Abode of the Gods

As we stood before the 100 feet seven-tiered Gopuram of the Shree Anantha Padmanabhaswamy Temple, we were simply spellbound by the innumerable sculptures made on it narrating the stories from the Mahabharata and the Ramayana on either side of it. Who were these unknown sculptors who were so familiar with the epics to have depicted them so beautifully with their chisels and hammers? Or did their inspiration, too, come from the Gods?  Right on the top of Gopuram, built in the Pandyan style in the 16^th century, is a boat or vanchi which gave the Kingdom of Travancore its ancient name of Vanchinad or the Land of the Boat. The seven identical kalashas are placed there. Right down the middle of the Gopuram are openings on every tier, all aligned in one straight line, through which the sun can be viewed two times a year- the equinoxes, when the sun rises exactly on the east and sets exactly on the west. What engineering precision! There are four main entrances to the temple situated in the four directions along with a private entrance for the royal family since Padmanabhaswamy is their tutelary deity. The ruler of Tranvancore, Raja Marthanda Varma, consecrated his kingdom to Shree Padmanabhaswamy in the mid-eighteenth century and became a ‘dasa’ or servant of the Kingdom of the Lord and his descendants are still the custodians of this temple. No wonder Thiruvanthapuram literally means the City of Lord Anantha.

The confluence of the Dravidian and the Chera style of architecture can be seen in this temple. As we made our way into the main corridor of the temple, we were struck by the artistic richness of the entrance and the cleanliness maintained everywhere. All along the rectangular corridor, running from the entrance to the main temple, there are carved monolithic pillars with sculptures of deities and each one is different from the other. Not only the deities but even the ornamental carvings on each of them are different. On looking up for more information I found that there are exactly 365 and one-quarter elaborately carved pillars in granite in this corridor. How scientific and exact could these artisans have been! The only carvings which are uniform on these pillars are the statues of the lamp bearers. Imagine being inside this temple on a night when all the diyas are lit like for the Lakshadeepam festival!

To deviate a little, we had been made aware of the dress code to be followed inside this temple before our visit- saris for women, dhoti or vesti for men as bottom wear with or without a shawl/angavastram for the top. However, we noticed that, apart from the priests and devotees in white dhotis, there were many able bodied men walking inside the corridors of the temple wearing dhotis clasped smartly with black belt and triangular khaki or blue angavastrams draped over their shoulders.  It was only when they crossed us and we could see their backs that we noticed the walkie-talkies smartly tucked into their belts and Police written on the back of their angavastrams. Innovative Kerala Police!

As we were guided along, we began our parikrama by visiting the temples of Ganapati, Bhairava (Shiva), Shri Krishnaswamy (Thiruvambadi), an avatar of Vishnu, who is seen here as the divine charioteer with a whip and a conch-shell, and Narasimhan, half-man, half-lion avatar of the Lord. This temple is among the 108 temples dedicated to Vishnu. Among many other temples in this complex dedicated to different gods there is one in honour of Ved Vyas, the author of the Mahabharata. There are two Dhwajastambhs or flagstaffs – teak wood pillars covered with silver and gold- the silver one in front of the Krishna temple and the gold in front of the main temple. Atop the gold dhwajastambh is Garuda, the vahana or vehicle of Lord Vishnu. Several ornately carved Mandapams, musical pillars and mural paintings on the outer walls of the main temple will leave all in awe of this artistic and architectural masterpiece.

As per legends the original temple is more than five thousand years old and references to this temple have been found in the Puranas, the Epics and Sangam literature. The present temple that we see was built in the seventeenth century by the rulers of Tranvancore and houses the principal deity of Lord Padmanabhaswamy or Lord Vishnu in Ananthashayanam or sleeping posture on the serpent Adi Sesha. The Garbhagriha or the sanctum-sanctorum houses this eighteen feet idol built from 12008 shaligrams brought from the river Gandaki in Nepal. Elephants carrying them took more than three years to reach their destination. Apart from the shaligrams, a special mixture of mud and herbs collected from 108 sources called katu sarkara yogam was plastered on the deity. The deity in entirety cannot be seen from one door. From the side we entered, we first got to see the Lord’s feet through the first door, then the torso through the second door from where we could see Brahma on a lotus emanating from the Lord’s navel and, finally, the face and crown with his right hand extended to settle on the Shiva Lingam.

