Ente Swapna Ambalam: My Dream Temple

Till a few years back I had this recurring dream. Unlike Rebecca De Winter’s dream of Manderly in Rebecca it was a nice dream of a misty temple set in the backwaters of Kerala. Each time I was climbing the stairs from the boat to enter the temple the dream faded and I woke up. Then I saw a version of the temple in Walter Disney’s film the Jungle Book when Mowgli is taken to the village at the end of the forest.

These recurring dreams were caused by an incident in my childhood. My mother and my perammai Janaki woke me early and said they were talking me to a temple. My cries of protest were silenced by promise of a car ride in a ford t model and then an adapradhaman from the temple. A boat ride was also promised. I was in the seventh heaven riding in the front seat dressed in a mundu, along winding lanes with fences made from bamboo shoots. And then we came to a halt on the banks of a big lagoon of water. Across the water I could just make out in the drizzle the dim misty outlines of a temple on the other bank. A magical sight it was and I could not wait the see the Lord of this Ambalam and taste his adapradhaman. Stepping down from the boat we climbed up the steps to the temple from the water. Immediately upon reaching the top my mother and periammai made a dash for a quiet corner, with me in hot pursuit. At the corner before squatting and relieving themselves ( this I surmised after growing up) Janaki turned round and said ‘ Raja turn and go away till we join you. You can have this view after you get married. If you do not turn and go away no adapradhaman for you.’ My memory after this is very vague except that I was given the most fabulous adapradhaman and the memory of which makes my mouth salivate even to this day.

Unfortunately my memory of the temple was also very vague. Time moved on. I made valiant attempts to identify the swapna ambalam to no avail. My wife who has a very poor opinion of my knowledge of Kerala and its customs refused to answer my questions. So I left it at that and enjoyed my dreams which kept up the mystery. Then in 1967 Walt Disney’s Jungle Book was relased and I saw it a few years later. My curiosity was aroused again and I kept my eyes ears open. I came to the conclusion that the Guruvayoor must be my dream temple.

Then out of the blue benign fate intervened in the form of the Flower Girl. She decided to give her mother in law a holiday in Kerala. Vasanta choose to go Guruvayoor and then to Trichur where she had spent her childhood in idyllic sourroundings. The Flower Girl, coming from Karnataka, also wanted to see this strange land which had shaped her super sharp mother in law and her even sharper husband. She saw signs of this in her son Vish. The only thing she knew about Kerala was cocoanuts which she relished. So on 29th sep 2007 they landed in Guruvayoor. After a bath and hefty breakfast the ladies dashed off to have darsan of Guruvayoorappan. Sekar took off with Vish to wander round and I with my camera wandered round the temple perimeter to see the big waterway of my dreams and the corner used by my mother and periammai. No water except for a not clean looking pond where devotees had a dip. It was built round and the temple itself was not a beauty by any stretch of imagination.

After a heavy lunch when every was in a good mood and went to their rooms to have a nap, I coaxed Vasanta to give the name of the temple on the water near Trichur. It was Trippayar temple dedicated to Rama. When she dozed off I went down and had a chat with our driver Thomas. He said it was no problem - only to start earlier so that we can go round the temple and reach Trichur in time for lunch. Evening the ladies again went to the temple and during dinner I broached the subject of an early start and seeing Tripayyar temple on the way. I had prepared myself for all objections but the grace of Guruvayurappan prevailed and it was accepted. I was in the seventh heaven and had a sound dreamless sleep.

On waking up early I was chirpy and excited at seeng my swapna Ambalam at last. Little did I realise that I would have to overcome an asura! The drive from Guruvayoor to Trichoor was a lovely one,unusual in Kerala where the roads meandered through villages and towns, crowded with buses, cars and people. We drove fast with back waters on both sides and sometimes had glimpses of the sea in the far distance. Then the lovely stretch was over and we were on familiar Kerala roads with villages every few kilometres and finally reached Trippayar village . A crowded side lane with shops led us to the temple entrance.

 

The look on the face of my companions seemed to say ‘Is this your dream temple you have dragged us to? Might as well have stayed on a bit more in Guruvayoor and had a morning of Guruvayurappan.’

As they were removing their sandals to go in, I dragged Sekar to one side saying -’let us wander round.’ So we went by the sides of the temple wall trying to find a way to the back where I knew the river entrance was. The lanes were blocked. The temple wall was broken on one side and we could glimpse the backwater. We clambered over and were walking to the back. The peace of the sourrounding was suddenly broken by high pitched shout-’Naaundamone ( son of a dog). Ambalathis cherruppu edukata Naaundamone.( Son of a dog remove your chappals in the temple).’ Sekar and I paused and as we were not inside the temple but a far corner carried on. The shouting increased and we heard sound of running feet and saw an old policeman swinging a british empire lathhe running towards us. Our natural reaction was to take off at full speed and try to get of this place to foil the Asura policeman. The shouting had attracted a large crowd to watch this gladiatorial contest.

 

In the middle to add to our shame were Vasanta, Ambika and Vish cheering the policeman on. Come on. This was a bit too much. The policeman ,though old and retired was reemployed to protect the Lord from pollution and infidels was in excellent condition. Normally we would have got away but the the policeman’s better knowledge of the terrain tilted the contest in his favour and he cornered us. We faced each other drawing deep breaths to get back to normal. The poiceman made us take off our chappals, marched us to out side the temple to deposit our slippers. Then he started the investigation. Our explanation that we were only on the perimeter was dismissed with the remark that the Lord’s territory had no boundries. He accepted our apologies with a stern warning not to repeat the offence again. His next questions were to determine if we were infidels trying to enter the temple. He soon realised that he was on the wrong track and profusely apologised for harassing an old man. My day was made when he complimented me on my fitness.

In a very euphoric mood I took Sekar to the back of the temple to the view the real beauty of Trippayar. And oh- what a sight.

 

 

 

 

 

Wandering round memories of the first my visit to this dream place came back vividly. I think I even found the Janaki corner .People go to temples,churches,mosques and synagogs for various reasons. If you are one of those who want to go for peace of mind and complete relaxation and away from the madding crowd of worshippers, then here is the place for you if you come at the right time on a evening when the temple is lit with thousands of oil lamps flickering away in the breeze. Get a boat and gaze from the opposite bank of the temple and you are transported to a dream world.Then before going away have some of the divine ‘adapradhaman.’

 

This blog is dedicated to ‘THE FLOWER GIRL’ who made my childhood dream come true. Raja Ramakrishnan 8/8/2013 .

Comments

[Raji Muthukrishnan]

Loved reading it. The pictures were terrific too. Can fully understand the magnificent obsession it had for you.

[Raji Muthukrishnan]

The interlude with the policeman is priceless!

[Swarna]

That's a nice personal account. Makes me want to do the nAlambalam circuit again...
http://stepoutofhome.blogspot.in/2008/08/temples-for-four-brothers.html

[Shyamala]

Makes me want to go there too, Mr R! You and Kamini make me feel like this regularly with your wonderful writing!

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