As an offering to Lord Shiva, the word “Thiruchitrambalam” is uttered before and after singing of the thevarams or taking about Lord Shiva. This is something that I learnt recently.
A family function beckoned me to India recently. Working out the other conflicting schedules, I embarked on my journey to India to attend the function. At that point I did not realize what was in store for me.
It was great to be with near and dear ones, but I will leave the family function details for later… and move straight to the part which gave me an immense sense of happiness. I was to perform at 6 Shiva temples for Sivaratri in South Tamil Nadu. My sister and my brother-in-law took it upon themselves to make my journey as pleasant as possible for me as I was not familiar with South Tamil Nadu.
They did the research for me to find temples close to the place where I would be performing, for me to get extra mileage out of my trip. The goal was to perform for Natanjali and at the same time visit the saivaite temples where Appar, Sundarar and Manikavasagar sang the thevarams. These Kshetrams are referred to to as “Padal Petra Sthalangal”. They also included a few of the 108 Divya Desams of the Vaishnavite tradition in my “to-see” list. I am immensely grateful to my sister and brother-in-law for making this one of the most memorable trips I have ever had…
To list the temples I saw within a span of three days
1. Thirukadayur Amritakateshwarar temple
2. Amritakateshwar Perumal Temple
3. Kadavur Mayanam temple
4. Thirunallar Dharbaranyeshwar temple
5. Nagapattinam Kayarohana Swami temple
6. Vedaranyam or Thirumaraiyur temple
7. Kodikarai Kuzhagar temple
8. Mannargudi Rajagoplaswamy temple
9. Thiruvaiyar Iyyarappar temple
10. Kumbakonam Kumbeshwarar temple
11. Thirunageshwaram temple
12. Uppiliappan temple
13. Sarangapani temple
14. Chakrapani temple
15. Thirumeichiyur temple
16. Mayiladudurai Mayuranathar temple
17. Pandanallur Pashupatheeswar temple
18. Chidambaram Natarajar temple: Although I did not dance for Natyanjali at Chidambaram this year, I did not miss dancing in the Chithambalam, the sannithi space of the Chidambaram Temple in front of the Lord.. There was a huge crowd.. But that did not stop me from dancing for a few minutes in front of the sanctum sanctorum to get His blessings.
I am sure I have missed a few. If I have gained a bit of punyam in visiting these divine places, I give it all to my dear sister and her husband.
The legend, history, art, culture, sculptures and passion associated with each temple is mind blowing. Though the builders and patrons of such great temples are no more, we are still able to see the past in the present through the rich legacy our ancestors have left for us.
Being extremely passionate about music, dance and culture, this visit made me wonder: What I am doing with my life? What legacy am I going to leave behind for the future generations?
Something to seriously ponder upon and make drastic changes now…...
Thiruchitrambalam
Thiruchitrambalam
The Natyanjali Experience
The Natyanjali Experience
The Tamil month of Masi during which Maha Sivaratri occurs has a lot of temples celebrating Shivaratri with Natyanjali dance festivals. I had the urge to dance once more at Natyanjali festivals conducted at various Shiva temples in TamilNadu. With the grace of God and my father and blessings of my Guru and elders, I was able to materialize my idea. Thus began my Natyanjali trip.
Day 1:
Thirunallar and Nagapattinam
March 12th was the inaugural day for the Thirunallar Natyanjali festival 2010 at the Dharbaranyeshwarar temple premises. Mine was the very first performance. I felt an extra sense of responsibility here. During the performance, the organizer came up to me and asked me if I could perform one more item than what I had planned. Since I was dancing to pre-recorded music, this was not possible. What a shame… At the end, the organizers presented me with a memento that had a picture of my Guru Dr. Padma Subrahmanyam on it!!!!!! I was super thrilled… What a start to my Natyanjali performances.
