Jan
31
Most people in Chennai would be baffled to know that there is a famous locality in the city whose name translates to “Sacred Lily Tank”. This one can attribute partly to the classicism of the name, and partly to the anglicism of the same.
Triplicane, a name which which actually can pass of as a borough in some English county, is the anglicised form of Thiruvallikkeni, whose Tamilised form is thiru alli keni, and hence sacred lily tank. I consider the Parthasarathy temple in Triplicane different, rather unique because it is probably the only temple where one can find Lord Vishnu sporting a moustache. The explanation I got was that the Lord (Partha + sarathy = charioteer to Arjuna, the fabled bowman) was taking part in the Mahabharata war, and hence he was depicted as being bellicose.
The pushkarini or the temple tank (from which the area derives its name) is generally dry around the year owing the lack of rains in Chennai. This time, however, thanks to the more-than-copious rainfall, the tank is a visitor’s delight.
Here are a couple of pictures I received in the mail. The pictures were taken on the 1st of January, and show the tank full of water. Nice ones, I thought. For those who know the place, the sender wishes to add that the photos were taken from east to west, in front of the Yadhugiri Mantap.
Related posts:
- KumbakonamThe SArangapANi Temple at Kumbakonam (Thiru Kudanthai) ranks high in the hierarchy of Srivaishnava temples. It is one of the Pancharanga kshetrams - the five Ranganatha temples along the banks of the Kaveri river. The temple complex is imposing from the outside, and unique with regards to its innermost prakaaram - the sanctum sanctorum, which is in the form of a chariot. Lord Sarangapani is also known as ArAvamudhan. Nammaazhwar, in a verse that is synonymous with the temple itself,...
- Kumbakonam - 2 [caption id="" align="alignright" width="180" caption="Image by Senthil Mentil via Flickr"][/caption] In writing about Thirumazhisai Aazhwar's "கிடந்தவாறு எழுந்திருந்து பேசு வாழி கேசனே" verse, I had stated that this is something that people instantly recall when they think of the SArangapANi / ArAvamudhan temple. But that is not the only verse that is intimately associated with the sacred temple town. In the classic book, "Hindu Dharma" (Tamil original: தெய்வத்தின் குரல் / Deivaththin Kural), the Shankaracharya of the Kanchi Mutt, Sri Chandrasekharendra Saraswati, speaks eloquently...
- Calendar blunderI came to know recently that our Chief Minister has passed a law in the Tamil Nadu Assembly which declares January 14 as the Tamil New Year's Day from 2009. While this is absolutely, totally, completely whatever-ly ridiculous, it gives rise to an interesting confusion. Surely, some of our paguththarivu pagalavans will follow the Chief Minister's idea of the Tamil New Year. However, old fogeys like yours truly will still "cling to" tradition and observe April 14 (or Chithirai 1)...
- Even if you are God…Yesterday, my uncle and I took a drive as far as Tiruninravur, a small temple town, some 20 kilometres from Chennai. On the way, we were discussing a host of issues. The topic turned to how the three primary Gods of the Hindu pantheon all had divine consorts, and how this was a distinguishing feature of the Hindu religion.My uncle remarked that an exception was the Lord (Venkateshwara / Srinivasa / Balaji) of Tirumala, the most prominent of all Hindu...
- Yes!For the second year in a row, I didn't fall for Google's spoof*! Oh, and by the way, to whomsoever it may concern: "Happy April Fools Day!" *But I almost constructed a mental post about how bad this new idea would be....
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Arunkumar Ravi on 
January 31st, 2006 at 2:48 pm
Happy to see your blogs again. Keep up the work.