It is Mylapore again...

Our lifestyles evolve, our needs and wants change and as a result the ambience is altered.
This happens to every city, village and town in the world. Let me come to our Mylapore today……

Once upon a time there was only Karpagambal Mess in Mylapore but today there are multiple multi cuisines like Saravana Bhavan, Geethanjali, and Vasantha Bhavan on the three madaveedhis. There was a time when people used to queue outside Sri Vidya store to buy tumeric and kumkum, but today there is Health and Glow. Old village styles houses that adorned the madaveedhis of Mylapore are being replaced by tall concrete structures and multi floor textile shops like Kumaran. Leo Coffee used to be the only coffee store, but today there are a half a dozen coffee shops that infuse the smell of roasted coffee bean into the Mylapore air.

While the physical alterations constantly happen, but core things remain intact and unchanged, the vegetable market, platform shops on the banks on the theppakulam (pond), the ever waiting crowd outside Vijaya Stores (Book & Stationery Store) and the ritual of Gods and Goddesses parading the veedhis is respective vahanas for the occasion. Iyers and Iyengars still co-exist like Kapali and Keshavan in this Mylapore. Parvathi here was born as a peacock and Lakshmi here is called Mayuravalli thayar, that is where Mylapore got its name from.

It is a Saturday ritual for me to trek to this temple from home and the reason why I trek is not to soak myself in sweat and dust but to soak myself in the authentic flavor of Mylapore. The melody in the vegetable vendors voice, clamor of bells from the rickshaw, cycles and auto rickshaws, chant of the hymns, yellow light from the petromax engulfing the alleys, smell of jasmine and incense sticks from the roadside shops, it is an enjoyable experience.

There is a tamil proverb that says Never live in a city that doesn’t have a temple, but only today I realized what a temple does to a city.

As I waded through the crowded market place and passed by Vallieshwaran temple, I was welcomed by the Adi Keshava Perumal seated on a grand Garuda Vahanam. I realized it was the 3rd Saturday in the tamil month of Purrattasi and it was auspicious of Vishnu. After paying my due respects to him I proceeded towards Kapaleeshwar temple. I tried to catch a glimpse of the sculpted 12 inch Nardhana Ganesha (Ganesha means the head of boothganas and he is in a dancing pose) on the east gate of the temple. As I proceeded to see his brother, Karthikeyan seated with Sri Valli and Devasena my ears sensed the classical music in the air and went up like an Alsatian dog. I peered through the crowd and watched a bunch of small girls doing a Barathanatyam recital, but I hurriedly proceeded towards the Parvathi sannadhi before the arthajamam (night pooja).

With the full moon adorning the sky, there was the powerful kanthi (radiance) in her face, the flame from the deepam in the garbhagraha reflected in her nose stud and her bejeweled crown glittered. There are days when she wears the 9 yards saree and looks like my mother and there are days when she wears a typically paavadai (long skirt) and looks like my sister. Today she was wearing a yellow color 6 yard saree with green border and oosivaanam pattern (serrated pattern) which was artistically draped around her. With a simple rose garland around her neck and worked odiyaanam around her waist (hip belt) and she wore an interesting smile on her face and appeared like a girl in her early twenties. I captured the glimpse of her beauty in my mind and when I stepped out of her sannadhi I noticed it was Neraimani today.

Neraimani is celebrated widely in temples in the South and mark the end of the harvest season. As a thanksgiving to the almighty, farmers bring the produce and artistically decorate the temple. The following day the produced is cooked and offered to all devotees. I was so happy to see this practice still alive in the city.

The 4 feet high Shivalingam with ever shinning crescent on his jata (Chandrasekara), vilva mala on his head to keep Rudran cool and glowing vibuthi strip on his forehead, Kapali was blessing his devotees enjoying the nadhaswaram played during the arthajamam. The legend goes that Parvati was distracted by a peacock when Shiva was sharing her with her secrets of creation. Shiva got upset and cursed Parvati to be born in Bhoolok as a peacock. As a peacock she prayed to Shiva with atmost devotion and regained her human form and she performed severe penance at this ksetram to unite with
Shiva.

The Somaskanda (Shiva and Parvati as in Kailas, in the seated posture) were adorning the outer prakaram. Seated in a majestic posture, the couple appeared like the father and mother of the universe and this creation. Scores of mala made of punnai, parijatham, jasmine, vrikshi decorated the dhampathi.

After paying due respects at the Somaskanda sannadhi I came out to the mandapam where the dance recital was happening. I remembered the conversation that I had with a friend on Hinduism, temples and the ecosystem that thrives around a temple. The concept of entertainment through dance and music in temples is something unique to Hinduism and South India. Temples are usually built with an open mandapam (auditorium) to stage performing arts as an offering to God and at the same time provide free entertainment to the people. Today was the last day of Navarthi concert series at the temple and young buds were showcasing their grasp of art and culture.

A troupe of young girls under the tutelage of Ms. Parvathi Mohan performed a beautiful ragamalika “Paarkadal alai maeley” describing the 10 avatars of Vishnu. The song was originally rendered by Smt. M.L. Vasanthakumari in a movie as devotional piece. To the famous adage in tamil, “Moorthy sirisu aanalum keerthi perisu” the young vamanas’ (below 12 years) performed with accurate depiction of all rasas. They had to do some acrobatics to depict Matsyam, Varaham, Koormam and Narasimham, which they did with absolute coordination, right bhavas and apt mudras.

A 10 year old girl Supriya in the troupe is worthy of a mention here. There was so much confidence and maturity in her depiction and exhibition of emotions. The girl performed a challenging Barathiyar composition, “Chinnanchiru Kiliye” as the tail piece to the show. The audience was surprised to see a 10 year old kid performing the role of both the baby and the mother. She was able to bring the emotions of motherhood in her abhinayas and her mudras fell in place and added more sheen to the entire show. With a feeling that more Padmini’s are in the making process I prostrate at the dwijasthambam and proceeded towards the Saturn sannadhi. I lighted gingili oil lamps and went around his sannadhi praying for peace both at micro and macro level.

I heard the group with jalra (chamcha) sing Annamalaiyar hymns with devotion and commitment in front of his sannadhi in the outer prakaram. This was a regular recital that happened everyday at 8.30 pm. I sat down to let music, divinity and the feeling of emptiness percolate in me. When I left the temple there was a sense of happiness, sense of contentment, sense of lightness, and blanket of peace that surrounded me. I‘ve lived in various parts of the world, but I’ve never ever felt this way and I realized that this temple atmosphere can never be recreated. The core of Mylapore culture was intact and still alive. I walked back home relishing yet another priceless moment in my life and felt proud living back home and enjoy the cradle of South indian art, culture and religion.