Situated on the northern bank of the river Kollidam, and about 7 kilometers from Kattumannar Koil is this small village/hamlet.
The main temple is of Lord Shiva, but is known as a Guru sthalam.
Guru Dakshinamurthi teaches the "pranava" manthra to the Godess Parvathi (who is known as Pushpalathambika), and hence at this temple, takesa position in the main mantapam between Shiva and Parvathi. Rishi Vyaghra paada has worshipped the Shiva linga here. And hence the Lord is worshipped as "Pranavavyagrapureeshwarar".
This temple also has the shrines of Godesses Saraswathi, and Gajalakshmi.
Lord Nataraja, who usually is ensrhined in the main mantapam or hall is outside (in the position where Lord Dakshinamurthi usually is) as His position is occupied by Lord Dakshinamurthi.
Archana and abhisheka sevas performed here are unique in the sense that after the same is performed to Lord Shiva, the same is then performed to lord Dakshinamurthi, and only then to Godess Parvathi.
It is said that this temple is a parihara kshetra for those born under the star Revathy; a peeda parihara kshetram infact.
Sunday, June 28, 2009
Tuesday, June 9, 2009
Sri Lanka - after the LTTE
Early last week, it was all over the news channel that the final resistance of the LTTE was broken. Gory pictures of the LTTE leader V Prabhakaran shot at on his forehead was telecast.
Lots of questions arise in the mind of people: Was this the only alternative available for the Sri Lankan government? Were human rights abused greatly? Why wasn’t even a single LTTE commando captured alive (none swallowed the cyanide capsule that they wear around their neck)? Will this mean the Tamils minority in the island have a good future to look forward to?
This strife assumed demonic proportions post a period when the Sinhala majority and Buddhist forces alienated the Tamil minority in the 1960s and 1970s reducing the lives of the minority to the status of refugees. What started off as a small agitation became a violent and emotional movement that the LTTE spearheaded and continued for more than 3 decades.
The Sri Lankan government has in the past negotiated with the LTTE officials, and has on several occasions proposed devolution and sharing of power, in a bid to bring back normalcy to this ethnic strife. Unfortunately all the past attempts failed, and this has only intensified the war. This makes one wonder if the LTTE was at all interested in a settlement.
Caught in the crossfire between the Sri Lankan army and the LTTE commandos were millions of innocent citizens in the island. To add to this severe hardship, the common man has often been suspected by both the government and the Tigers as being informers of the other group. In a bid to speed up the annihilation of the Tigers, orders to eliminate the commoners would have been given. This was despite calls from abroad for a truce; and to slow down, and be careful.
Emboldened by the support from China and Russia, the SL government has also rejected attempts by the UN Human rights convention to institute an inquiry into legitimate war crimes.
Rehabilitation is going to be a long painful and costly exercise. It has to be fiscally long term and sustainable. It also calls for emotional support to ensure a proper integration of the Tamil people into mainstream SL.
Lots of questions arise in the mind of people: Was this the only alternative available for the Sri Lankan government? Were human rights abused greatly? Why wasn’t even a single LTTE commando captured alive (none swallowed the cyanide capsule that they wear around their neck)? Will this mean the Tamils minority in the island have a good future to look forward to?
This strife assumed demonic proportions post a period when the Sinhala majority and Buddhist forces alienated the Tamil minority in the 1960s and 1970s reducing the lives of the minority to the status of refugees. What started off as a small agitation became a violent and emotional movement that the LTTE spearheaded and continued for more than 3 decades.
The Sri Lankan government has in the past negotiated with the LTTE officials, and has on several occasions proposed devolution and sharing of power, in a bid to bring back normalcy to this ethnic strife. Unfortunately all the past attempts failed, and this has only intensified the war. This makes one wonder if the LTTE was at all interested in a settlement.
Caught in the crossfire between the Sri Lankan army and the LTTE commandos were millions of innocent citizens in the island. To add to this severe hardship, the common man has often been suspected by both the government and the Tigers as being informers of the other group. In a bid to speed up the annihilation of the Tigers, orders to eliminate the commoners would have been given. This was despite calls from abroad for a truce; and to slow down, and be careful.
Emboldened by the support from China and Russia, the SL government has also rejected attempts by the UN Human rights convention to institute an inquiry into legitimate war crimes.
