Our guest blogger is Hemalata Ramesh. She is an educator and teacher of values in Coimbatore, India. She is also well versed in the Hindu religion, history and lore.
Today Manny, Janice, Feroza, and I reached Gangaokonda Cholapuram from the Ideal river resort at Kumbakonam. The temple was built in the 11th century by the son of Raja Raja Chola, Rajendra Chola. The temple has a Shiva idol and the Nandi has beautiful architecture. The exquisite carvings are really worth seeing. The unique feature is that the sunlight falling on the Nandi is reflected on the Shiva in the sanctum sanctorum. There were other gods too: Ganesha, Parvathy, Dakshinamurthy (south-facing incarnation of Lord Shiva), Ardhanarishvara (half Shiva half Parvathy), Chandikeswara and Shiva Vishnu (both in the same idol!). This is under the supervision of UNESCO, and for the first time in over 100 years they have had a Kumbhabishekam ceremony at the temple, a ritual of purification from the top of the tower at the temple.
The place was named from the names Gangai, significant of the water of the holy river Ganges, and Cholas, of which this place was the capital.
At one point a group of 11th grade girls suddenly came up to Manny and requested to take a picture; and afterward they also mentioned that they would like to seek his blessings. When asking them what they would like to do in life, he told them that they should stand under the shade of a tree together– then if they look up together they should focus on the future, on perseverance and hard work and that they would definitely achieve their goals. One of the girls was interested in becoming a doctor, another was interested in physics, and another one in chemistry. We took a picture with their other classmates who came to join the girls. Interestingly, on the way there, Manny did mention to me that there would be someone who would approach us and that something amazing would happen… it was almost unbelievable! The girls were so thrilled! It was as if their day was made and one could see that every word of what Manny had said was taken very seriously.
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