Kerala is surely God's own country! In these cash-crunch times, there are no lines at the ATMs and yes, these ATMs are actually functional! It was not an isolated incident- we withdrew cash multiple times, at the airport and elsewhere too. May be, God's own country has a divine currency....all its own- they don't seem to care for our measly 100 and 500 rupee notes!
Trivandrum is simple, much like its Domestic Airport. The monstrosity of mall-culture....is yet to take over the city. There is a languid feel to life on the street, none of the ugly traffic snarls which plague the metros for instance. Don't know if it is a reflection of Kerala's literacy numbers, or the place we stayed, but MG Road, Trivandrum's MG Road that is.....abounds with book-shops. It's a bookworm's delight!
A few things caught the eye......public-transport, not overly crowded and the buses- all new and gleaming....with full, open windows (no window-bars). A swanky next-gen bus-stop.....with elegant seating arrangement and catchy billboards.
And yes, an ongoing protest of sorts....with a little group camped on the footpath, and a rhythmic chorus...to give expression to the voice of dissent!
The weather.....comfortably humid at this time of the year.
Padmanabhaswamy Temple is one of Trivandrum's main attractions. The gopuram is characteristic. It's as if the gopuram was made with the usual proportions and then, someone changed the mind and patted the whole structure down, as one would...a sand-castle! The result- it falls really wide at the base....but the height doesn't quite match the width. The gopuram has an off-white coat of paint, which masks the antiquity of the structure.
Padmanabhaswamy is Lord Vishnu. He reclines on the serpent Adi Shesha. What distinguishes this pose from Lord Ranganatha at the Srirangam Temple, is the right-hand hanging down. The finger-tips touch a shiva-linga.
"Padmanabha" is the one.... from whose navel....(naabhi), a lotus (padma) emerges. The lotus signifies this world. Like a lotus, everything in the world has a symmetry, a pattern, an order....and to the eye of the beholder....it is attractive and a source of wonder!
Through the lotus-metaphor, it shows that the world has its origin and being in the Lord.
Where do we find this interpretation? In the Purusha Sukta. It says... "naabhyaam aaseet antariksham". "Space" (antariksham)....emerged from the "naabhi" of the Lord. And by extension..."space" includes all the five-elements. And the world is but a combination of these five-elements (space, air, fire, water, earth). Thus, we can relate the imagery of Padmanabhaswamy to this grand vision.....a vision wherein...whatever we see in the world....is but Him. And He cares for us, and nourishes us, through that lotus stalk as it were, like a mother through her umbilical cord!
While our mind is occupied in these lofty thoughts, it is jolted with practical issues which hold us hostage before the temple-entry. Mainly, the dress-code. For the uninformed, you cannot enter the temple in a regular shirt-trousers or salwar. Men should be in a dhoti and no shirt. Women have to be in a sari or its equivalent. There are enough eyes to confirm whether you subscribe to the dress-code or not...as you walk down the street to the temple. If you're caught napping, you can always purchase a dress which meets the requirements. The shops are well stocked. Cell-phones, cameras and eatables have to be deposited in a cloak-room to be claimed later. All this takes time. Give yourself that time.
Don't worry....we were well-prepared! It allowed us the luxury to scour the crowd...in their quaint dresses. Men in first-time dhotis...which clung to them dangerously....and women in a newly purchased off-white drapery wrapped right over their tucked-in Punjabi-suits!
The temple is crowded, but not to a point where it becomes irksome and you want to give-up. Plus, for a little price, there is provision to skirt the crowd and surge ahead in line for an exclusive darshan.
The interiors of the temple are grand- with sculpted, stone pillars...and exquisite figurines on each pillar....down the entire corridor. There are open sand-courtyards to give a welcome break from the labyrinthine corridors and crowd.
The details become sketchy after a point. We catch an "ugra narasimha" shrine just before the main-canopy. The main-mandapa is all gold. Three doors give us a quick glimpse- one to His face, the second to his middle and the third...to his feet. The dwara-paalaka (door-keepers) figures are special. They majestically rest their foot over a hooded snake as if it were a footstool!
With milling crowd, it's tough to register details of the Lord. The hand hanging down....a faint outline of the feet....is all that stays with us. It's enough. We pass by the Rama-Lakshmana and the Kshetra-paalaka shrine followed by "Tiruvembadu" Krishna....an alluring idol of Krishna...smeared in sandal-paste and with beady eyes!
A pick-up of delicious "Aravana paayasam" prasada-tins and a stop at the gift-shop complete the visit. Our hands are full with a clutch of curios and knick-knacks for the mantle-piece- wooden procession elephants, elephant heads, picture-frames of the Lord and the temple. It's been a full-morning.....and an experience, at once....rich and divine!
