Page 98 - Keralite Magazine _new 1 copy

KERALITE
2018

Our India trip this year has been very fortunate for Sabarimala, we had to climb the 18 steps made with
all of us. During this trip, we went to Tamil Nadu pure gold. We have to pray each time we climb a
and Kerala. We had the opportunity to visit many step. At Sabarimala we had a specific pooja called
iconic temples like Sabarimala, Brihadeeswarar, Udayasthamana pooja. My dad booked this pooja
Gangaikondacholapuram Shiva Temple and the 10 years ago. The Udayasthamana pooja is 18 pooja
Shore Temple in Mahabalipuram. This is my story specifically for us. We can also be in front of Lord
about our exciting experience and the enchanting Ayyappa the whole day. There will be 15 pooja in the
encounter with my culture. morning, one in the afternoon, one in the evening
and one at night. The pooja at night is to sing
In January, we were getting ready to go to the Harivarasanam (a song to make Lord Ayyappa sleep).
famous Sabarimala Temple. My dad, my grandpa,
three other family friends and I were going to see The next day, we rode on a tractor to go to Pamba.
Lord Ayyappa. Before going to Sabarimala, there After reaching Pamba, we drove all the way back
are rituals to be followed. First, people should take home. But the journey doesn’t stop here…
41 day vratham (fasting by not eating meat, fish or
eggs). In my opinion these 41 days were very After two days we took a flight from Calicut to
di cult because I eat non-vegetarian food almost Chennai. I love Chennai because of the awesome
every day. Once you take vratham, you have to food, culture and places to visit. We got a driver at
carry coconuts filled with oil (Ghee) in your head to Chennai airport and our goal was to see many
o er to the Lord. We prayed to Ayyappa so that temples. Our first stop was at Mahabalipuram to see
our journey to get there is safe. During the 655 km the Shore Temple. The temple was built entirely
(407 miles) journey, we visited many small places of from granite and was built in the 8th century AD by
worship including a mosque. On the way we saw a the Pallava kings. The Shore Temple deities were
number of beautiful churches which I am planning also carved in stone. The temple was mesmerizing
to visit during my next trip. We reached Pamba because the whole temple is one block of granite.
around 11 pm to start our hike to the summit of The next stop for us was the Lord Shiva Temple at Shiva, this temple was also part of the Chola
Sabarimala. The arduous hike took 3 hours to reach Gangaikondacholapuram - the capital city of Chola Dynasty because it was opened by the great Raja
the top. During the hike we have to carry a bag Dynasty. Rajendra Chola developed this temple so Raja Chola - father of Rajendra Chola. The main
filled with coconuts on our head. Once we reached that peace could be brought to the kingdom.
feature of this temple is that apart from the fact
The final destination of our Tamil Nadu trip was the that it was built entirely on granite and the top of
Brihadeeswara Temple (also called the Big Temple) the temple consists of a single rock weighing 80
in Thanjavur. Another temple dedicated to Lord tonnes, there is no evidence of the availability of

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granite in 50 mile radius surrounding the temple;
this goes to show the hard work and engineering
marvel put into building these temples 1000 years
ago. These temples are part of the UNESCO World
Heritage sites and is a must see for its rich
architecture and artmanship.

After visiting these exciting temples it was time to
go to Calicut. Three days after reaching Calicut, we
were ready to fly back to Detroit.

The trip was a great learning experience for me as
I learned a lot of things about my culture back
home. I got to see a di erent world out there and
I hope I can take a trip like this again.