Kadaimugam 2024

 It started well with an announcement of the trip mid-July 2024 to all regular participants. The usual limit is 14, a group that can be fit into one Tempo Traveller (TT). Anything more than that will split the group into two vehicles, which may make it challenging for the organizer. I was expecting around 15 to sign up. Normal cancellations being around 2 or 3, we may end up at 14 or less. Unusually, all regulars signed up shortly after the message was sent; later I got to know that one person made a point to call a few more and alerted, “seekram reply confirm pannidu, illeinaa avan waitlist-la potruvaan!”.

Tickets were booked on the ARP day, plan being: onward by usual Uzhavan Exp to Mayiladuthurai and return by Uzhavan Exp from Kumbakonam. WhatsApp group was created and details of tickets shared.  The initial tally was 18, 14 to be accommodated in the TT and 3 to get into Ramesh’s car taking turns amongst us.

My primary target was to complete the only two pending PPS temples in the Kumbakonam belt – Senganur and Pasupati Koil. My earlier two attempts to these temples were met with locked doors and unavailable Sivachariars – I didn’t want to take any risk this time. I had one for forenoon and one for afternoon, with all other temples planned around these two visits. Incidentally, the Kadaimugam day of 2024 happened to be Ippasi Pournami – the day that sees Annabhishekam festival in all Sivan temples. I was confident, I will be able to cover them both without any hiccups.

The usual period of lull went on from mid-July to end of October. I started my homework/ prep work by first week of November. Got hold of the Sivachariar of Kallar Pasupati Koil (KCC), whom I met during my visit to Thanjavur a few years ago and checked with him on the temple opening time at Pasupati Koil main temple PPS – he asked me to call one day prior and assured that the darshan can be had without any problem. I then got hold of the Sivachariar at Senganur and arranged for the darshan. He informed me that the Sivan koil will be open from 9 AM to 10.30 AM and the Perumal koil will be open from 7 AM to 9 AM. He asked me to be there around 8.30 to cover both. Next was to get hold of a person in Tirupanandal town so I can check if we can have darshan in Oorudaiappar Koil (KCC), an unknown temple in the main road of that town. Luckily enough, I got hold of the Maniayakkarar of the temple – he informed me that the Sivachariar of main temple goes to Oorudaiappar around 8 AM for poojai and will return in 15-20 minutes. However, if we are not keen on haarathi and poojai, he can help us open the main door of the temple and we can have darshan through grill gate anytime.

As always, November was brimming with threats of heavy rains and impending cyclones. Though the travelling gang had questions on whether our trip will be affected, they did not ask it openly as the answer will eventually be, “we went on a cyclone landfall day in 2013 and during heavy rains in 2015, trip will stay as planned this year!”.

Anand (my brother) had to drop off a week before the trip as he had an important meeting to attend in his office, my son Vaibhav had to drop off a week before the trip as he had exams scheduled on that Friday. Radhakrishnan called me up on Thursday Nov. 14 morning to inform that he had to drop off due to a personal requirement at home front. Srikanth called on Nov. 14 morning and informed me that he has returned to India from his trip and was in Delhi – I immediately told him, “then your attendance is confirmed”. He threw a bomb shell and informed that he had problems with his baggage and missed his connecting flight to Chennai. I still had slim hopes in my mind and told him that I will wait till 6 PM – the last cut off for cancelling train tickets. He was practical and told me that it will be challenging as he had not got good rest for two days in a row. Finally, though he reached Chennai by late afternoon, he had to drop off due to the demanding schedule of the trip that may ask from travellers. We ended up being 14 of us, 13 aboard the train and Ramesh driving overnight from Puducherry.

