The narrations here remind me of my school days spent in the house of my maternal grandparents who had a large family. We were residing in a village agrahAram--brahmins' street, called Kovil-theru--temple street. The street ran north-south, with its streethouses located on the east-west, the two rows of houses facing each other. It was a VishAlAkShI-VishvanAtha temple facing south, with a tall gopuram, located on the north of the street, closing it. The Amman--goddess, in her sannidhi was visible right up to the end of the street. Elders who visited the temple occasionally, would stand in front of their houses and watch the evening dIpArAdhana around six, patting their cheeks with their fingers when the dIpam--lamp, was waved to the Goddess.
We children in our primary classes were taught to visit the temple regularly every evening, do a pradakShanam--going round, of the outer prakAram, go round the navagraha unit nine times, watch the dIpArAdhana to the Goddess and SvAmi--Shiva, and then bring home the vibhUti-kumkuma prasAdam for the elders, which was wet by that time in our hands.
As we entered the temple carefully overstepping (not stepping on) the threshold, with our right foot first, and went round the outer courtyard, first we had darshan in the GaNapati sannidhi, which faced east. The sun would have started to set so the son of the temple archaka--priest, would go round lighting the oil lamps in each sannidhi and doing nivedanam of cooked rice, muttering mantras and shaking the bell in his hand. We would stand in front of PiLLaiyAr--GaNesha, tap at the temples of our head with knuckles and do tOppukkaraNam--squat and stand up holding the ears cross-armed, and go round the sannidhi thrice.
To the left of PiLLaiyAr, was the sannidhi of DakShiNAmUrti facing south. Our lips would automatically utter the shloka 'guru brahma, guru viShNu...' as we stood before him. Then we walked a hundred feet or so and turned right for the Murugan sannidhi. It was actually three sannidhis housed in a separate building, one each for BAla-murugan, KalyANa-murugan and DaNDAyudhapANi--Murugan in the form of an ascetic in a loin cloth, holding a staff in hand. In front of the KalyANa-murugan sannidhi was the stone image of a peacock holding a little cobra in his beak. It was fun for us to shout the slogan 'DaNDAyutapANikku arogarA!'
Through a side entrance in the Murugan sannidhi building, we had darshan of ChaNDikeshvara. We did not know at that time that he was, as a son of Shiva, the guardian deity of Shiva temples, who would keenly watch if anyone takes anything from the temple. Stealing Shiva's property, whatever small thing it is, is considered pApam--bad karma. The Tamizh proverb says, "Sivan sotthu kula nAsam"--"stealing Shiva's property would be destruction of lineage." So, as is the custom, the elders had instructed us to snap the thumb and middle fingers of our right hand and also clap our hands (actually loud wiping of hands that amounted to a clap), when we faced ChanDikeshvara. This is to show that we are clean. Without knowing the meaning, we used to do it as fun, clapping our hands louder. There was also the custom to offer a strand of cotton thread from our dhoti or shirt and say, "I give you the old, you give me the new." I don't know how this custom originated.
Then there was the sannidhi of KAlabhairava, with the stone image of a dog for his vehicle. Opposite him on the right of Murugan sannidhi building was the sannidhi of the village deity named KaruppaNNa-sAmy, which was only a pair of what seemed as little stone pestles. The inside of this room was darker than in the other sannidhis, giving an eerie feeling. Since there was this belief that the spirit of the village deity was in the sannidhi at dusk time once the lamps were light, we were rather afraid to stand in front of him, so would skip the darshan.
Next through the side entrance in the main building of the temple, we went round the navagraha unit, which was always crowded, specially with girls and women. By this time, the temple's large bell, called khaNTAmaNi* would rang, the temple assistant, who was also the watchman, pulling the long rope attached to the tongue of the bell. Sometimes he would let us pull the rope and ring the bell.
Finally, we stood before the Amman sannidhi, crossing over to the font of the rows of devotees, men and women standing in a row on the side, facing the deity sideways. Goddess VishAlAkShI standing tall in majesty, her nose-stud glittering in the gently waving flame of the lamp of the dIpArAdhana. The dIpArAdhana was first by a deck of little lamps forming the shape of a pyramid, then by a single lamp with a large flame that snaked through the air as the archaka waved it, and finally with camphor, whose flame was shown to the devotees who would show both hands over the flame and then touch their eyes with the warm fingers. Then the priest would distribute the vibhUti-kumkuma prasAdam that we brought home. After Amman darshanam, the Shiva darshanam was done in the same way, adding to the prasAdam in our hands.
On a pillar in the temple maNDapam--pavilion, there would be a pair of stainless steel bowls containing vibhUti and kumkumam, fixed to the pillar by a steel band, with a mirror above it. We would smear our forehead with a little of the prasAda vibhUti-kumkumam, and have a darshan of our own faces in the mirror. On some days, we would find small pieces of jaggery in the kumkumam, which we put in our mouth making the tongue red and questioned by the elders at home.
Finally, we would reach home, show the prasAdam in our palms to the elders, then assemble in our home puja room and shout some shlokas before starting our evening studies. The study hour was a literal fish market, each of us reading our lesson loudly, so a casual listener would find Alladin Kilji selling his horses at Rs.200/- each, earning a profit in the bargain, weigh a baloon in a balance to prove that air had weight, cultivate his garden and water the plants, release the lion caught in the net, and would be together with Robinson Crusoe in a manless island, counting the days drawing lines, after his ship was caught in a storm.
Note:
01. khaNTAmaNi--kaNTham is neck and maNi is bell. Just like the human tonuge protrudes from its support in the neck, the tongue of the bells protrudes, so the name.
