ISKON Pandarpur

 

ISKON Pandarpur is situated on opposite bank of Chandrabagha river of the Pandarpur Vitobha temple .

We had tried to get accomadation there but it was full hence we booked in a hotel 

After Vishnudham we went to Iskon 

It was a sprawling complex with huge prayer hall ,lot of shops selling puja matireals handicrafts books incense etc and Govinda the in house restaurant .

It was too early for Arathi so we went in prayed and sat for some time .

later walked upto river side which gave nice views but it was warm and humid .

There are boats to take one to temple opposite but big canoes good for groups and rare ,one had to walk a bit after one crosses too

So we had food in Govinda and later took an auto to Temple .

Guruvayur temple

 To me Guruvayur temple and town is a childhood memory like for most malayalees I think .

Around five to seven years is the  youngest I can think of I remember staying there for more than a week .

My dad was insistent on that .

Those days it was literally empty just a famous temple mostly known to people from Malabar .

My grandfather hailed from Maankaavu kovilakam of Samoodhiris and temple belonged to them originally till the Dewasom stole it and are still looting it .

My mother used to tell during my Choroonu or ceremonial rice feeding at 6 months of age my grandfather had come along and we were taken in VIP style as they still had powers then .

Of course crowds too were much less .

One could just enter temple through front door and walk into sanctum when open pray and come back .

We stayed mostly  in Chatram of Dewasom once formed .

very few hotels were there then .

Chatram cottages were in the present Kowsthubam area .

The chatram restaurant I remember even had a thatched roof later tiled .

Food used to be brought into cottage swiggy style even than though mother used to cook in the small kitchen .

She carried vessels and provisions and a small stove .

By evening lamp was lit and me and my elder sister had to tell naamam or prayers just like in house .

Reaching Guruvayur too wasnt easy .

no trains were there .

One had to get down at Kuttipuram or Pattambi and take a bus to Guruvayur via chaavakaad .

Later Guruvayur was venue for so many weddings 

myself my nieces and so many friends and families 

With more than 100 weddings per day it at times was a comedy of errors .

Crowds had increased and one waited for 2 to 3 hours for darshan .

Finally we bought a small homely apartment to stay too .

My darshan as a local ( owning property ) takes just half hour at specified times .

I had today at 4.45 pm .

no mobiles are allowed no pants too only dhoti for men so I quickly returned took rest and around 9 pm went out to temple area 

I wanted to check out a food truck famous in insta on West nada .

thats my next post .

Thirubali Mahadeva shetram Piravom

5/7/25

 

On  my solitude weekend forays to nearby intresting places mostly temples , today I went to Piravom again .Visited Ezakarnad Thirubali Mahadeva Shetram a beautiful temple nestled in nature and later to Melpazhur Mana the ancestral maternal tharavad of Adi Sankara himself .

Arya antharjanams sprawling house had been taken over by Chinmaya trust and maintained with pristine care .

Thank God both places are not under Govt

the temple is managed by devotees not Dewasom and the mana by Chinmaya trust not by the stupid Govt who would have allowed it to rust and rot .

Thank God the filth havent dipped thier greedy hands into these two places .

I will describe temple first .

its 7 km off Piravom town .

I went by KSRTC Bus to piravom

 luckily was advised by a co passenger to get down before Piravom take an auto to temple .

I knew I may not get return auto so I arranged one auto to take me to temple wait for me and return but to Chinmaya center of Adi sankaras birthplace .

It went like clockwork .

There was no rain 

in fact it was bit warm .

Prasanth my auto driver drove fast between rubber estates quaint houses distant mountains 

Kerala is a beautiful damsel dressed in green during monsoons .

The narrow road leading to temple was crowded with vehicles .

I got down and immediately saw the famous small waterfall and stream .

The fall is due to a bund constructed to regulate stream which extended beyond temple into rubber estates .

I saw some people threading thier way through a narrow parapet to probably a bath or stand in the falls .

I made no such attempt , content with the glorious sight and sound of water and chirping of burds buzzing of insects .( see video )

I then went into temple removing my shirt .

I had taken a pusphanjali offering for my grand daughter Tara .

To me doing big pujas in any temple is not very important .

I prefer taking pictures videos knowing more on temple to post as well as soak in the experience than indulge in rituals .

of course each person have thier own likes nothing wrong .

