Temple Trails | Airavateswara Temple | Day 3

Yesterday we had a great time at Rameshwaram visiting the Rameshwaram Temple, some local temples, then visit to Dr Abdul Kalam memorial and we finished our day by visiting the fabulously beautiful Pamban bridge.

You can click here to read about our journey from the beginning.

View of the train entering the Pamban Bridge

Sunday,7th Oct 2018

Today we had to catch the train to Thanjavur. So we left our hotel by 8:00 am, took an auto to the  Rameshwaram railway station. Our train was to depart at 8.40.

All excited me ,at Rameshwaram Railway Station

We were all excited because today we will be actually plying over the Pamban bridge. All three of us ie. my wife, my daughter and myself we were ready with our cameras to capture the moment on our mobile phones.bola tha na, pagalpan Puri tarah se humme hai. (other passengers in the train thinking) puri family ka screw dhila hai but apna toh yeah thought WHO CARES !

Yesterday we captured the exterior of the bridge  from the road bridge and today we were going to capture our journey by travelling on it.

This shot from the train itself by my daughter.

The anchored boats were the testimony to the alert call of cyclone and here I was traveling on this railway bridge despite the cyclone warning alert. 

Chakka Jam or Boat Jam....
Yeah nazaara Cyclone Alert ke kaaran

Anyway there was no cyclone, so no adventure to write about, but the sights were amazing. Luckily for us,  today the whole train was almost empty.  Apne baap ki train hai wali feeling as rahi thi.. actually we were very tired because last night we had spent long time lazing at the Agni theerthaam and after coming to our room the blasting thunderstorm didn't allow us to sleep peacefully. 

My favourite window seat and beauty of the nature
Wah kya Jodi Hamaari !

My wife and my daughter immediately went to sleep and I took guard at my favourite window seat clicking pictures and after sometime with the gentle breeze hitting me I too went into a deep slumber.

It was the jerk which opened my eyes and I saw our train leaving some platform behind, I checked out to see which station and was flabbergast to see that we were moving out of Thanjavur station. 

"Zindagi me kabhi train ki chain khichi nahi aur aaj bhi himmat nahi Hui." 

Yeah scene dimag me aate hi chain pulling the idea out !

I jerked my daughter and wife too from their sleep and explained the situation. Saala first time meri life me mera station nikal gaya.

"Logo ki train miss hoti hai 

  aur idhar mera station miss ho gaya 😜😜😜"

"Logo ki train miss hoti hai aur idhar,
 mera station miss ho gaya"

My mind started to work rapidly, my first priority was to check the next station which incidentally was Kumbakonam and the time of the train to Thanjavur. It was hugely disappointing to note that the return train was late in the evening.Next I googled if there are any place which I can visit at Kumbakonam.

Toofani toh har koi karta hai,

Kyo na aaj kuch alag kiya jaye...

Ghummakad hu, pani me dakaa doge. 

toh machali pakad kar bahar aajaunga 😜😜😜

After one hour the next station came ie. Kumbakonam (shayad isliye kumbakaram  ki tarah hum sab soye rahe)

Coming out of the station we saw an auto guy and we hired him to take us to Airavateswara Temple .

Airavateswara Temple

Why you must visit Airavateshwara Temple,

when in Kumbakonnam 

1.The biggest reason to visit Airavateswara temple is, that it is a UNESCO world heritage site,so naturally I was excited all the more. I felt I was destined to visit this temple perhaps that's the reason I must have overslept.

Architectural Delight

2.The Cholas built hundreds of Hindu temples across their empire. Of these four were vast complexes with all stone vimanas. The Airavatesvara temple is one of these four. The other three are the temples found in Thanjavur built by Rajaraja I, in Gangaikonda Cholapuram built by Rajendra I, and in Tribuvanam by the later era Chola king Kulottunga II. Hence Airavateshwara Temple is one of the living Chola Temple.

Intricate carvings

3.The intricate carvings and statues in this temple are class apart.

4.The peaceful ambiance, the musical stairs are something unique to be seen in this temple. 

Peaceful ambiance

5.To a photographer Airavateswara Temple offers some magnificent shots and angles.

Good Photo angles

6. 100 pillars hall with intricate carving on each of them.

Pillars with Yali sculptures

7. There are many unique sculptures in the temple and one of that include a 73 panel of sculptures depicting the life history of 63 Nayanmars.

"Nowhere one can see in such details the life history of Nayanmars.

