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Covid now seems like something that happened a long time ago. People have forgotten the immense impact it had on people, their health and their livelihoods. I remember how badly shut downs affected everyone. People also have forgotten the good social lessons taught during that period such as washing hands, wearing a mask when unwell and covering your nose and mouth when coughing or sneezing.

Anyway on the Sunday I visited the Meenakshi Amman Temple, my driver from the hotel was David Raj.

The extent of his knowledge and the way he spoke gave me the impression that he was well educated. He was well mannered, well dressed, had a smile and spoke with a gentle voice. As we were driving, he pointed out to me the all important sites in Madurai and gave me its historical context. He knew Madurai and its history well.

On the day I was checking out, we spoke briefly in the lobby and it was then that I found out that he used to be an entrepreneur and owned a thriving tour business. He owned several cars and hired drivers to ferry guests to tourist spots.

When Covid stuck in 2020, tourism in Madurai collapsed. With no income, he lost his cars to the finance companies as he couldn’t continue paying the monthly repayments. He and his family had no income during that period.

When the hotel was about to open last year they advertised for drivers. He applied for the job as he needed an income to support his family.

He looked calm and smiling as he spoke. Despite having lost everything he had built up over the years and transported from being the owner of a business employing drivers to now becoming a driver himself, he was sanguine.

I truly admire people like him who pick themselves up, give off their best and smile despite any adversity.

My pick up time for the airport had been arranged for 1130am on the Wednesday morning. I was ready to fall asleep on Tuesday night, the lights were all off and I was comfortably tucked into the blanket when I felt my phone vibrate ( I set my phone to vibration mode before I sleep every night). It was a good friend from Singapore and he wanted me very much to visit this temple before I left Madurai. He rearranged my pick up time to 1030am and so yesterday morning I visited this temple.

This is a local temple well known to the people of Madurai but no one else outside Madurai seems to know about this place. Even on the internet, there is only a brief reference to it. However the local people I spoke to all knew this place and said that it was a very special place. They believe that Pandi Muneeswaran is none other than the Pandian King, called Nedunchezhiyan, who ruled Madurai a long time ago during the time of Kanaki and Kovalan, all of whom are referenced in the epic Silapathikaram.

The temple was only a short distance from my hotel and so after checking out and en route to the airport I visited this place. It’s a small temple off the main street. You cannot see it from the main road. The place around the temple was vibrant. There is no paved road to the temple. On the way in there are many shops selling flowers, fruits and books. The entire area seems to be catered to the temple and the devotees coming there. Even on a Wednesday 11 am the place and the temple was bustling.

I left my shoes in the car. I walked on the unpaved pathway and I was received at the temple entrance. I was brought in to do a very special darshan and I was garlanded.

This clearly is a powerful deity.

Sometimes things happen for a reason. Clearly there was a reason I picked up the call on vibrate mode before I slept and rearranged my timing so I could come here.

I am glad I did.

As my driver, John David, was driving me to Uthirakosamangai yesterday, he informed me that he was a Sri Lankan Tamil refugee living in a refugee camp in Madurai. I have heard about these refugees before but this is the first time I actually spoke to one.

Fighting between the Tamils, who are concentrated in the North and East of Sri Lanka and the Sinhalese majority started from the late 1950s initially as a result of the language policy which made Sinhalese the national language and it was compulsory to know Sinhalese for any government job. The Sinhalese majority felt that they had been marginalized by the British in their own country and needed to take over. This was followed by other economic policies marginalizing the Tamils.

Many Tamils, some very capable ones, left the country. They went everywhere. Quite a number went to Canada and others to Europe. Norway, I know, has a large Tamil community. During that time, the more well off and educated ones left.

As the war intensified, a number of Tamils fearing the fighting, fled to Tamil Nadu in India. This started in the early 1980s. MGR was the Chief Minister then provided them with refugee status. MGR was sympathetic to the Tamils from Sri Lanka since he himself was born in Sri Lanka. The refugees in the early 1980s managed to get citizenship when he was still Chief Minister. He died in 1987.

My driver told me that his parents fled to Tamil Nadu in 1990. They were initially housed in a main refugee camp and then transferred to one of the many camps throughout Tamil Nadu. He himself was born here in 1992.

They have to live inside their designated camp. There is a roll call twice a month when the government officers will come into the camp to ensure that they are in the camps. They are given a monthly allowance of 1000 rupees by the Government and are allowed to work. Most of them, he told me, are daily rated workers doing manual jobs. Because of their refugee status, there is a limited number of jobs and opportunities available to them. They are no longer given citizenship by the Indian government. They cannot travel anywhere because they have no passport. My driver has been living in the camp since he was born in 1992. He doesn’t want to go back to Sri Lanka as he has nothing there for him anymore. The only work available there is in either agriculture or fishing and he has no experience or expertise in either. His only wish is that his children will get Indian citizenship.

