A Dip into Heritage

Today, we go on an off-beat track from the capital's eateries and posh locations to take a dip into heritage flooding in the Madurai city.

Here I was, poised with a plan to do something never done in my years of living in the city. Wake up early. Visit the Meenakshi Amman temple at sunrise. Ok, that's twothings never done before. Though I missed the sunrise timeline, 6.30 was still an early hour to be travelling toward the towers and surprise, the buses were already crowded! And, on a holiday! Always a deep contrast between the two cities I live in.

The perimeter around the temple didn't seem crowded as it normally does, much to relief (but later, much to distress, discovered the opposite). The majestic tower with its innumerable sculptures depicting innumerable tales from the past, always stirs incomprehensible emotions of pride. Gotta find a way to climb into one of the Gopurams.

It wasn't exactly going to be a crowd-less visit to the deity and after having to endure Am-not-going-to-give-you-your-personal-space-and-I'll-keep-pushing-you-though-there's-not-much-crowd treatment in the queue to the Amman Sannathi, I had to forego the main Sannathi in order to avoid a similar experience. Everytime I visit the temple, there're new things I get to know and today's news from the past were exciting ones indeed.
For one, the Queen Mangammal was inconvincingly imprisoned by her own grandson, who looks convincingly humble in his statue form of prostration facing her. Seems some male chauvinists sculpted him bigger than her though. It's become one of the most beautiful temples after the major renovation done a few years ago, but sadly, some of the greatest works of art were successfully erased into an oblivion and white canvases blare from the walls, which once had the thirukurals(Oh yeah! Where did they vanish to?!) and depictions of thiruvilaiyadals, I think(my memory fails me). Delight always awaits around the Swamy Sannathi. It's one of the most beautiful and picturesque places ever.

Credit : vijayan_t

And then, I learnt that just outside the Amman sanctum was a room called the Nagara Mandapam. Apparently, this is where in olden days (and they still do) the Nagara drum was beaten to announce Pujas and big events. And this is something I've never even noticed before! The state of the city! There's so much treasured inside and it's all obscured just like in this pic, by other things, you don't even notice something of huge importance exists within. Everywhere! For a city that was beautifully planned out and laid, the development hasn't been disciplined and every new thing's been stashed into the old entities.

And there's much more to the temple alone that more and more tales are going to be unearthed on every visit. And these pillars.. I just love.

Credit : Arun Thandapani