namma mejura

It’s been a while since I blogged. Much has happened in Madurai in the meanwhile. I wanted to blog with appropriate photos & getting delayed. Finally got them & will be blogging regularly from now on.

Before that, I wanted to share the rare photos of Madurai appearing in a forum. It’s a treat to see serene streets around Meenakshi Amman Temple & Yaanai Malai standing alone.

It’s not known about the origin of these photos, but a great find. Do have a look at http://allaboutmadurai.com/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=25 and also on the second page at http://allaboutmadurai.com/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=25&start=10

Rock Temple 2, originally uploaded by daynee2003.

Yaanaimalai (Elephant hill) at the outskirts of Madurai has a unique shape & a treasure trove for archaeologists. It has jain caves at the top, numerous inscriptions all around the hills and also two carved temples at the bottom.

Lakshmi Narasimha temple is carved deep into the hill and the deity (carved in the hill) stands near the centre of the hillock at ground level.

It’s a wonder that some people thought it fit to propose cutting the hill, carve a sculpture in the middle & scoop the remaining rocks for granite exports. The effort was named as beautifying the place & to give Madurai a tourist place!

Well, Yaanai malai already earned it’s own merit over thousands of years (it’s even mentioned in very old tamil scripts) to become a tourist spot. And being a unique shape, it already have a striking pose, looking majestically at the approaching urbanization.

Rock Temple, originally uploaded by daynee2003.

Thankfully, protests were loud & that proposal was officially struck down last week by Government of Tamilnadu. Now it only needs beautification around the hillock & promoting it properly.

The tail end of the hillock still retains a lot of greenery and a nice picnic spot, untouched by urbanization.

Here is a quick one.  Meenakshi temple can now be toured online with 360 degree view.

http://www.view360.in/virtualtour/madurai/

View360 is a chennai based service that creates virtual tours for hotels, showrooms, museums and the likes.

Ever heard of ‘nose cut‘?   It’s an English phrase that was not known to English!  (I checked, it drew a blank).

Well, it’s actually a Tamil phrase with no Tamil words!!  Sounds even more bizzare isn’t it?   It actually refers to giving back an insult (or retort) to a high sounding person.  Well used in Madurai & most parts of Tamilnadu.

Found a reference on ‘nose cut‘ in an unofficial ‘Dictionary of Indian English‘ http://snipurl.com/nosecut [www_vsubhash_com].

So how come such a unique phrase came into use?   It was attributed to the ‘Mysore – Madurai war‘ at the fag end of ‘Thirumalai Naick‘ period, which was finally won by Madurai with vital support from Sethu Nadu (Ramanathapuram).

In this war, the Mysore King ordered to cut the noses of enemies as they advance.  And the Madurai army retaliated in the same way!!   But it certainly was not funny as it sounds.  Read about the full history of the war here http://snipurl.com/nosewar [www_visvacomplex_com] .  It also has an interesting map of south India during 17th Century. (The article was written by Dr.S.Jayabarathi, a renowned scholar on Archeology & Tamil Literature)

The article had interesting points such as Mysore rulers ‘exhort southern rulers by holding back Kaveri waters‘ in 14th – 17th century period.  So River Cauvery’s part in politics have a long history.

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.

Looking majestic even when dry. The vast tank bed is a safe place for lads to play. And they mostly play … cricket (what else!).

Very close to bustling traffic, yet safe, this dry tank bed playground is an important part of life for many lads around Teppakulam & Anuppanadi.

Except the brief rainy season – October to November, and on the times of Teppam festival, this tank is mostly dry.

And it looks even more interesting when filled with water. City officials invariably start a boat service to the central mandapam.

Here is an established cricket pitch. No wonder, impromptu matches were also held here. Cycles were brought down the steps and rode to the spot. Spectators get a nice perch to sit & watch the match up close!