8. Last but not the least its one of the Great living Chola Temple.

History:

The temple was built by king Rajaraja Chola II who ruled the Chola Empire between 1146 and 1172 CE. The Airavatesvara temple was much larger than what we see today. According to the inscriptions. It had sapta veedhis (seven streets) and seven courts, similar to the Srirangam temple. However nothing remains today, except the one court with the main temple which survived.There are ruins of gopuram and some structures at some distance from the current visitor premises confirming that the site was badly damaged at some point like the other major Chola era temples and various Chola cities including the capital Gangaikonda Cholapuram.

Legends:

This temple is dedicated to Lord Shiva. As per mythology, Lord Shiva was worshiped here by Airavata, Lord Indra's elephant who had seven trunks and four tusks. After being cursed by sage Durvasa for not respecting him, the spotless Airavata turned into a discoloured elephant.Inorder to be free from this curse the elephant took a dip in the sacred waters of this temple.

There there is another legend according to which it was believed that Yama, the King of Death, also worshiped Lord Shiva here. Yama, who was cursed by a sage which caused a burning sensation all over his body, took a dip in the sacred tank of the temple and got cured. This temple tank is thus named Yamateertham.

Tales of Pandavas Rage or Delhi Sultanates Plundering

The reasons for the destructions of Chola temples are unclear. According to Vasanthi, the Pandavas who defeated the Cholas during the later part of 13th century "may have raged the Gangaikonda Cholapuram to ground" to avenge their previous defeats. However, it is unclear why other temples were destroyed and this temple was spared, as well as why there are around 20 inscriptions from later Cholas, Pandyas and Vijayanagar Empire indicating various gifts and grants to this temple.

An alternate theory links the destruction to the raids, plunder and wars, particularly with the invasion of the capital city and the territories that were earlier a part by the Chola Empire along with Madurai by the armies of Delhi Sultanate led by the Muslim commander Malik Kafur in 1311, followed by Khusrau Khan in 1314 and Muhammad bin Tughlaq in 1327. The period that followed saw wars between the Hindu kings and the Muslim Sultans who seceded the Delhi Sultanate and carved out new polity such as the nearby Madurai Sultanate (1335–1378). The Vijayanagara Empire defeated the Madurai Sultanate in 1378 and this temple along with other Chola era temples thereafter came under Hindu kings again who repaired and restored many of them.

Our journey :

In 15 -20 minutes we reached the Airavateswara temple, What took us by surprise was the well maintained garden outside the temple complex. Crossing the garden we come across the main gate of the temple but not before noticing the Nandi in front of the gate. A huge Black stone Nandi. We were told that this Nandi mandapa is aligned with the main temple's east west axis. 

Huge Black stone Nandi outside the main entrance.

After clicking few pictures of the huge black stone Nandi we entered the main complex of the temple. Just like the other temples of the South India this too was enclosed within huge walls.

The first hall that you see as you enter the complex has 100 pillars and each pillar has stone carving depicting scenes of olden days. I couldn't find any guide so I was unable to comprehend much. 

100 Pillars Hall

The most unique feature of the temple was the horses at the entrance steps. The front Mandapa known as Rajagambhiran Tirumandapam is unique as it was conceptualized as chariots with wheels. 

Elephants, Horses and Chariots 

Next we come across a strange sculpture of fusion of Elephant, horse or was is something else ?

Is it an elephant or  a horse ?

moving on to the back side of the temple there is this beautiful Shiva Sculpture in black stone.

Shiva Sculpture at the back of the temple

Considering that I am no historian nor I am deeply in architecture, Its quite possible that I may fall short of providing all the information on this temple. In case if you are willing to dig deep I found this website quite useful you can click here to read more.  

We spent quite sometime here and were simply overwhelmed by the beauty of this temple. The sun was on the verge of setting so we were rushing back to catch out bus to Thanjavur, where the Big Temple alias Brihadeeshwara Temple awaits us. 

How to reach:

Air: Nearest Airport is Trichy Airport, One can take a cab,bus or train to reach here.

Rail: Darusuram is the nearest railway station.However only passenger trains stop here. If you take express train then one needs to get down at Kumbakunam railway station.

Bus: There are regular buses from Trichy,Madurai,Thanjavur .

I was told that there are regular mini buses from Kumbakunam Railway station every 15 minutes plying to the temple. 

Thanks for reading the blog and in case if you are interested in reading the story from the beginning please click here on the link here.

Pamban Bridge | One of the most dangerous bridge

In my last blogs we visited Meenakshi Temple, Rameshwaram temple and Dr Abdul Kalam Memorial  we were now rushing in our auto to catch the setting sun view of Pamban Bridge.