Rehabilitation is going to be a long painful and costly exercise. It has to be fiscally long term and sustainable. It also calls for emotional support to ensure a proper integration of the Tamil people into mainstream SL.
Wednesday, June 3, 2009
Employment Guarantee Schemes - India
After hectic confabulations and negotiations within the UPA, we are all happy that Manomohan's team is in place, and is also raring to go. The only eyesore I will say is that Manmohan and Sonia have given in to Karuna's tantrums to accomodate his family members. This was definitely not easy to digest; followed immediately by the elevation of Stalin at Madras (Chennai) as the Deputy Chief Minister.
One of the schemes that was claimed a success in the previous regime, on which the Congress apparently rode to power, is the NREGS (National Rural EMployment Guarantee Scheme). This scheme provided for a minimum of 100 days wages to citizens in rural India for works that were taken up and completed.
This should be given a good thrust and the government should ensure this reaches all corners of the country in the next five years. In those areas where this has already begun, there should be continuity.
While this addresses the rural needs of the population, I see a pressing need to evolve such imaginative schemes even in the cities of India.
Let me cite an example or two:
1. Traffic management in the cities
All the cities in India have experienced an explosion of vehicles (specially four wheelers) on the roads. This exponential growth has not been supported by sufficient infrastructure facilities. Further this growth has also not been supported sufficiently by training vehicle owners, and users on road behaviour and discipline.
Why cant this be an initiative or responsibility of individual MPs to manage (1) road behaviour training, (2) manage and channelize the traffic in cities specially during peak hours, (3) manage traffic specific communication for the benefit of the citizens?
2. Maintenance of lakes and parks in cities
There are several lakes and parks in cities whose maintenance needs to be overseen and monitored on a daily basis to ensure cleanliness, and to prevent misuse.
In both the examples, the youth in the cities who are unemployed, are the intended beneficiaries of this scheme. An accepted recruitment drive (similar to the NREGS), or a specifically tailored recruitment for this scheme may be employed to get the youth on board. This should be followed a basic training as per the needs of the task at hand.
It will be best not to have long hours of work. Better still to have a shift system. Work output must be measured. The measuring criteria must be defined clearly, and made known. Wage payment should be on a weekly basis.
This should be funded by both the MP and the local MLA. The state can bear upto 40% of the funding, while the centre can provide 60% of the funding.
I sincerely hope the youth in the administration - both those in power, and those in government services sit down together, and evolve an implementable process that benefits the country. I have no doubts on their ability to conceive such programs. Implementation though will be a challenge.
One of the schemes that was claimed a success in the previous regime, on which the Congress apparently rode to power, is the NREGS (National Rural EMployment Guarantee Scheme). This scheme provided for a minimum of 100 days wages to citizens in rural India for works that were taken up and completed.
This should be given a good thrust and the government should ensure this reaches all corners of the country in the next five years. In those areas where this has already begun, there should be continuity.
While this addresses the rural needs of the population, I see a pressing need to evolve such imaginative schemes even in the cities of India.
Let me cite an example or two:
1. Traffic management in the cities
All the cities in India have experienced an explosion of vehicles (specially four wheelers) on the roads. This exponential growth has not been supported by sufficient infrastructure facilities. Further this growth has also not been supported sufficiently by training vehicle owners, and users on road behaviour and discipline.
Why cant this be an initiative or responsibility of individual MPs to manage (1) road behaviour training, (2) manage and channelize the traffic in cities specially during peak hours, (3) manage traffic specific communication for the benefit of the citizens?
2. Maintenance of lakes and parks in cities
There are several lakes and parks in cities whose maintenance needs to be overseen and monitored on a daily basis to ensure cleanliness, and to prevent misuse.
In both the examples, the youth in the cities who are unemployed, are the intended beneficiaries of this scheme. An accepted recruitment drive (similar to the NREGS), or a specifically tailored recruitment for this scheme may be employed to get the youth on board. This should be followed a basic training as per the needs of the task at hand.
It will be best not to have long hours of work. Better still to have a shift system. Work output must be measured. The measuring criteria must be defined clearly, and made known. Wage payment should be on a weekly basis.
This should be funded by both the MP and the local MLA. The state can bear upto 40% of the funding, while the centre can provide 60% of the funding.
I sincerely hope the youth in the administration - both those in power, and those in government services sit down together, and evolve an implementable process that benefits the country. I have no doubts on their ability to conceive such programs. Implementation though will be a challenge.
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