Yearend trip to Pichavaram Mangrove Forest, Samiyarpettai Beach, Tirukkoyilur &Tiruvannamalai- Part2

This is the part-2 of our trip. The first trip can be accessed from this link.

If you are directly coming here, please visit the first part of this blog in the link. In this blog let's cover the rest of the places that we have covered in our year end trip. Pichavaram is around 14 Kms from chidambaram. The second largest Mangrove forest in the world, Pichavaram is located off the tourist trail but is totally worth the effort. One can be enchanted by the complex river system and canal network that bind this beautiful place together and support the rich biodiversity of the place. Situated nearby the temple town of Chidambaram, Pichavaram can be enjoyed through a boat ride around the 1100 hectare area of the forest, which takes you through narrow canal, breathtaking sceneries and allows you to witness the amazing life forms of the Mangrove tress while adoring the bird life of the forest. The sea is just 6 km from the forest and one can see the sand bank which separates the forest from the Bay of Bengal during the boat ride.

Boats operate from around 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily. It gets very hot in the middle of the day though, so it's recommended that you go early in the morning or late afternoon. Boating is not strictly regulated. The Tamil Nadu Tourism Development Corporation and Tamil Nadu Forest Department conduct official boating activities but local non-government boatmen are also available. Various packages are offered with costs based on boat type, number of people, distance, and attractions covered. You can expect to pay about 1,700 rupees per hour for a motor boat, and 300 rupees upwards for a row boat to go inside the mangrove jungle.

Do be aware that the boat operators all ask for more money for trips inside the small canals and to spots where movies were shot. You'll need to negotiate with them directly. How much you pay will depend on how much you want to see.

It's a good idea to carry food with you as there aren't many places to eat in the area. Bring a cap and sun protection too, if you'll be out during the day. We have then visited the Samiyarpettai Beach around 10-12 KMS from there and spent lot of time there enjoying the beautiful beach as it is not that crowded and peaceful. We planned only for an hour but ended up spending almost till 2PM in the beach. Then we have got freshenup and then started to travel our last part of the trip i.e Tiruvannamalai. We had a lunch break on the way to Tiruvannamalai.

The next hop is Ulagalantha Perumal Temple or Trivikrama Temple is dedicated to Vishnu located in Tirukkoyilur, Tamil Nadu, India. It is one of the 108 Divya Desams dedicated to Vishnu, who is worshipped as Ulagalantha Perumal and his consort Lakshmi as Poongothai. As per another legend, the temple is believed to have originally been a Krishna temple. The temple name, Kovilur, refers to the original deity Gopalan, indicating Krishna. As per Brahmanda Purana sage Mrikandu heard about Vamana avatar of Vishnu and wanted to have a view of it. Brahma directed him to visit the place and perform penance. The sage came to the place along with his wife Mithravathi to start the penance. The pair used to feed Brahmanas in their hermitage. To test their devotion, Vishnu appeared as a Brahmana and sought food from the pair. Since all food for the day were already given, Mithravathi was worried and prayed to Vishnu. All the vessels were full with food and she was able to feed the Brahman. Pleased by their devotion, Vishnu reappeared as Vamana - Thrivikrama form

The temple has an eleven-tiered rajagopuram with a height of 192 ft (59 m), the third tallest temple tower in Tamil Nadu, after the one in Srirangam Ranganathaswamy temple and Thiruvannamalai Annamalaiyar Temple. The temple covers an area of 5 acres (20,000 m2) and houses residential buildings in the precincts around the temple tower. The sanctum houses the wooden image of Ulagalantha Perumal. Unlike other Vishnu temples, Perumal is sported with Sankha in his right hand and Chakra on his left. The sanctum also housed the images of Mahalakshmi, Prahalad and Mahabali to the right of presiding deity and the images of Sukracharya, sage Mrikandu and the three mudhal Alvars (Pey, Bhoothath and Poigai Alvar) to his left. he image of Krishna is made of saligrama stone and is housed in a separate shrine.

After visiting the temple we started our last leg of Day3 i.e Tiruvannamalai/Arunachaleswara Temple. As per the temple official website the official time of closure is 9:30PM and we were there in Tiruvannamalai around 8:30PM. But the temple is closed early as 8PM as there was some speical puja on that day. So we have decided to book a hotel and call it the day. We have taken a hotel Arunachaleswara just next to the Raja Gopura (East entrance) of the temple and got freshe up had dinner and started doze off.

The next day we woke up early and went to the Darshan, it is already crowded as that is Shri Ramana Maharshi B'day. We took Rs.50 special darshan ticket and inside the temple. Arunachalesvara Temple (also called Annamalaiyar Temple) is a Hindu temple dedicated to the deity Shiva, located at the base of Arunachala hill. It is significant to the Hindu sect of Shaivism as one of the temples associated with the five elements, the Pancha Bhoota Stalas, and specifically the element of fire, or Agni. Shiva is worshiped as Arunachalesvara or Annamalaiyar, and is represented by the lingam, with his idol referred to as Agni lingam. His consort Parvati is depicted as Unnamalai Amman or Apithakucha Ambal

The temple complex covers 10 hectares, and is one of the largest in India.[4] It houses four gateway towers known as gopurams. The tallest is the eastern tower, with 11 stories and a height of 66 metres (217 ft). The temple complex houses many halls; the most notable is the thousand-pillared hall built during the Vijayanagar period. The Karthigai Deepam festival is celebrated during the day of the full moon between November and December, and a huge beacon is lit atop the hill. It can be seen from miles around, and symbolizes the Shiva lingam of fire joining the sky. The event is witnessed by three million pilgrims. On the day preceding each full moon, pilgrims circumnavigate the temple base and the Arunachala hills in a worship called Girivalam, a practice carried out by one million pilgrims yearly.