After dancing at Thirunallar, we drove to Nagapattinam-the home town of my Guru. The performance was at the Kayarohana Swami temple. I got on to stage to perform my first item and minutes into the first item, I see the “Swami Urvalam” or the procession of the presiding deity of the temple pass by the area where I was dancing. For a second, I could not move… Has the Lord come to witness my dance? Has he come to bless me? Is this another way of my Guru blessing me? Do I stop dancing and pray or continue dancing? “Manojavam marutha thulya vegam” All these thoughts for a fleeting second only, as I continued to dance…
Even now when I think of it, I get goose bumps…Thank you Lord for making my first day extra special.
Day 2:
Thiruvaiyaru and Kumbakonam
March 13th was Shivaratri and Sani Pradosham, both very auspicious Saivaite days. The Thiruvaiyaru performance was inside the Iyyarappar temple in front of the main deity. I had to perform facing the Sanctum sanctorum with people sitting all around me. A very unique experience indeed! At this place, I got the opportunity to do nattuvangam for a fellow classmate. Aha!! He examining me as a nattuvanar as well !!! Did I pass the test ??
Earlier, I had tea at a road side tea shop. The owner guessing that I was not from this town enquired to find out why I had come to this town. The minute, I told him that I was performing that day; he pulled out a program leaflet from his cash draw and saw my name listed as Disciple of Dr. Padma Subrahmanyam and his face immediately lit up like a 1000 watt bulb. He was a big fan of my Guru and so he promised to close his shop early to come and witness my dance. Yet again I felt so proud to the student of such a legend who fame has no bounds. True to his word, he did come to see the performance with his daughter. I was truly touched.
Thiruvaiyaru program was 1 hour behind schedule, so we had to rush to Kumbakonam to perform at the Kumbeshwarar temple premises. The lingam at the Kumbeshwarar temple is said to have been made by Shiva himself when he mixed the nectar of immortality with sand. I performed there at a little past midnight on Sivaratri day…. A great second day of Natyanjali indeed!!!!
Day 3:
Mayiladudurai and Pandanallur
March 14th was Karadaiyan Nombu and I was performing at the Mayuranathar temple at Mayiladudurai or Mayavaram. Before the performance, I had the saradu blessed by Abhayambikai (the presiding godess at Mayiladudurai) and tied the Saradu in front of the Sannadi. What more can I ask?
Next stop was at Pandanallur. This performance was not planned till the last minute. I could not refuse a last minute invitation because of the rich legacy attached to this town. Pandanallur dedicated to the presiding deity Pashupateeswarar, is popularly associated with the famous school of Bharatanatyam. The Natyanjali at this temple is a night-long event. Mine was the last event of the night and the last performance of this year’s Natyanajali at Pandanallur and I danced to the accompaniment of my mother singing for me!! What a rich experience it was to perform at a place where doyens of Bharatanatyam had nurtured this great art for centuries.
I began my Natyanjali tour with the inaugural dance at one town and ended my tour with the concluding dance at another town. Seemed like a perfect fit for me.
The Natyanjali dance festivals are very popular in various Shiva temples in the South. Unlike, Madras aka Chennai where there is hardly any crowd at dance recitals past 8pm (Thanks to the never-ending mega serials on television) the crowd at these small town late night festivals is pretty good.
I shall forever cherish the memory of this Natyanjali as I have of another unique Natyanjali experience that I had several years back…
Sat Gurubhyo Namaha…
Resolutions .......
My New Year resolution in the past years has always been to not make any resolutions. This year, I wanted it to be different. I wanted to make life style changes, reform habits, prioritize …….etc etc etc…..
A couple of emails that I received at this time really touched my heart. So that’s going to be on top of my “Resolutions 2009 list”. Well it is only February, lets see if I can keep it up……
While a man was polishing his new car, his 4 yr old son picked stone & scratched lines on the side of the car. In anger, the man took the child's hand & hit it many times, not realizing he was using a wrench. At the hospital, the child lost all his fingers due to
multiple fractures.
When the child saw his father.... With painful eyes he asked' Dad when will my fingers grow back?' Man was so hurt and speechless. He went back to car and kicked it a lot of times.
Devastated by his own actions...... sitting in front of that car he looked at the scratches, child had written 'LOVE YOU DAD'.
The next day that man committed suicide . . . Anger and Love have no limits; choose the latter to have a beautiful & lovely life.
