Out came a thought and then another...

Yesterday was Maha Shivaratri. This is that day of the year when devotees of Lord Shiva fast, stay up all night and pray. Special prayers are held throughout the night at Shiva temples and devotees throng temples for a darshan of the diety.

So a visit to a Kali temple at noon wouldn't really count you say? Probably. But listen!

The husband and I set out late in the morning to this new temple called Sri Chakra Kali Prayer Centre. This temple is barely six months old and is situated in a place called Rathinamangalam, just off the Vandalur-Kelambakkam Highway. We took the G.S.T Road to Vandalur and turned onto the highway just before Crescent College of Engineering. After a few kilometres down the highway, we took a left turn near the Tagore Engineering College. A couple of quick turns along quaint mud lanes later and we were at the Prayer Centre.



A rather small temple with some lofty ideals, this place is charming. For a change, the temple was not a ghastly multi-coloured spectacle. Instead, it was a welcoming Jasmine white with polished granite flooring. The main diety, Goddess Chakra Kali, is an imposing and beautiful statue - easily six feet sitting. As for lofty ideals, they do not have a hundi and do not expect money. Nor do they offer special treatment to VIPs.



There was a puja at noon and we spent some time there. The staff were already assembling hundreds of kalasams for the special Shivaratri puja in the evening. What satisfied me the most was the peaceful surrounding - lush green fields, cows grazing, a distant view of the hills and cool breeze. It was wonderful to quietly sit on the floor and soak in the temple and its environs.



Visit Recommended; devotion level - your choice.

Posted by Echo/Lavanya on Monday, February 27, 2006 at 11:35 AM | Permalink