#4 - A Spiritual Journey | A Travel Memoir

It has been only a few months since the EdTech company which I was working in Chennai decided to provide leaves on the second and fourth saturdays. So we got excited and started to plan many places near and around Chennai like Yelagiri, Pondicherry, Tada Falls etc., but somehow things were not falling into place. As you know any trip is all about differences of opinions bundled up together to have the mixed feelings of tiresome joy and unexpected sorrows. These things only make the journey a great memory or a deadly nightmare or sometimes both. Likewise, it was the first week of April, Summer has already peaked. I had seen in my childhood, about the ads of many travel agencies which were only a box sized ads in "Dinamalar" about "Badrinath", "Thirupathi", "Navagraha tour" each priced in several thousands, but all I went for in my summer leaves was for Thiruchendhur and tonsured my head. And later I got a understanding that religion and spirituality both are different and realized this with an analogy of the water tank that has few taps, and we are worshiping each taps in the name of religion but what comes from it is the same water from the overhead tank called "The Nature". And then, I defined myself as an "Omnist '' and started to seek spirituality, peace and meaning from all other religions too. As a part of it I wished to visit churches, mosques, Buddha vihars etc., available in and around Tamil Nadu. So I was planning for a travel itinerary that would compile different religions in a single day. After some research I came up with this itenary from Chennai ie., to go to Thanjavur Big Temple, Naagore Dhargha and Velankanni Maadha(Mary) Church all in a Single Day. I was planning to go solo but then asked my friend Naveen, because he was so fascinated about Thanjavur and Chola Kingdom after reading the 5 volumes of "Ponniyin Selvan", (which I gave him but I had read only half of the first volume.). Then on a good friday evening( actually it was the Good Friday of 2023) we went to Tambaram Railway station at around 22:00 hrs for catching the fully unreserved "Tambaram - Nagercoil Antyodhya Train'' which goes through Thanjavur that departs at 23:00 hrs, but already the train has came to the platform. So I told him to take tickets and I ran to pick seats for us, as this train is always crowded and that too on weekends the crowds are huge. But to my surprise it was not that much crowded, because the day before itself most people would have gone to their native places for the continuous 3 days leave. I found 2 window seats which were on the opposite sides and we sat there. As the Train started the coach got filled with passengers and some were standing near the toilets too. As Naveen is mostly a Bus guy, and if in train he reserves and goes, very few times he has traveled in unreserved coaches. So this was a great experience for him. And when the train whistled to depart, I reminded of the dialogue from "Aayirathil Oruvan'', "Indrai thottu irandaam pagal, naam Chozha desam nokki payanikkirom" and the "Celebration of Life" BGM plays in my mind.

While putting my head on the windows, I slept for a few hours, it hurted my neck too and Naveen too had slept for a few hours and at around 05:00 hrs train reached Thanjavur railway station, it was still dark. And on getting down we found a pay and use toilet, there we completed our morning chores and thought to brush our teeth on the platform itself as there was a tap available, then a guy standing near told that we will be fined as it is drinking water and railway officials were also there, so we went outside the railway station and brushed our tooth. After that we started to walk towards the Big Temple as it was some few kilometers away. Sun was just coming out and we reached the temple around 6:30 hrs. And we were just roaming outside the temple, in various directions there we saw the Gopurams, and it looked mighty. I haven't been there, and this is the first time for both of us. As we were roaming and behind the temple there was a huge parking space for tourists and there were bathrooms. So we took turns and took a bath. And there, a family was selling already home cooked idli, dosai in their cycles and they asked us to buy and eat. So we ate there, it was really good and the cost of it was very very cheap. Then at around 07:30 hours we entered the Temple. And at the front itself the entrance made us awestruck by its structure, we read the writings given by the government and it said it was made by Marathis, we were confused. Then we read about the history there, and found that Marathis have also ruled Thanjavur for some period of time and at that time they have made separate entrances. Then on entering inside, the architecture was so undescriptive in words. Me not being a great fan of architecture was literally in awe on watching these sculptures. We were discussing about the construction and also all the controversies like "Rajarajan vaalntha kaalam porkalama, irunda kaalama debate",(Does the RajaRaja Chola Empire a golden period or dark period). We took pictures too. We worshiped Lord Shiva inside and then tried to read the letters engraved on stones below the temple but couldn't. Few letters seemed to look like the present Tamil but mostly could not be recognized. Then we bought some “adhirasam and murukku '' and ate there at a mandapam and still were observing the temple and talking. I felt that this is where "Aditya Karikalan'', "Raja Raja Cholan'' and many other people of the Chola kingdom would have roamed, worshiped, enjoyed some 1000 years back and also it might have been a great hell for some people, and so it has become a Historical place of blood and sweat. On thinking this I instantly heard the climax BGM of "Aayirathil oruvan" in my mind. 

And then while Naveen was scrolling his twitter feed, he said that the teaser of " Aadujeevitham" got released. I came to know about it from "Bava Chelladurai’s" speeches as one of the most intense survival literature written in Malayalam. And also heard it from "Pure Cinema" Arun.Mo saying that this novel could be made into a good movie. And there we started to watch the teaser, while playing it, it had some muslim song in it, and I felt like, why in the first place this teaser showed on his feed and why we watched that there at that place, I knew it , for me this was spirituality. There is one God irrespective of Religions that's “The Nature”(Now, Logical reasoning people may tell that this is a Pure Coincidence. Yeah maybe). Then we came out of the temple and started to walk towards the Government Museum, there we saw few coins and artifacts of the Thanjavur Dynasty and then they played their documentary about Thanjavur which was around 30 mins in an air conditioned small theater I was conscious only for 5 mins but i slept for the rest 25mins, I can't control my sleep as I didn't sleep at night too. Then after the show's over, I learnt that Naveen too had slept during the screening, as we both were so tired. 

