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Couple of days ago we were at Malayankulam, a small village near Uttiramerur, Kanchipuram, one of those rare visits to my paternal ancestors’ village and temple. It brings cheer and also sorrow in equal measure. Happy that at least we still have a connection with our roots, and sad because not a single one of the 60-70 odd Sri Vaishnava families from the village live there anymore. In my own family they had migrated out even during my grandfather’s time and we never even heard him talk about his village or even think of visiting it. We sincerely carried it in our initials, but had no idea what the village was like. All our families had left the village, letting the family deity Veetrirundha Narayanan temple lie in ruins. It must have been in the late 90s when we heard from Parthasarathi mama, a familiar face to us who used to go to Kanchipuram to buy silk sarees, came looking for Malayankulam families about reconstructing the temple. It was a story of miraculous call t...

ध्यात्वा नीलोत्पलश्यामं रामं राजीवलोचनम्। जानकीलक्ष्मणोपेतं जटामुकुटमण्डितम्॥२॥ 'Dhyātvā nilotpalashyāmam Rāmam rājīvalochanam'' । ''Jānakīlakshmanopetam jatāmukutamanditam'' ॥ Let us meditate on the dark-complexioned, blue lotus-eyed Rama । Who is accompanied by Sita and Lakshmana, and is well-adorned with crown of matted hairs Ramam Rajivalochanam, the description of Rama as a Rajivalochana is familiar to all of us who have either followed the Rama Raksha Stotra of Rishi Budhakaushika or simply the most repeated Mangalam, benedictory song at the Carnatic music concerts “rajiva nayana Tyagrajadi vinutamaina”, a Tyagaraja Swami composition. Going by this when one heard of a Rama temple of antiquity, Rajivalochan temple at Rajim, one included it in the itinerary as the must see on a short trip to Chhattisgarh. There was no room for doubt about Rajivalochan being a Rama temple. It was past noon when we reached the ...

I remember reading ‘Mahabhaktavijaya’ in Tamil published by Lifco with stories of Saint poets of India, especially the Maharashtrian Saints Jnaneshwar, Tukaram and Namdev when I was still in school. I gave the book to my maternal grandmother one summer when I was spending my vacation and she was overjoyed read them, as much as I did. At the time I had no clue about the greatness of the work or its original author. For years, I had not heard or read anything about it. I have been living in and out of Bombay/Mumbai for the last 20 years. Have been following abhangs of the Saint poets with great interest and keep dreaming of the day I can visit Dehu, Alandi and Pandharpur and if possible walk with the Palki of Varkaris. It is by accident that I came across this book ‘Stories of Indian Saints’ by Justin E.Abbott and N.R.Godbole at the Motilal Banarasidas shop near Mahalakshmi temple in Mumbai. I read the word Mahipati for the first time. The introduction to the book made me very...

It was when I first came to Bombay in 1990 to work, I got to know of Ahilyabai Holkar. Not much beyond a simple fact she was a queen and that Churchgate junction was named after her, Ahilyabai Holkar chowk. Today there is a marble bust of hers at the junction, with a tacky modern pedestal. Later that decade I got a chance to visit Maheshwar, and I forgot all about Holkar though it was at Ahilyabai ghat that I fell in love with Narmada. Narmada overpowered me so much, that neither the ghat, nor the structures around mattered. But, Maheshwar stood in my mind and heart, as one of the places I most loved in this land. Once again I got an opportunity to visit Maheshwar, in the rainy shravan. I want to see Narmada my dad wished and so a plan was made. We stayed on the banks of Narmada at the new Madhya Pradesh Tourism lodging it was comfortble to do so. We decided to take the boat that evening to the Ahilyabai ghat from where we stayed and told our driver to come and pick u...

Rayalaseema, literally the land of the kings, an arid region in Andhra Pradesh has some phenomenal archaeological sites and famous temples. Who would not know a Tirupati or Srikalahasti temples. Millions visit these two temples every year and the main train junction that connects these two places is a busy Renigunta station. But, look beyond, for this region in the southern end of Rayalaseema has a treasure unknown to many. Gudimallam Shiva is that treasure, by all reckoning the oldest Shiva image found in the country till date. One doesn’t remember the first time one heard Gudimallam or Gudimallam Shiva. But, the image registered in mind over several power point presentations during the Ancient Indian Culture course. There cannot be an AIC or a course in Indian iconography without a mention of Gudimallam Shiva. From larger treatises on Indian iconography to books on Indian temples and images, lots have been written about it, but most of them have remained a knowledge only in acad...

There are very few real Vaidikas left in this country, though many of the shastras, sampradayas that is followed widely consider Vedas as the pramana. Many Brahmin families across the country, though not really Vaidikas in the true sense continue to follow some of the Samskaras prescribed in the Vedas. Vivaha is one such Samskara. We all know that there have been as many as eight different ways of marriage as per the classification and practice available though not all are considered good. Many in modern times may consider the “rituals” related to vivaha meaningless, they may choose to get married under Special Marriage Act in the sub-registrar’s office if they don’t want Hindu marriage. Some who prefer an Arya Samaj wedding to keep the rituals to minimum and also avoid issues there may be involved in mixed sampradaya marriages. In fact one of the Sutras says since there seems to be divergence in rites of marriage, one should ask the women what procedure is to be foll...

This morning I woke up to the images of the grand festival of Kallazhagar descending on to Vaigai River in Madurai. Lakhs gather for days at Madurai celebrating first the wedding of Meenakshi and Sundareswarar, Meenakshi’s coronation and their chariot ride and then the Lord of Thirumalirumsolai, Sundararajan, Azhagan visiting Maduari after making a long detour and back to his abode Azhagar Koil. Then one was reminded that it is also Chitra Pournami, and Buddha Purnima. As usual I wanted to pick up one of the Buddha images from my archives and post them – but decided not to do that as my mind was still lingering on the readings of India’s maritime history. Himanshu Prabha Ray’s ‘Beyond Trade: Cultural Roots of India’s Ocean’ has a topic dedicated to the famous port of Nagapattinam in Tamil Nadu. Over 250 Buddha bronzes were discovered over a period of 50 years from late 19 th century to early parts of 20 th century and were distributed across museums, the chapter said. Photo...

“ One deeply moving moment comes when Pi, a Hindu who has studied the Muslim and Christian faiths, catches a fish, kills it, weeps for having killed it and says, through his tears, "Thank you, Lord Vishnu, thank you for coming in the form of a fish and saving our lives ." – Life of Pi movie review My friend Anu sent me this quote and the link to the Wall Street Journal review, soon after I told her or poured over my anguish about a profound moment in the movie when the theatre erupted in laughter as if it was some Vadivelu comedy. I am not belittling Vadivelu comedy, a fan of several of his scenes and there are profound moments even there. Anu had not seen the movie then and I didn’t describe the scene to her. When I read the review I was shocked at the way the reviewer from a foreign land reacted to it, and how we who I would presume more deeply rooted in spirituality reacted to the same scene. I kept thinking for several days, a...