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

Id Mubarak

 Id Mubarak

Since today is holy Ramadhan i want to write on a famous Biriyani joint in erstwhile Madras todays Chennai .

Buhari hotel in Chennai has been there when Chennai was Madras and when I lived my chldhood there.

The Biriyani of Buhari was legendary those days ,and was a very rare treat to us by a purse tight family .

In fact it was only during my college days l could go there more .

The Tamilnadu type of Biriyani was of Vaniyambadi type made as Dum Biriyani ( BASMATI RICE ONLY ) with succulent meat so well cooked it would roll as butter from its bones !

Chicken was not very elite those days and no puritan would think of chicken biriyani bah !!

It was always Mutton Biriyani .

Beef ,egg,vegetables werent much heard of those days .

The basmati rice was finely grained ,long, aromatic ,and suitably spiced..... just correct

With white boiled egg in crowning glory , the biryani would arrive regally with white raitha and brinjal curry by white coated turbanned waiters ,who served with a flourish .

During my short stint in Presidency college facing the marina beach ,we zoology BSC students ,some who were sure of getting thier medical seats, as that year it was only by merit ,as the DMK govt had been dimissed by Smt Indira Gandhi who was said to have given word that medical admission would be only by merit .

so yours faithully actually benifitted from the Emergency in India !

So the long aternoons would be spent on a breezy Buhari instead of in dreary classrooms munching on crispy samosas .

Buhari was known for , and the waiter would lay before us a big tray of yummylicious pastries with red colored chai in cute cups .

Idea was one could pick any pastry and pay accordingly .

Our group with a couple of girls and some chain smoking boys would empty it in no time .

With time Buhari turned corporate with branches in Dubai and many other places .

I remember tucking into its biryani in Burr Dubai outlet .

So when I saw Buhari once in Chennai I stopped my driver to get a takeaway .

The takeaway outhouse was AC with suitably tied managers , i mean with ties !!

The packed biriyani was very neat, it wasnt bad at all but it had lost its soul ,and no samosas till evening I was told .

So Buhari is more in my memory