Pilgrimage to Vaitheeswaran Koil

When, I have planned for a new blog on travel writing, I thought of writing my visit to Vaitheeswaran Koil, the abode of my family deity as my first article in the blog.

Vaitheeswaran Koil also known as Pullirukkuvelur is one among the famous Shiva temples in Tamil Nadu. The deity Vaithyanatha Swami, as the name indicates has healing powers to cure both the mental and physical sufferings of those who believe in him. The temple is one among the famous Nava Graha abodes in Tamil Nadu and the deity is Ankaraga (Mars).

The temple is a family shrine for most of the families hailing from the villages in Tanjore and Kumbakonam. It is a custom for all the families including those who have moved to various other states in India or to other parts of the world to visit the temple at least once in a year or at the first available opportunity to offer their prayers. Normally the first tonsure for their children will be performed at the temple.

    

My first visit to the temple, took place way back in 1951, when I was taken to the temple as an infant by my father.  My grand-father and grandmother who have named me after the famous Shivalinga of Thiruvidaimaruthur, Jyothir Mahalingam also were there with me along with my mother. My father on a different occasion had told me, how the journey from Thiruvidaimaruthur a sleepy village close to Kumbakonam was performed in a bullock cart. I have visited the temple for a number of times afterwards.

Recently in 2011 February, when my daughter came from Sydney, Australia, along with my grandson we visited the temple to perform tonsure for my grandson and to visit the other temples close by.

Since, the trip was planned on a short notice; we thought it better to travel by a car rather than in a train or bus and booked for a Mahindra Logan with Fast Track Call Taxi. The idea of my booking Fast Track services was not appreciated by my friends who feared about the efficiency of the driver to manage the long journey. Fortunately for us, the company had sent a good young driver and a new vehicle.

Though, quality dining facilities are available in almost all the smaller towns in Tamil Nadu, India, to avoid any food related complications for my daughter and grandson who were about to leave for Australia in the following week we prepared and carried food items such as chapathi, idly, tamarind rice and curd rice and snack items at home for the tour. Also to avoid water contamination we took bottled water from home.

Ganapathi, the driver sent by Fast Track, had called me around 4.30 in the morning to confirm my house address and we started around 05.00 AM from my home. We took the national highway (NH) instead of the scenic ECR and reached Vaitheeswaran Koil around 10.00 AM via Tindivanam, Pondicherry, Cuddalore , Chidambaram and Sirkazhi. We took the bypass road to go without touching Chengleput.

Being a week day there was not much traffic on the road and the drive was very smooth. It was greenery all the way and the paddy fields on both the sides of the road with new saplings appeared green. We lowered the side glasses and breathed fresh air all the way.

I took the assistance of one A.V.Ramachandra Gurukal at the temple for making tonsure and archana arrangements. We stayed at his typical 5 partitioned (anju kattu) village type house with all modern amenities to freshen up. He has sent one of his assistants to help us.

The aged barber at the temple heeded to our request and used the blade and savlon lotion provided by us during the tonsure process. My one and half year old grandson sat on my lap and enjoyed the shaving of hair without crying and the temple barber has completed the shaving without a single cut. We took bath at the bath room and used the hot water facility provided.

It is an age old practice at the temple to dilute small pieces of jaggery at the temple tank known as Siddhamurta Teertham and salt and pepper at the place assigned for the purpose and we did it. The water at the tank looked muddy and found papers floating. On one of the earlier occasions when I came here as a boy, my father and his brother swam across and floated over the tank water, which I remember looked very clean then.

We performed archanas at the sannidhi’s of Pillayar, Vaidyanatha Eswarar, Thaiyalnayaki Amman, Selvamuthu Kumaran (Murugan) and Angarakan. We offered our prayer for the good health and prosperity of every one. Since we had plans to visit other temples en route we distributed all the prasadams received at the temple.

Though we have visited the temple for a number of times before we always make it a point go around the beautiful and massive temple all through its tall granite walls and inner corridors. We offered our prayers to Sri Nataraja, Sivakami, Durga, Sun, Sapta Kannikas, 63 Nayanmars sannadhis in the southern corridor. We also went to the eastern outer corridor to pick leaves of the sacred Neem (Margosa) tree considered as auspicious and bought the famous marunthu urundai prasadam (found mud balls mixed with other elements) for distribution among known people at home.

The place close to dwajasthambam (flag mast of the temple), where we used to see the temple elephant Thaiyalnayaki, wore a deserted look. The elephant, which used bring joy to the children with its typical movements and occasional vocal sounds has died a few years back due to old age. We felt immensely pleased and proud when my grandson performed Namaskar for the first time ever at the place. He did it without any prompting and we considered it as the blessing of Lord Ganapathi. 

This time too we missed our usual Pongal and Vadai breakfast with coffee at the Sri Thaiyal Nayaki Vilas Hotel. I shared my earlier eating experiences and the mouthwatering dishes that were available at the hotel with my daughter when we crossed the hotel close to the main entrance of the temple.

Though I had been to Vaitheeswaran Koil for a number of occasions, I never had time to visit any of the famous nadi jothidam places, which is drawing visitors from all over India and world and I could not make it this time too. 

The driver who preferred to remain in the car had a short nap, got freshened up and was ready for the next leg of the tour to Thirukarugavur via Mayavaram, Kumbakonam and Papanasam.