Ennamo Vagaiyay Varuguthu Maane

We overslept a bit. We were supposed to be up at 4:30am and to watch the day's first sunlight from inside the temple. By the time I came to, it was 5:30 already and my friends were all fast asleep. We woke up one by one and got ready by around 6:45. The huge Rajagopuram is visible in this picture I took. Hurrying to the temple, we saw the magnificent icon of Garuda first, flanked by murtis of Angada and Sugreeva. This huge Garuda is in a sitting position with his palms anjalibandham . The idol is always wrapped in a white dhoti from the waist down. We then proceeded inwards to receive Namperumal's darshanam. Passing through the many prakarams of the temple, we finally saw Namperumal in the company of his consorts, Lakshmi Devi and Bhumi Devi. They are a sight to behold. The legend of Srirangam Stepping outside the Gayatri Mandapam, we worshipped the vimanam , itself called the 'Ikshvaku Kula Dhanam'. The Rangavimanam  was the vehicle in which Narayana appeared to Brahm...

The train that we were on, the Tiruchendur-Chennai Superfast, pulled into Chidambaram station at the break of dawn. Our second-class compartment was mostly empty by then. Walking around the town of Chidambaram, we asked a shop about a place where we could freshen up. The man directed us to a lodge. The place he recommended declined us, but empathetically directed us to another. We booked a room there for around two hours to shower and get ready. Sannidhis in the Nataraja Temple  From there we headed straight to the south gopuram of the grand temple. Adorning the inner walls of this gate were reliefs depicting Indian dance. Thillai Chidambaram is Natarajar, the lord of the dance. We left our bags and footwear outside and walked in. Seeing the vimanas of the grand sabhas as soon as we walked in was a profoundly spiritual experience. We first worshipped Dakshinamurti , whose sannidhi is immediately in front of the south gopuram. Dakshinamurti is a bhāvam of Shiva representing wisdom a...

My friends Neeraj Menon, Siddharth S Jayan, Ashwin Pavithran and Basil Joshua Reji began a tour of various temples in Tamil Nadu today. Our journey began at Thiruvananthapuram North station, where we boarded the Kollam-Kanyakumari MEMU to Kanyakumari Terminus. The railway line south of Thiruvananthapuram is incredibly scenic.  The fields where Kalliyankattu Neeli once roamed. Taken around Nagercoil town station. The beach in Kanyakumari is a mere fifteen minute walk from the railway station. We successfully evaded auto drivers and walked to the beach. There, we changed into our bathing suits and went swimming in the meeting of the Arabian Sea and the Bay of Bengal. The water in Kanyakumari is always a bright blue colour. The high tide today made for great swimming. No pictures, sadly, as all of us were in the sea together. Kanyakumari This bath was a purification ritual for us before our worship at the temple of Kanyakumari Amman on the seashore. This is an ancient temple in the Ta...

I took a seat in this concert with no expectation of a 'strictly' classical concert. However, the main vocalist of Carnatic rock band Agam  presented a kacheri  that was as traditional as any kacheri in the modern day could get. Just before the concert began, I heard from the row in front of me that Harish was a maverick and that his popularity was mostly with the new generation of Carnatic rasikas, comfortably disconnected from 'traditional' Carnatic music. He dismissed all such beliefs, proving that he is a Carnatic rock musician precisely because he is a Carnatic musician. Joining this outstanding vaggeyakara that evening were Sri Edappally Ajith on the violin, Sri Radhakrishna Kamath on the mridangam , Sri Vellattanjoor Sreejith on the ghatam and Sri Paravur Gopakumar on the morsing.  Harish began the evening by testing the new venue's acoustics on the pallavi of Vatapi Ganapatim Bhajeham. This was an auspicious beginning not only for Harish, but for the re...

Foreword Minecraft is 15 years old! I can think of no other phenomenon that belongs to the children of the 2010s at such an emotional level. We grew up playing it, though some of us were too poor or too strictly raised to be able to buy the original version. I myself played it for many years in trial mode: playing in one world, in survival, for only 90 minutes until Mojang demanded that I pay, at which point I would be forced to delete everything I had made. I was elated once when a bug in Minecraft: Windows 10 Edition allowed me to use cheats in a world and extend my play time, and also enter creative mode. To me, this game has two disciplines: the crude and bitter realities of survival mode, and the godlike powers of creative mode. This month, I bought Minecraft with the winnings from a quiz (another pastime of mine). Both family and friends have come forward to condemn this as a poor financial decision. But I do not regret what I have done, even a little. Minecraft is worth much mo...

Alliance Française de Trivandrum recently screened the French arthouse production Chien de la Casse by Jean-Baptiste Durand. Short (1hr 33m) as it is, the movie is pure artistry, packed with philosophy and meaning. I've never brought myself to watch French movies before, and this was a good experience and an outstanding introduction to the world's oldest cinema industry for me.  The movie is set in a village in the French Riviera whose name is mentioned only once ever. The main characters, Dog and Mirales, have been thick friends since the age of twelve. Their life is confined to their small village and their gaming and drinking parties, other than playing with Mirales' dog, Beefcake. Dog is aloof and disconnected from the world: he isn't very outgoing, doesn't talk until prompted and doesn't know where Quebec is. Mirales constantly taunts him for his lack of general knowledge, calling him un imbecile heureux (a happy idiot). Mirales himself is a low-key drug d...