Friday, 19 December 2014

The Awe and Intrigue of Lord Padmanabha Swamy

The Awe and Intrigue of Lord Padmanabha Swamy.....

All God loving, law abiding and simple living souls whenever they come to Trivandrum to earn their livelihood, invariably pay their respects to the deity Lord Padmanabha Swamy at the sacred temple in the heart of the city. That's exactly what I did within 24 hours of my reaching this great temple town in God's own country. 
 

Any temple visit of the stature of Lord Padmanabha Swamy, for any religiously inclined Hindu  is mainly out of religious fervour, reverence and awe of the Almighty.  But having read so much about this temple in the recent past both in print and electronic media, my itinerary additionally included the element of intrigue, curiosity and inquisitiveness about the entire temple complex.  

The main temple complex, more than 5000 years old in mythology and more than 500 years in construction, is located in the middle of the city  spread across more than 50 acres of land.  The beauty and magnificence of this temple lies in its simplicity. The place is itself quiet, pious and astoundingly serene, where devotees come offer their prayers and return in an orderly manner.


The inherent security aspect of the temple is taken care by the Lord himself ; where  the menfolk are expected to wear only a ' mundu'  an off white color lungi type dhoti at the time of entering the temple. Indeed a Godsent opportunity to show off your 6 pack abs and flex your biceps if you possess.  If not, even the well rounded belly can easily get merged in the crowd. The only exception is the police who wear their belt over the mundu to show their presence ' on duty'.

There are no such dress code issues with the ladies of course. The local womenfolk prefer to wear the off white color sari similar to the mundu color worn by the menfolk. These ladies coming there after a fresh bath, slightly wet hair decked with foot long multiple  fragrant jasmine strands , reverence in their eyes , prayers on their lips and puja offerings in the hands are a remarkable sight.


My young local guide tells me that the temple was very peaceful ,people friendly with no security problems till as late as 2011. No metal detectors, no police, children playing in the 365 pillored foyer/parikrama , swimming in the Padma pond ,  climbing the 7 storey Gopuram ... all at will. Things suddenly changed couple of years back, when Lord Padmanabha Swamy decided to compete with himself,  in wealth and prosperity, with his own self or counterpart installed at Tirupati, albeit with a different nameplate. 

 As in all famous temples the Lord here too is in the captivity and under total control of his appointed temple ' Pundit' staff called the Nambis. All His activities including various prayer darshan rest n recoup timings including blessing his devotees ... Who, when how long, how much etc are all as decided by these high and the mighty staff.  



Being in the Services, and posted locally has its own share of perks.  One of them being easy access to the Lord through some of His ' captivators ' who have been cultivated by us. Fortunately for me it was the time when the royal family had just finished their offerings and prayers and the aam junta still held up at a distance for a while.  I had the privilege of seeking the blessings of the Lord at very close quarters, little more than hand shaking distance ... had enough time for a 'one to one' tete a tete had He wished.

Here the Deity is in Anantha Shayana posture, resting on the Adishesha. His entire frame can't be viewed in one go. We have to see the Lord through three different doors to visualise Him in His entirity. It is believed the idol weighs in few tonnes of gold. The glitter has been deliberately removed by mixing it with sand and other elements for the sake of protection from any evil adventurous acts.  It is also believed that if one prostates in front of the deity,  he or she is supposed to have pledged his all belongings to the Lord. Obviously didn't have the courage to do so. "  Tera tujhako arpan"  feels nice in the aarti prayer ofcourse.

All in all,  a memorable visit to the Lord Padmanabha Swamy temple. 

To my  surprise, during my entire visit within the temple complex, not once did all those thoughts about hidden gold, the amicus curiae  G Subramanium  report, the ex CAG Vinod Rai appointment for the golden audit etc attacked my mind. The Lord was all pervasive in all his entirity.  They did surface when I came out from there of course.  


Bhagwan ki leela aparampara hai ... hai naa ...

                                  ***************************************

No comments:

Post a Comment