It was around 7:30p.m., when I was travelling back home in company’s bus along with my colleague Mr.Ranjith, who invited to see the Country festival organized at Kalankuruchi , in Ariyalur Dist. It was all a sudden decision for me whether to go or not. But at last I made it on my mind that I need to accept his invitation, as such an opportunity comes once a year. And we got dropped outside the Ariyalur bus stand, where a fleet of buses were ready to ply to Kalankuruchi. As we wanted to reach as early as possible and come back soon as well, we hurriedly boarded into the bus that headed the fleet without caring about the fact that it has already gained its motion.
Finally reached our destination at around 8:15p.m. Since it was the 10th day of the Country festival known by the local term Thiruvizha, we found a crowd of typical hillbillies having come from nearby villages to cherish the evening that was decorated with great pomp & show. On the right and left were put up a no of stalls selling sweets, savory items, balloons, dates, fried nuts and what not. Also a number of fortune-tellers were found at different corners along with their pet parrots. And that was not all, there were also made arrangements for the amusement of public viz. circus, the giant wheel, the Death well (in Hindi “Maut ka kuaan”). The atmosphere was noisy but worth celebrating. Frankly, no ground work has been done to know the history of the occasion or about the temple and its deities. But what I got to know is that during the festive period, Lord Perumal comes out in his chariot with his two adorable ladies to meet his devotees once in a year.
Parked our shoes and Safety helmets in a flower stall just outside the temple, washed our hands feet and purchased a small garland of Thulasi. Started walking bare footed on the muddy floors of the Shrine . It was all because of the rains, which is believed to be a special feature of the day. It was quite a uncomfortable experience to walk in such condition, but I managed as it is the almighty’s place and no such feeling should crop in your mind. We found people reciting chants & mantras dedicated to the Man of the occasion.
We could not go near the idol as the entrance was shut, so we had to have his Darshanam from a distance of 15 to 20 mts. Then we went around the premises of the temple and witnessed that some people were playing different musical instruments, some people were donating agricultural produce to the temple etc. Since our purpose was achieved, we came out of the temple and went to the same flower stall to collect our belongings. But since our feet were muddy we had to wash them before putting on the shoes. We started moving, but I felt as if something was missing. I ignored the feeling as it may be because of the fact that we have come suddenly from too crowded place to a less crowded place.
By that time it was 8:45p.m and my mouth got watered seeing the Chat wallah at a corner. I requested Ranjith sir that let us have it. He was not willing to have but to honor my request he accepted a plate. I specially relished it having in such an occasion. We paid that fellow and started moving to the bus stand. It was then I realized that we had left our Safety helmets at the flower stall. Questions started popping in our mind: “Should we go and get them?”, “Is it necessary to go back all the way again?”, “Can we not get a new helmet from the Stores dept.”.But finally “NO,” was the call from the conscience “you need to get the helmets back otherwise you are going to break the safety rules till you get a new helmet.” And we went back to get them, then caught the bus back to Ariyalur.
Writing is neither my passion nor my favorite pass time. I narrated that evening as it appeared funny to me and also that I wanted to share with you the fun I had….
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Ariyalur Dist, Tamil Nadu.
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