Legend says that once Sage Vilwamangalathu Swamiyar, who performed his duties at the Padmanabhaswamy temple in Kasargod, scolded an orphan boy, who stayed with him and helped him with the daily chores.  The boy ran away from him. On realizing that the boy was none other than the Lord himself, the sage followed him through a cave to the shores of Thiruvanthapuram. There he saw the boy disappearing into a tree which then fell and took the shape of Lord Vishnu in Anathashayanam. The Lord then revealed himself in his 8-mile long form sleeping on a thousand hooded cobra or Adi Shesha. The sage asked for forgiveness and begged the Lord to condense his size so that he could see him. Even though Vishnu reduced his size the sage could not see him fully through the trees and saw only his face, stomach and feet. That is how the devotees in this temple also see him.

Many of us have read about the news of the unbelievable amount of wealth collected and stored over the centuries in its many vaults which, by Court order, were opened in 2011. Some of the vaults are opened from time to time for daily pujas and ceremonial occasions but they say there are still many unopened vaults and ante-chambers. Stories of superstitions or faith, associated with this centuries old temple, abound but it is needless to dwell on them. So I would prefer to stick to my own journey through the abodes of the Gods and great men as we made our way from Kovalam to Kanyakumari. Green, blue and gold are the three colours one can associate with the state of Kerala – the blue sea, the lush green mangroves, banana orchards and the coconut trees which adorn its coastline and, of course, its unforgettable golden beaches. Perhaps, nothing describes this land better than the well-known and much adverstised tagline of Kerala Tourism-God’s Own Country.

Our next stop was Suchindram, a small town in the Kanyakumari district of Tamil Nadu, and the famous temple of Thanumalayan. Kanyakumari was once part of the Travancore Kingdom. The legend associated with this place is that Lord Indra did penance here to get relieved or purified (suchi is the Sanskrit word for purify) of a curse. The main deity is a Trimurti or a union of Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva all worshipped in one massive Lingam – Sthanu (Shiva), Mal (Vishnu) and Ayan (Brahma). Another attraction of this temple, apart from its 134 feet, 11- tiered Gopuram, is the 22 feet statue of Hanuman or Anjaneya carved from a single block of granite. I remember being mesmerized by its size almost 50 years ago but as they say everything looks much smaller as you grow up. It was certainly huge but somehow felt smaller than the image imprinted in my childhood memory. Inside the temple are the musical pillars carved from a single block of stone. Apart from the Gods, we need to bow our heads to these master craftsmen who blended art and science in such perfect harmony.

Kumari Amman Temple, one of the 108 Shakti Peethas, is one of the most sacred temples of the world. Mention of this temple can be found in the ancient Hindu scriptures, the epics and Sangam literature. Legend says that the demon King Banasura, with a boon from Brahma, became so powerful that he ousted Indra and had held all the Devas captives. He could be defeated by only a virgin girl. So the goddess Bhagavati took the form of a girl and arrived in Kanyakumari. But Shiva fell in love with Kumari and wanted to marry her. The wedding was to be at midnight. But Sage Narada was aware that only a virgin goddess could slay Banasura. When Lord Shiva left Suchindram for the wedding, Narada caused a rooster to crow. Shiva was misled to think it was dawn and the auspicious moment was gone. He went back to Suchindram and Kumari kept waiting. The Goddess remained unmarried and later put an end to Banasura’s romantic overtures by slaying him and releasing the Devas. The goddess later forgave the Banasura and blessed the waters of the holy confluence at Triveni. Having heard the many stories about the diamond on the Goddess’ nose, I felt blessed to have seen it with my own eyes.

Our last stop was Cape Comorin or the tip of the Indian peninsula, the meeting point of the Arabian Sea and the Bay of Bengal with the Indian Ocean. What better sight from the Triveni Sangam than that of the sun rising in all its radiant splendor, despite the discernible monsoon clouds, scattering its first rays on the Swami Vivekananda Rock Memorial and the gigantic statue of the much revered poet-philosopher saint of Tamil literature, Thiruvalluvar.

Where the earth and ocean meet,

And all things seem only one

In the universal Sun.-  P.B.Shelley

 

DS