adiyen could not continue the series as he was busy in organising stotra and quiz competiton etc for children. May be it the wish of swami desika and Thiruvengadamudaiyan that adiyen should write about our trip to Kanchipuram and Thuppul on their Thirunakshatram day only.

During all the above trips, adiyen's mother did not accompany us due to her health condition, but when we have started talking about our kanchipuram trip, she was keen to have darshan of Sri Varada. Since she was with us, we have decided to have a short trip covering only few temples and not to strain her.

You must be aware of Sri Satakopa thathachariar swami of Kanchipuram. He occasionaly writes in other e groups also seeking help for conducting nitya aradana at ThiruththaNka divya desasm. He has been inviting adiyen to come to kanchipuram and he was keen to be with us during our trip. He is currently working at Padhur (near Kaladi) in Kerala and visits Kanchi once in a while only. Sri Satakopan swami spoke to me once in I was in Chennai and adiyen could not make it on 6th July, as our trip to Thirupathi-Thirumala was scheduled for 7th July. He then called around 20th and invited us to be there on 26th as he was coming to Navalpakkam for the
Thirunakshatram celebrations of two great acharyas ( Sri Annarya maha desikan Adi Mrugaseersham and Sri Devanatha thatha desikan (ayya) Adi Thiruvadhirai). adiyen has agreed to plan the trip accordingly.

Only later adiyen has realised that 26th Satarday was dwadhasi and adiyen was keen to have sreepatha thirtham of Srimad Azhagiya singar who was staying at Selaiyur for chaturmasya vratam. Since adiyen has commited to Sri Satakopan swami, adiyen have to perform only paduka aradana at home and leave chennai early in the morning.

adiyen and my parents first went to Kanchi Varadar temple. It was around 8 AM and kalasandhi was going on. Sri Satakopan swami has requested us to go to his house and take his sister's son Sri Ranganathan to the temples around and he promised to join around 11 AM at Thuppul. We took Sri Ranga, who is doing Veda adhyayanam and he was very enthusiastic in explaining all the details about the temple. He was soft spoken and very knowledgable on sampradayic issues and we were very much pleased to spend our time with him. You might remember our earlier such personalities at Vaduvur Sriram and at Thirunangur Sri Veda rajan, Sri Ranga is third in that list. His grand father who is 93 years old is also a Vedic scholar and he is running a Vedic
school in kanchipuram. We were blessed to take his blessings.

You must be aware of the Kanchi varadar temple. It is huge and you have to climb (aththigiri) to have darshan of Sri Varada. amma found it tough but the thought that we are going to have seva of HIM must have given the energy to climb the steps. The seva kalam was just finished and we could get darshan from very close quarters. The scene is still fresh in adiyen's memory and last week when adiyen called my mother, she mentioned the same thing. She is still re living the darshan and it was a wonderful experience.

Unlike Thirumala or Srirangam, we could spend good time with Sri Varada and no doubt the Moolavar is unbelievably beautiful. adiyen can't explain it further. adiyen read that if one has to describe the beauty of Lord, even if he uses the entire oceans as ink and wrote on the sky (paper) even then we will fail to describe the beauty.Such being the case, it will be foolish on
my part to try to describe in an alien language.

We then went to Thayar sannidhi and here too we got good time for a peaceful darshan. Swami desikan's Sristuthi flashed thru my mind and she was wearing a warm smile. adiyen always spend an extra minute with thayar, as SHE is known for her vatsalyam. Since my childhood was spent at Thiruvahendrapuram, adiyen always compare the Hemabuja valli thayar with other thayar archas. To me the archa thirumeni of Sri Vanchulavalli thayar at Nachchiar koil, Sri
Bhumi devi at Oppiliappan koil, Sri Komala valli at Sarangapani temple at Kudanthai, Sri Amrutha valli at Sholingur, Sri Alarmel mangai at Thirchchanur and finally Sri Perundhevi thayar at Kanchi are most appealing. (The thayar at other temples may pardon adiyen)

We went to Sri Andal sannidhi and seva kalam was going on here and then we were given lots of prasadam by Sri Satakopa thathachaiar's father. We were very happy to see the sacred tank of this temple with lots of water. After worshipping Sri Sudarshana we came out. adiyen wanted to visit the Sri Nammazhvar sannidhi but could not do so as the sannidhi was not open. adiyen
wasn't aware of another Koil desikan sannidhi with in this temple and came to know about this later only and there was no time for second visit as we had a long list for that day.

