India - Day 6 - Thayumanavar

At Thayumanuvar, there was a big Lingam. There we sang 'Nun Drudai Yanai' which is a really long song. We practiced that song for many many days. The Lingam there is also quite big. It was very good. Awesome!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

India - Day 6 - Uchi Pillaiyar ( Rockfort Hill )

Haiyoooo, on day 6 we went to Uchi Pillaiyar. There we had to climb a lot of steps to reach there. You know, the final flight of steps looked exactly and I mean exactly like Pillaiyar 's Trunk. THis place used to be a British Fort. The people there invited us into the moolastanam. That was awesome!!!!! Although it was tiring I had a great lot of FUN!!!

India - Day 5 - Tanjavour Big Temple

After Saraswathy Mahal we went to Tanjavour Big Temple and it is really really really really really really BIG. They recently celebrated their 1000 year anniversary. It is a really old temple and I mean it when I say old. There is a big Nanthi and and even bigger Lingam. The Lingam is huge. This is a pic of the Nanthi. Unfortunately, we could not take a photo of the Lingam but it is BIG. There is also a statue of the architect of temple but he committed suicide. This was because he was a saivite and when Vaishnavites came into the temple he got angry and killed himself and cursed so that if any politician came into the temple would lose the election. Ever since that day, no politician came into the temple. This is a pic of the Nanthi.

India - Day 5 - Swami Malai

Haiiii, after Thiruvaiyaruur we went to Swami Malai Murugan Temple. This temple is one of the Arupadai Veedu Murugan Temples ( there are six of them ). The was a beautiful Murugan statue there. Very nice. After that, we went to The Saraswathi Mahal museum. A lot of old things are there. Very weird.

India - Day 5 - Thiruvaiyarur

On day 5 we went to Thiruvaiyaru. There the story is about Appar or Thirunavukarasar who wanted to go to Mount Kalaish to see Lord Shiva. He was 80 years old. So, he suffered to go there. He even crawled as he was too old to walk. Lord Shiva saw him and came to his rescue in the form of an old man and told him to jump into the pool that was there and said that Appar could see Lord Shiva. Appar did so and guess what?? He came out at a pond in Thiruvaiyarur and saw Lord Shiva and Parvathi sitting on a nanthi. Then he sang 'Mathar Pirai Kanni Yaanai'. We also went to the temple there. It says that if you shout 'Aiyarappa' it echos seven times. It is really cool.

India - Day 4 - Thiruvaruur

Heiyo, after Thirunalalur, we went to Thiruvaruur which where Suntharar was. Can you imagine!! We were on the same soil that Suntharar stepped on!!! Imagine that!!!!! That place is also famous for the enormous ratam or 'theirr' as they call it. It is very big and colourful. There is also a giant teppa kulam there. This is a pic of it.

India - Day 4 - Thirunalalur

Haiiiii, after Thirukadaiyur we went to Thirunalalur . There is a big Sivan temple which is famous for Saneeswaran. First we had a bath in the teppa kulam there. The steps were sooo slippery as it was covered with algae. The water was icy cold and I was freezing and shivering. This is a pic of me there. After that we went to pray in that temple to the Lingam and the Saneeswaran. They put a malai over me and I felt like a King.

India - Day 4 - Thirukadaiyur

Hey, after Seerkaali we went to Thirukadaiyur. Its a big Amman temple. The story here is about a great amman devotee.Subramaniya Iyer ( Abhirami Pattar )was born to one Amirthalinga Iyer in the village of Thirukadaiyur. Tirukkadaiyur was one of the agraharams established by the Maratha ruler Serfoji I, a great admirer of Brahmin poets and bards, in the early part of the 18th century. The village was famous for its temple to Lord Shiva. Right from his childhood, Subramaniya Iyer was drawn to the temple and the Goddess.As he grew Subramaniya Iyer developed a fanatical devotion to Goddess Abhirami. He would sit in a corner of the temple meditating upon the Goddess and singing her praises. As time passed, he was forever immersed in meditation upon the Goddess that he began to observe the supposed likeliness of the Goddess in the persona of the women around him and often showered them with flowers. According to sources, soon, a particular section of the populace began to regard him as a madman.One day, Raja Serfoji, the Maratha Raja of Thanjavur who ruled over the land, visited the temple to pay homage to Lord Shiva. On noticing the peculiar behavior of Subramaniya Iyer who was a temple priest, he inquired the other priests about the individual. One of them remarked that he was a madman while another rejected this categorization explaining to the king that Subramaniya Iyer was only an ardent devotee of Goddess Abhirami. Seeking to know the truth himself, Serfoji approached the priest and asked him what day of the month it was i.e. whether it was a full-moon day or a new-moon day. Subramaniya Iyer who could see nothing else but the shining luminant form of the Goddess before him wrongly answered that it was a full-moon day while it was in fact a new-moon day. The king rode off informing the former that he would have his head cut off if the moon did not appear on the sky by six in the night.
Immediately realizing his mistake, Subramaniya Iyer supposedly lit a huge fire and erected a platform over it supported by a hundred ropes. He sat upon the platform and prayed to the Goddess Abhirami to save him. He cut off one rope after another in succession on completion of each verse of his prayer. These hymns form the Abhirami Anthadhi. On completion of the 79th hymn,the Goddess Abhirami manifested herself before him and threw her earring over the sky such that it shone with bright light upon the horizon. Overcome with ecstasy, Subramaniya Iyer composed 22 more verses in praise of the Goddess.The king repented his mistake and immediately cancelled the punishment he had awarded Subramaniya Iyer. He also bestowed upon the latter the title of "Abirami Pattar" or "priest of Goddess Abhirami" and supposedly awarded his successors the privilege of using the title "Bharathi".