Moral: Things are to be used and people are to be loved, but the problem in today's world is that, People are used and things are loved.
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F A M I L Y
I ran into a stranger as he passed by,
'Oh excuse me please' was my reply.
He said, 'Please excuse me too;
I wasn't watching for you..'
We were very polite, this stranger and I.
We went on our way and we said goodbye.
But at home a different story is told,
How we treat our loved ones, young and old..
Later that day, cooking the evening meal,
My son stood beside me very still.
When I turned, I nearly knocked him down.
'Move out of the way,' I said with a frown.
He walked away, his little heart broken.
I didn't realize how harshly I'd spoken.
While I lay awake in bed, God’s still small voice came to me and said,
'While dealing with a stranger,
common courtesy you use,
but the family you love, you seem to abuse.
Go and look on the kitchen floor,
You'll find some flowers there by the door.
Those are the flowers he brought for you.
He picked them himself: pink, yellow and blue.
He stood very quietly not to spoil the surprise,
you never saw the tears that filled his little eyes.'
By this time, I felt very small,
And now my tears began to fall.
I quietly went and knelt by his bed;
'Wake up, little one, wake up,' I said.
'Are these the flowers you picked for me?'
He smiled, 'I found 'em, out by the tree.
I picked 'em because they're pretty like you.
I knew you'd like 'em, especially the blue.'
I said, 'Son, I'm very sorry for the way I acted today;
I shouldn't have yelled at you that way.'
He said, 'Oh, Mom, that's okay.
I love you anyway.'
I said, 'Son, I love you too,
and I do like the flowers, especially the blue.'
Moral:
Are you aware that if we died tomorrow, the company that we are working for could easily replace us in a matter of days. But the family we left behind will feel the loss for the rest of their lives. And come to think of it, we pour ourselves more into work than into our own family, an unwise investment indeed, don’t you think?
Do you know what the word FAMILY means? FAMILY = (F)ATHER (A)ND (M)OTHER (I) (L)OVE (Y)OU
What do women want ?
It’s an age-old question: What do women want?
Well, I’ll tell you what I want… A hot two-seater convertible sports car!!!
It is generally thought that women place safety, reliability and practicality high on their list of priorities, while men place more emphasis on horsepower and engine size. The trend is changing. The women of today, the revolution generation are going against the grain buying the cars they want to buy.
As a woman moving up the corporate ladder and pursuing an active life style, I dream of owning a sports car to help me keep up to the speed!!!
When it comes to convertibles, I like the Mercedes CLK550 Cabriolet or BMW Z4.
Well, “I have a dream” and that is to own the sporty convertible MX-5 Miata, go on a long drive along the coast listening to Sudha Ragunathan with the top down.
The dot mantra
Therapy.... Did you know that getting special children to make kolams can build their confidence?
What’s in an array of dots? Well, apparently, a lot. Dot patterns can help kids learn math and perspective. Trace it out early in the morning, and you get a rejuvenating shot of ozone that abounds in the early morning air.
Do it the traditional way, with your body bent forward, and it activates the Mooladara chakra in your hip region that can keep you energised for the day.
Do it with rice powder, and you would be sharing food with other life forms, as ants and birds love to feast on it. Well, our humble kolam is what is being described here.
But now, Gayathri Sankaranarayanan has found a new use for it — as therapy for mentally challenged kids. And, it works! It started with casually introducing kolams to kids at a playschool she frequented. Kolam workshops at various institutions such as the Ramakrishna Mission followed. The biggest challenge for Gayathri was — how do you get special children to try out kolams?
She soon learnt that the best way was to lead by example. “Now, I simply start making kolam patterns in the middle of the classroom,” says Gayathri. Invariably, the children get attracted to the idea and start dipping into the generous tubs of kolam powder that she keeps ready. Gayathri uses a different, easier technique for these children. She gets the kids to dump a small mound of the kolamaavu on a plain surface and rub out patterns from it. So, children place their forefinger in middle of the mound and spread the powder around, creating simple shapes such as circles and stars. They slowly move on to more complex forms. Done repeatedly in rows, the cumulative design effect is impressive.