To Read about our journey from the beginning click here 

People called me crazy when I told them that visiting Pamban bridge is one of the most awaited moment in my life. You must be wondering Why Pamban Bridge?

Arre yaar Maine bahut saal pehle kahi pad liya tha... Pamban bridge one of the most dangerous bridge, Bas Dil ke memory chip me record ho gaya and I knew that someday I have to be there. 

Its a view to die for

World over you have some fantastic bridges then be it be in San Francisco, London or Sydney but for me my home grown Pamban bridge was right at the top. Ab yeh Dil ki baat hai Dil hi Jane.

There were two ways for me to experience the Pamban bridge , one I could watch it from outside and other by travelling on it.

Hum hum hai
Isliye gum kuch kam hai .

Yes I managed to do it in both the ways.

My dream fulfilled- Ek photo kuch aisa

Annai Indira Gandhi road bridge which is parallel to the Pamban bridge was inaugurated by former Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi on 2 Oct ,1988 is also an engineering marvel.

Annai Indira Gandhi road bridge in the background

It offers fantastic view of the Pamban Railway Bridge. Lots of tourist stopover here to click pictures especially of the train passing over the railway bridge.

Tourist clicking the pictures of the train from the road bridge

Pagalpan toh itna hai ki Mumbai se trains ke time note kar ke gaya tha , as to when the trains shall be departing Rameshwaram station, so that I am there at the road bridge to capture the view on my camera.

Scene soaked in the evening golden tranquility

We were little late to catch the glimpses of the passing train because I got carried away at Dr Kalam memorial that I overspent my time there. Still huffing and puffing our auto reached the flyover bridge and there I could see the beauty of the train with some lovely overcast golden sky. The whole atmosphere was soaked in the golden tranquility.

Is it a rusty and rickety bridge or an engineering marvel

The bridge stood there shining bright. Boss yeh dekne wale ki nazar ka Kamaal Hota hai warna to a commoner the bridge may look a rusty and rickety object. Kahte hai na...the beauty lies in the eyes of the beholder. Sorry yaaro Mai toh emotional ho Gaya.

Sach me yeah most dangerous bridge lagta hai... kabhi bi gaya 

Ek Kahani ( One Tale )

Emotional se yaad aaya, there is this story narrated to us by our auto guy. That there was an operator who worked on this bridge, his job was to lift the bridge section so as to allow the ships to pass and then to bring the bridge down, just like draw bridge of olden times to let the train pass over it. However on one fateful day as he was bringing the bridge down, the train was arriving very close to the bridge, and if he was not able to level the bridge there could be a great accident, unfortunately at that particular time his 5 year  old small son arrived with the lunch  for him. Seeing his father in trouble the small child rushed towards his father and started to rotate the pulley.

Pulley section of the bridge

However in this commotion the child's hands got sucked into the gears and crushed it and the young chap was crying out in pain and died. For a second I was sad and almost hated the bridge. My daughter too was almost in tears, her eyes were red , I held her and said these things happen but then at the same time I felt operating the gear of this bridge cannot be done alone , keeping in mind the size of the bridge. Jaise meri aadat hai, I immediately googled to check out the facts and thankfully realised that it's fake story . One needs at least 12 people to operate the bridge. Being an avid traveller I have heard so many stories from the local people or guide and over the period of time I have realised that we got to take these tales with a pinch of salt, Kyo ki aap ko man mukt karne ke liye yeh kahaniya aadhi haqeeqat to aadha fasana hoti hi.

Thank God my love for the bridge didn't get diminished.

Some amazing views on the road bridge

Now see a picture taken from the train, Bola tha na jo sochte hai woh karte zaroor hai ..hazoor

This was from the train.

Now some facts about this bridge.

1.Pamban bridge was India's first sea bridge, and was the longest sea bridge in India until the opening of the Bandra-Worli Sea Link in 2010.

2.This bridge was built on 24 Feb  1914 which means this bridge is more than 100 year old !

3.This is one of the most dangerous bridge, imagine now more than 100 years old and over that this bridge is located in the world's second most corrosive environment after Florida, making its maintenance a challenging job. The location is also a cyclone-prone high wind velocity zone.

4. The railway bridge is located 12.5 metres (41 ft) above sea level and is 6,776 ft (2,065 m) long.

5. The bridge consists of 143 piers and has a double-leaf badcule section with a Scherzer rolling type lift span that can be raised to let ships pass. Each half of the lifting span weighs 415 tonnes.

Bridge in opening position (Pic source internet)

In this technical world this bridge still uses manual means using levers to lift the two leaves of the bridge .

click here to see the opening up of the bridge

I had read in a newspaper reporting that Indian Railways is trying to bring the bridge in the UNESCO world heritage list. So till then fingers crossed.

