Visiting Madurantakam [31/08/2008]

How the Temple came into existence?
I have cut and pasted the information from Chennai Online.

During 1796,a British officer called Colonel Lionel Plaze was the Collector of Chengalpattu district. During his collectorship, Plaze had witnessed two breaches in the huge tank in Madurantakam taluk. If it rained then there was a high chance that the tank would break.

The collector was exploring various ways and means to undertake urgent repairs if it was needed. During the course of his inspections, he happened to see a large collection of granite near the Ram temple. The collector suggested to his subordinates that these could be used if there is any emergency. Hearing this the temple priests said that the stones were meant for constructing a separate shrine for Janakavalli Thayar, consort of Lord Ram and since there was paucity of funds the construction could not commence and that's the reason the stones were lying just like that without any use.


A painting in the walls of the temple. Lord Ram and Lakshman blessing Lt.Col. Blaze. I took this photo with my camera mobile.

Hearing this the Collector is said to have remarked, "Where was the need for a separate shrine when more urgent work like repairing the bunds were crying for resources and asked the priests jestingly as to why the Lord was not able to save the tank each year"? The priests replied saying that the Lord was always known to answer a sincere prayer from the heart.

The rainy season came and on that year there was a heavy downpour. Within a few days the tank was full to the brim and a breach seemed imminent in a few days. That night a worried Collector camped near the tank hoping that the bunds would hold and even prayed to the Almighty. As he was inspecting, Colonel Plaze saw a miraculous sight. He saw two warriors bearing bow and quiver guarding the bunds. The British officer went on his knees and prayed, for he knew it was none other than Lord Ram and his divine brother Lakshmana. It was indeed strange that nobody else who were a part of the Collector's retinue saw the Lord. After a while the vision disappeared and the rain stopped. The grateful Collector undertook the building of the shrine for Janakavalli thayar. The temple came to be known as Yerikatha Ramar (Rama who saved the tank). There is also a separate idol for the Collector engraved in the shrine of Janakavalli Thayar.


A nice painting in the walls of the temple.

My narration of the story begins here.

I was suppose to visit Madurantakam on 24th August 2008. I have never been to Madurantakam earlier and I was amazed to hear about the stories related to Madurantakam. I was eager to visit the place. I was half-hearted on 24th, but on 31st, I was entirely interested with involvement. It was a railfanning-temple trip. I was to go alone. Around 21:00hrs the day earlier, I got an SMS from good old pal Vimal asking for my tomorrow's plan. I told him about my trip to Madurantakam. I thought Vimal might not be interested as the return journey involved bus and I was going to stay quality time at the temple premises. But Vimal surprisingly said that he is interested and he said that he would be waiting for me at GDY the next day morning. I also told that I would be spending "quality time" at the temple. Vimal agreed. I was happy, but also surprised, as Vimal hates traveling by bus and he may not like to stay idle for a long time.

As usual the same story. I guess in my blogs apart from my major trips, majority of the trips involve 103SR, the famous morning Egmore-Pondicherry Passenger. Vimal and myself met at GDY. We had a lengthy discussion about non-rail topics. Ranging from politics, international scenario, my career, saving money for future etc etc. I was counting on Vimal and other MAS members for advice as my age is his experience!


A cow poses for a pic.

WAP-4#22655 hauled 2638 MDU-MS Pandian Superfast Express and it crossed GDY at least 10 minutes late. Vimal was courageous and took a video right in the railway station. I had a look around to check whether there were any RPF's. Luckily there weren't any. In my view, the video came out well. Very soon, WDM-3D#11207 hauled 2634 CAPE-MS Kanya Kumari Express and blasted past us. Not even a few minutes, WDP-3A#15503 came with (Sengottai) Podhigai Express and this train was a bit slow and it crossed us only at 40kph as it was trailing 2634 Kanyakumari Express. To my surprise, WAP-4#22388 came with 103. It was a good performer and considered as a MONSTER performer. I didn't recollect that it was a MONSTER type loco, till Dilip sent me an SMS notifying me when the train was somewhere after Tambaram. As usual, I was updating the Chennai gang through SMS. The run was good.

