As we move along with Life religious trips add so much meaning and inner satisfaction to oneself and in the year 2022 decided to visit Nava Tirupathi temples in the outskirts of Thirunelveli. Detaching yourself from materialistic world and giving yourself some private space brings answers to many questions in life and when I see pictures of Thalaivar on his himalayas trip I feel more rejoiced than seeing his new look in Vettaiyan or Coolie. That just explains hair is getting white and in my case hair is falling down much faster than 5G network.
Nava Tirupathy is nothing but nine Perumal temples (nine Divya desams) in the outskirts of Thirunelveli. Each Perumal temple represents a planet and there is a particular sequence that one has to follow in visiting these temples. But as time went by there are practical difficulties in following that sequence hence devotees visit temples per their convenience. Temple timings differs from temple to temple hence choice is upto the devotees in what sequence they want to visit these temples. In the year 2022 I found an auto driver called Mr.Rengan and he was the one who took me to all those nine temples. I repeated the same exercise in the year 2023 and availed Mr.Rengan's service too ....Now in 2024 I booked my trip to Thirunelveli in the first week of July. This time perumal decided to test me ...I had a severe eye infection throughout July where I had to apply drops once every three hours hence I had to cancel my trip. Eye infection got worse and it took almost six weeks for me to be back to normal and then I booked my Train ticket to Thirunelveli.
Since Railway corridor from Tambaram is being worked out most of the trains are either running late or getting rescheduled. My train which was supposed to start at 12.50 am from Trichy got delayed by 5 hours and it started around 5.45 am from Trichy. Once I realized train is delayed by 5 hours I came back home and had a short sleep and went to station early in the morning to catch the train. I got into the train and around 10.30 am I reached Tirunelveli. Normally I start visiting temples around 7.30 am and finish all nine by noon and this time I had to shuffle my plans. I decided to visit the famous Nellaiyappar temple in the morning as that temple was close to the train junction. It was such a beautiful temple and a big one too; Permal wanted me to visit Sivan too this time and after my darshan I went to Sri Vaikundam. As per Rengan I went to a particular shop to have lunch. Hoteliers greeted me and for some reason looking at me they felt rice may not be enough which made me wonder I should exercise regularly. I have this uncanny habit of throwing a bombshell where people melt like icecream ....Here I go "I have been here last year and your food was delicious so without any hesitation came here this year too" ..Suddenly they changed their mind and they called a nearby hotel where they can borrow some cooked rice. I sat for a while and then came rice and I had four rounds of rice - sambar, vathal kulambu, rasam and curd. The joy of eating a meal on a plantain leaf when you are hungry after a long travel is something I cannot express in words. I appreciated for their gesture and then my auto.
Mr.Rengan came along with his cousin brother and informed me that he had underwent a surgery recently and he is not supposed to move around for some time. Still he felt like coming for me as my plan shouldn't get messed up because of the train delay. He tweaked the schedule according to temple timings and I visited all the nine temple right on time. I said I am very thankful to him and cannot appreciate more for his gesture ...we have mutual respect between each other and he ensures that I get into the correct bus to reach Bus station. Perumal tested me enough and I am thankful for my visit to Nava Tirupathy this year even more so because I was able to see Sivan temple too. So some things happen for a reason .....some religious trips gets delayed or preponed and may frustrate you ...remember my blog and be happy that things happen for a reason and you will be rewarded for your patience.
