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A rule for the notice-board-sake :

Madurai Meenakshi temple was well maintained with lots of security and ample information boards. Since the bomb-blast inside the campus of the temple, the security has increased multi-fold and surprisingly it is maintained at the same level. One of the security guards in the entrance, wanted to look at my digi cam and he started operating it casually and I was thinking he was doing a security check. Only when he enquired about the camera’s shooting modes, I realized he wasn’t just security checking it but was also inquisitive about the camera.

One of the cleanliest temples I’ve seen where maintaining is a tough task especially now when the sabarimala devotees come in huge numbers to the temple en-route to kerala. I clicked the temple gopurams (temple tower) as much as I liked them. Gopurams are a very good source of inspiration and I was spell bound by the minutest details in the engravings. Every temple in tamil nadu proves time and again that we had some of the best civil engineers, centuries back. I am still amazed and would love to know how they conceived such ideas of gopurams and calculated the measurements so accurately.

One of the notable documentaries in Discovery channel was about the building of Tanjore temple. The single stone at the top of the Tanjore temple gopuram weighs more than 80 tons and it must have been a Herculean task to set it right on the top. But the Cholas were more intelligent. They built a huge sand slide from the top of the gopuram extending 5 kms into the village. The single stone was then tied to elephants and pulled all the way to the top. I was thoroughly spell bound when they prototyped it in the documentary. Even today Tanjore temple stands as one of the mightiest creations of the south indian architecture.

Madurai Meenakshi temple has the kind of silence, despite the huge crowds, which is not present in most of other temples. Combined with the grandness and all other tourist attraction nearby madurai, it invites lots of foreigners.

I’ve noticed off late a notice board just before the entry into the main gate of many temples. It would read as this: 1) Non-Hindus not allowed. 2) Cameras prohibited after this point. Well, while video cameras are something that can be prohibited, the first of rule looks very crude to me. And this rule needs to be looked at introspectively.

Especially for a tolerant religion like Hinduism, which is much more than the rules to worship god, this rule defies the basic principles of the religion. Hinduism is a way of life and this rule seems to obstruct them and brings in the crudeness that misleads others. If Non-Hindus meant the Indian non-hindus alone, it is a much bigger treat to the national unity. Despite of the rule, if they still allow everyone into the temple, there isn’t a need to such a notice-board-sake-rule. Break the rule and let Hinduism open up more kindness and tolerance towards mankind.

I was in Virumandi‘s Country for the last few days on a personal job. Madurai, I meant. Madurai is a fabulous city with tons of historical happenings. When I had been to madurai, few years back it was still a mediocre town trying desperately to elevate to the status of a city that it is today.

Today, Madurai displays lots of growth in terms of infra-structure and population (!!). It is wonderfully lit at the night and looks dazzling. We were staying in the third floor of a 2-and-a-half-star (?) hotel, and it had plenty of dis-advantages except for the single good thing, pure water. For someone like me who has seen the dirty brownish chennai water for the most of my life in India, the deep south of tamilnadu attracts me just for its purity of water. And madurai was none less than the siruvani water in coimbatore. Though Vaigai river looks very good and dry as a barren isolated land, the water in madurai seems amazingly good. If allowed, I would have done nothing but to be immersed in that water for all of my stay.

I wanted desperately to see the Madurai Nayakkar Mahal, famously known as the Aayirankaal Mandapam (Place of Thousand Pillars). It is called as a testimony to the excellence of Dravidian architecture. I missed it because busukku neramachu. It is more famously known for the shot where Arvind Swamy pushes himself in one of pillars and does the famous jump in Kannalaney song in the film Bombay. Yeah, Kannalane song was shot in Madurai Nayakkar Mahal. And if you are one of the handful few who watched Mani Ratnam‘s Iruvar, most of the important scenes where shot there. The amazing scene when Mohanlal comes running into the mahal to see Prakashraj, who is sitting on the top of the roof and thinking of his political moves followed by near-natural conversation these two great icons of tamilnadu.

Striking a conversation with a old man who was in his late seventies, gave me lots of insight into this great city. It has been known as the Dravidian Cradle and the birth place of many political happenings. More importantly Madurai has been the most important town in MGRs life, both filmy and political. I could still see many huge banners for Rajinikanth and predictions of his political life in the heart of the city. Posters all around the place to celebrate the coming of Virumandi Music. These maduraites have a reason to celebrate that. Though shot in the sets of Campa Cola in chennai, Virumandi story is based in the villages like Thenni, Periyakulam which are in and around madurai.

You get some real good Malli poo (Malligai in tamizh or Jasmine). Thats the not the information. Malli Idli is very tasty here and it hails from madurai. Though not very hygenic, the malli idli sold in the street corners are the hot selling after the TASMAC wine shops. Most corners of the streets have a lady sitting with two baskets full of Malli Idlis and good smelling sambar. When asked her, she said, her everyday sales touched closed to a thousand. Want some Malli Idlis? . Take a trip to madurai.

Some madurai pics in my photoblog.

Need I say more. Happy Birthday Super star !!

Virumandi‘s Music – Quick Look :

Viru Viru Mandi…Virumandi
Viru Viru Mandi…Virumandi, calls the group consisting of top singers of kollywood. The group consists of (g)oldies like M.N Surendar (Mike Mohan’s voice) and Illayaraja to the versatile Kamalhassan and the naive youngsters like Tippu and Karthik. This song called Karbagraham Vitu Samy Veliyerathu is one of the to-be chartbuster. Kamal’s voice is very modulated and is indistinct from the other voices. The tempo very fast and the chorus very energetic. The high pitch of Surendar and Tippu reminds me of the Karuthamma song Kaadu Potta Kaadu sung by Bharathiraaja himself.

The other song Kombulae Poov Suthi rendered by Kamalhassan reminds of Rakku Muthu from Ejamaan. From the lyrics it looks like the Jallikattu song and has an jiving tune. Very infectious number that you will start humming the tune immediately. I can imagine the passion with which Kamal would have picturised song with Illayaraja feeding Kamal’s creativity heavily in this song.

Shreya Ghoshal proves her worth again. The slow numbers Sandiyare Sandiyare and Unna Veda are gripping and she has a fabulous voice. In a very experimental song called Mada Vilakey, Kamal unleashes the villager in him with his very different voice modulation. It is one of the notable songs in the album.

Virumandi, certainly a typical Illayaraja album, has his midas touch and these numbers are very movie oriented. Though many of them may not even make it to the charts, they would be best to see it on-screen.

Sandiyar’s a.k.a Virumandi:

Campa-Cola campus gets ready as Kamalhassan unleashes the suspense of Sandiyar’s new avatar. As many including me (my two cents worth) guessed that Sandiyar would be re-named Virumandi. Named after the character, Virumandi would still be remembered as Sandiyar, ever.

So with a huge crowd of his fans, Kamal today releases the much expected Virumandi’s music scored by Illayaraaja. He plans to sell copies of Virumandi’s music in the venue itself, just to bag the hype surrounding it. But I am sure it will yet another mile-stone for Kamal-Illayaraja duo.

Check out a too-close-up shot of Kamal here which I shot enroute to my office on the GST road. Some are on my photolog too. Take a spin.