Located an hour away by Road from Tiruchirapalli. Siruvachur MadhuraKaliamman, is a powerful Deity, specially for alleviating the sufferings related mind and Black Magic induced ailments.
Legend has it that Adi Sankara, felt thirsty when he visited this place and Madura Kali provided a Spring to quench his thirst.
The Temple is open only on Mondays and Fridays between 8am to 8pm.
‘Madura Kaliamman Temple is an important temple for mother Goddess in Trichy and Perambalur regions in South India. The temple is open only on every Mondays and Thursdays. It is said to be the Kula Devta (family deity) of Chankarendra Saraswati Swamigal – famously called as Kanchi Periyavar or Kanchi Shankaracharya….
Madurakaliamman, Siruvachur.
As per one legend, Kannagi of Silappadikaram calmed herself in this site after burning Madurai city. As per another legend, Chelli Amman was the original deity of the place. However, she was controlled by a tantric. Madura Kaliamman destroyed the tantric and rescued Chelli Amman. Chelli Amman offered this site to Kali and moved to a nearby hill.
It is believed that the saint Sadasiva Brahmendra constructed the temple. As per another belief, Adi Shankaracharya felt thirsty when he visited the place; the Goddess offered him water in the form of a spring; later she gave darshan to him and appeared in the form of Madra Kaliamman idol…
It is believed that the temple is very old (though not the current structure) and it was even renovated by Kulothunga Chola….
On the Chennai-Trichy highway (NH45), the temple is located around 270 kms from Chennai (7 kilometers after Peramabalur) and around 50 kms from Trichy. While travelling from Chennai to Trichy, the temple’s entrance Arch is located on the right side, on the main road, after the Dhanalakshmi Srinivasan Medical College. From the arch, the temple is at a distance of around 2 kms.
On Mondays and Fridays, devotees can hire auto rickshaws available near Arch to reach the temple. There are few mini buses from the Arch to the temple, but the frequency is less.
By road, all the buses between Trichy and Perambalur will stop at the Siruvachur arch. The Permabalur-bound buses start from Chathiram bus stand in Trichy, which is located near the Rockfort temple (Mainguard Gate).(Chathiram Bus Stand)
I had been on a trip to Temples of South India for the past five days and that’s the reason I Have not been able post as much as I would have liked.
Once in about three or four months I get the itch to travel and I prefer temples of India.
While embarking on visit to temples,I wold not call them Pilgrimage for Pilgrimage is a conscious decision to visit places and com plete the vows.
I do not ask for or pray for anything, for I am convinced long back God knows what I deserve and what ever I get is for my Good,
I visit the Temples for the sheer joy it gives me.
I have learnt couple of lessons in visiting temples.
The first is never set a time frame for Darshan.
Temple Of India
About 23 years back, i went to Tirupati with my nephew with my seven-year Daughter.
My nephew, who is three years younger to me, declared that we would be back in 10 hours at Chennai,six hours for Car travel, two hours for Darshan of Lord Balaji and two hours Margin!
I told him not to set time frame for God for He sets the Time for us.
We went ahead and had a special pass at Rs 150 which entitled on to have Darshan in a Special queue.
Once we entered the inner queue with iron railings from where you can not come out,, we had to wait for 17 hours to have the Darshan!
During this period I had to feed my daughter who refused to come down from my Hip and organise for natural ablutions!
Well, that was that.
From that day I never fix a tome frame to have a Darshan.
I have been visiting temples since then.
When I visit this way, I never had to wait for Darshan and there would be practically be no crowd at all.
Then I refined this approach, by not even listing the temples i want to visit, excepting a couple of Temples.
For the rest I go as my mind tells me.
I got better results.
Later I decided not to use private transport of any special entrance facilities offered at the temple for a quick darshan.
The experience was still better.
This time I had thought of visiting Tirukkadayur(Thirukkakkdavur is the correct pronunciation) and a vow I had to complete for the natural delivery for my Daughter in law(she delivered a baby girl seven months back) at Thayumanavar temple at Tiruchi.
Excepting these two I had absolutely no plans.
I ended up with visiting 20 temples in five days with no Private transport, traveling by only by Public transport.
And the Temples were chosen for me by the others!
At Mayiladuthurai, This job was handled by my friend’s(friend since college days since 1967) wife and at Tiruchirapalli by my friend’s daughter who is Computer Professional aged 25!
Believe me not only the visits were better, smoother and the Darshan, the best in my life.
