In spite of being a Chennaite, my visit to
Mylai Karpagambal temple has been very rare, may be once or twice in a year.
From childhood, all of us in the family tried to avoid temple visits on festival days because of the crowd. My sister Jayashree is an exception. She has been making it a point to visit temples on festival days so that she can experience the festivities and enjoy the grandeur! During this
Navarathri from day four, she has been suggesting that I go with her to
Karpagambal temple on
Vijayadasami. To tempt me, she mailed me a few photographs of the
Golu in the temple taken by her friend.
Yesterday being a holiday for
Vijayadasami, we started for the temple around 630 pm. The auto driver refused to enter the
maada veedhi as it was so crowded. We got down at the beginning of the road and started walking down. With great difficulty we kept looking forward and continued walking, avoiding the temptation of the many dolls on sale either side of the road. We decided to have a look at the doll shops only after visiting the temple. As we entered the temple, we were taken aback by the queue standing for general
darshan. Luckily, tickets were being given for special
darshan and we could enter the sanctum in two minutes.
Ambal was looking beautiful! As we had special
darshan tickets, we were asked to go round the
sannidhi and stand in the special queue. After about 10-12 minutes we reached the
sannidhi again and were allowed to sit in front of the deity. I thanked Jayashree then and there! Such was the
darshan! We could see the Goddess so close and sit for about 3-4 minutes in front of her. Very satisfied and happy, we proceeded to
Kapaleeswarar sannidhi. Again the ticket helped and we were able to sit in front of the
Lingam and have a good
darshan. I realised that the size of the
Lingam in this temple had never registered during my earlier visits. The
alangaram was simple but very impressive! We came out and our eyes went in the direction of the
Golu there but we forced ourselves to complete the
pradhakshinam before going near the
Golu. We visited the
Annamalayar and
Unnamulaiamman sannidhi, Ganapathi sannidhi, Sthala vriksham (punnai maram) with the
sannidhi of
Ambal in the form of
mayil doing puja to
Siva lingam, Navagraha sannidhi and
Singara Velar sannidhi. Again at
Singara Velar sannidhi, we could sit in front of the Lord and have a relaxed
darshan.
We then had the
darshan of
Urchavamurthy of Lord Shiva and
Ambal decked with thousands of flowers of different colours. There were about six mirrors in front of the
Urchavamurthy in six different pillars that people can see the reflections over and over. On the four sides of each of the pillars were dolls of different Gods and Goddesses.
Now we went in the direction of the
Golu. What a sight it was! This year’s speciality is
Ashtadik Golu. The idols were kept in eight directions. There was a long queue in front of the Golu and we joined it. We did not know which side to look! Hope to briefly describe the idols in each
dhikku:
1. Rajarajeswari, followed by different forms of
Ambal - Meenakshi, Kamakshi, Visalakshi and what not!
2. Durga, Lakshmi, Saraswathi followed by
Vadivudai amman, Kodi idai amman and
Thiruvudai amman. On ground level, a beautifully decorated
ratham with
seer varisai
3. Saraswathi in the top step followed by Lord Shiva in meditation, Natarajar, two idols of
Adhi sankarar, Mahavishnu with Lakshmi, Kolkata Kali.
4. This step had beautiful idols depicting the story of
Gnanappaal given to
Thirugnanasambandar with idols of Shiva, Parvathi feeding milk to
Gnanasambandar with
Nandhi nearby. On the lower level was
Dattathreyar and Mahalakshmi followed by
Thiruvannamalai set.
5. Lord Shiva with his family on top step, followed by many idols of the Lord on many
Vahanas and then Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva with their consorts. Lower level was Lord Shiva in different forms. On the last step were
Chettiar Chettichi with a variety of vegetables on one side and their north Indian counterpart with
choppu on the other side.
6. Next was the side with my favourite God –
Murugan. On top was
Arumugan with
pannirukaikal (with a mirror behind so that one can see all the six faces), followed by six idols of Murugan as he gives darshan in his
Aru padai veedugal. Next step had
Murugan with
Valli, Deivanai on
thogai viritha mayil. Next was Bala Murugan with crown and
vel. He was looking so adorable that I felt like lifting and hugging him! On one side
Soorapadman transformed into a tree,
seval and mayil and a set with pilgrims climbing the hill with the
gopuram on the hill and the other side
Avvai and
Murugan in
Suttapazham/Sudathapazham story and
Saravana poigai kaatchi. Below the Bala murugan, there was a
ratham set with pilgrims
7. Medium sized idols of
Annamalayar in full alangaram with
Unnamulaiamman in nine yards sari. I kept on looking at the beauty of
Amman for 2-3 minutes. This side had
Ashtalakshmi, Dakshinamurthy and sets depicting Lord Shiva’s
thiruvilayadal,
Kanakadhara set etc.
8. A huge Ganapathy surrounded by different forms of the same God. Next step was
Viswaroopadarshanam of Mahavishnu with Arjuna at his feet. Such a detailed sculpture! Around the
Viswaroopam was
Dasavatharam with a
ratham and another Ganapathy in the centre.
With great reluctance we came out and started to have a look at the doll shops. Such lovely dolls! Prices were exorbitant and we could not bargain much. We just satisfied ourselves with window shopping and went back home!
