KANCHIPURAM - A HISTORICAL AND RELIGIOUS PLACE OF TEMPLES AND SILK SAREES IN TAMIL NADU

Kanchipuram or Kanchi is a town about 72-75 kms from Chennai in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. Sriperumbudur, where the memorial of former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi is located comes in between Chennai and Kanchi. In Hindu religion, Kanchi is considered as one of the holy towns in the country. It lies on the bank of the River Pallar. The city is also sacred for Buddhists and Jains too. Though it is believed that the ancient town of Kanchi had about 1000 temples, now only a little over one hundred of them are found. Even then the number is larger than many other places. Because of this, there would be a festival throughout the year in one or the other temple in the town.

Apart from the temples of the town, silk Industry has also deep rooted in this area for over hundreds of years and the name Kanchipuram saree is famous for its hand woven Silk Saree. The entire households of the town are involved in this trade in a way.

Apart from religion, for the general tourists, the temples in Kanchipuram are impressed with the architectural and artistic skills exhibited in it. The temples also stand as a proof of the dominance of South Indian heritage and the city’s glorious past, which was ruled by kings who were not only powerful but loved and patronized arts and crafts.

The notable temples are, Kamakshi Amman Temple,  Ekambareswar Temple, Kailasanathar Temple and Devarajaswami Temple among the many.

Kanchipuram is connected by road and rail. Chennai International Airport is the nearest airport about 70kms away.

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Temple at Kanchipuram

Swami Vivekananda memorial, Thiruvalluvar Statue at Kanyakumari, India.

Swami Vivekananda memorial has been built on a rock situated at the meeting point of three seas,  about half a  kilometer away from the mainland Kanyakumari. The memorial is approachable by boat which provides a pleasurable time in the sea.

Swami Vivekananda came down to Kanyakumari in 1892. He sat on meditation on this rock and became powerful spiritual leader and philosopher. The Memorial consists of two main structures namely Vivekananda Mandapam and Sri Pada Mandapam.

Near to this there is another rock where a Statue of Thiruvalluvar  with a height of 133 feet tall stone sculpture in memory of the Tamil poet and philosopher Tiruvalluvar is also installed.

This is a most sought after tourist and religious place. Though there is no accommodation available for stay at the rock memorial, lot of Boarding and lodging facilities are available in the mainland Kanyakumari. Boat is the only mode of transport to reach the memorial from the mainland Kanyakumari.

View of the 2 memorials from mainland Kanyakumari

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POONDI MADHA BASILICA IN THANJAVUR DISTRICT NEAR VELANKANNI CHURCH TAMIL NADU

Poondi Madha Church/ Basilica is a Christian Pilgrim Centre in a small village Poondi, situated in between the two rivers namely Cauvery (Kavery) and Colleroon (Kollidam) of Thanjavur District, in Tamilnadu, India. On 03.08.1999, the shrine was declared as Minor Basilica by Pope John Paul II. Many pilgrims coming to Velankanni Church also visit this place. The famous tourist and Hindu pilgrim centre Thanjavur is very close to this place.

Sufficient rooms are available in the church compound for the pilgrims who want to stay at night. Also a well maintained restaurant run by the Church is also available nearby.

Frequent bus services are available from Thanjavur to the nearest town Thirukattupalli which is about 3kms away from Poondi. From there frequent buses are available to Poondi. Direct buses are also available from Thanjavur / Velankanni to Poondi Madha but is very limited. Nearest rail head is Budalur. Please also remember that there is also a nearby place called Poondi. So while inquiring, specifically mention poondi madha.

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MADURAI MEENAKSHI TEMPLE, TAMIL NADU, INDIA

The twin Temple comples of Madurai City - Sri Meenakshi and Sundareshwar is synonymous with the city itself. It is not only one of the largest temples of India, but also one of the oldest too. It grew to the present form with an area of about 65000 Sq. mt. with the generous contributions of each dynasty which ruled the city of Madurai. The temple is believed to be first came into existence about 2000 years ago. However, it was substantially expanded during the ruling period of Thirumalai Nayak (1623-55 AD).