Rains were on and off that Thursday night. Subram, Balajee (first-timer) and Sasi boarded at Egmore. Ram, Aswath, Prabhu and I boarded at Mambalam. K Srini, N Srini, Sakthi, Kalyan, Anand and Ranga boarded at Tambaram. I had power naps on and off all through the journey. Never forgot to witness the flurry of crossings in the mainline section after Villupuram Jn (0044/ 0049). We halted at Panruti (0114/ 0118) for Up Uzhavan, crossed a G9 hauled heavy load BCNHS freight at Nellikuppam (0138) and halted at Tiruppadiripuliyur. I slept after TDPR and got up when we halted at Chidambaram (0240/ 0245). We crossed a heavy load freight at Sirkali headed by G9 #32808 (0301/ 0302). We reached Mayiladuthurai Junction at 3.23 AM, 2 minutes BT. Ramesh was already waiting for us in the waiting hall – our first ‘go-to’ place after reaching Junction. After a bio break, we headed to the parking area and boarded our TT. We had space to accommodate Ramesh – so he parked his car in the town and joined us as one group.

Forenoon Session:

After a short coffee break in a ‘sumaar’ quality tea stall in the bus stand, we went to Laagadam ghat. Kaveri river flows under the railway tracks just before the start of platform at Junction – so one will get to know upfront what the level of water is and whether it is stagnant or flowing, before entering the station. My spotting on that full moon lit wee hours was a river with atleast waist level running water. So, we were all expecting a pleasant session in the ghat. It was smooth until we finished our customary three dips and recital of the ‘thangaiyai mookkum’ paasuram praising Maa Ganga (remember, Maa Ganga Herself comes in as a pravaakam in Kaveri on Kadaimugam/ Thula snanam day – last day of Ippasi month). The water was warm compared to the chillness in the air. There was a short spell of rain; we all came back to the Vinayakar sannadhi on the bank of the river for shelter. While some of them called it for the day, some ventured in for a second innings after the rains halted. The next spell was heavy and did not halt for almost 20 minutes. We were unable to fit inside the Vinayakar sannadhi and had to rush back in that heavy downpour to the bigger asbestos sheet shelter. Meanwhile, Ramesh’s car keys slid down into one of our bags. He announced he will be taking all our bags and wave them one by one next to his car to locate his key! Thankfully, it was found in one of the bags shortly.

Thanks to a suggestion from Srikanth a month ago to hunt for a short term accommodation for us to refresh after the bath, I was able to get hold of a guest house through our cab wala, Dinesh. A big two bedroom portion in a guest house was let out to us for an hour on rent. We were able to refresh ourselves and get ready for the day’s grind.

First two temples (three stops) are customary: Mayuranathar Koil, Ayyappa Tiffin Centre and Indhalur Koil. Darshan at Mayuranathar was enthralling. We had the first sevai of the day with adukku haarathi being shown just as the screen was taken off in front of the moolavar (in both Eswaran and Ambal sannadhis, similar to last year). The driver was initially shocked to hear we have a fan club amongst us for Ayyappa’s Pongal and Vadai. He suggested there are better and cheaper places to have breakfast – but, the gang was firm in going to Ayyappa’s. Indhalur had uthsavar already seated in the ‘Ther’. We climbed over the thermuttu and hopped on to the center of the Ther to be in front of the Perumal. Did a pradhakshnam inside the Ther and came out to go to the main temple. Moolavar’s veerasayana sevai was as always awesome.

The schedule for the morning began with our TT taking the south bank road via Moovalur and Kuttalam to Thiruvalangadu around 7.45 AM. Not to be confused with another town of the same name near Chennai. Eswaran’s name is also incidentally Vataaranyeswarar in both the temples (giving the name of the town in Tamil: Vata – Aalam – Banyan, Aaranyam – Kaadu – Forest). It was a huge temple with three prakarams. Sivachariar was unavailable (one time poojai only around 9.30 AM). However, the Meikkaaval (security guard) and his wife were doing preparation works for opening the temple at that time. They were happy to open the main doors of inner prakaram for us and have darshan of Eswaran and Ambal.  Not to forget spotting a fragrant Panneer tree in the outer prakaram. The next stop was Thiruvavaduthurai Masilamaneeswarar Koil. Again a huge temple, situated on the other side of the railway line reachable within a 5 minutes of drive. The Sivachariar was so happy to see such a good number of pilgrims and shared a lot of anecdotes and stories. We visited the Thirumoolar samaadhi in the outer prakaram and wrapped up. Incidentally, it was Thirumoolar Gurupoojai day earlier that week.