I was told temple was around 100 years old .

Inner sanctum had a Ganapathy and Siva as main deity .

the circumambulation like in any siva temples in kerala was 3/4 .

It was very pristine neat and beautiful .

The priests incantation had a BGM of the waterfall and running stream .

Devotional song was playing too as it was morning .

Lot of people were there but it was not crowded at all .

I went again to look at waterfall and take videos of it and temple inner part from outside !

It was a very happy me who returned to my auto which took me to Chinmaya center and thats in my next post

Melam .. Drums of Kerala

 The melam or percussion orchestration of Kerala has several knowledgeable enthusiasts and many of the artistes are as popular as Rock stars .

The art of this style of music has strict rules of classical music and said to have evolved from four vedas and Natya sasthra. 

The rhythms of a Mohiniyattam or Kathakali or  Bharatanatyam dancer  to the beats of a mridangam or the throes of a Chenda or drum .

The two main types of Melam though there are around nine are PANCHARI MELAM and 

PANDI  MELAM 

Broadly Panchari is played inside temples while Pandi outside temples in processions celebrations etc .

PANCHARI has six while PANDI has seven beats .

The word Pandi in malayalam refers to Pandi Naadu or Tamilnadu 

So many including me was thinking PANDI Melam had Tamil influences .

I learnt it is NOT so .

In fact the creating of this new mela from conventionally accepted Panchari the purists relegated it out of temples and labelled it sarcastically as PANDI MELAM that is its  something alien !

Pandi is actually elegance while Panchari is Melody 

Panchari is played by hand and stick in Thrissur while with two sticks in Malabar .

In Thrissur Edamthala and Valamthala are known as Uruttuchenda and Veekanchenda .

Panchari stands as a guide to other melams like Chempa ,Chempada,Anchathanta ,Adanta  ,

Dhruvam etc 

Pandi melam stands alone 

In fact but for Pandi melam rest are under Chempata melam .

The rare chendas are Navam ,Kalpam and Shadkari .

The Chenda itself is in two 

Edamthalam and Valamthalam 

Other three are Kombu ( bow shaped wind instrument ) Kuzhal ( flute like instrument ) and Edathalam or cymbals .

Like a western classical music orchestra the melam troupe has a defined structure and strict rules and guidelines and patterns laid out .

The rhythmic percussion of drums timed by wind instruments and cymbals can last hours .

The number of Valamthalas ,Kuzhal ,Kombu ,Elsnthalams should be same as Valamthalas 

From minimum 15 to 130 are numbers .

The Pramaanakaaran  or the captain of the orchestra stands opposite the senior most in Kuzhal on both sides the others in descending order of seniority stand so junior most will be at two ends with seniors more to center ..

The timing of the kalaasam or ending of one phase and starting of another is by Kombhu and then by Kuzhal .

The subtle changes in rhythm and pace is the responsibilty of the Pramaanakaaran  with the senior most in Kuzhal 

This is done with subtle nods bends of chendakaar and by bends and  rounding of kuzhals started off by the Pramanakaran of chenda and kuzhal .

Each phase starts with Kaalamittal or fixing base tempo by Valamthala followed by single stick beat of Edamthala followed by beats in center and rim of drums for one Thaalavatta .

Then the Melam follows.

In Panchari its five times 

Kaalam one 96 Aksharas

Kaalam two 48

Kaalam three 24

Kaalam four 12

Kaalam five 6 

So it's actually 6 .

Am not going into the mathematical details of the kaalams suffice to say the rhythmic pleasant sound of an unified melam group has lot of sense and structure and science behind its art and skill .

I had the oppurtunity to talk to some musicians as I waited with them in a hall prior to programme 

Shyam a bank officer and Kannan his brother and Kalamandalam Jayan .

Above all Satyan Maraar a senior chenda melam artiste and teacher and guide to many gave me the oppurtunity to attend the melam today inside with the musicians an unique oppurtunity 

He also introduced me to Shri Jayaram the Pramanakaaran today and for last many years in the Pavizamalli thara melam in Chottanikara temple 

I also chanced on an excellent thesis by a couple of scholars that made me write this post 

To understand fully by reading and listening once by someone who is not trained as a musician is impossible so there may be mistakes or gaps in what I wrote but am happy I did not stop to just listen and shake my head I did make a feeble attempt to understand more