For these people who had done this without any anticipation, six letters of the word Thanks is not enough.
This trip also reinforced my belief, which I have expressed often , that the present generation of youngsters, obsessed with worldly things and Gadgets are more informed , more helpful and more Religious without pretenses.
To conclude I can only say that Faith is what Faith does.
Note. I will be posting some articles on the Temples I visited with some unique information and Photos.
‘Health Conscious and people who follow Health Care(?) and those who do not agree with them’ was a programme telecast by Star Vijay TV yesterday in Tamil.
The people who were proud to call themselves as Health Conscious and ‘Health Freak'(their terminology) made a sorry sight.
Health Care industry
There were people who were practicing Aerobics( the demonstration was so funny , it looked as a kid jumping here and there and the lady proudly proclaimed she was paying Rs.1000/m for the course for fitness and she looked obese to the point of panting while jumping),
to a girl who eats six meals a day,one with only fruits, next chicken without skin,salads,only Chapatis….:
a man who dispose of garbage personally to reduce weight,another applies special(?) Oil before gardening to reduce tummy!!
The List is endless and quite hilarious.
Another is consuming tablets instead of Breakfast and he said there people who were consuming only tablets all the time instead of Food, reason being the tablets contain nutrients found in Food!
More hilarious is are the reasons for following these Health care programmes.
1.To ward of Cancer!
2.Reduce Diabetes.
3.Look trim.
4.Prevent loss of Hemoglobin Count.
5.Reduce Tummy.
There were times when we used to go to a Doctor when one is sick.
I remember , in my native place,, the doctor would give a Carbon mixture and if he goes in for an injection, it means , it is serious.
If you are not well, you will become conscious of it and not the other way round.
The Advertisements, Manufacturers of useless products and media scare you to death and you immediately buy anything from something that can make you grow 50% Taller to reducing weight in one month.
And internet!
Any one who can type goes to goggle and sees results, follow them, without knowing whether the information they get is authentic .
Read my post on the disastrous consequences of Dieting by following Internet advice.
‘
In the midst of our conversation,or should I say my monologue, my friend received a call from well qualified, working daughter that she was feeling exhausted and was on the verge of collapse.
He immediately rushed to meet and take her Home.
Reason for the complaint.
His daughter has been a Diet of only vegetables and Fruits since last night, as advised in an article she found in the Internet.
This was her effort at reducing weight and keeping fit.
My daughter also went on a Diet of not eating Rice the whole day and was eating only fruits for about a week before she was exhausted
The food habits we have have been developed over centuries taking into account various factors including climate.
Being ideal weight is purely a matter of opinion.
There is no preventive medicine for Cancer, Obesity,Diabetes.
The suggested foods are only guesses and not based on correct findings.
Before some one jumps the gun , please check the counter view on any diet and weight. Diabetes etc.
Heart attack, Cholesterol .There is no final saying that cholesterol causes Heart attack in fact it helps the Heart please read my post filed under Health).
Take every thing in moderation .
Don’t keep on thinking about illness and engage your self in work, some Physical.
For more information see under Health in this site.
If you have money to burn , educate an underprivileged Child.
I am no statistician, bu can say ‘Statistics is like a Bikini, it conceals more than it reveals.
From my personal experience .
My Father never even had fever till his death at the age of 78.
And he used to take Meals in the morning around 8 am;Curd rice at 1pm
Again Curd rice at night.
Occasionally Snacks, idli dosa, adai etc.
He can consume One Jack Fruit at 6 am and ask my mother for regular food at 8 am!
Quantity, well one can not imagine, such huge quantities.
My elder brother is a Man of clean habits(80), he is very regular in habits.
He does not drink,No Smoking,No Betel Leaves…nothing.
He has Cancer for the past 4 years!
I used to travel for my profession,
Irregular Meals, Slleep, Drinking, Smoking, ( left Smoking 25years ago, drinking 8 years ago)Pan chewing, awake till 1 am.
I have no Illnesses as on date.
Excepting a Heart attack about 10 years ago which I have totally ignored aftertaking drugs and finding them useless.
By medical opinion I should have Liver failure, Hepatitis,Lung cancer, Diabetes,!
Forget it.
Do not bother about what the money mad doctors or the manufacturers’ say and Media , they have to write some thing to get circulation.
You feel and know what is best.
Go to a doctor as a last resort.
Fie with these pseudo health acre ,Consciousness , unconsciousness.!
