We have been in the city of Coimbatore for a few days now and are already liking this place !! People are nice, gracious and friendly, there’s a lot of greenery and the food is awesome. Krishnan has been to Coimbatore more often than I have as he lived in Erode while working with Lipton.
My cousin Rohini has lived here ever since she got married and we have visited her several times. Appa was posted at Sulur for a year and a half, so we came a couple of times in early nineties to visit them. In fact during one of those trips, we happened to be in the same airplane as actor Vijaykanth.
Coimbatore is also being transformed with flyovers being built and apartment blocks coming up everywhere. It has still retained its identity to a large extent. There are beautiful serene temples here and the roads are wide. There is hardly any pollution and it’s surprisingly cosmopolitan for a very traditional Tamil Nadu city.
A few pictures from our morning walks here –
For people like us who come from the gas chamber called Delhi NCR, breathing the Coimbatore air is like a fresh lease of life !!! So obviously that’s the first picture I clicked 😁.
The canopy of trees reminds me of Lutyens Delhi which is just so beautiful …. yeah, am a Dhillika fan, just love the city despite all its warts, the biggest being its Thugpurush CM.
The next day morning, we found these horses and the foal walking on another street and finally entering a school. The sure-footedness with which they walked into the school, it seems to be a regular haunt. Didn’t know horses went to school :).
A familiar display board outside all the stores here says “leave your footwear outside”. In fact any one entering the Airbnb we are staying at also removes their footwear outside, including the owner !! Just love this aspect. We insist on it at home in Gurgaon but offer home slippers as many North Indians don’t feel comfortable walking without slippers.
Peelamedu Hanuman Temple, Coimbatore
I have written earlier about the Ashtamsa Varada Anjaneyar Kovil – Alankaram – An Art Form. Narayana Bhattar is Amma’s school friend Seshi Mami’s son and while we have been connected for nearly three years now, we haven’t met in person.
On Saturday, Nov 19th, Peelamedu Anjaneyar blessed us with his darshan. I was very emotional because Hanuman and my maternal side of the family have a deep connection. Also Narayana Bhattar’s father Rajamani Mama was encouraged by my great-grandmother Onnamma (read Pookutty Paati’s Grand-Daughter !) to do alankaram for the Hanuman at Varadaraja Perumal temple in Tirunelveli.
Sthala Puranam (Back story) of Peelamedu Anjaneyar Kovil –
I captured a few moments on video –
As Narayana Bhattar mentioned during his short talk, do visit temples regularly. That’s the only way to keep up our traditions. The energy in a temple is very different and aids in your spiritual growth. In earlier times, temples were an important spot for economic activity and they also served as instruments of charitable work.
Most of the ancient temples in India have been built in such a way that the temple dome/kalash absorbs lightening and protects the nearby villages/towns. So a temple is not just a building as some modern day jokers would like us to believe.
Do visit the Ashtamsa Varada Anjaneyar temple and receive Hanuman’s blessings.
Jai Shri Ram. Jai Bajrang Bali. 🙏🏿