SAMUDRAM-THEOCEAN Dear friends,
Today my topic is ocean. I amhappy there is large number of readers for my postings as seen from theresponses. The ocean is so vast, I amtouching here and there with some information which comes to me. Sincerely, Gopala krishnan 21-1-2011. Reposted on 2-3-2021 after editing and updating. R.Gopala Krishnan. 1. Sethu samudram or Agni theertham at Rameswaram. Since I had been to Rameswaram amonth back the first thing coming to my mind is Sethusamudram or Agni theerthamthere. After pithru kriyas all are asked to take bath in the sea there. If at all no pithru kriyas aspariharam sometimes people are asked to take bath in the sea. Many take bath in Sethu as partof taking bath in 22 theerthams of Rameswaram temple. I have taken bath in sea at Varkalaand Rameswaram. At Rameswaram (six years after my last visit in 2004) I foundbathing ghats are constructed with steps. Conveniently holding steps we can getdown to last step visible. There may be one or more steps and sand bottom ofsea. Though sea current is there with tide, still I found the bathing ghatsvery convenient to take bathwithout much fear. 2. Navapashanam Navapashanam is at Devipatnam andcan be reached either from Ramnad or Rameswaram. Here Navagrahas are 9 stonesand erected in the seashore. It is told they are erected by Sreerama for worshipbefore the war. I have seen after being there forabout an hour, the water level increases with time. I am told by evening theywould be immersed fully in water and in the morning they will be maximumvisible. Pooja for navagraha is done bythe priest getting down in water through steps. There is an enclosure withhandrails and walking path of about 4’ width on the sides. 3. Chemmeen and katal These are two Malayalam picturestaken fully on the background of sea. Chemeen is more famous due to Presidentsaward for best picture and excellent music by Saleel chowdhari. The lyrics“Manasa mainae varu varu”…, kadalinakkara Ponorae, kanaponninu ponorae…. ”wouldbe in the lips of all Keralites when talk of chemmeen. The famous film of Bharathi raja,“Alaikal oivathillai” is also themed with sea and sea shore people. All elder Keralites wouldrecollect the song” Nagaram, nagaram maha sagaram “in the film “NagaramaeNandi” released in 1964. 4. Matha Amritanda mayi ashram The first ashram where MathaAmirthanandamayi mostly available is at Amirtha puri (Vavukkavu) on sea shorenear Karunagappalli. I have been to mother many times at Vavukkavu as well as inher ashram at Kaimanam, Trivandrum. 5. Sea shore temples The close to sea temples I have visited areVarkala Janardhana swamy temple, Tiruchendur Murugan temple and Kanya kumari.The temples of Guruvayur and Mullakkal are also near sea. I have not visitedPuri or Dwaraka which are also sea shore temples. At Chennai Ashta lekshmitemple at Beasent nagar is also close to sea. I have not visited Gokarnamtemple near sea. 6. Vivekananda rock Actually the memorial createdover the rock in Kanyakumari for swamy Vivekanda is worth mentioning manytimes. It is a real wonder. I have performed Dhyanam in the Dhyana mandapamthere many occasions while working at Nagerkovil. >From Kanyakumari to reach therock, the boat service is operated by Poompukar >Shipping Corporation. On roughsea the boat is not operated. I am told >Vivekananda used to swim across the seaand reached the rock and performed >Dhyanam!! 7. The Calicut beach I was in Calicut as DivisionalEngineer for more than two and a half years and the beach at Calicut was ourrelaxation area in the evenings. I think the most visited beach by me is atCalicut. The next will be Beasent nagar beach in Chennai and the Marina beechfamous for its length in Chennai. Vaskoda Gama landed in Keralathrough country ship near Calicut for trade. 8. The salt preparation The sea water is used forpreparing salt and I have first time seen it at Tutucorin along sea beach. Ihave heard actually Tutucorin town is below sea level. 9. Road Parallel to sea. In Kerala the road route fromThalassery to Kannur is parallel to sea and similarly from Ambalapuzha toAlleppy. There is a spill way at Thottapalli where sea Vembanad Lake mergeswith sea in the Alleppy route giving a panoramic view for about a kilometre distance.New Mhabali puram road from Chennai is also parallel to sea. 10. “Muthukulikka varikala” Tutucorinexpress has been named as Pearl City express because from Tutucorin Sea pearlswere taken plucking pods from sea bottom by going down the sea. It is called Muthukliyal. Pearlculture is also made there. I am not sure how pearls are obtained now a day atTutucorin. 11. Kadal vazhaikka. The seafish is sometimes called as sea plantain. I am told in Bengal Brahmins eatfish. Konkini Brahmins too eat fish in Kerala. 12. Coloumbus and sea travel. To reachIndia Coloumbus travelled by sea and landed in America instead of India. It wasthe discovery of America. TheBritish reached India through ships for trade and established the East IndiaTrading Company. 13. Sea travel. In Indiawe have shipping service for carrying people from Cochin to Laksha dweepislands. Though flights are there, still ship service is mostly used. ToAndaman Nicobar Islands also shipping service is operated for carrying people. Yesteryears shipping service is used to carry people to Singapore, Dubai etc. Now aday flights are operated and shipping service is operated for cargo transfer. Update- during Covid 19 Indian Navyoperated ships to bring Indians to a few ports in India parallel with reliefflights. 15. Kapplottiya Thamizhan Va UuChidambaranar. I haveseen the film KappalottiyaThamizhan, acted by Sivaji Ganesan and still recollect the song –Sindhu Nadhiyin Isai Nilavinile KeralaNaatilam Pengaludanae SundharaThelunginil Paatisaithu ThonigalOtti Vilayaadi Varuvom…. 16. Sea bridge at Rameswaram The 2 KMlong sea bridges crossing sea from Mandapam to Rameswaram both by road andtrain are real wonders. Update-Sea Bridge has been made broad gaugerecently and the opening of the bridge to permit ships with height has beenrepaired recently 17. Varuna I amconcluding this posting on sea with mythological reference to Varuna the god of sea. Lord Krishana gothis panchajanyam from sea. Lord Krishna got the son of Guru Sandipani back fromsea demon and returned as Gurudakshina desired by him. Agasthia is said to beson of sea god Varuna. About the author- I am 77 now , and I have retired as Asst General Manager BSNLTrivandrum Kerala Circle HQs and settled in Chennai after retirement. My homeis Pandalam. -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Thatha_Patty" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to thatha_patty+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/thatha_patty/1203105552.1242221.1614693177371%40mail.yahoo.com.