The next scheduled stop was Tiruppanandal. It was already around 9 AM by the time we started from Thiruvavaduthurai. Google Akka was showing 25 minutes time to reach Tiruppanandal. I made up my mind to skip the Perumal Koil at Senganur in favour of Oorudaiappar. I informed Maniyakkarar that we will be there in 30 minutes. We reached Tiruppanandal Arunajadeswarar temple around 9.30 AM. It is again a huge temple with three huge prakarams. We completed darshan in 10 minutes and were waiting for the Maniyakkarar to arrive (he was attending a family function nearby). While one batch took the TT and went to the bus stand for a bio break, second batch took a stroll in the Sannadhi Street to buy piping hot bajjis, vadais and bondas, having spotted a shop while entering that street before we went inside the temple, the third batch decided to take a power nap in one of the mandapams in the outer prakaram.

With the rebels raising to power, I decided to arrest this drift by taking a call to go to Senganur and come back before the Maniyakkarar arrives; after all Senganur was less than 10 minutes away. But, He had other plans!

We started to Senganur around 9.50 AM. One minute into our journey and just as we crossed the Oorudaiapar koil on the main road, I spotted someone getting down from a cycle and opening the main door of the temple. 9.53 AM: “holdaen, oldaen, vandiya nippaatu…. Thiruppu, thiruppu” was the instruction! The driver was puzzled (might have even cursed me!); took efforts to turn the TT in the sharp curve of the main road and took us back to Oorudaiappar koil. By the time I got down from the TT, I spotted that person taking his cycle and going away towards Tiruppanandal – my cries calling him didn’t reach him either. Luckily for us, we spotted a person inside the temple and the sannadhis were open! It was the Meikkaaval, who came to clean the temple, along with the person who has the main door keys. Apparently, he has charge for a few temples like this and his visit timings for each temple are not fixed and vary day by day. This was the reason the Maniyam didn’t share Meikkaaval’s number. By the time we finished exploring the Kochengannan Maadakkovil (KCC) in its full beauty, the Maniyakkarar himself stepped by unannounced. After exchanging pleasantries and profusely sharing a note of thanks, we departed. It was a true example of Him doing an episode of ‘thaduththaatkolludhal’ to us like how He did to Appar and Sundarar!

Senganur was not far away – we reached there at 10.20 AM. The Sivachariar had informed me that he was out of town that day and another volunteer will be there in the temple till 10.30 AM. The Srinivasa Perumal Koil was open (avatara sthalam of acharya Periyavaachaan Pillai) with one mama waiting for Bhattar to arrive and his wife preparing garlands for Perumal. He asked us to visit Sivan Koil first. It was a satisfying darshan at the temple – the birth place of Chandikeswarar (Sandesa Nayanar); the place where he was given a ‘pattam’ by Eswaran. A beautiful KCC temple with broad inner prakaram at first level and outer prakaram in ground level. One of the two PPS for the day ticked off. By the time we were back at the Perumal koil, the Bhattar too stepped in. We had a wonderful sevai of the ~12 ft high Srinivasa Perumal. Somehow this vigraham reminded me of Saranatha Perumals of Thirucherai and Thiruvadhigai – more a mix of both of Them.

