I had an occasion to visit my hometown, Ariyanayakipuram village, in Tirunelveli district a couple of days ago (14th Sep 2012) and came back humbled. The temple complex in our village has three shrines - one for the presiding deity, Ariyanayaki ambal, Kasi-Vishwanath, and Iyappan (Sastha). The three shrines are independent temples in the same complex and though we reached the temple around 7.45 after visiting 3 other temples in the vicinity, we were surprised to see it open. After darshan in the temple, I went in search of the shrine of Kasi Vishwanath.(Plaque in the temple mentioning Shri Gopinatha Iyer's
effort in installing the idol in the temple)
The lingam is supposed to have been brought from Varanasi by my ancestor - about 13 generations past - Shri Gopinatha Iyer. A plaque mentioning his contribution in installing the lingam is displayed in the shrine. Merely looking at it gave me goosebumps since in his day, roughly 250 years ago, there were no trains. A visit to Varanasi was a pilgrimage, daunting in its own right. Many people who undertook the pilgrimage, would not return. Crossing the Vindhyas may have been a challenge to most people. Shri Gopinatha Iyer may have had to face many challenges enroute. Sadly, I don't know of his adventures, though I believe that he may have brought the lingam on his head from Varanasi. The distance between Varanasi and Ariyanayakipuram (in Tirunelveli) is more than 2,500 kms. Why did he undertake such an arduous journey? What was his motivation? In the absence of any written word on it, we can only speculate. Was he part of the group of people who wanted to establish temples and renovate them in Tirunelveli? Was he part of a larger group of pilgrims who went with similar motivations and beliefs?
We perform some task; leave our footprints in the sands of time; and our progeny may look at our work with wonder and surprise. I am happy that my ancestor had an occasion to leave an indelible mark in his village, which I, 13 generations removed, could see.
