Inside Teppakulam!

Hi Guys,

One of the famous places in Madurai is Teppakulam and we have never visited the temple inside. For a long time, Mom has been saying that we should visit it some day and we went there today evening. Before sharing today's experience, let me describe about the place.

Teppakulam (commonly called as Mariamman Teppakulam) is a man made Water Tank built by king Tirumalai Nayak. It is huge and covers 16 acres and it is the largest man made water tank in South India. This place was actually dug to take construction materials for building Meenakshi Amman Temple. While doing so, a Vinayaga Idol was taken out and as a result the king decided to built a temple at the center and water tank around it. It is said that the Vinayaga statue is inside the temple, but I found no statue inside and my mother says that it is none other than the Mukuruni Vinayagar found in Meenakshi Amman temple. The king also started the Teppathiruvizha (Float Festival), which is still celebrated in the month of January. On that day, the temple is decorated with lights and a decorated float goes round the temple. It is a feast to the eyes and stats say that around 100 thousand people visit the festival (Click here to see photos)

Coming back to the modern times, water is not regularly filled and is filled only for the float festival. The tank dries completely in summer and it has become a playground for youngsters. Today we went there by around 5.30 pm and when we went there were about 200-300 boys playing cricket inside the tank. We went through the dry tank towards the center. The temple was located 15-20 feet above ground level and steps were steep. The temple was protected by grills and there was no way inside it. The temple was very greenish in nature. It was filled with lot of trees and due to poor maintenance, some wild bushes have grown up. We walked around the temple and the atmosphere was just wonderful.

There were some people in the center and they had come to relax. Watching the whole region from inside was superb. Pictures speak better than words and here are some of the photos I took today.

The center temple

The main tower

The year of construction: 1635. So it is 375 years old

Some of the places were very poor

One group of cricketers

Herd of cows disturbing a match

Wild Bushes grown inside

Addicted to mobile phone?

Setting the field???

Ah! This was the most terrible thing. A Child Labor!!! Remember today is Child Labor Banishment day. When boys of his age were playing cricket, he was selling Ice Water.

Sun sets down!

A Pani Puri Shop

Flock of Birds

A view of the Vaigai River

View all the photos in my Picasa Web Album!

Happy Reading!!!

Pictures of my city!

Hi Guys,

I took some pictures of Madurai's temples when I visited them in the past 3 days. I'm sharing those pictures with you.

Teppakulam, decorated with lights

The front tower of Koodal Azhagar Perumal Temple

We went to the terrace of the temple. In the 2nd and 3rd floors you can find Lord Vishnu in standing and sleeping poses respectively. It is one of the very few temples to have him in all the 3 poses

The main tower of the temple. A different type of tower, with a rounded top

The temple street

The outer corridor of the temple

Elephant at Meenakshi Amman Temple. It was busy all the time blessing the devotees

A stone mandapam in the Aadi street (inside Meenakshi Amman Temple)

Pigeons add a lot of beauty to the temple

Though, i knew Meenakshi Amman Temple has camels, it was the 1st time I saw them. They were just magnificent creatures.

One of the many shops selling pictures of different Gods

A view of the Golden Lotus Tank

A view of one of the 4 main towers from inside the temple

From the Golden Lotus tank.

One of the towers from outisde

When we went Rangoli competition was being held in the outer streets (chitirai street) of the temple. It was just wonderful

One of the best Rangolis

Another one

Peacock Design

Hope you enjoyed the pictures of my city.


Happy Viewing!!!

Things that crossed my way!

Hi Guys,

It has been long since I wrote my last post. It is also long since I wrote a post out of my heart. I was busy with works regarding my brother’s marriage (which ended successfully on October 27). After that I was busy setting things at home (as I was alone in home for 2 weeks, everything was shuffled) and of late, I’ve been getting ready for my practical exams, which are scheduled to start next week. Before that I thought of sharing a few things that came across my way in the recent days.

Security Levels

Let me say you about the security levels followed in our country. Recently I and my mother went to Railway Station to wave off my brother and sister in law. It was heavily raining and we went there after some delays. We went through the main entrance and we were asked to go through a metal detector. I had to come out again to get platform tickets and when I went in, I was enquired on why I was going in and out continuously. Impressed? Read the sequel.

Two days later (exactly on Diwali), I and parents were leaving to Chennai to send off my brother who was going back to US. That day it was raining even heavily. The roads were filled with knee height water and we were dropped some 1 km from Railway station. We managed to walk in the water logged road and after reaching railway station, we used the overhead bridge as the entrance was filled with water. We were not checked. After reaching inside, I came to the main lobby of the station, to check the platform number of our train. From there, I saw that the passengers who were entering through the main entrance were checked. So, what is the purpose of this security? Any terrorist or anti social person could easily come through the overhead bridge. Maybe we could easily say that in a country with so much population, we can’t check everyone. But then, at least all the ways should be blocked or checked.

Rains bringing back Water



Water flowing through Vaigai River

There were heavy rains here during the past week. At least, this year North East monsoons blossomed. This has increased water levels in all the places. In our home, we were facing water scarcity and after these rains, the condition seems to have improved. I heard from my mother that the lake nearby our home has been filled with water and this will improve the water table. Also, today when I went to college, I saw that water was flowing in the Vaigai River after very long time. It has been at least 2 years since water flowed through the famous river. It was a good scene, but the river is filled with weedy plants and scrubs and they hinder the water flow. Seeing from the bridge, it appears as if many tiny green islands have come into existence in the river.

Poor clumsy Water filled in Teppakulam



A photo of Teppakulam I captured during last Float Festival

Thepa Thiruvizha (Float festival) will be occurring somewhere in the February month and for that our officials have started filling water in the Teppakulam. The process started a few days back. Water is pumped from the Vaigai River and is flowed into the pond. When the process started the water in Vaigai River was dirty, stagnated and poor. With no worries about that, our officials started filling in. Though now good water flows through, nothing can be done to the polluted water. Each day I go to my college through that area and the stench it has created is unbearable. Today it was quite better as the good water must have diluted the effects. Why don’t our officials think before doing things? Last year the same problem occurred and after media focus, they removed the dirt using machines.

Anil and Apple confusions

This is a message I received in my phone some time back

3 apples were in front of an anil (anil means squirrel in Tamil). Anil ate 2 apples, didn’t eat one. Reason? The apple was plastic.

Now, again 3 apples in front of an anil and anil didn’t eat any. Reason? Anil was plastic.

One original apple in front of an original anil. But, still anil didn’t eat. Reason? Anil was on Discovery Channel and apple was on front of the TV.

Now, anil and apple are on TV, but anil didn’t eat. Reason? Both were on different channels.

I know you are angry, but you have to read this too...

Anil and apple are on same TV channel, even then anil didn’t eat. Reason? TV was off.

After reading this message, I was blank and was not able to do anything for some time.

That’s it for now guys see you later!

Happy Reading!!!