Next scheduled halt was Cholapuram. Two lesser known temples with odd timings, and an unannounced visit – not a favourable combination for our trip. As expected, the temples were closed with only the outer prakaram in open condition. One of them is a KCC. Had to get contended that I atleast got a glimpse of this majestic feature in this temple. We headed straight to Koranattu Karuppur Petti Kaaliamman koil on the north bank of Kaveri, just outside Kumbakonam town. Had a wonderful darshan of Eswaran and Ambal. There was crowd building up near the Kaaliamman Sannadhi. We learned that it was Rahukalam of that Friday and that Kaaliamman box will be opened shortly. Given that we were a bit tired, we decided to stay back and witness the event. The box will be opened during Rahukalams of Tuesdays, Fridays and Sundays. Post the darshan of Kaaliamman (gave goosebumps while seeing Her at close quarters), we had piping hot Ksheerannam (kalkandu saadham) given as prasadam in plantain leaves. It was delicious and super hot that we were unable to hold the liberally filled leaf in our palms!

After a quick visit to Sarangapani Koil to see the ‘kidandhavaaru ezhundhu pesum Kesavan’, we wrapped up our forenoon session and headed to Rayas Grand for lunch.

Lunch was a full meal thali. I decided to head out of Kumbakonam town towards Papanasam to save time before the start of the afternoon session. We started around 2.30 PM. Just as we crossed Sundaraperumal Koil, I thought of considering Thirunallur to spend the afternoon break – a quick check among participants revealed that a good majority of them had not been to that temple before. So Thirunallur it was! I asked the driver to take a left at Vaazhapazha kadai bus stop, cross the railway gate and head to that majestic temple. It started drizzling by the time we went there. Gang decided to take rest inside the TT. I stepped out to check the main door. It was closed with only thittivaasal being open. I jumped in and found a person who was washing the vessels post annadhaanam. I requested him to allow us take rest for an hour or two in the outer prakaram, which he gladly agreed. Surprisingly enough, there were even two jute webbed cots in the mandapam. The gang stepped inside and took a refreshing nap.

Afternoon Session:

The temple, although was scheduled to open at 4.30 PM on regular days, was opened by the Sivachariar at 3.45 PM itself as he had to prepare for the Annabhishekam. While people returned home without having a darshan of Annabhishekam in crowded popular temples in Chennai, there we were, witnessing the same without anyone else in the temple – unhindered view of the festivities in full. This PPS temple is a KCC, with the Swayambhu lingam turning colour five times a day. I have personally witnessed this phenomenon during my earlier three visits. When we were inside the temple, we could witness the lingam slowly turning from copper colour to emerald green while the abhishekam was being done. The Sivachariar applied hot cooked rice over the lingam and placed the metal eye piece along with the suryan and chandran medals. We then started to Papanasam.

Papanasam has three temples: Palaivananathar PPS with an ASI-maintained granary, 108 Ramalingeswarar temple and a Perumal Koil. I wanted to visit the Perumal koil during this trip. It was 5 PM and I was expecting the temple to be open. Unfortunately only the outer prakaram was open. The flower seller outside the temple was kind enough to request one of her friends to go to the Bhattar’s house and inform him that a group of 15 have come all the way from Madras. An 80-year old Bhattar came walking briskly from a nearby house and opened the temple for us. It was a huge temple with 4 prakarams, somehow resembling Raja Mannargudi temple. Moolavar Srinivasar was a beauty to behold. The Bhattar did an awesome sevai of Perumal in his own style. He was excited to host us.

Next up plan for the evening was the ‘Sapta Mangai’ sthalams. These are seven villages in and around Pasupati Koil with names ending in ‘mangai’: Chakramangai PPS, Ariyamangai VS, Soolamangai VS, Pullamangai PPS, Thaazhamangai, Nandimangai and Pasumangai KCC. Total distance will be around 20 km covering all seven of them – we went in the order given above. I had been to Chakramangai and Pasumangai earlier.

We started with Chakramangai. As expected, the temple was literally empty. We finished our darshan and took our van through narrow lanes to park it in one side of the approach to the railway track near Ayyampettai railway station. We got down; crossed the railway track on foot and walked for a km to reach Ariyamangai village (saving 20 minutes each way). Ariyamangai had preparations ongoing for Annabhishekam, entirely coordinated by the villagers themselves. Everyone in the village was occupied in one kainkaryam or the other as a volunteer. Children (about 20) were seated in front of the Eswaran sannadhi with one lady volunteer making them recite the 1008 ‘potri’ sthuthi list. It was such a mesmerizing sight for the evening.

