Marundeeshwarar Temple

This is one temple, which was my solace ever since I first came to Chennai in 2003. It was here that I discovered, how orthodox Thiruvanmiyur temple folks are when compared to Erumbeeshwarar folks in Thiruverumbur, for they would not accept packet milk for abhishekam, only fresh cow’s milk. Yes, those years, I was blindly ritualistic. Every trayodashi, I was promptly there for poojas standing in long winding queues. At times, taking permission from office and then rushing back to attend client meetings and sending MoMs mails in a hurry. Those were the years, when every full moon, I would go to thiruvannamalai much to my PM’s displeasure. Once after a sleepless night, I had to go to office at 7 pm, just to placate him. Those were the days, when we had the freedom of staying awake in temple all night for shivaratri. Those were the days, when I was glad to miss onsite opportunities, for I didn’t want to miss my monthly girivalams or fortnightly trayodashi poojas.

All significant events in my life have taken place on a trayodashi, I got intimation of my first real job on a trayodashi, I met my soulmate, who changed my life forever on a trayodashi, another teacher on a trayodashi, a predicted strange meeting materialized on a trayodashi. Even on the day of exams on trayodashi’s I could always stay nirjal, somehow, I would never feel hungry as well, even if I had travel or walk a lot that day. Marundeeshwar temple, Madhya Kailas, Kapaleeshwarar temple have been my place of destinations, which would just pull me those years. No matter how many others dismissed off Shiva, I went to temples in spite of myself.

But ever since, April 2011 thiruvannamalai trip, the whole equation changed. In fact, now Shiva Shiva on my lips has gradually become Krishna Krishna, (am not a huge fan of corporate ISKCON), just wondering about Gita’s hero.

So yesterday, evening, I alighted at Thiruvanmiyur depot and wanted to board a Tata magic to go to RTO, but the police stopped the vehicle, since it was not supposed to stop there opposite to depot; rules that are so inconveniencing, since I have to walk past a TASMAC to board a vehicle. So essentially, that meant I had to walk till Marundeeshwarar temple to board another vehicle. After few minutes of waiting, all that came was share autos with uncomfortable seats. So I thought, I would step inside the temple, but I found excuses on where to keep my footwear, that i should not enter after a day long session outside without bathing, on having to make a whole round trip if I were to keep my footwear at the stand near western entrance, or I could not carry my footwear in a polythene bag inside my backpack and enter by the west gate and leave by the east gate and walk back home. So I was standing just outside the temple, seeing the small queue standing for moolavar darshanam, yet, something was stopping me from going inside.

So I walked back, thinking about how gross contradictions exist together. Something that is moving at 29.8 km per second (1lakh+ kmph) is terra firma, appearing so rooted and stable, our foundation, the very basis of life. At what humongous speed we were travelling in this vast space and I was wondering about my relative motion with that of the earth. If i were to make chutney in mixie without its lid, WHAT could ever make the contents not fly all over the room? I can neither fathom gravity-atmospheric pressure-science or spirituality. I was so engrossed in these thoughts, my quick firm steps took me home in a jiffy and only once I reached home, sat on chair and got up, I realized my femur joint was stiff after 20 minutes of walk. I could have waited and took the tata magic. I should have gone inside for darshan.

Am wondering about the meaning of verses 9-14 of īśa upaniṣad. What are the results of ignorance and knowledge? How does one cross death with ignorance or by worshiping unmanifest and attain life eternal through knowledge or by worshiping manifest? What did they mean exactly?