THE LORD CALLED AND WE WENT

I have been waiting for 15 years to go to Palani. My mother was very ill towards the last two years of her short life and she would pray to every single God and Goddess in our huge pantheon. She spent the last one year with Murali and me and in one of our conversations she wanted me to go to Palani and pray for her recovery. But her illness was such that every extra day we got with her was a bonus for us and huge suffering for her. She smiled through it and Appa was always by her side to help her deal with her  painful moods.

I had told quite a few of my friends about wanting to visit Palani and then suddenly it all fell into place. Akhila and Ravi were wanting to visit Coimbatore to visit with Ravi's elder brother Shankar and wife Ramani. I also started calling them Anna and Manni. And Palani is just 110 kms from here. And since we were there we also checked into Dhanvantari, Isha and Marudamalai. Yes it was a tad hectic, but I had good company in Akhila and three good hosts at home in Coimbatore, since Ravi did not travel with us. We would return tired and were plied with tea and snacks and then just this side of the sunset, the glasses would be brought out and I had the honour of opening a fresh bottle of Glenlivet.

Shankar and Ramani live in a huge house, with a well tended garden, which grows everything. I was given this huge room, with a huger bed with instructions about the geyser and so on. I walked into the room, peeped out of the curtain, saw huge open ground and then requested Akhila to be my roommate. Darkness depletes the courage out of me and I can become a blubbering fool. Anyway that issue was also sorted out.

We left for Dhanavantari temple, the abode of the Hindu god of medicine and an avatar of Lord Vishnu. There are many temples dedicated to this lord and invariably there is also an Ayurveda hospital attached to it, In Coimbatore it is in Ramanthapuram. The temple is small and peaceful, with lots of lamps and though there is plenty of activity outside, the calm of the inside is soothing. Prayers for the good health of all is a constant now, especially after the pandemic.

A strange thing happened. Arul Jyothy our driver had switched on his GPS to take us to this temple and Ms Google was loud and giving directions. After sometime we realised that when she said we had to take the left, Arul would take right. Soon Akhila switched on her GPS and her map showed the same path that Arul was taking. Sure, the world is round and all roads lead to and all that. But why was Ms Google shouting different directions while Akhila's Ms Google was showing the exact opposite direction?

But since we had come to pray for the good health of all, that was done and we returned to drive a long way to Isha. But in between we had neera, an unfermented toddy, kept in large plastic vats and served in little palm troughs, with the palm frond tied at both the ends. The neera was fresh, sweet and yummy and here they also add one fresh and tender ice apple into it, with the skin and all. It was so delicious, we went to heaven and all. Could have had a few more, but time constraints stopped us.

Ice apple is taati munjal in Telugu, nongu in Tamil, Tadgola in Marathi. One of the most wonderful creations of nature, you can chill them in the fridge and then watch a crime film, without feeling any pangs. The neera is also called as padaneer here and probably if kept for a little longer in the sun, it would turn to a delicious, heady toddy. Did not experiment.

Isha was getting all ready for Shivarathri celebrations. The ramp where Sadguru will do his heady dance had been laid and the huge Adi Yogi face looks down upon you calmly. It is an extremely calming sight, in spite of the fact that there were two cranes working around the statue. And then we walk towards the entrance in a bullock cart. Most charming experience. Apparently there are several bullocks and they all have shifts and lunch hours and such. A metal seating arrangement is attached to the yoke of the bull and it merrily takes you to the ticket counter. At Rs. 10 I found it very relaxing, fun-filled and a short trip. The ticket too is not expensive, though you need to leave your bags behind.

And then you enter the Sarpadwar. It is all enticing and welcoming with volunteers ready to guide you, explain to you and all with a smile. We were not keen on watching a little film on the Theertakund, the bathing centres for men and women and were walking away, but the volunteer gently told us to watch the same. It was interesting apart from the fact that each Theertha kund is a super structure, Surajkund for the men and Chandrakund for the women.

From here it is a short barefoot walk to the Dhyanalingam. Almost Grecian in its structure, it has huge steps and is a bit of a struggle, but they have now built additional wooden steps to make it easier. It is quiet in spite of the many footfalls and volunteers are constantly guiding you. I went in, did a pradakshina and was returning when I was asked to stay back and I said I could not sit either on the ground or for that matter a short stool and the volunteer guided me to a tall stool. Nice. It is meditative and they insist we must sit there for a period of time and then the gong goes, when all of us can come out, again quietly.

The next stop was at the Isha Store, a treasure trove, but I was there to pick up stuff for my friend Neelam Varma, who runs a shop at Tala, one of the gates of the Badhavgarh Tiger Reserve. Her shop Malaya is a well researched little place which has various artefacts from across the country. She is also trying revival of certain arts by travelling and finding the artisans and getting them to make the products. Some of them will probably die a natural death because of the lack of knowledge, awareness and a callous attitude towards handicrafts and handlooms. About that another time though.

The Isha canteen has a huge menu, but for some reason we  wanted to eat out and so Arul picked us up on the other side, saving us a walk in the noon sun and we had meals at a place called Anandam, run by a very handsome lady. Lovely steel plate with eight cups and a huge bowl of rice and one crisp applam and a very red looking freshly made lemon pickle, which was delicious. Nice meal and we slurped through most of the items except for the rice, but she assured us that it would be fed to the cows or the dogs. After this small good deed we headed towards home but with mission in mind.

We had to pick up sambar onions, those delicious pieces of flavour, which take the mickey out of you while peeling, but disappear once you add it to your sambar or vethal khozambu. Larger in size and much cheaper than what is available in our stores here, we bought a few kilos of the same, not bothering about the weight or if it was allowed in the flight.

Feeling good about ourselves and a little bit cleansed because of the compulsory dhyanam, we returned home. Ravi was ready for a trip to his favourite temple at Marudamalai. He normally walks it up from home on Baratidasan Veedhi to the temple, close to five kms and then climbs up to the temple. For him it is a breeze. But this time he accompanied us till the base of the temple and then it was just 70 steps to greet Lord Muruga.

Will tell you about this and our visit to Palani in the next.