Our next visit was to Yathokthakari temple. Here morning pooja was going on and we have to wait for more than half an hour. We were told that on Satardays there won't be electricity in the daytime and except the Varadar temple, no other temple have generator facility. The temple was pitch dark and we could not even have good darshan of Moolavar. We were very disappointed, as we could not have good darshan. Sri Desika has composed Sri Vegasethu stotram on this perumal.

Then we went to Sri Ashtabuja perumal temple. Here since renovation works are going on, we could not have darshan of Moolavar and the utsavar was shifted to a small room nearby. Here again, no electricity and hardly we could see the utsavar. Sri Desika has composed Sri Ashtabujashtakam on this perumal.

Our next stop was Thiruvelukkai. Thankfully there was a gas-fired lamp and the bhattar was kind enough to use the lamp for our darshan. The Narasimhar was so beautiful and Sri Desika has composed Kamasikashtakm on this perumal. We were happy to have good darshan as we were disappointed in the earlier two temples.

Then we went to Ulagalandha perumal koil. You must be aware that three more divya desams are there with in this temple only. The perumal was huge as his name suggests and we had good darshan here too.

Then we came to ThiruththaNka, which is also called as Thuppul. Sri Satakopa thathachariar swami was waiting for us here. Couple of words about him. His bhakthi towards swami desika is unbelievable. He signs off his mails with a note "na deivam desikath param". Since we were exchanging emails for quite some time, we were freely talking various issues and he was a very
knowledgable person indeed. His done poorna adhyayanam of Vedam and he has good command of both Sanskrit and Tamil. He could effortlessly quote from Bhagavad gita, Stotra padam of poorvacharyas and Divya prabandham. His personal advice to overcome any trouble is to recite gadhya trayam. He has told many instances when he recited the gadyam sitting at Desikan  sannidhi his prayes have been answered. You must see his conviction. Pray and cry to
HIM and he will respond to your request. This is his belief.

He has been working hard to mobilise funds for nitya aradanam at Thuppul. He was mentioning about the kind support he received from Kuwait, Bahrain and other USA bhagavathas. Now the archakas are getting some compensation thru the Vilakkoliperumal trust. Sri Satakapon swami has given wondeful commentary of Villakoli perumal quoting from Saranagathy deepika of swami desika. It was very interesting to listen to his vivid explanation and new thoughts he
is deriving from the stotras. Deepaprakashar was older than Sri Varadar, and this may not be known to many, adiyen suppose. Sri Satakopan in short explained the Aththigiri mahatmiyam, which explains the story of Sri Varda.

Then we came to Sri Desikan sannidhi. adiyen is used to enjoy the archa thirumeni of Swami desika at Thiruvahendrapuram and this is only my second visit to Thuppul, the birth place of Swami desikan. Swami desikan is sitting in a simhasa with a lion on each side. Sri Satakopan put it as he is Kavi tharkika simham and in Sanskrit we can say as Kavi simham and Tarkika simham. He mentioned it the simhasanam was offered by Srimushnam Andavan swami. The Desika's archa is very big in size (at Thuppul), compared to the one at Thiruvehendrapuram. Although we were there for more than an hour here, we could not see any sevarthis in this temple and adiyen was curious and asked about this. Sri Satakopan has mentioned that it is a pity that
many devotees don't visit this temple and that is the reason the archakas have to run around to various temples to make a living. adiyen would request all the bhagavathas who are visiting Kanchi should take time to visit this wonderful temple and you will enjoy the peaceful surrounding and eye captivating archa thirumeni's of Deepa prakashar and Maragatha valli thayar
and Swami desika. Sri Satakopan swami is having novel ideas to have some one at the temple to recite all the granthas of Swami desika on regular basis. He is planning to have nitya aradanam with a deposit of Rs 1600/ the interest will cover one day aradanam (around 75 rupees). adiyen would appreciate your support.

Then we went to the newly constructed Mani mandapam at the avathara sthalam of Swami desika. This was done by another trust called Thuppul trust, which is also doing kaimkaryams at this temple. We felt very much blessed to visit the birth place of Swami desika.

