would help others in making their decision.

Idaikattur is a quiet village away from rushing highways, yet quickly reachable from Madurai (30 kms). For a small village, it has two important holy places to boast of.

It is a holy land where famed Siddha Idaikadar lived and hosted Navagrahas during a famine. A small navagraha temple stands there as a testimony. The village also have a more prominent and internationally acclaimed more than 100 years old Church ‘built by angels‘.

To get there:
On Madurai-Rameswaram NH between Madurai - Manamadurai lies ‘Muthanendal’ a non-descript small village. The speeding half-body Sand laden lorries in this route where notorious terror machines. Once you cautiously handled this stretch, and crossed ‘Thiruppachethi‘ - the village famous for long aruval !! (’thirupaachi aruva’) - the traffic is much less and the road inviting. It is easy to zip past ‘Muthanendal’, a non-descript bus stop & a few shops after a curve without noticing it.

This is the place to slow down to a halt to reach Idaikattur. A small sign board will inform you that ‘Idaikattur Shrine - 1km’ just a few paces before this point. It will help you to slow down. We have to take a 90 degree left turn just before the bus-stop and climb up to cross river Vaigai. The bridge is completely hidden as you approach the spot, so it is easy to miss it. Idaikattur is just half kilometer after crossing the river.

The village have idyllic surroundings. Blessed, no doubt, by the holy persons, the farms near this villages looks green & promising most part of the year.

The Church:

The church is more prominently visible. It is a replica of Rheims Cathedral of France, and was built in 1894 with funds from France. The church is called ‘Sacred Heart Shrine’ and have it’s own website.

The interiors of this church were impressive, with exquisite altar and glass paintings. The church is credited with miracles during the construction - (hence the term ‘built by angels’), and afterwards for devotees. The history of this church and a useful photo gallery were available at their website.

The Navagraha temple:

Just after crossing the Church, the village abruptly ends. A small temple stands at the corner, about 50 metres away from the village, with lush greenery as a backdrop.

This is the very place where Siddha Idaikadar lived. And re-arranged the navagrahas in a pattern which will be beneficial to the world. The standing pattern of navagrahas in all temples said to follow the pattern set by Siddha Idaikadar at this location. The birthplace of this navagraha pattern however remains small & unknown to many people even in nearby Madurai city.

It is gradually gaining prominence, yet the place is not at all crowded. You can stroll beyond the temple and enjoy the solitariness with only an occasional bi-cycle passerby as traffic. The village also have another ancient temple at the other end.

The online going tussle between college staff, students and the management at American College were well reported in the media. And a similar tussle erupted in Thiagarajar College with state government mediating in both situations.

Seems something’s amiss with College Managements (particularly men’s colleges of yesteryears) in Madurai recently. And it transcends religious segmentations (managements are conscious of ‘minority institution’ privileges).

First it was Wakf Board College at KK Nagar, where the Principal was ousted by the management. The Principal fought legally and won. Then it was the turn of Saraswathi Narayan College (near Airport) where there was a tussle between Principal and Management. Since it isn’t a minority institution, MUTA (the teachers association of MK university) came out in support of Principal and resorted to road blockade & protests.

In all these four colleges, the students were totally in support of their teaching staff. In a way, it is a good development, showing compassion to their teachers

In our days, the Management of such aided colleges behaved as a silent facilitator, and we the students do not differentiate between professors & management. Both were targets to be ridiculed & made laughing stock in equal measures (barring very few exceptionally good professors).

Yes, three times a day. That’s the ‘current’ situation (pun intended).

A 3-hour cut in the day, a 1 hour cut in the night before getting to sleep and finally another 1 hour cut between mid-night to 6am. It’s now official 5-hours power cut daily. Unprecedented - is the term that comes to mind.

But should we be complaining? or be thankful to Government?

People in rural areas were protesting 9-hour power cuts daily. That too when we had 3-hour power cuts in the city last week.

WATRAP: Over 500 farmers and women staged a road roko here on Friday protesting unannounced powers cut for up to 9 hours every day in the last week. Bus services were crippled and shops remained closed for four hours.

Read more at: http://www.hindu.com/2008/08/30/stories/2008083060600600.htm

Now that we have 5-hour cut, the rural people might suffer longer. However, the much pampered Chennai city is not affected much. In Chennai, the power cut duration is increased only to one and half hour daily from their previous one hour cut. Perhaps, the official Tamilnadu begins & ends in Chennai and the remaining areas merely a tail that can be wagged as desired.