Travelogue India: Chidambaram

The two traveling monks give their report on the ground from Chidambaram, a connected sister-temple to Kadavul Temple in Kauai.

It is 4 AM on our second day in Chennai as we board our van for a short pilgrimage to Chidambaram. (No this man did not escort us on our trip. He was the doorman at the hotel.)

7 AM and almost halfway to Chidambaram. As the sun comes up we are greeted by Hanuman meditating on the side of the road.

After a five hour drive, we reach our destination. We are not allowed to use camera inside, so we are going to just show the gopurams.

Chidambaram is one of the really big temples of India. We arrived just in time for the final arati of the morning puja, then had a special puja for our group and for the successful completion of Iraivan. We also were able to see the daily ceremony for the small crystal lingam and ruby Nataraja. A most fulfilling morning.

We next go to the nearby Chidambaram Sri Gayatri Devi temple where two young dikshitars are doing puja. One of them visited Kauai last year, along with their father Rajasekara Dikshitar. We attend puja and then chat briefly.

A last stop at Chidambaram. We are standing with Kailas Shankara Dikshitar who has hosted us for the morning. Also with we were met by Thurai, Swapna and Chinmayee Rajasankara who have driven in from Bangalore.

The Dikshitar and his son, Raja Parameshvara Dikshitar, performed the archana for us at Chidambaram and now they have invited us into their home for lunch, along with our small entourage. Here we have three generations of Dikshitars with Yoginathaswami.

Little Nilakantha is bright and intelligent, something that bodes well for the future of Chidambaram Temple. Having finished lunch, we return to our van and another five hour drive back to Chennai.

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