I had to visit my ancestral home and kshetram (temples) in Kerala as a follow-up for my father’s varshaaptika (annual death ceremony). Amidst a very hectic 2 day schedule, I had some interesting observations which I thought of penning down, lest I forget them.
Civic amenities in major kshetrams needs to improve by huge margins. For toilet, we had to search across a large area before finding only one complex. For the amount of devotees and the money being collected, I am sure many more toilet complexes can be constructed to benefit old and young alike.
Small temples, specially those that are attached to specific families are not having enough funds to pay for the salaries of the staff in the temple. Yet, I observe that everyone is performing their duties to their fullest without even a trace of sadness. Devotion trumps everything else.
When I visited a kshetra whose priest is related to me (father’s cousin), he immediately recognised my name and remembers my nakshatra. The happiness that I am visiting this kshetra regularly was clearly seen on his face and subsequent interactions where he made me stand close to the Sopanam and observe the abhishekam - alakaram - Arati and ensured that I watched all the rituals of the morning.
Whether the devotees are there or
not, all temples follow every single ritual every day to the T. I
observed this in multiple kshetrams where we were the only people in the
entire premises apart from the temple authorities.
Along the
way, my uncle showed me a new happening Bar. Irony is that it used to be
a Brahmana’s house which was sold out. As it had excellent ambience and
structure, it was converted into a homely looking Bar. … quite
dumbstruck here !!!
There was an interesting dust-bin concept
quite rampant across the state that I travelled. The dust-bin is in the
shape of a bottle.. Quite unique and eye-catching.. Forgot to take pics
though..
Peacocks !!! - I saw tons of them .. close to home… close to kshetrams..
Elephants - They are lovely.. they respond when we call out their name… This sharp ears is something to be marvelled at..
I discovered something unique.. this device was used as a Urinal in the night mainly for women, but also used by men. The engineering bent of mind of our ancestors is just something to be marveled at.
On a related note, I found that the quality of workmanship in terms of civic work (Tiles, Plumbing, Electrical etc) is quite top notch. Some work in my ancestral home and cousin’s home are marvelous and wow !!
Lastly, the trip culminated with a wonderful evening in a very divine kshetra dedicated to Sri Dhanwantari Moorthy in Nelluvayi who bestowed us the opportunity to view and participate in the Chuttuvillakku (all around lamps) ceremony for the day..
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