A trip to Thirumayam- treasure land for me!

by Yoga Krishna Kumar (India)

I didn't expect to find India

My mother (a single parent) struggled a lot to accomplish our dreams, so travel was not on the list! Stories about my forefather’s (maternal) place, Thirumayam (few km from the district of Pudukkottai, Tamil Nadu, India) always excited me! It took years for us to decide and go to that place, though it’s only half an hour from our village! I was doing college and my elder sister was working as an assistant professor. One day, mum said, “Let’s go to Thirumayam for this Vaikunda ekadasi (a special day to worship lord Vishnu), if not now…” She didn’t finish and we two screamed,”yay…”! We went there on that auspicious day to worship Sathyamurthi Perumal & Ujeevana Thayar (lord Vishnu & goddess Lakshmi), the main deities of that rock-cut temple (one of the ‘108 Divadesangal’(108 temples of lord Vishnu)). There is a single-rock-cut Vishnu statue in a cave, in the rare sleeping pose, as Palli Konda Perumal; it is the biggest in India! There is a lord Shiva temple nearby and He is called as Sathyagirisvarar with goddess Venuvaneswari. When I came to know that these were built in the 7th century AD by Pallavas (a renowned dynasty) I was very surprised because it almost remained the same, not touched by time and the tradition of worship /rituals all remain the same till now! It’s one of the few places where two ends (lord Vishnu & lord Shiva) of Hinduism meet! Pushkarani (temple pond) in both temples looked divine and the one in Perumal temple is a unique perfect octagon! The whole village used to be surrounded by fort walls built by the King of Ramnad, called Vijaya Raghunatha Sethupathi, in the 17th century AD! Now, only a few parts of the fort remains yet it is stunning as we entered the village. It is maintained by the Archaeological survey of India as it is a great tourist spot that attracts foreigners from all across the globe! The fort not only surrounds the village on ground but was also built on a rocky hill! I felt that this Rock-fort village had a great strange spell! As we reached the top, by climbing the very steep stone steps, we saw the magnificent view of Paddy fields, Small lakes and the Gusty wind that made me feel that I was transported. There we saw a very small yet too deep spring on hill top and it felt that I was in a Potter movie! There is a huge canon in the middle of the top rock placed by British during independence period! We saw a cave (no one ever explored till date) as we climbed, it was a hiding place for the freedom fighter Oomathurai (dumb prince) the younger brother of the famous king Veerapandiya Kattabomman; eventually they both were hanged by British! Hence the fort got the name Oomayan Kottai (the fort of the dumb prince)! Renowned freedom fighters S. Satyamurti came from this village! Like many typical south Indian villages it is also surrounded by many ‘guardian’ deities, like Pidari Amman (a fierce goddess) temple, that is nearby a beautiful green pond, called kaladipallam (pit-with-many-rocks)! We went to Kottai karuppu Sami, Kottai Munishwarar (fierce-male guardian deities) temples and it’s believed that They protect the village every night while riding in Their horses, I heard this beautiful yet little scary spiritual story from my Aayaa (grandmum). Kottai Bairavar (form of lord Shiva with Dog), located in the east of the fort, near NH 210. Almost everyone crossing the path, prays to him for a safe journey and many stop by and offer coconut (breaking it into pieces) as this ritual is considered to give protection from evil and prosperity! At last we went to see thatha’s (granddad’s) house and now some people are living there for rent. More than a century old house with an old and humble architecture; saw the front sit-out through the grills of the closed door where my grandparents would have sat and laughed! I closed my eyes and smiled as tears rolled down my cheeks, and I thought, “Now I know why, I love history, archaeology, dogs, nature and spirituality! "