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Morning at the Madurai Meenakshi Temple (Part 1)
I always feel blessed when I have the opportunity to visit the Meenakshi temple in Madurai. The sanctum of the temple is powerful and the experience each time ineffable.
I always leave my camera behind when I go to temples and if I do take my camera I hardly ever take any photos. This trip I decided that I’ll spend one of the morning’s capturing life in the temple showing Hindus worshiping, some of the shrines, and highlighting some parts of this beautiful temple.
I’ll start from the outside of the temple and slowly make my way in over a few parts which I will cover over the next few days. Our spiritual adventure continues and we are enjoying the extended stay of 3 nights in Madurai.
The north entrance to the temple with its massive doorway and spectacularly colorful tower adorned with countless statues
A close up look at one of the towers from within the temple through one of the ancient skylights. Bars have been placed across the skylights to protect the temple from intruders.
A close up look at a couple of statues on one of the towers.
A smaller tower, no less colorful and beautiful, adorns one of the inner perimeter walls.
Entering past the perimeter walls long corridors grace the temple with spectacularly carved pillars
At one of the entrances, the temple elephant sways gracefully, fulfilling his morning duty of blessing pilgrims
Marina Beach in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, South India
After a long flight from New York via Dubai I finally arrived in Chennai at the painful 3am arrival hour. With a day to spend in Chennai before our afternoon flight to Madurai we decided to explore a few places, one of which was Marina Beach. Having never been to a beach in Chennai I…
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2013 Kumbh Mela and a journey across North India
A 13-day epic journey to the Kumbha Mela and across North India The map above does not shy away in reminding us that our spiritual adventure will take us almost all the way across north India. A massive distance to cover with a great many things to see in between. It also tells us that…
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Off to India!
So, I’m off to India again to conduct my 3rd spiritual adventure for the year. First stop is Chennai, Tamil Nadu, and it is a brief stay here before heading further south to Madurai. I came across this Tamil movie poster that I had photographed a few years back. I love the posters that are&...
Read MoreIs God Siva male or female?
8 year old Rohan from the Caribbean asked his mother if God Siva is male or female? She replied that she thought Siva was genderless. Rohan then asked his mother if Siva is genderless then why is he married? Mom at this point said to Rohan “let’s email Dandapani and ask him”. I ...
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The road to Badrinath, Temple in the Himalayas
Since I posted a few days ago about Mana, the last Indian village before Tibet, I thought I’d share a little about the journey to Badrinath. Badrinath is the little town just prior to Mana village. It is famed for the Badrinath temple, one of four holy sites in the Hindu Char Dham pilgrimag...
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Central Java’s Mendut Temple and Monastery
Another wonder in Central Java is the small but beautiful Mendut temple. It’s on the itinerary for one of the places for us to visit during our upcoming meditation and wellness retreat in Indonesia in September. Located a little over 3 kms from Borobudur this temple may appear insignificant...
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