But this year, something different happened – and this
post is directed completely towards that. Srimathy
decided to do the Paada Yaathraa also – from our home to the temple in
Middletown – all in all 40 miles ( 60 kilometers ) of tough walking through
uphills and downhills alongwith Adiyen. Men may do this, but this is the first
time I have seen a lady do it in Connecticut. And Lord Muruga decided to fill the journey with miracles detailed here
……
The journey started with 12 miles on Wednesday July 24th
, 11 miles on Thursday July 25th, 15 miles on Friday July 26th
and 2 miles on Saturday July 27th around the temple – making a total
of 40 miles. No headphones, no music, no ipod, nothing but the Divine Names of
Rishis, Gods, Sidhdhars, Gurus during the walk. It was absolutely blissful.
And now the miracles…( co-incidences for the
non-believers )
Because both of us decided to do the Yaathraa, there was no
one available to provide support system – by way of a temporary stop along with
the way with a car so we could cool off and rest up for a few minutes before
resuming….this is a serious problem. Finally, the night before the first
day, I told Srimathy to call her friend Mrs. Sumathi Karthi in Ellington, to
see if she would show up at about the 7 mile mark from home for ten minutes to
cool off. We didn’t think she would accept; but miraculously, she said “I was
somewhat down on the possibility of having to skip the Lord Muruga function on the
upcoming Saturday due to monthly bodily functions and here you are asking for a
favor for Lord Muruga for tomorrow….this I take as a blessing from Him – sure I will
show up !!” And she did….we are grateful to her !!! And Mrs. Suchitra Subrahmaniam ( Last Name same as Lord Muruga's !!! ) from Glastonbury offered to provide us multiple rest area supports during the very difficult 3rd day !! We are grateful to her !!
At the end of the first day, Srimathy got in the mail, a
packet of Kumkumam and a packet of Vibhoothi from the Thiruththani Lord Murugan
temple in India !!!! This packet could have come one week before or one week
later …. But exactly the first day of the journey? (!)At the end of the second day, Srimathy called the Chief Priest at the temple and said that by the time we reach the temple, it would be about 3:30 pm on Friday the 26th and that after the long strenuous journey, would like to have darshan of the Great Lord Muruga. To that she was told, “No, the temple would open only at 6:00 pm and so no way.” Srimathy felt totally dejected. The next day, we woke up at 4:30 am and she told me her face had swollen up and eyes had puffed up from the extreme heat weather and was worried. I told her to keep moving and we cannot stop now.
She then went to our Pooja Room in the house and pointed her fingers at all the Gods, especially Muruga and said “Here I am….torturing my body with my face swelled and eyes puffed and body aching and still trying to walk to see You and You are not interested in seeing me ???” ( referring to the temple not being opened before 6:00 pm ). And she continues “ Here is the deal. You better give me darshan TODAY. If not, when I come back, You and me are going to have a fight !!”. In Tamil, such a statement is called “ a Savaal ”. We reached the temple at 4:00 pm, completely exhausted. As expected, the main front door was locked. But miraculously, there was a man inside the temple which was dark, with a light in the office room on the phone !! We knocked hard; he opened the main front door and let us in ! But beyond the office area, is another heavy door with a chain and a lock, behind which the Sannidhis ( sanctorums ) of the Gods are. I tried to see if there is any hole through which we could see the Gods. Miraculously, the chain was there, the lock was there, but it was left unlocked having not gone over the other door knob !!!! We opened the door, and felt prostrate in front of Lord Subrahmanya !! My wife Srimathy broke down and started crying !!! Such is the miraculous power of Lord Muruga !! Even Lord Subrahmanya was moved by Srimathy’s devotion and gave Darshan !!
Then we spoke to the Gentleman in the temple. He happened to be an IT professional who was told the payment system had malfunctioned and he was trying to fix it. He could have come to fix during normal hours after 6:00 pm; but decided to leave work early to fix the problem !!! The next day, the payment system had NOT been fixed and they were using an alternate system !! So his being there was of no technical use; yet he was there !!! Lord Muruga did it !!!!!!
My daughter Sapna joined us in the last day for the 2 mile walk in the vicinity of the temple carrying a Paal Kudam !! Son Ajay was not able to attend unfortunately. In the picture at the top of this post, Sapna is wearing a white dotted chudidar dress and Srimathy is wearing a yellow chudidar with a red salwar.
Here are some photos.
The following are short video clips showing the progress.
What an Experience !! Vel Vel Muruga !! Vetri Vel Muruga !!
Aroharaa! Wonderful that you have done this so far away from home. Congratulations.
ReplyDeleteHappened to read Muruga's blessings in many unforeseen ways. Was really moved to read how HE gave Dharsahan at 4.00 pm when a Declining message was given earlier!!!!
ReplyDeleteI know !! Amazing, isn't it !
ReplyDelete