Mr Padmanabhan (my chittappa), his daughter Usha and her son Balaji represent three generations of our Pollachi clan. They joined us on a trip to Tirumurthi hills. No trip of ours to Pollachi is considered complete without a visit to Tirumurthi hills.
This was our umpteenth visit; have been coming to this place since my childhood. We have done it by car, bus,
by bike part of the way, and by bullock-cart, all the way from Pollachi. It was during early school days when I was still in knickers when made the trip by bullock-cart. We were on road through the night.If I remember right, my
thatha Chakrapani Iyer was with us. So were my uncles, chittis and cousins.
On a more recent visit with my chittis, we got nostalgic, with Sambu chitti, guiding us through the temple complex that she and Sita chitti were re-visiting after several years. Recalling our bullack-cart trip Sambu chitti said we had then brought with us rice, pulses, vegetables and things to cook our meals. Nothing was available near the temple those days.
The temple priests came from Dhali, nearest town about 10 km away.They brought everything needed for puja from there. No one stayed the night in the vicinity of the temple, fearing movement of wild animals. Even now the temple closes at 6 p m, though no wild animal frequents the place.
Prayers are offered at this huge rock. Legend has it that this massive boulder had rolled down , when one of the Trimurthis - Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva - taking a stroll on top of the hill stumbled on it. Devotees believe that the Trimurthis show up on the hills daily after dark.
After I had taken these pictures, a temple employee on security duty told me that photography in the temple vicinity was permited, only on payment of Rs.51 as camera fee. When I mentioned that I hadn't heard of such constraints on any of my earlier visits, he said it was part of the temple regulations.
Mr Padmanabhan (my chittappa), his daughter Usha and her son Balaji represent three generations of our Pollachi clan. They joined us on a trip to Tirumurthi hills. No trip of ours to Pollachi is considered complete without a visit to Tirumurthi hills.
This was our umpteenth visit; have been coming to this place since my childhood. We have done it by car, bus, by bike part of the way, and by bullock-cart, all the way from Pollachi. It was during early school days when I was still in knickers when made the trip by bullock-cart. We were on road through the night.If I remember right, my thatha Chakrapani Iyer was with us. So were my uncles, chittis and cousins.
On a more recent visit with my chittis, we got nostalgic, with Sambu chitti, guiding us through the temple complex that she and Sita chitti were re-visiting after several years. Recalling our bullack-cart trip Sambu chitti said we had then brought with us rice, pulses, vegetables and things to cook our meals. Nothing was available near the temple those days.
The temple priests came from Dhali, nearest town about 10 km away.They brought everything needed for puja from there. No one stayed the night in the vicinity of the temple, fearing movement of wild animals. Even now the temple closes at 6 p m, though no wild animal frequents the place.
Prayers are offered at this huge rock. Legend has it that this massive boulder had rolled down , when one of the Trimurthis - Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva - taking a stroll on top of the hill stumbled on it. Devotees believe that the Trimurthis show up on the hills daily after dark.
After I had taken these pictures, a temple employee on security duty told me that photography in the temple vicinity was permited, only on payment of Rs.51 as camera fee. When I mentioned that I hadn't heard of such constraints on any of my earlier visits, he said it was part of the temple regulations.
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