Trip to Sholingar
Me and Bala decided to go to Sholingar on sunday.I realised that I would miss the most important sunday morning sleep due to this trip,so went to bed early on saturday.But I would rather say I didnt miss much of the sleep. In fact the moment I boarded the bus to Thiruthani from Chennai, I went to sleep.After having a quick and not so good breakfast at thiruthani we boarded the bus to Sholingar.
Sholingar temple is one among the 108 divya desams and is famous for the Yoga Narasimha Perumal, the 1330 steps in the stairs and the monkeys that dwell in those hills. It was almost 10 a.m when we reached there.I was pretty confident that at this age there shouldnt be real trouble against climbing the stairs for both of us. Also since we had all the food items in a concealed bag, we hoped that there wont be much of disturbance from monkeys.Though we were not climbing the stairs at a very quick pace, we were making a good and steady progress. After some 500 steps I felt my muscles in my legs were a bit stiff. But then we went on and successfuly had the darshan of Yoga Narasimha Perumal.It took about 45 minutes to totally climb up and down the hill.It was quite an unforgetful experience for me. But a couple of disheartening scenes that I would like to forget also happened there.
1. The shops there sell some sticks (or rent, I dont know because we didnt get one) which the people use to shoo the monkeys away from them. Rather than using the sticks against the monkeys that attack them, people were using it in various ways to create panic among the silent group of monkeys,thereby causing disturbance to some of the other true devotees.Additionaly one should realise that the hill is the habitat of these monkeys and not a place for these men, who try to become heroes infront of the other girls, by scaring the monkeys away using these sticks.
2. After having put up quite a bit of effort for the darshan I found the Poojari's (Gurukkal's) inside the sannidhi not dedicated in their work. The moment someone puts a 5 rupee or 10 rupee on the Theebarathanai plate, they are arguing between themselves about who should grab that one.I can understand that it might not be possible for them to have a comfortable living with the salary they get.So im not against these people taking the money, but cant they wait for sometime say till lunch time and then split their collections.
After that we were told that we should also witness the other Yoga Anjaneyar temple on another hill. It was half a kilometre away from the foot of the Narasimha Perumal hill.One of the notable difference between the two temples is that the stairs to the Narasimha Perumal temple had a terrace with Asbestos sheets covering right from the foot of the hill till the top.But it was not to be the case with the Anjaneyar temple stairs. There was only a natural terrace with the trees providing some shade.Additionaly the sun was not quite hot today.So at 11.30 a.m in the morning we were able to climb up some 500 stairs quite comfortably. It took about 15 mins to climb up and down this second hill.Having had a good darshan both of us were physically tired and could not control our sleep during our return journey.
One kind of those darshans of lord after the completion of which you feel physically exhausted but mentally and spiritually refreshed.
Sholingar temple is one among the 108 divya desams and is famous for the Yoga Narasimha Perumal, the 1330 steps in the stairs and the monkeys that dwell in those hills. It was almost 10 a.m when we reached there.I was pretty confident that at this age there shouldnt be real trouble against climbing the stairs for both of us. Also since we had all the food items in a concealed bag, we hoped that there wont be much of disturbance from monkeys.Though we were not climbing the stairs at a very quick pace, we were making a good and steady progress. After some 500 steps I felt my muscles in my legs were a bit stiff. But then we went on and successfuly had the darshan of Yoga Narasimha Perumal.It took about 45 minutes to totally climb up and down the hill.It was quite an unforgetful experience for me. But a couple of disheartening scenes that I would like to forget also happened there.
1. The shops there sell some sticks (or rent, I dont know because we didnt get one) which the people use to shoo the monkeys away from them. Rather than using the sticks against the monkeys that attack them, people were using it in various ways to create panic among the silent group of monkeys,thereby causing disturbance to some of the other true devotees.Additionaly one should realise that the hill is the habitat of these monkeys and not a place for these men, who try to become heroes infront of the other girls, by scaring the monkeys away using these sticks.
2. After having put up quite a bit of effort for the darshan I found the Poojari's (Gurukkal's) inside the sannidhi not dedicated in their work. The moment someone puts a 5 rupee or 10 rupee on the Theebarathanai plate, they are arguing between themselves about who should grab that one.I can understand that it might not be possible for them to have a comfortable living with the salary they get.So im not against these people taking the money, but cant they wait for sometime say till lunch time and then split their collections.
After that we were told that we should also witness the other Yoga Anjaneyar temple on another hill. It was half a kilometre away from the foot of the Narasimha Perumal hill.One of the notable difference between the two temples is that the stairs to the Narasimha Perumal temple had a terrace with Asbestos sheets covering right from the foot of the hill till the top.But it was not to be the case with the Anjaneyar temple stairs. There was only a natural terrace with the trees providing some shade.Additionaly the sun was not quite hot today.So at 11.30 a.m in the morning we were able to climb up some 500 stairs quite comfortably. It took about 15 mins to climb up and down this second hill.Having had a good darshan both of us were physically tired and could not control our sleep during our return journey.
One kind of those darshans of lord after the completion of which you feel physically exhausted but mentally and spiritually refreshed.
posted by srivat at 11:44 AM
2 Comments:
Instead of renting sticks to the people, they can give all the puja items like banana, coconut etc in a opaque bag that can be carried on the shoulder. Something like what we did yesterday.
Thereby nobody gets into trouble.
Many things unsaid.
How many kms is this temple town from Thiruththani?
Why to go there via Thiruththani, not Arkonam?
Does this temple open for devotees on Sundays?
What are its timings?
Is it open on days?
Why didnt go to the other hill called Anuman Malai and offer your worship?
Is ur pilgrimage complete without going to that malai?
How much time did it take for you to reach Sholingar from Thiruththani?
Please reply by way of posting all information regarding this temple so that prospective pilgrims can benefit!
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