In Hindu mythology, Parvati, wife of Shiva, once closed the eyes of her husband playfully in a flower garden at their abode atop Mount Kailash. Although only a moment for the gods, all light was taken from the universe, and the earth, in turn, was submerged in darkness for years. Parvati performed penance along with other devotees of Shiva. Then her husband appeared as a huge column of fire at the top of Annamalai hills, returning light to the world. He then merged with Parvati to form Ardhanarishvara, the half-female, half-male form of Shiva. The Arunachala, or red mountain, lies behind the Arunachalesvara temple, and is associated with the temple of its namesake. The hill itself is sacred and considered a lingam, or aniconic representation of Shiva.

Another legend is that once, while Vishnu and Brahma contested for superiority, Shiva appeared as a flame, and challenged them to find his source. Brahma took the form of a swan, and flew to the sky to see the top of the flame, while Vishnu became the boar Varaha, and sought its base. The scene is called Lingodbhava, and is represented in the western wall at the sanctum of most Shiva temples. Neither Brahma nor Vishnu could find the source even.

The main shrine of Arunachalesvara faces east, housing images of Nandi and Surya, and is the oldest structure in the temple. Behind the walls of the sanctum, there is an image of Venugopalaswamy (Krishna), an incarnation of Vishnu. Around the sanctum, there are images of Somaskanda, Durga, Chandeshvara, Gajalakshmi, Arumugaswami (Kartikeya), Dakshinamurthy, Swarnabairavar, Nataraja, and Lingodbhava—the last an image of Shiva emanating from lingam. The Palliyarai, the divine room for resting deities, is located at the first precinct around the sanctum. The shrine of his consort, Annamalai Amman, lies in the second precinct, with Amman depicted in a standing posture. Sambantha Vinayagar (Ganesha), is located to the north of the flagstaff and the Bali peeta, or platform for sacrifice. To the south of the thousand-pillared hall, there is a small shrine for Subramanya (Kartikeya) and a large tank.Pathala Lingam, the underground lingam, is the place where Ramana Maharshi (1879–1950 CE) is believed to have performed his penance. The shrine of Sivagangai Vinayagar (Ganesha) is present in the northern bank of the Sivanganga tank.

Post completion of Darshan we have completed our Girivalam and visited all the 8 lingas Indira Lingam, Shri Agni Lingam, Yamalingam, Shri Nirudhi Lingam, Varuna Lingam, Vayu Lingam, Kubera Lingam, Easanya Lingam. On the Girivalam don't miss to visit Adi Annamalaiyar Temple is a Siva temple in Adi Annamalai in Tiruvannamalai district in Tamil Nadu (India). This temple is in fact older than the “big” (Arunachaleshwar/ Annamalaiyar) temple in Tiruvannamalai. Like the lingam in the big temple, the lingam in the Adi Annamalai temple is also a swayambhu (self generated) lingam. After completion we have completed our lunch and reached back to our hotel and took rest for couple of hours and did some shopping on the temple streets.

On the way back to Bangalore we have visited Shri Ramana Ashram on the auspicious day of his birth day. After passing beneath the arch which announces the name of the Ashram, the visitor will cross a large open courtyard flanked by shady trees, one of which is a 400 year old Iluppai tree. Above him to the left arise two towers in the traditional Dravidian style of temple architecture. One surmounts the Matrubhuteswara Shrine, erected over the tomb of Sri Maharshi’s mother, and the other is over the New Hall. Open Daily 5am-11:00pm/2-9pm.

We can cover Matrubhuteswara Temple, Sri Maharshi’s Samadhi, The Old Hall, The Dining Hall, Gosala, Vedapatasala, The Nirvana Room and Sri Ramana Library. We can also cover the Skandasramam and Virupaksha Cave with a little treck. We are already late by the time we reach ramana ashram so we couln't visit all the places. We have visited only the places that are open for devotees during that time. And also there was sankeertana going on the occassion of swami ji's Birthday. We sat in the old hall for some time and immersed ourselves into the devitional aura. Medited for 15 mins and then visited around Aashram and started back to Bangalore.

We stopped on the way for Dinner break near Krishnagiri in Shraavana Bhavan and reached bangalore around 11:30PM. That coucludes a total of 4 days that covers all the places such as beach, forts, hills, temples, boating and all the flavours of the trip one expects on the year end. It took totally around 1130KMs and we had a spledid time with family and great rejuvenation to kick start the new year in great style. All set for a great and challenging year ahead. I hope you had a great year too. Keep Travelling and Keep exploring new places. See you in the next blog till then Bye.