At this juncture, Sri Ranga who was accompanying us for all the temples went back to his home and Sri Satakopan continued the journey with us. We then rushed to Sevilimedu Narasimhar temple.

Have you heard of this temple? It seems that Sri Varda was kept in this temple while the town was invaded by Muslim kings and to remember this instance Sri Varada comes to this temple once in a year. Also the famous well from where Sri Ramanuja took water and did thirtha kaimkaryam to Sri Varada is also near by. The deities here are very huge in size and they are
so beautiful. This temple main gopuram is totally broken and it is even not safe to enter the temple thru the main gopuram. The temple needs urgent help and one bhagavatha Sri Krishnan from Miami, USA wrote to adiyen sometime ago about this temple. adiyen's father met Sri Krishnan's father and we are doing nitya aradanam at this temple with the generous donation of our satsangh member Sri V Murali.

The bhattars who are serving the Vilakkoliperumal temple are doing kaimkaryam here. When we came to this temple we were exhausted but the darshan of Sri Lakshmi narasimha gave us back all the lost energy. They have patiently shown all the sannidhis and what to be done now. More than the finance, there are lots of encroachments by local public on both the sides of the main gopuram and if the renovation work starts it will distrub the unlawful tenents and they are objecting to the renovation it seems. Can u believe this? The archakas are afraid to antogonise the local people and they have petitioned to the district collector. They have shown a photo
album with lots of images taken during various times by a bhakha from chennai. The deities are so beautiful and right now we are performing nitya aradanam and monthly thirumanjanam. We would require your support for the renovation of the main gopuram. adiyen can furnish more details of the temple, if any one requires.

We had lunch at Sri Krishnan's house and their hospitality was too good and they have served a feast for us. Sri Satakopan swami did not eat as he has travelled by bus from Navalpakkam to Kanchi and he did not even drink a glass of water till late in the evening when we have reached Navalpakkam. adiyen was surprised at their strict anushtanams and we do still have such
bhagavathas who live to every letter of the sastra's requirement.

amma wanted to have rest for a while and we spend the time discussing the modalities of running a trust with Sri Satakopan swami. He explained the difficulties he has faced and it was a fruitful meeting as we were new to the trust procedures. BTW, we have formed a trust titled divya desa
kainkarya trust and it has been registered. Kaimkaryams are being done in more than 10 temples at this time.

adiyen will continue the trip experiences of Navalpakkam and Thennangur in the next concluding posting.

Around 3.30 PM we have commenced our journey to Navalpakkam. Sri Srinivasa raghavan, Krishnan’s father also agreed to come with us to Navalpakkam as he hasn’t visited this temple so far.

The journey was very interesting with the company of Sri Satakopan swami. He is extremely knowledgable and adiyen could clear many of his doubts with him. He wanted me to write about the kaimkaryams to various email groups as he felt his English is not very good. Adiyen felt that for a person who is fully versed with Vedas and Sastras and Sanskrit this is not a big thing. His basic idea is to serve the acharya in whatever way possible. He was kind enough to send 2 video CDs of Sri Desikar and Deepaprakashar utsavams and if any bhagavatha is willing to contribute for his kaimkaryams adiyen can send a copy of the CD as complimentry.

Enroute adieyen wanted to stop over at Thennangur as it was Satarday and adiyen was told by one of our goshti member that on Satarday the alankaram will be that of Thirumala Srinivasa.When we went in to the temple it was just time for opening for evening pooja. The temple was looking so beautiful and it was very different from our traditional temple. The main gopuram is also different. The architecture was like Puri temple and the deities were Panduranga and Rukmayi.

When the temple was opened the crowd that was waiting for darshan rushed inside the sannidhi. The bhattar asked every one to assemble in the entrance hall just near the sannidhi and gave an electrifying speech for 10 minutes about the significance of the temple and importance of listening to the names of Lord rather than visiting the temples as a touring place. His speech echoed the conversation adiyen and Sri Satakopan had in the car during the journey. He then invited us and gave a good darshan. The alankaram was so beautiful and we were seeing Lord Srinivasa and Padmavadhi thayar in front of us, but without the “jarakandi”.