The influence of the Western Food on South India is not noticed by many of us, as we are not conscious of proselytism.
We are being changed without being aware of it.
First, the eating Habits.
Normally South India takes meals in the morning,refreshments in the afternoon and meals at night.
This consisted of a healthy, yet not taxing to the stomach.
‘Idli (and the process of steaming) was known in India by as early as 700 CE. The process of steaming was influenced from Indonesia subsequently between 800-1200 CE, giving rise to the modern-day Idli.(Wiki)
This famous south Indian Delicacy has attracted a lot of controversy.
There is a serious contention between Tamil Nadu and Karnataka as to who can lay claim to the invention of Idli.
Idli
Karnataka origin Vaddaradhane by Shivakoti Acarya ( Rashtrakoota times)of the 10th century names Iddalige ( Idli ), Holige (Poli) and Savige ( Vermicelli). The 12th century encyclopedia Manasollaasa of Somashekhara Ballala III (Kalyani Chalukya) is a veritable treasure house of recipes and cooking styles. Lets not forget that these were empires with catholic tastes and wide trading hinterlands.
This has been reported by King Homeswara around 1000 AD and only Black Ural Dal was used;it was soaked in buttermilk.
Only the 17th Century Rice was added into the Recipe.
“‘iddalige’, first mentioned in a Kannada work Vaddaradhane of Sivakotyacharya in 920 AD. The Sanskrit Manasollasa of 1130 AD has ‘iddarika’. Tamil apparently only first mentions ‘itali’ in the 17th century.”
There is also an Indonesian Twist.
‘Acharya notes:the use of rice grits along with urad dhal,the long fermentation of the mix, and the steaming of the batter to fluffiness. Only after 1250 AD are there references to what seem to be idlis as we know them. Achaya’s contention is that this absence from the historical record could mean that idlis are an imported concept — perhaps from Indonesia which has a long tradition of fermented products, like tempeh (fermented soy cakes), kecap (from where we get ketchup) or something called kedli, which Achaya says, is like an idli. This is plausible enough given the many links between Southeast Asia and South India, through rulers and traders. Acharyra also adds many legendary stories ,but there is no basis for them. When we look forward to literary evidences in Indian literature , Acharya does not give any in Indonesia.
Heuan tsang says no steaming vessels south india in seventh century.But steaming vessels are not required for steaming dishes , steam can be produced using cloth over the vessel, still this method is used in south India.’
Gujarati origin
Gujarat have IDADA which is steamed dhokla made from same ingredients as Idly.Namely Urad dhaal and Rice which are fermented overnight and next day steamed.Gujarathis claim Idaly is a dish which came to south from Gujarat during 10/12th century AD.when lot of silk weavers from saurashtra came to south via Maharashtra.The dukkia is first mentioned in AD 1068 in Gujurathi Jain literature, and dhokla appears in AD 1520 in the Varanaka Samuchaya. Besan flour is fermented overnight with curd, and steamed in slabs which are then cut into pieces and dressed with fresh coriander leaves, fried mustard seeds and coconut shreds. A coarser version is khaman and both are popular breakfast and snack foods in Gujurat. But we have to note that Gujart was ruled by chalukyas and Rastrakutas for many centuries before that and Idada may be from iddalige. Since we dont find references to that before that.’
‘Tulu and kannada dishes
Many old words appearing in the Vaddaradhane,but extint now in modern Kannada, are existing still in Tulu even now.Like “muttukadi”,”baikam”(Baikampadi) etc. Hale(Old) Kannada and Tulu shared many words. They also should have shared rice dishes like iddli(<-iddalige). We are handicapped by the absence of Tulu texts dating back to 10th C. AD or older ones.Compare this with the numerous leaf based steam cooked Tulu rice dishes similar to iddli in technology.However it is difficult to trace the antiquity of these leaf-wraped precursors of iddlis. Since,leafy vessels are more primitive designs than the more modern iddli cooking vessels, Tulu disheslike moode,gunda,kotte etc., can be said to be actual ancestors of the modern iddlis.’
So in terms of Date Karnataka is the Inventor of Idli and Not Tamil Nadu.
How to Prepare Fluffy Idlis.
For Exquisite Taste none can beat the Chettinadu Idlis.
Parboiled rice ( Pulungal arisi ) – 4 cups
Urad dhal – 1cup [ Rice : dal = 1: 4]
Salt to taste
Method
1.Soak the rice and black gram separately for three hours.
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