Marriage
The Temple of Marriage...
When I Returned to Thiruvidandai
Many years ago, I visited Thiruvidandai with my husband and his family.
Coming back after such a long time felt almost like returning to a place from another lifetime. The ECR I remembered was quieter and very different from what it is today.
But the temple itself felt strangely familiar.
There was a long queue of people who had come from different parts of South India, some praying for marriage and others returning with their spouses after their prayers had been answered.
Standing there, I was reminded of something I had read years ago by the well known Tamil writer Balakumaran.
He had a beautiful way of looking at old temples. Not just at the deity, but at the temple tank, the mandapams, the inscriptions and the earth around them.
So after seeing the Perumal, I wanted to spend a little time near the Kalyana Theertham.
Standing there, I found myself thinking about how many people had walked through this place before us and how much history the land must have silently witnessed.
Some places do not tell you history.
They make you feel that you have briefly stepped inside it.
And then came the most unexpected part of the visit.
I had taken a Tulsi garland to offer to the Perumal. There was no expectation of receiving anything back.
After the darshan, i was given a garland that had been offered to the Perumal.
A wedding garland.
I cannot quite explain why that moved me so much.
I had returned to this temple after many years, at a completely different point in my life. And now I was taking home a garland that had been offered to the Perumal.
When I tied it to my front door, I had one completely silly thought.
He has already married 360 women.
Why not make me the 361st and simply keep me beside Him?
I could just stay here with this beautiful Perumal and spend the rest of my time peacefully.
It was not really a wish for another marriage.
Just a little devotional madness after seeing a very beautiful Perumal.
After Thiruvidandai, I went to Machche Narayanar (Vishnu in the form of Fish)and then to Kovalam.
There are many beautiful beaches (private and public) along this stretch of ECR, and Kovalam is certainly one of them. I skipped the busy part of the beach and simply sat a little away from the crowd for a few minutes, watching the sea.
That quietness was enough.
If I were to suggest one thing to anyone planning this drive, I would say go in the morning.
The road is quieter, the sea breeze is beautiful and the sunrise is worth seeing. By evening, the ECR traffic can become an experience of its own.
I had thought about visiting Thiruvidandai so many times.
I had postponed it again and again.
But perhaps some things happen only when they are meant to.
After a long time, I understood that we do not always choose the time for a journey.
Sometimes the journey chooses its own time.
I went back to Thiruvidandai thinking I was simply revisiting an old temple.
I came back with an old memory, a quiet moment by the temple tank, an unexpected wedding garland and a little more understanding of why some places stay with us for years.
Some journeys do not take us somewhere new.
Sometimes they simply take us back to something old and make us see it differently.