There are about 132 refugee camps in Tamil Nadu and each camp houses about 300 to 500 families. So there would be about 300,000 to 500,000 Tamil refugees in Tamil Nadu.

It is sad that they have had to flee their own country because of war and politics and live in another country. I was however happy to see that they were housed in a proper home, allowed to work and provided a stipend for their meals by another country. It is also good to see that the Tamils in Tamil Nadu did not push back against their presence by arguing that they were being funded with tax payer monies and taking away their jobs. Good for them!

After the visit to the Uthirakosamangai temple, the driver suggested that we visit Rameswaram. This town is another 80 km away from the temple and it is famous for the Rameswaram Temple. I thought since I have covered more than half the distance already, I might as well visit the town and the temple.

Over the years my grandfather and my mother have often suggested a visit to this temple every time I visit India. Back then, the roads were not so good and I never wanted to travel for about 4 hours to see this or any temple. It was strange that this time I was receptive and actually looking forward to it.

Rameswaram Temple is another famous old temple. It is dedicated to Lord Shiva and it is said that Rama stopped and prayed at this temple on his way to Sri Lanka to rescue Sita.

The drive to Rameswaram was interesting because on the left side you can see waters of the Bay of Bengal and on the right is the Indian Ocean and you can see where they finally meet. Quite fascinating and the waters looked clean and blue!

Strangely Rameswaram temple, which is in the town of Rameswaram, is not on the land mass of India but on another island called Pamban Island. This island is connected to the mainland by the Pamban bridge.

Rameswaram temple is visited by tens of thousands of people every day and mostly by North Indians. My driver noted that there has been a huge increase in the number of North Indians visiting Rameswaram temple after Covid. The road going towards the temple is a single lane road, and typical of Tamil Nadu roads, was congested.

It is a magnificent temple and the queue waiting to go in was so very long. I paid for a special darshan and therefore got to go in front and offer prayers. After walking around the temple a bit I left. I did feel very sorry for the people who did not pay for any special darshans. They were giving about one to two seconds in front of the deity and they were continuously asked to move on. This after waiting for about an hour or so.

I then visited another shrine nearby, which is said to bear the footprints of Rama. It’s a small shrine up on a hill and the view there is nice because you can see all of Rameswaram.

Finally I visited the Villondi Theerttam. This is the place where it is said Rama struck his vill into the land to obtain water for Sita. I walked out onto the pier and I could see that the waters of the Bay of Bengal were crystal clear. I tasted the water from the Theerttam and it was slightly salty.

So  I can now say that I have finally been to Rameswaram!!

On the way back from the temple visit, I had lunch at this place called Sree Sabarees Madurai. Recommended by the driver.

It’s a vegetarian restaurant and I had the set meal. Superb food, very tasty vegetables and tasty payasam.

I really enjoyed myself for the princely sum of $2!

Today I visited this temple. The visit was suggested by a good friend who was also my client. I had the good fortune to meet him through work and we have now become good friends. He came to Singapore from India and has worked very hard, started a successful enterprise and has done well for himself.

I have never heard of this temple but I later found out that this Sivan temple has a history dating back some 3000 years and is considered to be the oldest and most sacred Sivan temples in the world.

There are many legends about how this temple came to be built. It is also said to be sacred because this was where Lord Shiva gave the secrets of the scriptures to Goddess Parvati.

The temple is famous for housing a 6ft tall ancient emerald Nataraja idol. This is covered in sandal paste throughout the year which is only removed during the annual Arudra darshans. On that day, the sandal paste is removed and the deity is paraded around the temple for the public to see. This temple has been revered in various 9th century tamil hymns.

The temple also houses a 3000 year old ilanthai tree.

When I arrived here, the first impression I had was that its a temple in the middle of nowhere. It’s clearly a very old temple and there were not that people here. Perhaps because it was a weekday morning. I performed darshans here and received a garland. I felt the strongest presence of the deity here.

I am glad I came here.

This was a very well known tamil movie released in 1968 starring Sivaji Ganesan and Padmimi. It went on to win 2 National Awards and 5 State awards that year.

The movie was based on a book authored by Kothamangalam Subbu. This novel was serialized in the magazine Ananda Vikatan and it ran between 1957 to 1958. The book was very popular when released and therefore unsurprising that everyone was waiting for the release of the movie.

The story is about a Nadaswaram player and a classical barathanatya dancer and all the difficulties they encounter in their relationship.