The journey continued and at the sunset time we have reached Navalpakkam village. After Vandhavasi the road leading to Navalpakkam was totally deserted and no other motor vehicle other than our car. As we entered the village, amma told me that the agraharam is exactly looking like the Thiruvahendrapuram of 1960’s. All the houses are with tiled and pitched roof built in a traditional manner. One good thing was due to Thirunakshatram of two great acharyas the village was filled with Srivaishavas who are in strict traditional attaire including sika. Adiyen was excited to see so many vidhwans and our car has broken the silence of this calm hamlet and every one rushed to the entrance to see who is coming.

Sri Satakopan swami took us to the house where Smt Shanta mami was staying. She is the managing trustee of the Thuppul trust and she is doing many kaimkaryams at Navalpakkam and Thuppul with great enthusiasm. After refreshing ourselves we went to the temple and the utsavar was getting ready for veedhi purappadu. The archaka took us to all sannidhis and special mention should be made about the Lakshmi Haygreeva sannidhi. Like Sri Desika was blessed with an idol of Sri Hayagreeva, the Navalpakkam swami Sri Annarya maha desikan was blessed with an idol of Sri Hayagreeva. This archa moorthy was with the above acharya’s descendants but now kept in the temple. The archa thirumeni of Hayagreeva was very beautiful.

Adiyen was honoured with Perumal’s vastram (uduththukk kaLaindha aadai) and adiyen considered this as great bhagyam. Sri Satakopan swami has taken us to the house of Sri Devanatha maha desikan and adiyen was blessed to prostrate at the Perumal sannidhi of this great mahan. Adiyen was introduced to the vidhwan’s there by Sri Satakopan swami and they were kind in enquiring about our back ground and knowing about our kaimkaryams etc..

It was 7 PM and we have commenced our return journey and two vidhwans wanted to go upto Vandhavasi to go to Kanchipuram. We left Navalpakkam thanking Sri Satakopan and Smt Shanta mami and returned to Chennai. Amma was exhausted but she enjoyed the trip esp the darshan of Sri Varada.

This complets the adiyen’s ramblings of our divya desa yatra outside chennai. Three more temples that adiyen visited were

Thiruvallikkeni
Mylapore Sri Kesavaperumal and Srinivasar temple
Thiruvallur

Adiyen met Sri M A Venkatakrishnan swami during my trip to Thiruvallikkeni at his residence and spend about 2 hours with him. Adiyen is a fan of Sri MAV for his majestic renderings of Gadya trayam of Sri Ramanuja and Stotraratna of Sri Alavandar. Last year adiyen has learnt these grantas from Sri Raman swami and he suggested to listen to MAV’s recitation to perfect adiyen’s recitation. Whenever adiyen listens to his Sriranga gadyam, adiyen will cry when he recites the “ na jaane gadhi manyadha”. Listening to his recitation is a divine experience. When adiyen mentioned it to him, he thanked with humility and despite his busy schedule he spent lots time with me. He spoke about his gitacharyan and other kaimkaryams. He also invited adiyen for the realease of his book about Nalayira divya prabandham (about the aidheekams). Adiyen took a copy of his pallandu upanyasam and please listen to this wonderful upanyasam.

We were struck at Mylopore temple one evening due to rain. It rained heavily on that evening and with great difficulty returned home.

At Thiruvallore we offered “babli thuppatti” ie blanket to Moolavar as we had a prarthana for this. Adiyen went alone and fell ill with severe fever while being there. Adiyen was shivering and it was a miraculous experience to return home by local trains travelling form Thiruvallore to Central and then Central to Tambaram and to Medavakkam. Only perumal has brought me back home and after this adiyen could not even get up for two days.

Apart from this adiyen has performed Sudarshana homam at our home and took this mantra upadesa from my maternal uncle. Also learned few tough desika stotras like Garuda dandakam and Nyasa vimshati and Taitiriiyopanishad (part) from Sri Raman swami of Keezhneerkundram in 15 days time.

Since Selaiyur was close by adiyen could go to Sri ahobila mutt often and adiyen was blessed to be with adiyen’s acharya Srimad Azhagiya singar for long periods. Adiyen was there on the day of HIS chatur masya sankalpam too and met many bhagavaths from USA and Singapore. Adiyen was happy to know that our humble attempt in the cyber space was useful to many of them.

In a nutshell, it was a memorable trip with visit to many divya desams and most of the time was spent in bhagavath vishayams only.

Adiyen has really tested your patience and please pardon me for this. Adiyen is keen to read the experiences of your yatras. Please share with us.

Regards

Dasan venkat