We walked back to our TT and drove towards Soolamangai. Luckily for us the railway gate was open both the times (onward and return). Soolamangai, also known as Soolamangalam, is famous for the Carnatic singers, Soolamangalam Sisters! The sannadhi was closed with a screen when we went. One village man seated at the entrance mentioned that it will take atleast 30 minutes for the screen to open and that the temple will be open till 9 PM. With a difficult decision to make (in favour of not missing a PPS), I was contemplating whether to start now and revisit on the way back to Kumbakonam. At this stage, K Srini spoke from one side of the screen to the Sivachariar on the other side of the screen and got to know that the screen will be taken off shortly and that the temple will be open only for 30 more minutes. It was a divine intervention to make us stay there – we would have otherwise missed this temple while returning. Annabhishekam alankaram was awesome, with vegetables and fruits used to make garlands, eyes, facial features, and necklaces.

After a satisfactory darshan of the Eswaran, Ambal and Sooladhevar (personification of the Trishoolam that Eswaran holds in His hand), we marched to Pullamangai. The Sivachariar of Pasumangai informed me earlier that he was in Madras on that day and all seven temples will be open from 6 PM to 8 PM, and that his cousin was in charge at Pasumangai on that day. We were right on time for the main haarathi and completion of poojai at Pullamangai (Pasupati Koil PPS). It is an architectural wonder in red stone, built by Parantaka Chola. We had darshan of Annabhishekam, put a tick mark against this pending PPS and went to Thaazhamangai. This temple is along the main road from Kumbakonam to Thanjavur. The temple was open with Eswaran in Annabhishekam alankaram.

Considering that it was nearing 8 PM, we took a short cut from Thaazhamangai to Nallichery (Nandimangai). There are two temples in Nallichery. Nandimangai Sivan Koil and Jagathrakshaka Perumal Koil. Eswaran was in Annabhishekam alankaram. Perumal Koil was fortunately open (it was around 7.30 PM then). We completed the darshan in both temples and started through a narrow road through paddy fields to Kallar Pasupati Koil (Pasumangai). This village has two temples: Varadarajar Koil, which houses the Periya Nambigal Thiruvarasu (the arasamaram planted exactly on the place where acharya Periya Nambigal (Mahapoorna Swami) was buried (paLLipaduthudhal)) and Pasumangai Sivan Koil, which is a KCC. Periya Nambigal aged about 105 years, who accompanied Koorathazhwar (who was dressed in saffron robes disguised as Ramanuja) to the royal court of Kirumikanda Cholan at Chidambaram, couldn’t walk any further after this village, while returning to Srirangam. He attained paramapadham in this village. I had visited this temple during my Thanjavur trip a few years ago. It was closed by the time we went there. We then took our TT to Kallar Pasupati Koil in the adjacent street – a massive KCC. The Sivachariar was expecting us and was happy to take care of us. He did an elaborate darshan sevai at Eswaran and Ambal sannadhis.

Having finished all seven mangais, we decided to call it a day. 20 temples in total. We came back to Kumbakonam town and had a sumptuous dinner at Venkatramanas. We headed back to the railway station to catch Uzhavan Express. We bade goodbye to Ramesh, who will travel in TT back to Mayiladuthurai to take his car home from there. Rain clouds, which were probably holding up all the rains for us to complete our trip, could not hold any longer and a heavy downpour occurred! It was so heavy that we got fully drenched in the small gap between the platform shelter shade and coach while boarding the train. We were fully exhausted and hit the berth within a few minutes. Uzhavan dropped us the next day on time (around 4.30  AM) at various points in Chennai (TBM, MBM and Egmore). We all headed back home for a well deserved rest.

Eagerly looking forward to the next (13th) edition in Nov. 2025! Subham.