We saw Pearl City Express near Urappakkam and Sethu Express near Maraimalai Nagar. My train halted for sometime near Paranur before entering in Chengalpet Jn. Vimal sat all the way till Madurantakam near the door, while I stood above him talking non-rail topics. Generally, Vimal and myself get into serious discussions during rail trips.

I had a look around the lake near Chengalpet. It was fantastic. I wish the weather was even more cool. When my train reached Chengalpet, I got down and rushed to the nearest vendor and bought idli-vadai-two sets. No time to get water-bottle. The reason being there was only one vendor in the stall and hell lot of crowd. The vendor was also very slow and he was taking his own sweet time to give change. Madurantakam was some 30km away from Chengalpet. I thought that I could do without water. I quit the idea and returned back to the coach. Vimal was slightly disappointed and he was in need of water. But he decided to wait till Madurantakam.

A small fight was going on between two ladies inside the compartment. An old lady has washed her hands in the middle of the coach itself. Another middle-aged lady, also from rural area but with a lot of civic sense argued that what’s she is doing is wrong. The old lady replied saying, “Is it your father’s property?” As I watched this “Kuzha-Adi Sandai”, my train started to move. I am not the person who interferes in other's personal affairs, but I was impressed with the civic sense in the rural areas and I decided to observe their conversation. As the train accelerated, the rate of words coming from their mouths increased. As WAP-4#22388 proved it’s monster capabilities and blasted through Tirumani, these two women became real monsters, fighting in Tamil versions of "popular" English words. As I saw this, I remembered a comedy scene from the Tamil film Chinna Gounder in which Manorama and Sukanya exchange some funny words.

My train did halt at stations like Ottivakkam, Padalam and Karunguzhi. I was a bit surprised as it is not mentioned in the TT. Later I got an SMS from an IRFCA member in MAS saying that the stoppings are as per requirements of people boarding the train at CGL. I think I can trust that information as it was from a reliable source. In some of my travels, I have noticed 103/104 skipping these stations. I opened my food packet. Chutney was missing. Idli wasn’t great. Vadai was puny and small. My favourite food item is Paratha. Nowadays it is missing in many of Railway stations. Don’t know why. Sambar was like Masala water. I drank it!! The speed of the train was moderate and I didn't feel anything great about it.


Madurantakam Tank. This is the one which is believed to be protected by Lord Ram Himself.

I observed Ottivakkam station. It had an old hut-type Station Master room. It had some amount of concrete walls, but the ceilings were of different era. I don’t know how to express that in proper English. But it is called "Odu Veedu" in Tamil. It had a shelter in blue colour (must be asbestos) with a space of only three to sit. The 6116 Pondicherry Express was in loop line waiting for us. Things like these drives me crazy and I would even settle for good in stations. I was very happy at seeing the station and it was more charming than the Chennai City Center.

Imagine spending a night in stations like these. Watching high-speed train action (at least 90kmph), sleeping in the benches, sharing a meal with the stationmaster, sharing chocolates with local kids in the railway station etc. There is some connection between God and Indian Railways. In IR stations, you can find people, kids and animals. The only other place where you can find such combination is only in Indian Railways. Each station is like a temple, which gives shelter to people who are less fortunate than us. People over here consider railway stations as their own house. I recommend that if anyone wants to explore India, the best choice is the passenger train. And also there is another reason why I like passenger trains!! You are always put in loop, while other trains overtake/cross you. I am not interested in going fast.


Amazing landscape. I love it.

IR Stations needs to be more clean and neat. If it were done, it would be even more charming than the Spencer Plaza at Chennai. As we got down at Madurantakam, people were looking at us curiously. I could guess why. I was wearing formals and Vimal was like an officer in perfect formals. Maybe, they were wondering what we were doing at this small town. It was my first visit to Madurantakam. However, Vimal stated a different answer. He said that the people got curious because of the way we interacted amongst ourselves in railway terms(it happens). The station was in a slight curve. Ideal of train spotting.


It was a cloudy day. Few of my trips in the recent past involved cloudy climates.

The platform was at low level. Maybe that’s the reason why MEMU’s run beyond Chengalpattu instead of EMU's as MEMU’s have ladders/footsteps unlike EMU’s. We crossed the tracks and then I asked the "friendly" Station Master the route to visit Yeri Katha Ramar Temple. The SM suggested that we should walk along the tracks safely and reach the gate and then board a bus bound to Madurantakam bus stand. The distance was some 2km as per his words. Vimal decided to walk than taking a bus. We spent almost 30 minutes searching for a good hotel. But we didn’t get tired as I was busy talking about my college life which has just got over. My attempts to convince Vimal to join Orkut were in vain.

