Temple Trails Tamil Nadu : Golu at Nandalala Temple, Mylapore

Golu at Nandalala Temple, Mylapore

I again have to thank Dorai Thatha who had told me about the Golu in this temple.

I went there on Saturday evening with my husband and we are happy about the Golu as well as the temple

First we went to see the Golu in the basement of the temple

There was a proper Golu with seven steps in the centre and in the sides were details about Ashtalakshmi with many illustrations.

One has to go in order so that nothing is missed out. First on the left, opposite the Golu was a beautifully decorated Saraswathi.

Next was AdhiLakshmi with Mahavishnu next to her. There were also dolls of people praying to Adhilakshmi and Mahavishnu and a photo of a newly wedded couple. There was also a picture of Adhilakshmi on top.

Above this set, there was also a small write up which is part of Sri Madhi Oli mandiram about meaning of Adhi with benefits of praying to Adhilakshmi

Then it was Santhanalakshmi with idols of Aalilai Krishna, Krishna in a cradle, dolls of animals with their young ones and a cardboard crèche with a picture of Santhanalakshmi on top. The write up about Santhanalakshmi was missing.

Next was Dhanalakshmi with beautiful display of jewellery, different golden ornaments, models of different shops in Chennai with their festival offers. The picture of Dhanalakshmi above this was looking beautiful. Sri madhi Oli mandiram here says that Dhanalakshmi resides in every one and hence one has to show love towards his fellow beings and be content to have Her blessings in full.

After this, there was a beautiful picture of Krishna playing the flute flanked by two elephants and a picture of Sri Madhi Oli’s hands

In the centre was the seven steps golu. I liked the Rajasabhai set in this best. See how the king and the ministers are sitting with pots of wealth. A lady there was kind enough to explain that it is a King’s court and the King and his ministers are wondering how to make best use of so much of wealth available with them!

I just thought, that was how India was once upon a time much before the arrival of Mughals and British!

Do not miss the embroidery on the cloth below the last step.

Next was Thiruvaanaika set with a picture of the Ambal praying to Jalakandeswarar and the Uchikala Go puja there.

There were many spatika lingams near the Thiruvaanaika set, but the people there specifically told me not to photograph it.

After this was Dhanyalakshmi with pictures of people doing various jobs in the field and ladies cooking food at home. There were also tubs with really crops. On top of the picture of Dhanyalakshmi was the Sri Madhi Oli mandiram for this Goddess saying that She is in the form of food grain and in addition to satisfying our hunger, we should offer food to people who come to our homes. Anna dhaanam is the best dhaanam there is and by doing it, we can get her blessing.

Next was Vijayalakshmi with a model of a well built house showing that it is the fruit of one’s efforts. Sri Madhi Oli mandiram above the picture of Vijayalakshmi says that with good efforts, hard work and faith, one will be victorious and Vijayalakshmi will always be with him

Vidyalakshmi had models of school and library with different musical instruments and pictures of children at school. The mandiram above Vidyalakshmi says that the Goddess is in the form of intelligence in all. One has to use it in the right way, talk softly and not hurt others to get her blessings.

Last this was Dhairya Lakshmi with pictures of Karate classes and a police station model

This also had a picture of Kiran Bedi and a lady train driver. Above the beautiful looking Dhairyalakshmi picture the mandiram says that courage has to be in one’s mind. One should be courageous enough to accept and admit his faults and mistakes

Finally it was very cute looking light house model complete with a sea wall paper and a real light on top.

We completed the visit of the lovely golu and went up for Nandalala’s darshan

First it was a very huge Ganapathy. Next we went near Nandalala’s sannidhi and were amazed looking at him. Krishna playing the flute and his cow standing behind him was so beautiful. His eyes were magnetic and one gets drawn towards same. There was recital of Vishnusahasramam when we entered and hence we went for a pradikshinam. Behind Krishna was a very cute looking Ganapathy urchavar complete with his mooshika vahanam. As we completed our pradakshinam of the hall, there was an endearing statue of Hanuman that I couldn’t take my eyes of him. It is a very small statue, in the usual praying posture of Hanuman, but the expression on his face was so sweet. He was decked with vadamalais. We went around him a few times and came back to Krishna’s sannidhi for deeparathanai as the recital was over by then.

There were also huge pictures of Durga, Lakshmi, Sarawathi kept in front of Krishna’s sannidhi for Navaratri.

We came out to collect thamboolam and sundal satisfied with a lovely darshan.