Ah! It is the year end i was waiting very badly for to see if there's a change in my fortunes. But, all of a sudden, a visit that had been long pending and that was on my "must-do" list for the year seemed to be shaping up. It was just a thursday among the many thursdays i had seen past during the year. But, this day was special. I was in the midst of my routine when suddenly the idea of visiting the Alangudi temple popped up in my mind. I remembered the temple high priests advising me to pay a visit to Lord Guru Bhagvan's (Jupiter) shrine at Alangudi to minimise the damage during this year according to my horoscope predictions. I tried to make plans but none shaped up all these days but this time, it just came from no where. That's it. If you had guessed it right, i was already trying to acquaint the place virtually and i read reviews, transport options, distance calculation, temple timings, the parihara pujas, the eateries, the nearby temple options, and the list goes on. If you are specific in knowing how i plan my trip, i suggest you live it than to expect me to type 'em all.
Guru Bhagvan
All plans, searches, doubts and everything cleared and everything was set for the D-day. The D-day, according to the almighty happened to be a saturday. I planned to visit Alangudi and return home. Since this being the first time that i would be travelling by bus, i decided to visit one temple at a time. It was Saturday morning and mom had performed puja that morning and i packed the prasadam as my lunch. I was waiting for the bus which eventually happened by 9a.m.
By 3.30p.m, i reached Myiladuthurai. Soon after i got down, i saw a bus departing to Pudhukottai which the driver told me goes through Alangudi. By 5p.m, i was in Alangudi. Now, i just had to walk few hundred metres to reach the temple. I felt so happy to be there finally. It took me almost half year to finally visit the temple. My heart had taken enough physically and mentally. I had prayers, tears, wishes and even wanted a pep talk with the almighty himself. By 5.30p.m, i entered the temple and read the name of the presiding deities and began with performing the parihara puja of lighting 1 lamp for Lord Vinayaka and 24 lamps for Guru Bhagvan. I did this three times which means lighting 75 lamps in all. First 25 for me, other 25 for my dad and the third 25 for her. And then, I performed archana and came around the entire temple 24 times which took almost 2 hours to complete as the temple premises was quite bigger. I felt lighter after that. I had left my everything at the almighty's feet. Now, it was time to feast. I had prasadham from the temple. It was 8p.m I sat to write "Sri Rama Jayam". I completed it. With few minutes left for the temple to be locked down, i was sitting there all alone and checking and admiring the architecture of the temple and the greatness of our ancestors who had toiled for years to create it. I was also so fascinated to find myself so relieved and enlightened after visiting this temple and seeking darshan. I walked in with so much heaviness that i shed few tears inside the temple. I checked the clock and it was 8.30p.m and i decided to begin my return journey back home.
By 3.30p.m, i reached Myiladuthurai. Soon after i got down, i saw a bus departing to Pudhukottai which the driver told me goes through Alangudi. By 5p.m, i was in Alangudi. Now, i just had to walk few hundred metres to reach the temple. I felt so happy to be there finally. It took me almost half year to finally visit the temple. My heart had taken enough physically and mentally. I had prayers, tears, wishes and even wanted a pep talk with the almighty himself. By 5.30p.m, i entered the temple and read the name of the presiding deities and began with performing the parihara puja of lighting 1 lamp for Lord Vinayaka and 24 lamps for Guru Bhagvan. I did this three times which means lighting 75 lamps in all. First 25 for me, other 25 for my dad and the third 25 for her. And then, I performed archana and came around the entire temple 24 times which took almost 2 hours to complete as the temple premises was quite bigger. I felt lighter after that. I had left my everything at the almighty's feet. Now, it was time to feast. I had prasadham from the temple. It was 8p.m I sat to write "Sri Rama Jayam". I completed it. With few minutes left for the temple to be locked down, i was sitting there all alone and checking and admiring the architecture of the temple and the greatness of our ancestors who had toiled for years to create it. I was also so fascinated to find myself so relieved and enlightened after visiting this temple and seeking darshan. I walked in with so much heaviness that i shed few tears inside the temple. I checked the clock and it was 8.30p.m and i decided to begin my return journey back home.
The temple's entrance gate
I never book tickets in advance because i don't get enough time to do things in advance. All my plans happen in the eleventh hour and i just go with what is available. For me, it is always reaching the target that matters and not what lies in between. Now, the task in hand was to reach Kumbakonam before it was late because the local buses are scarce after 9p.m. By 10p.m, i had had my dinner and was waiting for the bus back to chennai. What started off as a journey with uncertainty, had ended well with my return journey ending the next morning at 6a.m. I reached home and slept the entire day. Altogether, it just began feeling lighter and lighter since the visit. The most powerful of all the planets is Jupiter and the Lord Guru Bhagvan allowed me to visit him when the time came. My first initiative that came out successfully this year is this temple's visit. Winning ways are back.
Presiding deities @ Alangudi: Kalagaamal Kaatha Ganapathy, AabathSahaayeswarar, Umayammai and Guru Bhagvan.
No comments:
Post a Comment