We bid goodbye to the Pamban bridge and returned back to our hotel.

How to reach:

Air:    Nearest airport is Madurai Airport. 
Rail:   Rameshwaram Station is the nearest station and it is well      connected with most rail routes across India.
Road : Regular buses ply from Madurai to Rameshwaram, enroute  to Rameshwaram you can get down on the Pamban road                   bridge. Autos and private vehicles are easily available from             Rameshwaram to reach here

Tomorrow morning we shall be catching the train from Rameshwaram station to Thanjavur, which has some glorious temples to boast about.

Keep reading and be there with me tomorrow too, to experience the new adventure awaiting us.

please click here to read our journey from the beginning.

Temple Trails : Dr Abdul Kalam Memorial

After enjoying the spiritual bliss of morning at Rameshwaram temple and spending the first half exploring some other temples in and around Rameshwaram (you can click here to read about our journey from the beginning) it was time to give a break to temple Trails and move on to something different. Bhai jab Safar per nikle hai toh Sab ki pasand  dekni padti hai....this was for me and my daughter. Both of us are great fan of Dr Abdul Kalam so it was but natural that visiting the Kalam memorial was just on my to do list. As instructed my auto guy was at my hotel by 3:30 pm and we were on our way to Abdul Kalam memorial.

Front of Dr APJ Abdul Kalam National Memorial

Dr Abdul Kalam needs no introduction but yet I would like to dedicate few lines for him. Dr Abdul Kalam was the 11th President of India but before that he associated with DRDO for almost 4 decades as Scientist and Science Administrator with ISRO. He was fondly known as Missile Man of India for is work in Space programs.

on 15th July 2015, while delivering a lecture in Shillong he collapsed and died due to cardiac arrest. 

In case if you want know in depth about the life of Dr Abdul Kalam click here 

The Memorial is built on a 2.11 acre land infact its also supposed to be the grave site of Dr Abdul Kalam  and the bronze life size statue of Abdul Kalam, which was inaugurated in 2016, has been shifted and installed behind the memorial. Inside the memorial there are four halls which depict the life and time of Dr Abdul Kalam. 

Chettinad Door at the memorial.

The entrance of the memorial depicts the India Gate and has a Chettinad door integrated into the structure, while the main dome of the building is a replica of the Rashtrapati Bhavan. However we didn't enter through this as the authorities have kept it closed and instead they use the side entrance.

The Defence Research and Development organisation (DRDO) with which Dr Abdul Kalam was associated for many years, came up with an initiative to construct this memorial. An investment of Rs 120 crores were spent for its construction and it was completed in record time of 9 months.

The memorial of Abdul Kalam is very beautiful and it showcases the entire events during the lifetime of Dr Abdul Kalam. His statue and his office transport you to Kalam world. As photography is not allowed inside the memorial building hence I am unable to share the pictures however I can share my experience.

There was this room where they had displayed the things Dr Kalam was carrying on the day when he died. His clothes, his slippers, his glasses , his comb brush .....looking at  these things, I got goosebumps, I could feel Kalam Ji in my soul. Seriously speaking it was a spiritual experience that I was feeling which was passing through me. I don't know what would have happened to me if I could have simply touched those things that were on display. Then there a room where different awards that he received Dr Kalam received were displayed viz, Padma bhushan, Padma Vibhushan , Bharat Ratan etc. 

I was actually perturbed for not been able to take photos of such lovely memories, I found this very strange because world over people are allowed to take pictures in such kind of memorials. I researched as to why photos were not allowed when I came across an article which gave the Reason for this no photos rule.  (Click on the link to know)

Dazed I came out of the museum, an experience that will always remain with me, because today I brushed with the legend whom I had the good fortune of seeing once when he was  alive, only then I was not knowing how great his personality was.

Outside the museum one is allowed to click pictures so I took the opportunity to make hay where it is allowed 😂

Everyone knows that Dr Kalam loved children, perhaps that must be the reason of putting up copper  statues of children playing and many others can be seen on the outside of the memorial.

There is also replica model of rocket in the lawn behind the memorial. I was told that there is an auditorium, planetarium and a library, however I was not able to visit the same. 

After visiting the memorial we moved on to Pambam bridge, You must be wondering what's so great about this bridge, because a bridge is a bridge. Ab yeh bridge ki baat hi kuch nirali hai

Well friends stay tuned for my next blog on Pambam bridge.

Click here to read from the beginning about our journey on temple trails.

Thank you from our team.