Nostalgia and Passing it On

 I have very vivid memories of visiting the Meenakshi Amman Temple in Madurai when I was little. 

I was very lucky to have grandparents who lived in the "town," near the temple. We used to walk to the temple on Fridays to worship Meenakshi. Google maps tell me that the distance from my Grandparents' place to the temple is about 2kms - which is far for a 4 to 6 year old. 

As "Madurai Karanga," we are supposed to visit Meenakshi first and then Sundareswarar. That is the "Idheegam" my Grandma used to say. We never visit the Sundareswarar sannidhi first. Sometimes, we only visit Amman Sannadhi and come home! Such ardent Meenakshi fans we are 😊

As a child, one of the motivations to make the 2 + 2 km hike back & forth is the prasadam stall within the temple. I loved the appam and murukku they sold. We go to Amman sannidhi, Swami Sannidhi, say hello to the Mukkuruni Vinayagar and on the way back to Amman Sannidhi (yes, that's the be all and end all place 😊) is the prasadam stall!

We buy appam and murukku (It's a lucky day if we get our own appam and murukku without having to share) and sit on the steps of the massive (then) theppakkulam. There is a mandapam with a gopuram in the middle of the water like an island. The God & Goddess are taken there on specific days which I don't recollect well now. Anyways, the theppakkulam is always well-lit. Sitting on the steps in the late evening, around 7pm when it's dark, with the lights from the theppakkulam and temple lamps illuminating the area, eating my favourite appam and murukku is one of my cherished childhood memories! 😍 The culmination of my temple visits 😊

I wanted to re-create all these memories for my child this time as we were taking her to the Meenakshi Amman temple. When my daughter was sick and was undergoing surgeries, I prayed to bring a healthy, walking child to the temple which we were able to accomplish this time. 

We took her to the temple the same way my Grandparents took me and my sister when we were young. First to the mottai Gopuram Muneeswarar Sannidhi, then Amman Sannidhi, Swami Sannidhi and Mukkuruni Vinayagar. 

As we returned to Amman Sannidhi, the child in me was overjoyed on what's coming next - prasadam of course 😀 Yes, we did buy appam, murukku and puliyodharai. We also showed her the theppakkulam but we couldn't sit on the steps to eat as there was construction and renovation going on for the upcoming Kumbabishekam (By the way, Haasini read the Tamil word Kumbabishekam correctly! 😊). We had to eat them in a Jigarthanda stall opposite to the temple. The appam was just how I remembered it from my childhood. 

While going around the temple, we kept telling stories of the temple to my daughter. I kept showing the guards statues outside each sannidhi, the Natarajar who changed his dancing leg, described how Shivan and Meenakshi looked within the Garbagraham, showed her the Vennai Anjaneyar, Veerabhadrans, the 108 different types of lingams, 63 Nayanmar statues, Saptha Kanni statues, and so many things. 

After we came out, my daughter asked me - "Amma do you love this temple a lot?"

I was like, "Why do you ask?" 

She replied - "You were like a Chandramukhi showing Ottiyaanam, nethi choodi back there" 😂😂😂😂😂