Improves focus
For these kids, it is a big achievement, and the feeling that they have personally created a design does wonders for their confidence levels. “I have noticed that these kids are able to improve their focus and concentration after working with kolam patterns,” avers Meena Ganapathi, who runs the Dipika Resource Centre for special children.
That is a big relief for their caregivers as these children are chronically unable to concentrate and stick on to tasks. Drawing kolams with chalk or pencil will not work. The children have to feel the texture of the kolam powder, as the forefinger is extremely sensitive and the brain is stimulated by the feel of the kolam powder’s texture. This fact is corroborated by neurological experts such as N. Subhalakshmi, senior research consultant, Institute of Neurological Sciences, VHS Hospital, Chennai.
So, how exactly does kolam therapy work? Special children lack internal rhythm. That is why they tend to be clumsy and move around haphazardly. As kolam gets you to repeat dots and patterns at equal intervals of space, it builds up the kids’ sense of rhythm, besides disciplining them in sticking on to a task. The orderly patterns of dots also go on to reinforce these children’s sense of order.
Source: The Hindu...
More on Kolams
Drawing kolams helps to improve discipline and concentration. It is believed that the "Dots" are symbolic of challenges which we have to face in our lives and the "Curvy”, line around these Dots is the journey (Yathra), during our life.
A Lot of concentration and practice is necessary to develop this art. Here are some attractive and simple kolams 
Kolams
I have been fascinated with Kolams from a very early age. My cousin and I would compete with each other during the month of Margazhi for the best kolam every day. Little did I know that the there was so much science and math behind kolams. Hmmm... perhaps I should puruse my unfilled dream of combing the Masters degree that I have in Computer Science & Biochemistr and my interest for Kolams into one Ph.D in Bio-Informatics????
An article from "The Hindu"
What happens when a retired experimental physicist becomes intrigued with kolam designs? Well, if that physicist is Dr. S. Naranan, he builds a new hierarchy of kolam patterns, using a mathematical formula. It was about two years ago that the 77-year -old cosmic ray physicist and X-Ray astronomer came across a supplement on kolams from the Kumudam Snehidi magazine. Where everyone else saw pretty designs, Dr. Naranan saw a mathematical pattern — the Fibonacci series, to be precise. “The supplement mentioned that these 5 X 5 square kolams were composed of four 2 X 3 grids,” recalls Dr. Naranan. “Two-three-five — I was immediately reminded of the Fibonacci series, in which each number is generated by adding together the previous two.” The result is a systematic method of generating numerous variations of single-loop square or rectangular kolams of any size.
Myriad possibilities
“Most of these Fibonacci designs are completely unique — you won’t find them in any kolam pattern book,” he says, indicating the pages and pages of beautiful hand-drawn designs that are scattered around him. “There is enormous creativity among the women who come up with new kolam designs. The difference is this formula allows you to explore the myriad possibilities of any given design to its fullest extent.”
Dr. Naranan isn’t the only one studying kolams. The ancient folk art has attracted the attention of researchers around the world, including a group in Japan that currently applies Knot theory (also used to study DNA molecules and chemical polymers) to unravel its mysteries. “There is a lot of mathematical beauty to this 1000-year-old art form, and people are realising now that it can be mathematically analysed,” says the physicist, who was with the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research until his retirement in 1992. Nor is it the first time the Fibonacci Series has been linked with art.
“The series helps generate the ‘Golden Rectangle’ (its sides are in the ratio of 1:618) that Western writers have claimed can be found in the painting of the Last Supper, the Parthenon in Athens and even the Pyramids of Egypt,” says Dr. Naranan. That ‘Golden Rectangle’, incidentally, is what he has used as the building blocks of his designs: “There’s no conjecture in this case!” he laughs. The physicist, who has worked on statistical linguistics (English and Tamil), evolutionary genetics and cryptography among other things since retirement, has produced two papers on kolams (including one using Group theory to analyse symmetries).
But his hope for the future is to see his Fibonacci designs being generated through computer programming. “Since my method is modular, programming and graphics can easily be used. That would have tremendous creative potential,” he explains.
