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Tamilnadu
But,
above all, the temple was a place of worship. And what was of utmost importance
is the beautiful sculptures that adorned them. Every temple has architectural
beauty of its own, peculiar to the presiding deity. You will not miss the Universal.
The Tamils have always been a God-fearing people and are ardent worshippers
of Siva, Vishnu, their consorts Parvati and Lakshmi, Vinayaka, Subramanya (also
known as Muruga). And each of these gods take on different names at different
temples depending on the legend of the temple. For example, at Rameswaram, Ramanathaswamy,
which means 'He who was worshipped by Rama' and at Chidambaram He is called Nataraja
or the 'Cosmic Dancer'. In simple terms, for the sake of identification it is
enough to know that whenever 'Eswaran' is the suffix in the name of the presiding
deity, the temple is dedicated to Lord Siva. The South has very few temples where
Siva is depicted as anything other than a lingam. A few notable exceptions are
the temple of the Cosmic Dancer at Chidambaram and the Ardhanareeswarar temple
at Tiruchengodu. Siva is also worshipped as the five elements i.e. as Sky or Space
in Chidambaram, Water in Tiruvanaikkaval, Fire in Tiruvannamalai, Earth in Kanchipuram
and Air in Sri Kalahasti (Andhra Pradesh). In Tamil Nadu, Vishnu is worshipped
as Vishnu himself rather than as one of his incarnations, though there are some
temples dedicated to Rama and Krishna both of whom are incarnations of the Lord.
He is known by various names such as Varadaraja Perumal in Kanchi, Kallalagar
in Madurai and Ranganathaswamy at Srirangam.
Of the consorts, there are
several temples dedicated to Parvati where there are also shrines to Lord Siva.
The most prominent of these of course is the twin temple dedicated to Meenakshi
and Sundareswarar at Madurai, and the Kamakshi temple at Kanchi. Apart from this,
the goddess is also worshipped as Kali Amman or Durga.
Vinayaka or Pillayar is perhaps the most worshipped of the gods and is also called
Vigneswara or Ganapati or Ganesa. He is the elephant-headed elder son of Siva
and Parvati and is extremely benign in appearance. During any festival or celebration,
worship of this God is given precedence over others. The largest Pillayar temple
is at Pillayarpatti near Karaikkudi. Vinayaka's younger brother Subramanya is
the Lord of the mountains and his six abodes of Aarupadaiveedu - Tiruttani, Swamimalai,
Palani, Thiruparankunram, Pazhamudircholai and Tiruchchendur.
Two terms
that one often comes across in reference to the temples in Tamil Nadu are Saivism
and Vaishnavism. As the words imply, Saivites are followers of Lord Siva while
Vaishnavites are followers of Lord Vishnu. Not all that long ago, the men of the
two sects could be identified by the distinct religious marks on their forehead.
The Saivites wore three horizontal strokes of the vibhoothi or sacred ash while
their Vaishnavite counterparts wore a long 'U' shaped decoration in white with
a vertical stroke of vermillion stretching between the eye brows. These marks
are no longer in use as catholicity, now marks the Hindu faith.
INDUSTRIES
The eastern and southern coastal boundaries of Tamil Nadu are washed
by the waves of the Bay of Bengal and the Indian Ocean respectively. With an area
of 130,058 sq. km and a population of over 55 million, Tamil Nadu is the eleventh
largest populous State in India, occupying third place in the Industrial map of
India.
Tamil Nadu has a tropical climate with no wild swing between summer and winter
temperatures. April and May are the hottest months with the mercury often soaring
above the 40 degree Celsius mark. Coastal regions also get uncomfortably warm
and humid during these months but the nights are usually cool, thanks to the sea
breeze that sets in during the afternoon.
A mild winter falls between
November and February when the climate is pleasantly cool unless you wish to visit
the hill stations, in which case you will need woollens.
About Tamilnadu, Tamilnadu
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