Flavours of Karaikudi - An experience

"Too much passion for culture and heritage triggers oneself to explore different aspects of it." Likewise due to my interest, I got triggered to explore the cultural aspects of Karaikudi when my friend Annamalai invited us to his sister’s wedding. So, I along with my buddies started to plan itinerary two weeks in advance. We were all excited to go to Karaikudi and stay there for the marriage. Since we are always ready to wander anywhere all the time, Annamalai’s invite came to us as a saviour.

Front Facade of a Chettinadu Residence

Thilakesh brought his car and seven of us started at the dawn of 24th January from Thanjavur. Our enthusiasm for the trip brought a glow in our faces. Rajaguru curated the playlist for the journey. After halting for fuel and tea, Thilakesh throttled towards Kundrakudi first.

Rock-cut Shrine and Kundrakudi Temple

Kundrakudi is a famous pilgrimage site known for its Murugan Temple, located atop a small hillock. But there are also 3 rock-cut shrines from the Pandyan period. Kundrakudi is also the place which gave us a legendary violinist Kunnakudi Vaidyanathan. At the temple,we were welcomed by the beautiful sight of Subbulakshmi (64 yrs old), the temple elephant who was enjoying her morning shower. We stood there for some time admiring her and listening to her master's tales about her. But then we were disappointed to know that nobody was allowed to visit the rock-cut shrines. But we got ourselves together and started climbing the hill and had Dharshan of Lord Subramanya. I was not ready to leave Kundrakudi without visiting the rock-cut shrines. So, I entered the temple office and sought permission from the officer. Then we went ahead and saw the shrines which remained in low lighting conditions and stinking due to the family of bats living there. It was so dirty and dangerous to go further and to take a look closer since all the bats started flying. But still we had the opportunity to see few details of it. Each of the shrines were dedicated to lord Shiva. I am yet to research about these shrines in detail.

Pillaiyarpatti Temple

Then we headed to the famous Ganesha temple at Pillayarpatti. The main deity here is known as ‘Karpaga Vinayagar’. This is actually a rock-cut cave temple of Pandiyan Kings. The other rock-cut shrine adjacent to the sanctum of Ganesha shelters is the shrine of lord Shiva as ‘Thiruveesar’, which is not accessible nor visible to the devotees. Historians claim that the Ganesha is the earliest sculptural representation in Tamil Nadu. The trunk of Ganesha is curved to his right which makes him more powerful and unique. We were amazed by efficient management of the temple. Unlike the other famous temple, this is managed by the Nagarathars, who are a popular community of Chettiyars. We spent some time around the temple’s pond.

A Grand house with Colonial personality stuccos

Then we thought of visiting the famous 1000 window house which is a grand Chettiyar style residence and where a lot of movie-shoots takes place. But we got disappointed once we got to know that visitors were not allowed inside. Then we proceeded to the venue of the marriage. To our surprise, the venue of the marriage was also a grand Chettinadu residence. We were awestruck by the grandeur and the design elements of the house. We reached exactly on the time for lunch.

The First Karaikudi Meal

Talking about Chettinadu by default, it is inclusive of the spicy, delicious cuisine. I was specifically amazed by the mouth-watering vegetarian dishes of Chettinadu. We were on cloud nine after having the authentic Karaikudi lunch. The Sakkarai Pongal was the sweetest amongst all the dishes. We had Mandi, Pudalangai (Snakegourd) Kootu, Raw Banana fry, Getti Kozhambu, Thanni Kozhambu, Beans Poriyal and curd rice as our first meal. Our disappointments just flew away after having a scrumptious meal. We embraced ourselves for the next meals already. To add to the beauty of the food, the dining hall were decorated with some colonial period paintings, which also includes the famous Ravi Varma portraits.

The Dinner Menu

We spent some time at the venue and left to our retiring house. It was again a Chettinadu house but less ornamented. We again went to the Mandapam in the evening to take part in the rituals. The dinner was very appetizing. The dessert was toasted bread soaked in badam kheer (not sure) which we loved the most and enjoyed hogging it. On the evening, we saw the procession of the deities of the Shiva Temple. Finally, we reached back our room for sleeping. Since we were overwhelmed with the grandeur of the Chettinadu flavours and residences, we couldn't sleep. I played with Maddy for sometime while others were trying to sleep.

Ravi Varma's works in the Dining Hall

Later, we decided to take a stroll around the lanes since nobody wanted to sleep early. It was almost 11pm. It was frightening to witness such grand houses in the dark light. We walked even further despite of seeing the houses and imagining a ghost staring at us from the portico of every house just like how it happens in every Tamil horror movie. GP courageously stood, starred and clicked few photos while walking. Asiq left us inbetween because he was tired (for real, he was slightly afraid of the grand houses and haunting stories we were talking). We came back by 12:30 am and slept.

At the Night

It is really amazing to see those grand houses which are actually residence for joint families of Chettinad. But what is unfortunate is that most of the portions of the houses are not used and it's dark. It makes one to reminisce about the good old days where families were large and each portion of the house was occupied and there was always some sound of joy around.

A sight of the busy residence

At the day of the marriage, we went to the nearby Shiva temple which is managed by the Nagarathar. Along with the procession of the groom, we reached back to the venue after bursting crackers and pretending to throw them on each other. Then the groom tied the knot. We stayed there for some time and headed towards Thanjavur in the noon.

The View of dining hall adorned with the paintings

While coming back, we visited the Thirumayam fort and the two rock-cut cave temples of Lord Shiva and Vishnu. The fort of Thirumayam gave an edge to the rulers of the region who were known as ‘Sethupathy’ against British. The rock-cut shrines are located at the base and the fort on top of this hillock. The shrine of Lord Vishnu in the reclining position was huge. I specifically liked the shrines of Lord Narasimha and Sudharshana. This shrine of Vishnu is believed to be built by the Pallavas, while the shrine of Shiva built by the Pandiyans. 

Sathyagirishwarar and Thirumayam Fort

At the temple of Lord Shiva, the Dwarapalakas were remarkably vibrant. We then had the divine opportunity of arranging the procession Vaahanas of Lord Shiva on the occasion of Thai Poosam. The shrine of Lord Shiva is the oldest among the two shrines. Without fail, we also had dharshan of the Kottai Bhairavar temple which is located on the outer side of the fort wall. Most of the drivers definitely stops at the shrine and offer their worship since the shrine is located facing towards the road and is very powerful too.

Dwarapalaka at the Rock-cut Shiva Shrine

After all the fun and blessings, the trip to Karaikudi came to an end. Throughout the trip, Rajaguru made us laugh with his rapidfire counters for which Kumar became the scapegoat most of the time. His playlist kept us cheerful while Thilakesh was driving with full focus and made us reach home back safely. All thanks to Annamalaiyaar for inviting us to experience the flavours of Karaikudi. We are looking forward for another invitation by Annamalai actually.

Yours East Gaterr