02. The village is BatlaguNDu, Dindigul district. I last visited our agraharam, which in those days comprised three streets--kovil theru, naDu theru and otthai theru--maybe ten years back, only to find most of the brahmins gone and the street houses become bungalows.
We children in our primary classes were taught to visit the temple regularly every evening, do a pradakShanam--going round, of the outer prakAram, go round the navagraha unit nine times, watch the dIpArAdhana to the Goddess and SvAmi--Shiva, and then bring home the vibhUti-kumkuma prasAdam for the elders, which was wet by that time in our hands.
As we entered the temple carefully overstepping (not stepping on) the threshold, with our right foot first, and went round the outer courtyard, first we had darshan in the GaNapati sannidhi, which faced east. The sun would have started to set so the son of the temple archaka--priest, would go round lighting the oil lamps in each sannidhi and doing nivedanam of cooked rice, muttering mantras and shaking the bell in his hand. We would stand in front of PiLLaiyAr--GaNesha, tap at the temples of our head with knuckles and do tOppukkaraNam--squat and stand up holding the ears cross-armed, and go round the sannidhi thrice.
To the left of PiLLaiyAr, was the sannidhi of DakShiNAmUrti facing south. Our lips would automatically utter the shloka 'guru brahma, guru viShNu...' as we stood before him. Then we walked a hundred feet or so and turned right for the Murugan sannidhi. It was actually three sannidhis housed in a separate building, one each for BAla-murugan, KalyANa-murugan and DaNDAyudhapANi--Murugan in the form of an ascetic in a loin cloth, holding a staff in hand. In front of the KalyANa-murugan sannidhi was the stone image of a peacock holding a little cobra in his beak. It was fun for us to shout the slogan 'DaNDAyutapANikku arogarA!'
Through a side entrance in the Murugan sannidhi building, we had darshan of ChaNDikeshvara. We did not know at that time that he was, as a son of Shiva, the guardian deity of Shiva temples, who would keenly watch if anyone takes anything from the temple. Stealing Shiva's property, whatever small thing it is, is considered pApam--bad karma. The Tamizh proverb says, "Sivan sotthu kula nAsam"--"stealing Shiva's property would be destruction of lineage." So, as is the custom, the elders had instructed us to snap the thumb and middle fingers of our right hand and also clap our hands (actually loud wiping of hands that amounted to a clap), when we faced ChanDikeshvara. This is to show that we are clean. Without knowing the meaning, we used to do it as fun, clapping our hands louder. There was also the custom to offer a strand of cotton thread from our dhoti or shirt and say, "I give you the old, you give me the new." I don't know how this custom originated.
Then there was the sannidhi of KAlabhairava, with the stone image of a dog for his vehicle. Opposite him on the right of Murugan sannidhi building was the sannidhi of the village deity named KaruppaNNa-sAmy, which was only a pair of what seemed as little stone pestles. The inside of this room was darker than in the other sannidhis, giving an eerie feeling. Since there was this belief that the spirit of the village deity was in the sannidhi at dusk time once the lamps were light, we were rather afraid to stand in front of him, so would skip the darshan.
Next through the side entrance in the main building of the temple, we went round the navagraha unit, which was always crowded, specially with girls and women. By this time, the temple's large bell, called khaNTAmaNi* would rang, the temple assistant, who was also the watchman, pulling the long rope attached to the tongue of the bell. Sometimes he would let us pull the rope and ring the bell.
Finally, we stood before the Amman sannidhi, crossing over to the font of the rows of devotees, men and women standing in a row on the side, facing the deity sideways. Goddess VishAlAkShI standing tall in majesty, her nose-stud glittering in the gently waving flame of the lamp of the dIpArAdhana. The dIpArAdhana was first by a deck of little lamps forming the shape of a pyramid, then by a single lamp with a large flame that snaked through the air as the archaka waved it, and finally with camphor, whose flame was shown to the devotees who would show both hands over the flame and then touch their eyes with the warm fingers. Then the priest would distribute the vibhUti-kumkuma prasAdam that we brought home. After Amman darshanam, the Shiva darshanam was done in the same way, adding to the prasAdam in our hands.
On a pillar in the temple maNDapam--pavilion, there would be a pair of stainless steel bowls containing vibhUti and kumkumam, fixed to the pillar by a steel band, with a mirror above it. We would smear our forehead with a little of the prasAda vibhUti-kumkumam, and have a darshan of our own faces in the mirror. On some days, we would find small pieces of jaggery in the kumkumam, which we put in our mouth making the tongue red and questioned by the elders at home.
Finally, we would reach home, show the prasAdam in our palms to the elders, then assemble in our home puja room and shout some shlokas before starting our evening studies. The study hour was a literal fish market, each of us reading our lesson loudly, so a casual listener would find Alladin Kilji selling his horses at Rs.200/- each, earning a profit in the bargain, weigh a baloon in a balance to prove that air had weight, cultivate his garden and water the plants, release the lion caught in the net, and would be together with Robinson Crusoe in a manless island, counting the days drawing lines, after his ship was caught in a storm.
Note:
01. khaNTAmaNi--kaNTham is neck and maNi is bell. Just like the human tonuge protrudes from its support in the neck, the tongue of the bells protrudes, so the name.
02. The village is BatlaguNDu, Dindigul district. I last visited our agraharam, which in those days comprised three streets--kovil theru, naDu theru and otthai theru--maybe ten years back, only to find most of the brahmins gone and the street houses become bungalows.