For me the movie was of course more interesting than the book because you could hear the Nadaswaram playing and see the barathanatya dancing. The glorious music for the movie was provided by K V Mahadevan and lyrics were by Kannadasan.

I have seen the movie when it was released and several times since then. The songs are memorable especially Marainthirunthu Parkum Marmum Enna and Nalanthana.

So I was driving down from Palamuthir Solai on Sunday and passing the Alagar temple when the driver pointed out to me a Mandabham or hall on the other side of the Alagar temple. This hall was built around the 1600s by Thirumalai Nayakar and his brothers. More significantly, this was the place where the filming for the song Marainthirunthu Parkum Marmum Enna took place. Fascinating! Now when I think back, in the movie, the  dancing scene did take place in a small hall with sculptures and carvings on the walls. And in the song itself, the lyrics make reference to the nearby Alagar temple.

I was sad to see the place locked up and run down. This is a historical structure built by Thirumalai Nayakar and his brothers and their own sculptures are part of the carvings inside the hall but no one appears to be maintaining the hall or planning to. Sad fact of India and in particular Tamil Nadu. So much history, historical treasures and monuments which are not maintained, catalogued or properly promoted. Many countries would die for a fraction of what India has in terms of history and monuments! Pity.

Indians eat late.. every meal. Today I was at  breakfast, which is on from 7 to 1030am. I got here at 8 and it was quiet with just a few tables occupied. I stayed on for a bit after eating, reading a book, because I wanted them to finish cleaning my room before I went back up.

Just after 10am,  people started pouring into the restaurant in groups for breakfast when there was just half an hour left. As I gaze around now, the restaurant is buzzing with people walking  around with plates and filling it from the buffet spread. Suddenly so much activity!

It was the same for lunch yesterday. Lunch started at 1230. I was there at 1230 sharp. The restaurant was quite empty till about 2 and then it started filling up.

I suppose if one has a late dinner, (which is typical for Indians), you would need to have a late breakfast too.

Strange..or is it?

Avvayar is a famous Tamil Sangam era poet. It is not entirely clear when she lived or whether there was more than one person with the same name. However we do know that she existed as her works are still with us. Some place her around the time of 100 BCE whilst others place her much later at around 700 to 900 CE. She was an ardent devotee of Lord Ganesha.

I remember studying her poems in primary school during my Tamil lessons,  Aathi choodi and kondrai vendhan. Not sure if these are taught anymore to our Singapore Tamil language students.

Why I brought her up is because Avvayar used to feature in many Tamil devotional movies that came out in the 1960s and 1970s. I would watch these movies with my parents and she was always featured as a wise elderly lady who went around singing devotional songs and offering sound advice to all. There was an entire Tamil movie made about her entitled Avvayar which was released in 1953. I have seen this movie and in particular I remember there was a scene where nearly towards the end of the movie, she encounters a young boy sitting atop a naval tree asking her if she wants a sutta palzham or a sudatha palzham. It turns out that it was Lord Murugan who came as the young boy wanting to teach Avvayar a lesson and to finally allow her to leave this world.

Whilst on the way to Palamuthir Solai, the driver pointed me to a tree, which was near the temple, which is supposed to be the very same tree from which Lord Murugan had asked Avvayar that question. The tree was fenced up with a statue of Vinayagar.

Fascinating!

This is a famous Murugan temple in Madurai. Lord Murugan is supposed to have 6 abodes and 2 of them are in Madurai. They are Thiruparamkundram and Palamuthir Solai.

I went there late morning yesterday. This temple is up on a hill and it is a good 8 minutes drive from the base of the hill to the temple. I was amazed to see so many people climbing up that steep hill to reach the temple. It was a warm day and it must be at least a half an hour walk uphill. My driver noted that Indians are the one group of people who will put in lots of effort, energy and work for their religion. Seeing them climb up the hill on a warm day, put up with crowds and the waiting everywhere, I must agree with that view.

The hill is densely forested and there are so many monkeys all over the place on the way up to and at the temple itself.

Again I was fortunate to be able to go right up to the front of the deity and have darshan performed. Right next to the deity Murugan is that of his Vell where  another darshan was  performed.

This is a much smaller temple but it nevertheless attracts many devotees. By the time I was there at about 1030am, there were thousands of people in the temple and many more outside. Lots of people were climbing up and down the hill as well.

At the base of the temple, is another temple, the Alagar temple. This is a big temple dedicated to Lord Vishnu.

Many Tamil songs from the 1960s, especially from the devotional movies, have featured the name of this place. I listened to them growing up and I have now finally visited this place.