Tamil Nadu Yatra - Part 1

Train Journey from Egmore to Seergazhi

During one of the discourses that I attended, I had heard about the Mahatmyam (importance) of the river Kaveri, I had come to know about the importance of having a dip in the river during the Tula month (roughly 15 Oct to 15 Nov). It is stated in the Kaveri Mahatmyam that all the holy rivers come and reside in Kaveri during this period to cleanse themselves and become pure again. Anyone who has a dip at the river Kaveri, following due procedures like Sankalpam etc., are also purified and become eligible for Moksham (release from the endless cycle of life and death). Ever since I heard this, I had an ardent desire to do this and finally in 2023, with the company of like-minded yatris, we could accomplish this. In addition, we also covered various other holy pilgrimage spots which are described in this blog.

This yatra was performed by five of us (Two couples and one dear friend who was keen to come but could not be accompanied by his better half due to her other engagements. One couple was there only for part of the yatra. This took us 10 days to complete as the itinerary was big and the distance was covered predominantly by road trip.

Given below is a description of our yatra.

Day 1

Three of us took a flight to Chennai from Mumbai and reached by evening. After checking into a hotel (Shree Krishna Residency, Mylapore) and freshening ourselves, we visited the famous and beautiful temple of Sri Kapaleeshwar and Karpagambal which was situated about 200 meters from our hotel. As it was evening time on a weekday, the temple was not at all crowded and we had a leisurely darshan of all the deities in the temple. After this, we had a light dinner (snacks only) before retiring for the night.

Day 2

At Tiruttani Temple

We woke up early on this day and after the morning ablutions, we came down to the reception. A car that we had hired for the days trip was waiting for us. We first left for Tiruttani, abode of Lord Muruga, which is about 90 kms away. Tiruttani is one of 6 most holy places / temples associated with Lord Muruga. It is here that Lord Muruga celebrated His wedding with Devi Valli. It is believed that He blesses His devotees who worship Him here with mental peace and bodily happiness. This place is also known as Shantipuri (Abode of Peace).

At Tiruttani Temple

It took us nearly 2.5 hours to reach there as we had stopped on the way for breakfast. The temple (like most Murugan temples) is situated on a hillock, and one must climb 365 steps to reach the top. However, there is a road that has been constructed to facilitate devotees and we took that road to reach the temple. From the parking it was a short 100-meter uphill walk that took us to the temple. Narayan, who was part of our group, had already made arrangements with a priest for darshan etc. It was Krithika star on that day (considered holy for Lord Muruga) and there were number of people in the queue already. Luckily, we could go directly in with the help of the priest and got a nice darshan from close quarters of Lord Muruga and His two consorts, Valli & Devayanai.

After this, we left for Mangadu which is in a suburb of Chennai and at a distance of 70 kms from Tiruttani. Mangadu is known for the temple of "Tapas Kamakshi" or Goddess Kamakshi performing penance in Fire. This is the place where the goddess performed her penance to marry and re-unite with Lord Shiva. All 32 types of Dharmic rituals were performed here by the goddess. They later married at Kanchipuram under the famous Mango tree in Ekambareshwar temple there. It is believed that if unmarried girls visit the Mangadu Kamakshi Amman Devi Temple, then Devi Amman and Lord Shiva get pleased with the devotion, and they bless with a happy married life. Even childless couples also worship Devi Amman for blessings in the form of a baby.

After Darshan at Tiruttani

It took us 2 hours to reach here and when we reached there was a sudden downpour which delayed our entry into the temple. We waited for a while in the car for the rains to subside. When the rains became lighter, we hurried into the temple which was almost empty at that hour in the afternoon. We had a lovely leisurely darshan of Kamakshi Amman.

After this, we came back to the hotel and had our lunch. Post lunch and some rest, we checked out of the hotel and took the same car for a drop to Egmore Railway station in Chennai for the next leg of our trip.

At Egmore station, we were joined by the other couple who were to be with us for a part of the Yatra. From Egmore, we departed towards Seergazhi station. It was a comfortable journey by 3^rd AC which was spent in catching up with our co-yatris over tea. We reached Seergazhi by around 8 p.m. and on alighting we went by 2 autorickshaws to our hotel at Vaitheeshwara Koil (VK). The distance of about 10 kms was covered in 20 minutes and we reached Sathabhishekam hotel by around 8.30 p.m. After a quick bath and prayers, we had dinner at the restaurant attached to the hotel and then retired for the night. The rooms of the hotel were spacious and decent. The only issue was a lot of mosquitoes, but they didn’t disturb us much in the night as we were tired after a long day.