Nov 8th is undoubtedly one of the best days of my life. It was my brother’s wedding and the atmosphere was awesome. The day before the wedding, Chennai was under water and thank god, on the wedding day it was shining bright. It has been a long time since I attended wedding and nothing can come close to such event especially being my brother’s wedding. I was able to meet all of my family members. Almost all had come for the wedding. If the wedding was grand, then the reception was even grander. Everyone enjoyed it to the core. More than anything else, this is the first marriage in our family which was like icing on the cake.

After the marriage, we started for a holy trip. We started on 10th November and were back by 13th morning.

Day 1: We boarded the Vaigai express at 12.40 PM from Chennai egmore and reached Trichy in the evening. There we took a van and went to Gunaseelam (some 25 Kms from Trichy). We stayed there that night and worshipped Lord Prasanna Venkatesa Perumal.

Day 2: We got up early and went to the temple again and worshipped the Lord. I had the plan of taking bath at Cauvery, but unfortunately the river was flowing till the brim and I was scared. Then we went to Thanthondri Malai in Karur. By the time we reached the temple, it was closed and hence we had to wait till 3 PM for the temple to open. After worshipping the God, we came back to Gunaseelam, packed our bags and left for Srirangam. We went to the temple and worshipped Lord Ranganathar. This temple has got the tallest temple tower in Asia. One can see the entire Srirangam from the topmost floor of the tower. After coming out of the temple, we went to Trichy again to board Rameshwaram Express.

Day 3: We were supposed to get down at Ramanathapuram. The scheduled arrival was 3.30 AM, but we were fast asleep. We missed the station and got down at Mandapam (next to Ramanathapuram). The next train from Mandapam to Ramnathapuram was at 6.00 AM and hence we had to wait for 2 hours in the platform. We boarded the train to Ramanathapuram and from there took a van to Thirupullani (15 Kms from Ramanathapuram). This is one best place I have visited. The place is surrounded by farms and there were plenty of peacocks running around. I would love to go to this place again. After we reached Thirupullani, we refreshed ourselves at Ahobila Math and went to the temple of Lord Adi Jaganatha Perumal. This is one of the best temples I have ever visited. It was calm, big and had a wonderful architecture. The specialty of this temple is Lord Ram will be in reclining form. Here is the only temple in the world where Lord Ram will be in reclining form. It is believed that it is in this place Lord Hanuman informed Lord Ram about Sita after seeing her in Lanka. Then, we refreshed ourselves and went to Sethukarai (Sethusamudram). The place is awesome given its mythological and political significance, but it can be maintained in a better way. After spending few minutes there we went to Chakravazhnallur, a small village near Ramanathapuram. There is a temple for Lord Adi Kesava Perumal. After worshipping the Lord, we drove to Rameshwaram. The view from the Indra Gandhi Bridge was breathtaking. We reached Rameshwaram railway station at 4.30 PM. The train was at 6.00 PM and so I, my bro and sis-in-law went to the Ramanathaswamy Temple. This temple is the abode of Lord Shiva. It is believed that Lord Rama worshipped Lord Shiva after his war against Ravana. This temple has got the longest temple corridor in the world. I have no words to describe this temple. Just awesome!!!

Day 4: Back to Chennai and end of wonderful week.