Trip to Melkote

Ever since I got my Thunderbird, Melkote has been on my radar. And yesterday also happened to be Ramanujacharya's 990th birth anniversary. What better day to visit the place than on the Thirunakshatram (star birthday) of the man who was responsible for its eminence among the Iyengars.

The day, I guess, is celebrated almost similarly everywhere, Thirumanjanam (also known as Abhishekam to the non-Iyengars) for Ramanuja during the day. Then quite a few hymns are chanted and at the end prasadam is distributed. Probably due to the presence of a Sanskrit University in Melkote, the chanting of the Sanskrit shlokas is really impressive, while the quality and volume did show a marked decline when the Tamizh prabandhams are recited. Also on this day, disbursal of thirumann-srichurnam (the white and red parts of "namam") and a piece of cloth (symbolic of the religious thread I guess as most people ended up tying it to their poonals) happens. A symbolic representation of what Ramanuja's greatest achievement, the propagation and spread of Sri Vaishnavism.

Prasadam was Venn Pongal and Chakra Pongal, both with lots of kobbare(dried coconut) proving that it is indeed Karnataka. Much before this in the morning itself, there was curd rice also, the prasadam for Thirunarayana, the presiding deity of Melkote.

The entire ceremonies lasted till around 4 and after that I could go to any of the nearby mutts for free grub. As it was raining heavily, I ended up at the Yathiraja Mutt, the nearest Mutt, right opposite the temple. Simple, but pretty strong grub, with Puliyogare (the Karnataka style with kobbare and jaggery) and some Thirukkannamadhu (the Iyengar word for payasam) as specials for the day.

I left home at 7:15 in the morning and reached Melkote via Maddur and Mandya on the Mysore road by 10, a distance of 150kms in less than 3 hours. Even after Mandya where a diversion from the Mysore road has to be taken, the road was pretty good. The weather was even better, the sun came out only after I reached Melkote.

The Thirumanjanam was just starting as I entered. After darshan of the main Lord and Goddess, I sat down with the crowd and the entire day was spent there itself. As a result, I could not visit the Narasimha Temple on the hill. A decent enough reason for another trip there soon.

I was planning to leave by 4 latest in order to get back before its dark, but due to the rains, I got delayed and left Melkote only at 5:35. I was back home by 8:30. In the process, I also realised that its faster to take the Market Flyover out of and into the city than the Outer Ring Road.