Mini Temple Trail in Tamil Nadu

Overview: Tamil Nadu is always known for its majestic temples with huge towers. While travelling to Tranqebar, we planned to visit a few of TN's heritage temples. The first temple was the Nataraja temple at Chidambaram, which is a huge complex. It was not as crowded as we had expected, and we went straight to the main deity of Natraja. Going by the famous Chidambara Rahasya, we could see the images of Shiva and Parvati, but on the left side of Lord Shiva, there was a blank space, which the priest said, is the place where another image of Lord Shiva is present but not seen by common public. Within the complex can be seen a huge Kalyani (tank), which is again very common in this part of the country.

Next temple is the Brihadeeswarar temple at Gangaikonda Cholapuram. It resembles the temple with the same name in Tanjore, and also is a UNESCO World heritage site. Living upto its title of one of the 'Greatest Living Chola temples', we were welcomed by a gigantic Nandi statue, looking at the massive Shiva linga, which can be reached by a passage full of carvings. The exterior of the temple is even more fascinating, with huge carvings, and the outer courtyard contains stories inscribed on the temple walls. This is one temple I would recommend anyone visiting Tanjore.

The third temple we visited was the Mayuranathaswami temple at Mayiladuthurai. Loaded with legends, this temple is a typical Chola architecture, with huge gopurams on all the sides of the main temple. There is again a huge kalyani within the temple and is crowded on particular days with people bathing in large numbers.

How to reach: Chidambaram and Mayiladuthurai are well connected by public transport from other parts of the state. Gangaikonda Cholapuram does not have good frequency of buses. However, one can get buses to Jayamkonda and hire an auto to reach the temple. The roads are very good all through the state, so it becomes easy if one has a private vehicle.

The forgotten story of a migration: Nacharamma of South India

This is a story of Nacharamma (fictionised by me to some extent), which is not documented in any inscriptions or ancient texts, but has been told by the ancestors of the community, and also been researched by some historians like M Keshavaiah, Dr Pranarthiharan and a few others.

Overview: Around the early 17th century, the Pilgrims set to sail across the Atlantic to become the first settlers of America. Much before this, a small but no less interesting migration took place in the Southern India of a community called the 'Sankethis'.
It was the summer of 1420 CE, in a place called Sengottai, in Tamil Nadu, along the foothills of the Western Ghats bordering Kerala. The place was flourishing with knowledge of the Vedas where Agraharams were set up. One of the prominent communities of learned people was the Sankethi Iyer community, also known as Sangeethi, derived from the name of the place- Sengottai or Shankotta. Another theory says that they were The group followed Adi Shankara…

Clock Towers of Bangalore

Overview: In the middle of the 18th century, when home clocks and watches were not so common, there was the practice of having huge clocks on top of iconic buildings or religious places having visibility from all the corners. Clock towers were in fashion all across the globe in the 18th to 20th centuries, and some of them had bells as well, which used to ring at every hour. Bangalore too, has had its share of clock towers, though the city has never been known for its clock towers. The iconic Clock tower once stood at the Russell Market in Shivajinagar, which no longer stands today as it was brought down sometime during the middle of the 20th century.
A few standing clock towers can be seen at the City Market, Baldwin Boys school, Jayachamarajendra Polytechnic, Central College, Police training grounds, St John's Church, Corporation office and the newly constructed towers at South End circle and Omkar Hills. Most of these clocks have been provided by HMT.

Know your neighbourhood-3: Madivala, Agara, Koramangala, Bellandur

Overview: Now famous for high rises, branded showrooms and startups, the villages of Madivala, Agara, Koramangala and Domlur are the villages which have seen an ancient past.

Madivala village was a flourishing agrahara under the Cholas and Hoysalas. There is an ancient Chola era temple, which was later expanded by the Hoysalas behind the road opposite to the Silk Board. This Someshwara temple is of high historical importance, with Tamil inscriptions all along the outer walls of the temple. The most important being the 1247 CE inscription which talks about the grants of some lands near the big tank of Vengalur (2nd inscription of the city name after the one in Begur). This inscription is by an official Pemmataiyar of Veppur (Begur) for the deity Sembeshwaram (Someshwara) at Tamaraikkirai (Tavarekere).

Agara is situated at the junction of the ORR and Sarjapura Road, and is in existance since the Gangas. A 870 CE Ganga inscription mentions about the fixing of sluices to 2 tanks (Agara Lake…

the light baggage

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