After that we walked towards the railway station and from there we took tickets to Nagore in a passenger train that was coming from Trichy I guess & going to Karaikal. Then the train arrived at around 11:15 hrs but departed at nearly 12:00 hrs, and we didn't get any seats as the train already came full. And also the whole crowd in the train was going to Velankanni for Easter, which is on the next day. So people get down at Nagapattinam and from there they take a bus to Velankanni. We were also in confusion whether to go Velankanni first or Nagore first but decided to go to Nagore first. Then after a few stations Naveen got a seat, then I got a seat after a few stations. When the train reached Nagapattinam station, the whole crowd from the entire train got down. Our Compartment was so empty with only less than 10 people. From Nagapattinam it was 2 or 3 stops for Nagore I guess. And in the meanwhile, a middle aged man came and sat near Naveen and started to talk while he was talking he said that there are people who do massage and suddenly he touched his neck, Naveen got frightened and he came and sat next to me. Then he went to the next compartment. We guessed him as either gay or pimp, we don't know.(We are not homophobic but somebody touching us without consent made us fear). I also thought about what made him like this, why some people choose certain paths and some not. If life forces us to choose a path which they have no option at all, Does that make them evil or cruel? I don't know, a lot of questions arose in my mind. This is also a part of a spiritual awakening journey I guess. (Rational people bear with me, calm down please)

But still we both were in shock and at around 14:00 hrs the train reached Nagore station and we got down of it.The station was so deserted and in a distance we could feel the Sea, and some powerplant or something was seen in the distance. There a Hindu family with Thambaalam thattu(I guess they were going to give “Seer” to newly wed) were going and we asked for the route to Dharga and they told we were going by that way, and we walked  with them and finally we reached Dharga, and at the slipper safeguard shop, a middle aged muslim guy told us "Bhai vachuttu ponga" and we kept and go. Now Naveen was like , "He thought that we were muslims". I said "so what, in Aiyappan temple people call everybody samy, Just be chill" and then we entered. Inside there were many hindus sitting there and resting, and on seeing this it reminded me of "Tharamani" where Vasanth Ravi goes to return the money. It was a small place and people were selling many mandhiricha things. We worshiped, sat there for a while. I recalled all the muslim songs I know like Nagoore Haneefa's "Iraivanidam Kai endhungal", "Kwaja Meri khwaja", "Kunfaya" and so on. It made me feel so light. I also recently learnt about a Sufi Saint in Tamil Nadu Kunangudi Mastan from Thondi by Historian Nivedita Louis. I also thought of Sufism, AR Rahman etc.

After some time of  worshiping we went out and started to walk towards a hotel as we were very hungry. There we ate empty biryani ie.,Kushka. It was nice for that hungry stomach. Then we took a bus to Nagapattinam bus stand from there. And from there we took a bus to Velankanni. At around 16:30 hrs we reached Velankanni. As it was festival season, buses were parked at a temporary bus stand in the outskirts and the roads were so crowded, many hotels had the housefull boards in front. We walked through the streets and finally saw the open handed Jesus Christ's statue, and there was a huge mud road, where people were walking on their knees, it’s their "venduthal". While people were reciting the Bible verses and walking, besides the walking path there were the small statues of Christ's Easter story of resurrection. And while nearing the main statue there was a small shrine and we sat there and prayed for a few minutes and after that I saw people having those "Maadha(Mary)” water/theertha bottles. It felt very nostalgic for me on seeing this, as I studied in a Christian School, many of my Christian Friends go to Velankanni every year and they would bring water in that "Madha"(Mary) shaped bottle. I too wanted to buy this at that age, but couldn't. And now I can buy it. But there was a huge queue for it. Naveen was arguing with me like this is moodanambikkai (False belief) and business. I told him whatever you may think, this is my Childhood nostalgia to buy, so I'm buying it. And I said rationality is fine only to an extent, don't guilt trap me I said and bought the bottle. Then went to the Theertham area and filled the bottle with water too. After that we went to the main Maadha(Mary) church, and it was too crowded, and Fathers were doing some prayers, and many people were offering coconut tree saplings to Mary. We prayed there too for a few minutes and started off to the beach. By the time, through the humongous crowd we reached the beach, it was about 18:00 hrs and dark. But the police there on the beach had put barricades and kept controlling people from not going into deeper sea. We just rinsed our legs and went to a fish shop and had a few fried fishes, and walked back towards the bus stand. We were so utterly tired. We then booked a semi sleeper SETC bus to Chennai which was at 22:00 hrs. Till then we were talking about Christianity stories and the whole day's experience. I felt very very wholesome. Once the bus came, I closed my eyes and when I opened it was in Thiruvanmiyur at 05:30 hrs. This journey is only from my memory as it was done a year back, many details would have been missed. But the whole essence was that peace is what all religions preach and Love is God. So I am not propagating everyone to believe in God & Worship God. No. With your rational brain think of it, and come to a Conclusion. Whether you need God or not. This is my present perspective about God and Spirituality. It may change in the future too. So let's all be united and live happily. 

Peace.

-Senthil Rajan.