After two tiring days, we woke up leisurely on our 3rd day. We had planned to rest the whole day.
After our brunch, as we were chit-chatting with our aunts and uncles, we suddenly decided to go on a long ride to Pondicherry. It had rained the previous night and the weather was excellent for a long drive.
Shre and Shar wanted to enjoy the beach at Chennai, due to lack of time we could not meet their wish in Chennai. Instead we decided to take them to Pondi beach.
We started from Neyveli at 11.00 in our Uncle’s Santro to Pondicherry. Enroute, we deviated towards Thiruvahindrapuram.
Thiruvahindrapuram is the abode of Devanatha Swamy. It is one of the 108 divya desams of Vaishnavites. The temple is predated to more than 3000 years. River Gedilam flows near by, the sthalapurana book states that Gedilam is a river brought down to earth by Garuda.
Opposite to this temple is the Hayagrivar temple which is on the hillock Aushdagiri. This hillock is supposed to have fallen from the Sanjeevini mountain while Lord Hanuman was carrying it to Lanka.This temple closes by 12 noon. So we quickly ascended the 50 steps to reach Hayagrivar temple and reached just in time for Mahamangalaarti. We offered the traditional yalekka malai(elaichi garland) and honey bottle to the god, and took prasadam.
After the darshan we exited through the rear door as the main door was closed for darshan. Many devotees had to go back without darshan. We were lucky indeed.There are many colorful and beautiful paintings from our epics inside the temple which need maintenance.
We came down the hillock and visited the Devanatha Swamy shrine. Here too we had a good darshan, though I regret not enjoying the beautiful paintings on the ceilings as it was closing time here also.
It was 1.30 when we came out of the temple, and reaching Pondi would take time. We also had to drive home early as we had to board the night bus to Bangalore. So we changed our plans and drove towards Cuddalore Beach which was just 4 kms away.
Silver Beach is one of the most beautiful and unspoilt beach, I have ever seen. It was better than Cherai in Cochin which I considered was the best among I had seen.
No noisy holiday crowd, no sea-side bars/eateries. It is supposed to be one of the longest beaches in Asia. This area was the second most affected when 2004 Tsunami struck. It bore no Tsunami scars. The Periyar Arts and Science college just a few metres away stood majestically. I was envying the students for having such a beautiful hangout close by.
Shreya and Sharun thoroughly enjoyed the water waves and built sand castles on the shore, while mami,Bala and I were enjoying the beautiful nature around us and munching the home made goodies. The weather was too pleasant for a summer afternoon in Tamilnadu. It was cool and cloudy due to the night rains.
The few people around us happily squatted on the beach water enjoying fanta. They enjoyed being tossed and displaced by the waves.
The children enjoyed the beach and wanted to spend more time but we had to get back home.
We came back home and packed our things and boarded the Bangalore bus.
Now, our traditional vacation begins at Bangalore
nice flow of words on 3 episodes
ReplyDeleteA welcome break I am sure