Hello FM has successfully launched its 7th station in Trichy, thus, I go the chance of visiting Srirangam, a place, I have always wanted to visit, explore, and experience. I think the last time I went there was when I was about 7... so this time round, I wanted to learn about the place before visiting it...
What stayed in my mind, before visiting the temple was the
1. so called moon-flower pond, which i read about,
2. the 1000 kaal mandapam which was never completed,
3. the enormous temple towers, acres of temple space,
4. and the golden kalasam, where only Hindus are allowed...
but what i experienced made me remember more..
As what one told... "I like all travellers have seen more than i remember, and remember more than I have seen"
I managed to speak to one of the gurukkals there, and realised,
1. there is indeed a moon-flower pond, only that it is correctly called as 'Chandirapushkarani', there is also a 'Suryapushkarani',
2. the 1000 kaal mandapam is closed for viewers,
3. you can spend days and days walking around the temple in awe admiring the works,
4. and my friend and myself had to wait about 2 hours to enter the moolasthanam with the golden kalasam.
Apart from that, I visited the kili mandapam, thaayar sannidhi, a special raamar sannidhi, where you can see raamar in his kalayaana koalam, with anjineyar who has his tail above his head, considered extremely special.
I did not bring along my camera to capture all that I have seen, but I managed to come across a photoblog of Rohan Rao...
http://ephotoz.blogspot.com/2007/03/few-photographs-on-my-tamilnadu-trip.html check it out...
7 stations launched for Hello FM, Trichy being the 7th one, 7 was the age I last visited the temple, and it seems 7 is indeed a sacred number for Vaishnavites, as Srirangam is the only temple with 7 enclosures!!!
Srirangam is definitely a place, I will visit again. A wealth of knowledge to be uncovered.
Labels: art, India, Srirangam, Temple, Travel