Trivandrum is simple, much like its Domestic Airport. The monstrosity of mall-culture....is yet to take over the city. There is a languid feel to life on the street, none of the ugly traffic snarls which plague the metros for instance. Don't know if it is a reflection of Kerala's literacy numbers, or the place we stayed, but MG Road, Trivandrum's MG Road that is.....abounds with book-shops. It's a bookworm's delight!
A few things caught the eye......public-transport, not overly crowded and the buses- all new and gleaming....with full, open windows (no window-bars). A swanky next-gen bus-stop.....with elegant seating arrangement and catchy billboards.
And yes, an ongoing protest of sorts....with a little group camped on the footpath, and a rhythmic chorus...to give expression to the voice of dissent!
The weather.....comfortably humid at this time of the year.
Padmanabhaswamy Temple is one of Trivandrum's main attractions. The gopuram is characteristic. It's as if the gopuram was made with the usual proportions and then, someone changed the mind and patted the whole structure down, as one would...a sand-castle! The result- it falls really wide at the base....but the height doesn't quite match the width. The gopuram has an off-white coat of paint, which masks the antiquity of the structure.
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| Quick Ink and water-color sketch- Just after temple visit! |
Padmanabhaswamy is Lord Vishnu. He reclines on the serpent Adi Shesha. What distinguishes this pose from Lord Ranganatha at the Srirangam Temple, is the right-hand hanging down. The finger-tips touch a shiva-linga.
"Padmanabha" is the one.... from whose navel....(naabhi), a lotus (padma) emerges. The lotus signifies this world. Like a lotus, everything in the world has a symmetry, a pattern, an order....and to the eye of the beholder....it is attractive and a source of wonder!
Through the lotus-metaphor, it shows that the world has its origin and being in the Lord.
Where do we find this interpretation? In the Purusha Sukta. It says... "naabhyaam aaseet antariksham". "Space" (antariksham)....emerged from the "naabhi" of the Lord. And by extension..."space" includes all the five-elements. And the world is but a combination of these five-elements (space, air, fire, water, earth). Thus, we can relate the imagery of Padmanabhaswamy to this grand vision.....a vision wherein...whatever we see in the world....is but Him. And He cares for us, and nourishes us, through that lotus stalk as it were, like a mother through her umbilical cord!
While our mind is occupied in these lofty thoughts, it is jolted with practical issues which hold us hostage before the temple-entry. Mainly, the dress-code. For the uninformed, you cannot enter the temple in a regular shirt-trousers or salwar. Men should be in a dhoti and no shirt. Women have to be in a sari or its equivalent. There are enough eyes to confirm whether you subscribe to the dress-code or not...as you walk down the street to the temple. If you're caught napping, you can always purchase a dress which meets the requirements. The shops are well stocked. Cell-phones, cameras and eatables have to be deposited in a cloak-room to be claimed later. All this takes time. Give yourself that time.
Don't worry....we were well-prepared! It allowed us the luxury to scour the crowd...in their quaint dresses. Men in first-time dhotis...which clung to them dangerously....and women in a newly purchased off-white drapery wrapped right over their tucked-in Punjabi-suits!
The temple is crowded, but not to a point where it becomes irksome and you want to give-up. Plus, for a little price, there is provision to skirt the crowd and surge ahead in line for an exclusive darshan.
The interiors of the temple are grand- with sculpted, stone pillars...and exquisite figurines on each pillar....down the entire corridor. There are open sand-courtyards to give a welcome break from the labyrinthine corridors and crowd.
The details become sketchy after a point. We catch an "ugra narasimha" shrine just before the main-canopy. The main-mandapa is all gold. Three doors give us a quick glimpse- one to His face, the second to his middle and the third...to his feet. The dwara-paalaka (door-keepers) figures are special. They majestically rest their foot over a hooded snake as if it were a footstool!
With milling crowd, it's tough to register details of the Lord. The hand hanging down....a faint outline of the feet....is all that stays with us. It's enough. We pass by the Rama-Lakshmana and the Kshetra-paalaka shrine followed by "Tiruvembadu" Krishna....an alluring idol of Krishna...smeared in sandal-paste and with beady eyes!
A pick-up of delicious "Aravana paayasam" prasada-tins and a stop at the gift-shop complete the visit. Our hands are full with a clutch of curios and knick-knacks for the mantle-piece- wooden procession elephants, elephant heads, picture-frames of the Lord and the temple. It's been a full-morning.....and an experience, at once....rich and divine!
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