kadaimugam 2022 in Laagadam

 

The title will make you ask what is it ? ‘Kadaimugam in Laagadam’

The Kadaimugam is a yearly trip that is undertaken to have a holy dip in River Cauvery . Thula Snaanam, also referred as Thula Punya Snanam, is an important bathing ritual observed in Tamil Nadu. It is observed in the Tamil Month Aipassi (October – November), which is also referred as Thula  (Kaveri). Puranas narrates about the importance of the holy bath.. Our visit this year was on Nov 16, 2022

To us who travelled this year as well , it begins and ends with our Tour Hero Aravind. ( Colleague at Ford ) Aravind has been organizing these trips for close a decade—It is not the holy bath that is key ingredient but the entire way the whole trip and other temple visits that are planned is  amazing.

Travel for this trip in November begins as early as in July – the optimum size of the group is 14 ( this fits in to a Tempo Traveler ).. Others can come but have to find a transport to follow the group. Tickets are booked on the Rail in advance and enough notifications are given pre and post the booking. Closer to the travel date , the WhatsApp is activated and all information on the travel are provided. 

It is regular to leave by Uzhavan express and get down at Mayavaram early at 4 AM.. The travel van is ready and we reach the bathing ghat.. The river is flowing in its majesty..  It is a fantastic experience .Post the bath , the team is ready for a long day but they all know it will be a divine one ( every year it is the same ).. Aravind tells the team the temples that we will visit through the day.. Again , these are meticulously planned – short distances between each of them and the end will be always be close or will end at the station from which we depart back. Research is done ahead of time of each of the temples ( whether it is a Divya Desham or , Padal Petra Sthalam or Vaipu sthalam etc.  A theme is chosen that covers the temples trail this day.  This year the intent was to cover as many as MaadkaKovils as possible ( these are temples built by Kocchenganna Cholan that are built in a manner that makes it  not accessible to Elephants) One important thing is that these will be temples that are not normally frequented by Pilgrims   and so most times, it will be our group only at the temple). And each year none of the temples will be revisited unless there is a request from someone in the group and there is something that was missed out to look at from a previous visit.

This year cutting across from Mayavaram to Nagapattinam we visited  20 temples—yes 20—There were 1 Divyadesam , 7 Kochengannan Maada Kovil, 6 Thevara Paadal Petra Sthalam and 4 Thevaara Vaippu Sthalam among them

One may think that we rushed in and out.. No , that was not the case—there was enough time to look at each of the temples, learning the Sthala Varalauru  ( Aravind in full flow in his narratives of each temple )—Aravind leads the team through the day , planning the routes so carefully and ensuring we do not miss any route or get delayed etc. 

We break off at noon as most temples are closed from 12 -4 PM.. The planning was so immaculate for us to reach TR Pattinam at Noon, where we were hosted by one of our Travel team member , who threw his ancestral home to us with a great lunch and we could get some rest with some catching up with sleep and getting back energy.. Oh.. I forgot the breakfast was at one of the temples , where the temple priest made some fantastic Pongal with Kothsu to boot. Some member (s)  were still  hungry and Aravind provided time for them to visit our  regular eatery house and have their fill of Oil rich Vadas.

Post the rest session , the temple journey continues. At one place one of the team members tried to change a planned destination and probably we lost some time due to the suggested change. But it was left to the Master of the journey who took command and ensured that we covered all the temples. We had  Dinner at Nagapattinam and then back by Kamban express  from Nagapatinam and back home in the early hours.. It was just a full day travel but pretty much filled in joy and divinity

  Some key things

• Do not expect this to be a luxury travel trip—Agile , Frugal and meeting needs will be the words that will resonant for the trip but comfortable

• The group gets along so well – there is lot of chattering. There are members from the Rail Fan community… You hear lot of things about the Coach you are travelling , Signals , Crossings , Engine Power .. There is too much intricacies  that you learn about the Railways , rakes , stations , tracks and so on. 

• The group has to be super agile and fast.. Have to be on your feet to get in and get out as we move from one temples to another

• The priests and other employees in the remote temples were so happy to host us with detailed narration of sthala puranams and opening the temples for our group even when they have left for the day or occupied otherwise . Our trips would not have happened as per plan without their cooperation.

• Aravind takes supreme care of each of the member’s needs… Totally focused on ensuring everyone is comfortable , at the same time , keeps the driver engaged with directions
•  . His knowledge of the temples is a big bonus---

• All bookings , travel arrangements taken care by Aravind – Selfless service .

• Just hoping this continues every year with our ever resourceful Aravind 

Two temples out of the 20 . to me  were very phenomenal for what they represented:  

A. the Veeratam Vazhuvur temple and B. Abaranadhari temple- Anantha Narayana Permal –

A happy Divine Super day trip this year too !