India - Day 4 - Seerkaali

On day 4 we went to Seerkaali. This is the place where Tirunyanasambanthar got milk from Parvathi. The story goes like this : Nyanasambanthar is waiting for his father on the steps of the teppa kulam. He was only three years old. Suddenly, he cries. This was because he was hungry. Shiva and Parvathi came. Parvathi fed him milk and he stopped crying. Then they went away. After that, his father came out of the teppa kulam and saw milk stains on his son 's mouth. He got angry as nobody should feed him milk. He then threw the container that contained milk onto the wall. He then asks his son who did this. As Nyanasambanthar was only a small boy he could not talk so he sang 'Thodudaiya Seviyan'.

India - Day 3 - Chithambaram

After Tiruvenainallur, we went to Chitambaram. This is my most favouruite temple. This is because it is a big, clean and beatiful. The Thillai Natarajer is so cool looking. Fortunately that day Pradosham and there was a beautiful ceremony going on. The unfortunate part was that it was extremely crowded. In the Pancha Pootham ( the five elements ), this temple is the element of space. OOOOOOO!!!!!!!! There was a big Vishnu statue there too. They say when the saivites and the vaishnavites fought, the saivites threw that Vishnu statue into the sea. Later on, the statue is said to be back. In this temple, Seikilar ( the writer of Periapuranam ) launched the Periapuranam. There he told the story of the 63 nayanar saints one bye one. Further more, Manickavasagar dissapeared at the moolastanam at this place. Okay let me tell you the story. Manickavasagar was in the temple gardens when an old man (Lord Siva) comes and tells him to sing Sivapuranam. So, Manickavasagar sings. The old man writes this down. He gives it to Manickavasagar. Manickavasagar leaves it on the steps and dissapears into the moolastanam.

New Bike ( Awesome!!!!!!!!!!! )

As I got 5A's fort my UPSR, my parents bought me a brand new bicycle. Awesome right!!!!!!!!!!!!! Life is great!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! The bike is white and black with a dash of red. My new bike has a 6 gears so I can go reall really fast. I go cycling every evening with my brother. My mother walks with us . Thank you so much GOD. You are the best.

India - Day 3 - Thiruvenainallur

On day 3, we went to Thiruvenainallur. That is after breakfast. I had 2 humongous tosai. I LOVE TOSAI. Anyway, Thiruvenainallur is where Sunthararmoorthy Nayaynar was supposed to get married when Lord Shiva came in the form of an old man and stopped the wedding and told Suntharar that he cannot get married as he was the old man 's slave. Suntharar got angry called the old man pittan ( crazy). Ignoring Suntharar, the old man took Suntharar to his Home (the temple). When they got there Suntharar asked the old man why he brought him to the temple. The old man simply went into the moolastanam where a sivalaingam was kept and disappeared. Only then Suntharar realised that the old man was GOD. From somewhere, a God 's voice called out to him and told him to sing songs about the great Lord Siva. Suntharar said that he does not how to start. God said " Start with the word Pittan because that is what you called me". At that moment, Suntharar sang 'Pitta pirai soodi' . This is a pic of Lord Siva 's slippers.

India - Day 2 - Thiruvanamalai

On the second day, we went to Thiruvanamalai . There we went for a 14.5 km walk around Mount Thiruvanamalai. Along the walk we stopped at 8 temples . All were Sivan (Lingam) temples. They were called the AshtaLingam . Ashta means eight. Along the walk we never had any difficulty. Even my 72 year old grandmother walked. Well, that is the power of GOD. In the Pancha Pootham ( the five elements ), Thiruvanamalai is the element of fire. Oh well, by for now.

India - Day 1 - Kasi Nathar

Hello guys, after Egambanathar Temple, we went to Kasi Nathar temple which was the temple that a king built many years ago. At the same time, Poosalar, a saint of the63 nayanmar saints, built a temple in his mind as he had no money. Lord Shiva came in the dream of the king and told him that He will not be attending the king' s temple' s kumbabishegam and will be attending another temple' s kumbabishegam. So, the king was wondering about the temple that Poosalar built and went searching for him. He was thoroughly shaken went he realised that Poosalar had built the temple in his mind and was deeply humbled that Lord Shiva appreciated Poosalar's virtual temple more than his.

India - Day 1 - Egambanathar Temple

Yo, wats up. After Kanchi Kamakshi, we proceeded to Egambanathar Temple. Legend has it that Parvathi built a Siva Lingam out of soil. That Lingam was kept in that temple. As that Lingam was made out of soil, they could not do abishegam because the Lingam would disintegrate. This lingam had no base. There is also a mango tree at the age of 3500 years. In the pancha pootham ( the five elements ) this temple is the element of earth. It was really great.

India - Day 1 - Kanch Kamakshi

Hi, just got back from India. Oh boy!!!!!!!!!!! Really tiring!!!!!!!!! After leaving our luggage in the hotel we went to our first temple which was Kanchi Kamakshi which was in Kanchi Puram. It is a Amman temple. Really big. We prayed really hard especially me as I got 5A s for my UPSR.