Lord Hayagriva-avtar of Lord Maha Vishnu.
My friends Venkat and Shanmuga Ragavan.
Ragavan and Venkat plan for the trip in class.
Date: 11th January 2008.
Along with my college friends, I was going for a small trip to a village named Chettipunyam, which is 6km away from Singaperumal Koil. I got up around 4AM. The street was dark and there weren’t any streetlights switched ON. I was a bit surprised as such things don't happen in Adyar often. My dog Damien and his brother (still nameless) were sleeping at the entrance of my house. As I opened the door, they woke up. They were quite happy to see me up early in the morning. Damien couldn't control his excitement and started jumping.
I used the torch in my mobile and reached the main road. I was scared that I would step on a sleeping dog and get bitten (affectionately?). I was waiting at the bus stop for around 15 minutes. No buses were available! Then I got a call from Shanmuga Ragavan-my college mate. He said that he was coming in 47A AD 1898. I boarded the same bus at Madhya Kailas Junction. We got down at Saidapet together and proceeded towards Saidapet station. We walked through "Kalaignar Arch" and the fish market. It wasn't a pleasant experience, but I have got accustomed to it. Five minutes would have passed. There was a long honk. I could see an express train coming towards MS (Chennai Egmore's Station code). It was ED WDM-3D#11101 with 2632 Nellai Express. Man, it was really fast. It was in traditional Erode WDM-2 livery.
Then we boarded the next EMU and went to Guindy (GDY) and waited for Venkata Krishna-my college mate. Venkat was already there waiting for us at Guindy station. As we greeted each other, there was another long horn. I thought it should be Sethu Express. It came with a well-maintained GOC WDM-2#16858. I think it was Sethu Express as during those days Sethu got WDM-2's from GOC shed. 103SR came with WDM-3D#11193. We boarded 103SR at GDY. Our train's next halt was Tambaram. I always liked travelling in 103SR between Egmore and Tambaram. It's fun overtaking the EMU's.
As we were approaching Tirusoolam, ED WDM-3A#14124 blasted with 2634 Kanyakumari Express. As we approached Tambaram, I saw NKJ WAG-7#27753 stationed in one of the empty platforms. I knew it was New Katni Junction. It was written in Hindi. But where in India is that located? I was ashamed at my own knowledge about my motherland. To be frank with you I don't know many places beyond Tamilnadu and Andhra Pradesh and my knowledge about my own country is poor
As my journey proceeded in 103-Pondi passenger, we spotted GOC WDP-3A#15524 with Podhigai Express. The way the train entered into Tambaram station was simply fantastic. Railfan's delight. I think the train was entering the main line directly. It wasn't taking any loop. The loco pilot was in a aggressive mood and I wondered whether he would stop at Tambaram. The journey was good and as always memorable with typical 103 charm.
Lord Narasimha kills demon Hiranyakasipu.
Legend
Hiranyakasipu was the brother of Hiranyaksha. He was no different from his evil-minded brother. He hated Lord Narayana and didn’t allow anyone to worship the God. However, his son Prahlad was a Vishnu devotee. The reason was that the Divine Sage Narada has recited Vishnu's greatness when Prahlad was still in his mother's womb. Hiranyakasipu warned his own son not to worship Vishnu. But Prahlad wasn't interested in listening to that. Enraged by his son’s disobedience, he decided to kill his own son. He tried killing his son in many ways, but miracles saved him.
One fine day....
Sarcastically, he asked his son where his Lord was present? Prahlad replied calmly, “That He was present everywhere and He was omnipresent”. Frustrated and enraged Hiranyakasipu inquired whether his Lord is present inside the stone pillar-pointing at a wall nearby. Prahlad said, “Yes”. Hiranyakasipu broke the pillar with his mace and Vishnu appeared in the form of half man-half lion form i.e. Narasimha avatar. Thus it is evident that God always comes to the rescue of His devotees in times of danger. Hiranyakasipu was killed by Narasimha in the battle.
This is how I looked in 2007.
Back to my Trip Report……..
The dosas at Singaperumal Koil were simply the best. I don't know how to express it. Let me try. Along with the composition, coconut milk was added and then the dosa was prepared. But the pepper was too hot. I mean "Molaga podi". It was so hot that water came in the eyes of Shanu and we purchased one extra mineral water bottle for him. Then the next dish was "Kesari" or a sweet item made with ghee. It was simply fantastic and awesome. It was full of ghee and it was so sweet with pineapple essence. Later, I tried making the same dish at home and it came out well. For those who are visiting Singaperumal Koil please don't miss the dosas and kesari.
Our next plan was a bit interesting. Chettipunyam was actually 4-5km away from Singaperumal Koil. It can be reached in two ways. You can take a auto or a rented cycle. We were really interested in cycle ride. We went to a local cycle shop and rented a bicycle at the rate of Rs.4 per hour each. Three bicycles were rented. Boarding an auto would cost a lot and ofcourse if the guy finds that you are coming from a city like Chennai, he won't make any efforts to reduce the amount.
I was more interested in cycle journeys. I stopped using bicycles when I left school and now I am college. I was really interested in bringing those days back! Here came the funniest part. My cycle was punctured but I didn't notice it. I realized it only after coming to the G.S.T road. I was finding it hard during the run, but I thought that I would make it. I thought that since I was riding a cycle after many years, I felt that I didn't know to use it properly. But the reason was that the cycle had a puncture in the backwheel!
After cycling in the GST road for about two kilometers towards Paranur we took the right. It was a small road. It was very much deserted. If you travel in this for sometime you will come across a level crossing. A marker indicated that we were 4km away from the temple. Here we took rest under a banyan tree. Shanu felt that there was no use proceeding forward with this cycle. Since I was tired he offered to take the cycle back for rectifying the puncture. As Shanu went back to get the cycle repaired, Venkat and myself sat under the tree and took some photos.
Venkat poses in Vijaykanth style. Pic taken in W550i(my ex-mobile). Sorry for the quality.
The trip lacked fun and thrill with the absence of my college mates Niranjan and Karthikeyan. When Shanu returned with my cycle we continued our journey. The road was curvy and had a lot of bends. It was a dusty day too. We ventured into a scenic landscape with mountains, small rivers, ponds and then cycled through the village with hens, goats, cows.
Legend:
In Hinduism, Hayagriva is an avatar of Vishnu. He is worshipped as a God of knowledge and wisdom. He has portrayed as a person with a human body and a horse's head seated on a white lotus. Hayagriva is celebrated in the Puranas for rescuing the Vedas from the demons. Symbolically, the story of Hayagriva represents the triumph of pure knowledge guided by the hand of God over the demonic forces of passion and darkness.
"jnana-Ananda-mayam devam nirmala-sphaTikAkRtimAdhAram sarvavidyAnAm hayagrIvam upAsmahe". [Source: Taken from Internet]
The Chettipunyam temple was crowded on that day. Schoolgirls and boys have come to seek the divine blessings. After visiting the temple and finishing our darshan, we cycled our way back to the town. Luckily we got an EMU soon without waiting much and we boarded it at Singaperumal Koil. The EMU journey was a bit tiring and by the time I reached home, I was half dead. My tongue was out and I was gasping for breath.
-Krishna Kumar.S
