In Trichy, we had an amazing guide; he took us to Amma Mandabam on the Kaveri river. It is the place where people go first before temple, to wash literally and ceremonially- To wash (many will have traveled from the villages to this temple-the biggest in South India) and to be cleansed of sin and bad ideas (this is one of the sacred river like Ganges) before coming to God. This is also where they say prayers for their ancestors.
Immediately, when we walked into the open stone structure that led to the river, we got goose bumps. It is such a dynamic and vibrant scene-there are so many people moving around in all directions, there are smells of incense and flowers, people are speaking in Tamil and I imagine in all sorts of other dialects and then you confront on either side of the walkway from one end to the other, a line of extremely poor, with missing and mangled limbs who look drained of life, sitting and waiting and hoping. We were told that those who come to the temple give these people money as part of their worship. It was hard for us to look at, but they definitely seem to be part of the whole landscape.
Once through the structure, the river is in front of you and people are washing (like in Varanasi); there are priests everywhere, standing and waiting in stalls for devotees to come and receive a blessing; marking the signs of Vishnu on their foreheads to demonstrate their devotion to Vishnu. I looked around for Tres and he was in with a priest getting a blessing. I hardly knew what to do; it was like we were somewhere we didn’t belong, but no one seemed to care. They saw us for sure, lots of staring; we just tried to be there and as humbly as possible experience the exhilaration of being part of their preparation.
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