I was in a dilemma whether to offer my prayers without having food or after having food. I thought further whether to have onion or not. Later, I decided to take it easy. At last, we found a good hotel. Paper Roast, Vadai etc etc. Then we leisurely walked to the temple. I captured a couple of photos. It was around 09:30hrs when we entered the temple. Meanwhile, Vimal purchased Dinakaran, Ananda Vikatan and tamil dailies. I started writing Sri Rama Jayam. Vimal was busy reading about politics, Singur unrest, Nuclear Deal etc etc.

At around 10:20hrs, I heard a good loud honk. Though the station is a bit far, I was optimsitic that it could be of a train. It must be Pallavan Express also doing 90kmph. Ha Ha! Am I not to give my prayers whole-heartedly? My concentration got disturbed. But I was sure my Lord wouldn’t mind it nor be angry. If the Indian Railway were around in His times, He would also be a rail fan. Who knows, He might be an active travel writer too.



Gopuram of the Yeri Katha Ramar Temple, Madurantakam.

Vimal was having his precious afternoon nap as I was busy with my prayers. After writing around 508 times as per my wish, I felt content and decided to pack up. I wanted to capture the sight of the Madurantakam tank. I came out of the temple, took the left and took another left to take up a set of stairs. As I climbed up, I slipped and fell down. As I got up and climbed up further, I fell down again. I think I need to be have some patience in life. While crossing the GST Road, I took extra care. After verifying, that no cars/lorries were around I crossed the road and took a few snaps.

We started from Madurantakam at around 12:30hrs, after staying 3 hours at the temple. We boarded a bus at the bus stand to reach Chengalpet. We reached Chengalpattu in half an hour. We had mini Tiffin at a hotel near CGL restaurant. I had Chappati’s and Vimal had plain dosa. We slowly walked to the Railway station. We got an announcement saying that 2636 MDU-MS Vaigai Super Fast Express was on the way. It came with an ED WAP-4 and left within 2 minutes. We thought that we might miss this train so we didn't purchase Express tickets! But 2636 was a bit late. We aren't interested in buying another set of tickets either Then I heard an announcement saying, 2635 MS-MDU Vaigai Express was on its way!

I could see the incoming train in the distance. It was at least 2-3km away and a WAP-4 was hauling it. Awesome! It was a great sight to see both the trains crossing each other at a distance of 2-3km. Imagine the total length of both these 24 coach trains!! Totally 48 coaches.

2635 entered CGL with an AJJ WAP-4. It had an halt of 2mins. I could observe typical Madurai type people. Dhoti’s, big moustaches and a bit conservativeness. I was amazed at the diversity of my country. The train started and as it pulled out of Chengalpattu it suddenly stopped. I heard 6-7 honks. Is it a Morse code? Does it mean anything? I was wondering what was happening. Vimal said, "There must have been a chain pull". The vendors took this as a chance and made some extra business. After a couple of minutes 2635 left.


The weather was really good. It didn't rain thankfully.

We boarded the next EMU towards Chennai Beach and we started for PZA. Near Vandalur, Twin WDM-2’s or twin WDG-3A’s were spotted hauling a goods rake. Fantastic. It’s been a long time, since I have seen diesels hauling goods in electric territory. We reached PZA(Pazhavanthangal) after a boring EMU run. I visited Vimal’s house for the first time and interacted with his family.

The funniest moment was when Vimal’s mother asked, "Whether I was married?". Given my appearance, people always mistake me for a 30 year old person. Trust me! I take that as a credit. That was my advantage in my workplace. Then I departed and went to see my old athimber or my father's eldest-eldest-eldest brother in law. He was 92 years old. Then around 20:00hrs I boarded an EMU at PZA towards Saidapet. I was hoping to see Podhigai Express near Saidapet. However, it passed even before I reached Saidapet and the EMU was crowded and I couldn't see it. I got down at Saidapet and I reached my house at around 20:30hrs. My dog damien was guarding my house.

-Krishna Kumar.S
a.k.a Junior KK