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 ...
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