Day -2 Toronto to Ambas - 528

          Day -2 , Toronto     

       To Ambasamudram 

Kala my niece was already home.

My guests or my Nephew Kumar and his Wife Aparna to be more precise reached our place  at Agasthiarpatty by 9.00am . They seemed to have made it pretty fast from Bangalore. 

We had a packed schedule ahead of us and the all important TIME  was at a premium .

The first place on our busy schedule was the Papanasam Temple . A quick dip and a spray of the water from the Tambarabarani and we were inside the Temple . It is a firm belief that the water cleanses us of all the sins that we might have inadvertently committed.  Hence, the name of the place PAPAVINASAM which with passing  time has  come to be known as  PAPANASAM .

After a good Darshan at the Temple  our next place of visit on the itenary was the Sorimuthuayyanar Temple . The temptation to have a bath at the Agasthiar Falls even as we viewed the same from the Ghat Road was laid to rest solely because of the lack of time .

It was close to noon and we could take part in the Elaborate Abhishekam and  Alankaram of Dharma Sastha and Poorna Pushkala at the Temple . The Sakkarai Pongal was a feast .

The next place of our interest was the Pazhamboli Thirumalai Kovil .

Our travel by the Selvamcabs Tavera from the Sorimuthuayyanar Temple downhill the Mundanthurai Wildlife Sanctuary was sans any sighting of the famed animals of the wild sort . What we did however  encounter was a lot of monkeys of the Rhesus and Langoor variety . It was a hot afternoon and our Tavera did not have the luxury of a functioning AC and so our driver Essaky  had left the window open near his driving seat. We had to  slow down as we neared the breaker on the  newly constructed road bridge on the Servalar River . One good sized Rhesus monkey ventured into the van from the window near our  Driver Essaky looking for edibles which we had packed as lunch and lay near Kumar's feet at the rear . The shrieks and screams from the three womenfolk  inside the car and the presence of mind of Kumar to open the rear door saved us of any serious damage except probably our BP which surely must have shot up to undesired levels .

The sumptuous homemade  lunch was under the green canopy of trees near the Zoho Campus at Mathalamparai and we were on our way to the Thirumalai Kovil .

I have been living in these parts for almost half a century now , no other place beats this place for its sheer exotic locale , surrounded as it is by the Pothigai Hills . The breeze and the  ambiance of the place is hard to describe . The Temple atop the hill is a must see place . The well laid out  road makes the journey by car even more attractive as the car  traverses across the many hair pin bends which offer a picturesque view of the enchanting greenery all around .

We were next  at the Tenkasi Kasi Vishwanathaswamy temple , this  after just  a glance at the Courtallam Main Waterfalls . Darshan at the Temple competed, the Bonda , Bajji  Vadai and Coffee  at the Pothy Snack Stall opposite the Temple was refreshing.  The catering was done by Saravanan who had a similar stall some 30 years back at VK Puram and is known to me from that time .

The last place on the list was Ravanasamudram . All of us Kala , Kumar , Aparna , Self and Wife owe our ancestry to this place . Siva Battar was very helpful with all the rituals . KALA after 30 years and Kumar and Aparna visiting the place after a long time   seemed to enjoy the sanctity and purity associated with the place .

More surprises were to follow , Bali , Radha , Kritthika Chellappa Anna were also at RVS by a strange coincidence.  Many shared memories of their younger days when they played games together during their annual School Vacation days  were exchanged in detail. Kitcha was kind enough to show Kala , her ancestral home which is now redone with all modern amenities and owned by  my good friend Ramani . 

All in all a memorable visit to our village which rekindled nostalgic memories of old times .

Lastly , the chugging of the Tirunelveli - Shencottah Passenger at 7.45 pm which during the old times was the time for dinner brought back old memories . It  also reminded us that it was time to head home  and  to say Goodbye to our dear village until next time. 

Dinner as has now become a habit was at THE RAMANAS which offered something new each passing day .

KALA 'S Day 3 also had its share of excitement . More about that later .