Though the temple is a twin complex of Lord Siva in his incarnation as Sundareshwar and his wife Meenakshi (Parvati), meaning fish-eyed, is the main deity unlike in many other temples where Lord Siva used to be the presiding or the main deity. There are four huge gateways enclosing the twin temples. For the Hindu pilgrims (non Hindus are not allowed inside the sanctum sanctorum) it is a pious area but for the tourists it is a marvellous structure with its many paintings and sculptures adopted from the Hindu religion with unimaginable accuracy and perfectness on the hard rock pieces.

A striking feature of the temple is the astonishing structure known as the “Ayiramkaal Mandapam” or the Hall of Thousand Pillars and each pillar features high, decorative, bold sculptures that look life like. If you look from any angle, these pillars appear to be in a straight line, reminding the perfect architectural technology of those days and making it a masterpiece in itself. In the outermost corridors are situated the musical pillars carved out of stones. When it is tapped, each pillar produces different musical note.

There is also a pond in the middle of the complex making it more beautiful. Outer part of the temple is used as market place where tourists as well as pilgrims can buy various articles of their choice.

Madurai city is well connected by Air, Rail and Road. There are also many other tourist places near to Madurai such as Kodai Canal, Kanyakumari etc. in Tamil Nadu and Thekkadi, Munnar etc.in Kerala. Conducted tours are also available to these places from Madurai.

 

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VELANKANNI CHURCH, VELANKANNI, TAMIL NADU, INDIA

The church of ‘Our Lady of Good Health’ is situated in the village Velankanni (Vailankanni) of Nagapattinam district of Tamil Nadu State in India. Earlier the Church was under the Jurisdiction of the Nagapattinam Parish of the Roman Catholic Latin Rite. Later on it was raised to the status of an independent parish in 1771. It is a pilgrim centre visited by many devotees every day.

Devotion to Our Lady of Good Health of Velankanni was started from the middle of the 16th century. It is attributed to three miracles in the area where the Basilica now stands and very close to the newly constructed Morning Star Church. The vision of Mary and the Infant Jesus to a local shepherd boy, the curing of a lame buttermilk vendor, and the rescue of Portuguese sailors from a violent sea storm and the stories behind it are based on tradition and there are no tangible proof in support of it. There is also no statement by the church authorities that these miracles are approved by the Vatican. But pouring crowd with gratitude offerings shows their belief in the miracles. Three memorial chapels are erected in those places.

The first vision is said to have occurred in 1570 A.D., when a local shepherd boy was delivering milk to a nearby house. On the way he met a woman holding an infant. The woman begged for some milk for the little one. Without any hesitation, the shepherd boy offered her the milk and he continued on his way to deliver the balance milk. But later he discovered that the jug was completely full of fresh milk without any decrease when he opened the jug for delivering the milk.

The second vision is said to have occurred in 1597 in the same area. A woman with a young boy in her arms appeared to a young crippled boy selling buttermilk. The little boy with the woman asked for some buttermilk, and after drinking it, they had left. But the same miraculous experience was felt by this buttermilk vender too i.e., no decrease of buttermilk even after selling it to many people. He then started running with his lame leg with joy, but found that he was no more lame and cured fully.

The third incident occurred when a Portuguese ship sailing through the sea was caught in a storm in the Bay of Bengal. They invoked the help of the Blessed Virgin Mary under her title "Morning Star". The storm subsided and the 150 men on board were landed there safely. In thanksgiving, the sailors rebuilt the small chapel and dedicated it to Our Lady of Good Health.

Though there is a railway station at Vailankanni, distant route trains are very rare. Passenger trains are available at intervals. But passenger link train and frequent bus services are available to Nagapattinam which is the main rail head to various places. Taxi, Auto-rickshaw etc. are also available. Nearest Airport to Velankanni is at Tiruchirapalli International Airport at distance of about 160 km. There are accommodation facilities  available under the church administration including A.C romms for pilgrims. Also all types of hotel accommodation is available here.