Sunday started with the arrival of Aviral's grand pa and maternal parents and it was a very sober feeling to meet aviral's Nanaji. He is a remarkable man. We started our day by taking bathe in the Bay of Bengal and then in the 15 holy wells inside the Rameshwaram temple (It is said that Lord Rama brought waters from all the rivers of India and put into 32 wells in the temple. So if you take bathe in this water then it is equivalent of taking bath in all the rivers of India). It was like getting a transformation from a Karmayogi to a Karmakandi, but i liked it.
After this holy bath we prepared ourselves for the darshanas of the Shivalingam. The saying goes like this. When Lord Rama returned from Lanka after killing King Ravana then he stayed here to get rid of the sin of Brahma Hatya. He commissioned Hanuman to go to Kailasha and bring Shivalingas from there but Lord Hanuman was late and the good time was passing by so Goddess Sita made a Shivalinga of sand and they worshipped that Shivalinga. Hanuman came after all this and became dejected. Lord Rama then declared that all the Shivalingas will be worshipped (including the ones brought by Hanumana). So say we all. I was totally touched by the affection shown by uncles/aunts/Nanaji of Aviral. I have still few rupees for cups of tea.
There is a bit of difference between the temples of North India and those of South India. In southern India temples one can get special Darshana if he has money in his pocket and we did the same in both the places i.e. at Rameshwaram and at Meenakshi temple (one our return journey from Rameshwaram to Madurai). We were cheated by a travel agent of Madurai and that is the only bad memory we have of the entire holy and soothing, peaceful and dignified visit.
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