Before wrinting this piece I created a folder in the gallery, entitled "India Trip 2007" and posted 23 pictures of our trip thus far. Will now add to it regularly.
Vai and I went by train to Sri Rangam the 10th January. It was a five and one half hour journey which put us into Tiruchi Junction at 9 pm. We found a hotel named Aanand with Sangeeta Vegetarian Restaurant downstairs, all meals served on banana leaf.
Next day we visited Sri Rangam, the largest temple in India , spanning 155 acres, and the most important Vishnu temple. It is the foremost of all the 108 Divya Khetras, holy places for Vaishnavas. The vimana (tower) above the Deity room is plated with gold. There are 27 gopurams which span the seven enclosures leading to the inner sanctum. The Raja Gopuram, at the southern entrance is the largest in India , 13 stories and 235 feet high.
The Ranganatha deity was originally worshipped by Lord Brahma, who gave Him to King Isvaku. Ranganatha was brought to Ayodhya and worshipped by Lord Ramachandra Himself. When Vibhisana came to Ayodhya after helping Rama to conquer his brother Ravana, He asked permission to take the Deity back to Sri Lankha. Permission was given on the condition that if the Deity were set down anywhere en route, the Deity would stay in that spot. Sri Ranganathji, who wanted to stay on an island on the banks of the Kaveri, tricked Vibhisana into touching ground there. Vibhisana was very disappointed he would not get to install the Deity in Sri Lankha. As consolation, Sri Ranganatha said He would always face south, in the direction of Sri Lanka . This is why, though all Deities traditionally face east, Sri Ranganatha faces south instead.
We could have spent a few rupees to get a quicker darshan but waited in the queue for about 45 minutes. The wait gave me a chance to chant through all my slokas in preparation to see the famous 21 foot long Deity of Vishnu (Ranganatha) lying down. Though the temple “enforcers” were adamant about keeping the line moving and even semi roughly pushing lingerers, when Vai and I got before the deity, it seemed all rules were suspended. The priests, oblivious of the hundreds behind us waiting to see the deity, started offering us blessings, giving us caritamrta, tulasi, prasadam.and offering explanations. The huge Ranganatha was lying deep in the recessed deity room, a little hard to see clearly. One of the priests took a huge ghee lit lamp and slowly moved it from the bejeweled crown to the tip of the gold plated feet. On the body of the Lord was a vastra (garment) totally encrusted with bone fide jewels. Especially after I put a generous rupee donation the plate, I think the priests would have let us stay there all day, drinking in the nectar of the Lords magnificence, but we moved on after 6 or 7 minutes out of deference to those who waited in the line behind.
From the main darshan we looked again at the huge Garuda, visited the Samadhi tomb of Ramnujacharya, took darshan of a Narasingha Dev Deity, visited the hall of one thousand pillars, and perused a museum on the premises. In one temple we stopped for half an hour to observe a fire sacrifice in full swing, performed by three Sri Vaishnava brahmins.
In the bazaar we bought some items for the gifts store. When the proprietor asked where we were from I handed him one of our temple brochures. He was very happy to receive it, saying, “I know this temple. I visit the web site regularly!”
A few meters outside of the main entrance to the temple one comes upon the footprints of Lord Chaitanya who spent four months here during the rainy season. We did not find the home of Venkatta Bhatta, where Lord Chaitanya stayed, nor the Jagannatha Mutt, as Vai was getting a little overwhelmed by a headache. We stopped in the cool temple room of the small ISKCON center. Vai soaked her head under a tap, and then we returned to the hotel.
Next day a morning train took us back to Chennai and the Udipi Home Hotel where Blake and Mikela awaited us, having come the previous night from the airport. They were rested and we went out on the town, which is to say we lunched at the Vrndavan Restaurant on TTK Road (Woodlands Hotel) and visited the Parthasarathy and Kapaleswara temples. More on those temples, as well as Blake and Mikela’s initial reactions to India , in our next installment.
