Tuesday, January 8, 2008

பொன் விளைந்த களத்தூர் ( Pon Vilaintha Kalathur)

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It was a beautiful day for me yesterday and the very reason was my trip to P.V.Kalathur. (பொன் விளைந்த களத்தூர்) A beautiful village uncovered before my eyes.

its 10kms from Chengalpet. Has got many temples.....old, simple and elegant.



when we started from S.P.Koil on Giri anna's 2 wheeler, we first visited Mr.anjaneya in Chengalpet, Kottai Vayil Sri Veera Anjaneyar (கோட்டை வாயில் ஸ்ரீ வீர ஆஞ்சநேயர்). check the pic below. Am told that he is really powerful.



Then we had a 10 km ride with all kinds of typical indian roads especially after the rain. But there was an advange, it was all green to our left and right through out. to add, it was water for every 500 mts atleast. am serious. we had to cross small green mounts too on the way.




Then came the Othivakkam Station/Railway Cross. thats the virtual entrance to P.V.Kalathur.


and yes, We crossed the gate and we were In.



Two roads were seen, we took right to reach the Kothanda ramaswamy temple. The Lord Rama here would be seen as lying on the floor instead of the Aadhi Seshan(5 headed snake) as compared to the Dhanushkodi Lord who would be lying on the Dharbai (A special genus of grass i guess). Temple priest was absent :(. So took our about turn, we were into Lakshmi Narasima swamy temple around 50 mts away. even there the priest was missing. but Giri Anna this time went his way to get the priest. The priest's house was just two houses away. a boy came out, he was the priest. we had the darshan. here the beautiful urchavar, lakshmi narasimhar doesnt have his usual Lion face, the moolavar(Stone idol) is vaigunda Narayanan but the urchavar is Lakshmi Narasimha whose actual moolavar is in Mahabalipuram being transfered here by history. and thats the speciality there.








Giri anna inquired the priest abt the other temples. Kothanda Ramaswamy temple had to be dropped as it wasnt the time to be opened, And we inquired abt the other "Sadhur Buja Kothanda Ramaswamy temple" which is 2 kms away in a place called "Pon Padhar Koodam" (பொன் பதர் கூடம்) . Giri anna little upset as the priest said the road to the temple is bad after the rains and buses have stopped for the next 15 days atleast.

Giri Anna asked me if we should try for it, and i replied, Ya Sure :).




We werent sure of the route, and were guided by strangers rightly back to the Two roads after the Railway Gate, where we took right turn initially. Now we went straight. Lots of Guiding Name Boards (yellow painted) with directions to temple names. And finally we were distracted by a board "Mun Kudumeeswarar" (முன் குடுமீஸ்வரர்). A siva temple ofcourse, in the middle of a plain field, new to Giri Anna too, thats amazing for he knows any temple in south india according to my knowledge. Its an old one too. No priest again, but still we just went in as the outer door was open and worshipped the shrine. Took my time to take pics.


Who cares about crossed display of the Board above? not even i did :(






in the above picture, he is trying to read some stone scriptures written there

If you look at the Vimana of the temple, it would resemble back half of a seated elephant, which is called Gajaprashtam (கஜப்ரஷ்டம்). you can find this in Thirukazhu kundram temple as well which is about 10 kms from PV kalathur.

Note: Most of the information given here are all that i heard from none other than Giri anna himself in one of the many trips we have taken.





Do you know the diff bet a Vimana and a Gopuram? I dint till yesterday :)

Gopuram : Which is the tall tower in the entrance of any temple

Vimana: One over the main Shrine or Sanctum Sanctorum (watever u call it).



and then bisecting the green fields, guided by the breeze, troubled by the roads, our two wheeler took us to Pon Padhar Koodam finally. the priest missing here too. but still we were helped by a person who takes care of the temple. he went out to bring the keys for the main shrine i guess. so i got my time to take pics around again. when i gave a step in the back of the temple, a sudden flight of flock of doves from the Vimana, wow that was one of the most beautiful scenes ever for my eyes. Have tried to get them here, just check.






Can u see the seated doves in the above pic?

By the time, Giri anna called me as the person had returned with the keys to open. we went in and had our darshan. Lord's speciality here is, he has 4 arms compared to usual 2 in other places with Sangu(Big Snail Shell which can produce sound when blown) and sakkaram(special Disc) held in the additional hands. Lord Mr.Anjaneyar attracted me for he is seen keeping his right hand in front of his mouth, an example for his politeness while speaking with Lord Rama. The idol of Lord Rama had his left foot in front and Lord Hanuman's had his Right foot in the front, also with nail impressions in Lord Rama's fingers.....all are things to be noted.



After the darshan I sat for Meditation in my own way. But I was disturbed by the breeze constantly. i cudnt hold my senses feeling the chill of the floor and the gentle breeze from the fields all around.



then we started back, took a Chukku coffee( Watery :( ) break only becoz of a train standing right on the Railway crossing.





Then it was 'my' time to drive the two wheeler. we reached home after our vegetable purchase in the chengalpet market.


