Anuyatra .. Anusmaranam..svAnubhuthi

From Srirangam, we proceeded to the last divyadesam of our trip Kovilaadi which is enroute to Thanjavur. It is near Kallanai and is around 2 miles from there. The temple Raja Gopuram is under construction. We went inside and the Bhattar explained the kshethra puraanam. I have seen lot of people having a misconception that the moolavar holds the appa kudam,but in reality the kudam is about 1.5 meters away from his hand. The Bhattar insisted us to pray to Thaayar because she is the one who recommends to Perumal for us. She is the mother who helps us to get the father's blessing. He also insisted me that I should never let my parents down and live for the parents. I took it as an advise from perumal itself. I thanked perumal for providing me an opportunity to visit these divyashetram and started back to Chennai. After all, it was a nice way to end my vacation.

When we came out of Thiruvellarai, we got a call from my father's friend asking us to come to Srirangam for a darshan. We immediately said yes and told them that we would be at Srirangam at 2:00 PM. We went back to Trichy and had our lunch in Sangeetha restaurant..Went back to our room and got freshened up and started to Srirangam.. We went near the Ranga Ranga gopuram and called up my father's friend. He asked us to come near the Sriranga pathuka so that he will take us in. He was there and we got into the sanctum santorum. As we were wearing the traditional dress, the Bhattacharya asked to wait and showed an Haarati. We first saw the Padaaravindam of the perumal then his nabhi-kamalam. Behold, before the Moolavar was the ever resplendant Namperumal. If someone asks me what beauty is, i will point Namperumal. He is the beauty and makes the whole temple beautiful. I was chanting lines from Vishnu Saharsanaamam throughout. The Bhattar asked us whether we had the satisfying darsh...

After having a wonderful darshan in Thiruvellarai, we proceeded to Anbil. I wanted to visit this stalam when I visited Kumbakonam, but couldnt visit because it was far off from Kumbakonam. The way to Anbil was really beautiful. For a person like me who grew up in a city, these places were really heaven as they were silent and peaceful. Anbil temple is really a very small temple. When we entered the temple, I could see lot of Sabarimala Bhaktas taking up irumudi. We went to the Moolavar Sannidhi and saw the enchanting Vadivazhagiva Nambi. I was speechless to see such a beautiful perumal and was just chanting the ashtaaksharam mantram. We then moved towards the Thaayar Sannidhi and prayed to the goddess. This temple needs renovation and some of us should come forward to contribute for the same. The Bhattar was so helpful and told us about the Thiruanbil Shetra puranam. Then, we started back to Trichy for lunch.

From Gunaseelam, we proceeded to Thiruvellarai Pundarikaaksha perumal temple. When we reached the temple, there was a slight drizzling . We went through the Dakshinaayana vaasal to see the magnificient perumal. The perumal is holding a Prayoga Chakra and here Thaayar gets the first preference in everything. We donated some money to this temple and did archana to the perumal. The Bhattar blessed my dad with a garland which was adorned to the god. He also blessed me for my marriage. We went and worshipped the Thaayar Sannidhi. Having a satisfied darshan we came out. Varuna Bhagavan showered his blessings in the form of rain. While coming back, we got a call from my father's friend asking us to come to Srirangam for a darshan. We told them that we are proceeding towards Anbil and will come around 2 PM. I was overjoyed that I can see Namperumal this time. We proceeded to Anbil from Thiruvellarai.

This visit is unplanned when we started the trip. Suddenly my father thought why cant we visit Gunaseelam also. So from Uthamar koil, we proceeded towards Gunaseelam. The perumal here is Venkatesa Perumal. This perumal was so beautiful and captivating, that i forgot chanting om namo narayana and was standing mezmerized on his beauty. Bhattar asked us to move to enable others to worship the perumal. Lot of good things happened in Adiyen's life only with the grace of Venkateswara perumal. Om Namo Narayanaya..

Saturday,21 November After visiting Bhooloka Vaikuntham on Friday, we made a plan to visit other Divyadesam temples next day. As part of it, our first stop next day was Thirukarambanoor Utthamar Koil. We started from Trichy Central Bus stand and reached there in 30 minutes. This temple is on the highway which leads to Gunaseelam. The perumal here is Purushottaman and is in BujangaSayanam. This temple is small and beautiful and has sannidhis for Siva and Brahma. We waited in Perumal sannidhi since the Bhattar was busy in doing alangaram for Thaayar. Once he returned, he showed harathi to perumal and explained the significance of the temple. Then we visited Thaayar sannidhi and worshipped Poornavalli Thaayar. Thaayar was so beautiful and had a great darshan there. I think this is the only divyadesam where Navagraha sannidhi since it also contains Shiva sannidhi. We spent some time there and started to Gunaseelam.