It all started by 8.30 Am and over by 11.30 Am. had my lunch and to my room to rest. But this i would cherish all my life for sure.
To check all the pics (have given only selected pics here in the blog) pls check my picasa album
Bye for now!

Note: For those who need more information including commute details, you can call Mr. Giri directly. His No: 9884121752. On weekdays, best to call him after 7 PM.

17 comments:

Unknown said...

Mr.Ragavenderan addressing a god with Mr/Mrs is not good. found the below line in your blog.
" Mr.anjaneya "

Saami Saranam.

Ragavendran Ramalingam said...

If its allowed to have one of ur favorite God as ur Friend, why not use "Mr" as his title, as it is not used to insult, rather it is an expression of your affection in ur own way.

halasyasundaramiyer said...

yesterday was my birthday. i went to ponvilaintha kalathur via tirukalukundram. After thirukalukundran to p.v.kalathur entirely the road is in damaged condition. Can anybody (m.p's and m.l.a's) use the road? But i am very much happy after seeing the lakshmi narasimmaswamy ursavar and saturpujaramar.

thearcher said...

P.V.K is my father's native place. I love it so much.. i havent been there for the past ten years and your travalogue n pictures makes my memories green. thank you. please visit the Easuvaran temple(dilapidated state) near the PVK Eri(water body..)

Anonymous said...

My name is sudarsanam . I am son of Mr.T.Ramu Pulikundram. PVK is very nice palce to live . Local panchayat has provided good road and good water from pallar. It is very cheapest place for living and easily reachable to chennai. The people used to come to chennai thro bus and train facilities available now.

aanandam said...

Dear Mr Ragavendran
I am a native of PV kalathur .Iwas there till 1963 and then left .Iwas born in the year 1948.I lived the Kothandramar Koil St.
The village was wonderful with green fields and and waterways around the village.Those were the memorable days which cannot be dream of now. Lord Rama was my ishta deivam .Now I came to know that the temples in the villages have been conducted samproshanam, and lot of devotees are visiting the temples.,I am immensely happy to view your blog. Thank u.

Ragavendran Ramalingam said...

thanks to everyone who had visited and left a thankyou note to me!

Anonymous said...

I have visited my native place after 48 years through your photos. There is no major change in its appearance. I am immensely happy to recollect my sweet memories in my young age.
thank u.

rockers suresh said...

my native also pvkalathur. and its very glad to see the information about my native. still i have touch with my native place because "ennadu endralum adu namma oora pola varuma"

mudaliar said...

Hello,

My ancestors belonged to the Ponvilaintha Kalththhor village, ,I visited when I was 7 or 8 years for one of old relative^s funeral.I am now 66 years . I understand that there were four families lived there. One settled in Bombay and later in USA.My elder brother K.V.Ramalingam is now 88 years and live in villivakkam.
Any body who wish to renew contact , I will be too glad and my Email I.D mrnirmalkumar@gmail.com

With best wishes
K.Nirmalkumar

mudaliar said...

Hello,

I just revisited the blog almost after one year, and glad to see my earlier post.My father ^s name is Late Venugopal mudaliar and my grand father^s name is Late Ayyaswamy mudaliar who lived in this village.I wish to visit the village hopefully in the year 2013.I understand there were four family's lived side by side during my grandfather^s time.Any one would like to share and renew any contact I would love to since I spent most of my life at Howrah, and lost contact with
Kith and kin.

Unknown said...

Its my dads native..I visit the place once in a yr..couldnt go in the last 2 yrs n was happy to see it thru ur pics..n u had mentioned the priest was a small boy-actually whom u met is the original priest's son and both his sons have taken over and are serving our temple presently..if by chance you go there agn do go inside the village and ask for the kollam and take a bath there..feels awsm-cherishing childhood memories;)..thanks for the pics:)

Murali Boopathi said...

Hi... Ponpathar koodam s my native place... I love tat place... I visit tis place every year... It s a very green and lovable place...

Narayanaswami Kalyanaraman said...

A few years ago i came to know about the Ponpadarkoodam Sri Chathurbuja Ramar Koil, near PV Kalathur. During 2009, on the annual kalyana utsav celebration, we visited the temple.It was a nice experience and we were amazed to see the natural beauty of the surroundings and the beauty of the idol.Though i don't belong to the village, I & my family regularly visit the temple especially during the annual celebrations like kalyana utsavam, Pavithrothsavam etc.
N.Kalyanaraman

suresh.bazar street said...

It is really a glad thing to hear about my village

suresh.bazar street said...

I am really happy for bought a land in p.v.k

Unknown said...

Hi all i'm sathish, My father native place.. is PV Kalthur. Our own house in Pillayar koil street.
we all settled in chennai. still my uncle family in native. Near railway station chokku coffee shop owner Mr. Mani he's my father classmate. when ever we went to our native, first we go to chokku coffee. Yearly once we (all our family members) go to our native for temple visit next to PV Kalthur, pommudikuppam village nice to visit in there Thumbarati amman koil we visit yearly. we are the family, amman vehicle, knife presented family to that temple. my grand father is the person is well known in that village. both in Pv kalthur & pommudikuppam. I'm happy to share the details.