Such is the power and appeal of God that all things pale into insignificance before Him. Take the Rockfort in Tiruchirappalli. Though this was an important part of a series of Royal entities, what abides is the fact that this towering hillock is the abode of God. The hilly home of a son and his father. Last week you read about the great Thayumanaswamy who resides on this hill. After darshan at the Thayumanaswamy temple of Siva in Linga roopam and the soothing, graceful form of Mattuvarkuzhal Ammai, we walk towards the stairway. On the way, the temple priest asks us to direct our vision towards the ceiling. A colossal painting of Ambal graces the ceiling. Its speciality is that the eyes of Ambal look at you whichever angle you look at her, like the painting of Mona Lisa. This painting is 75 years old.

We proceed towards the east and reach the open stairway. Within a minute we reach the Kudaivarai koil. This is a protected site of the Archeological Survey of India. The board put up by the ASI is unfortunately defaced by some foolish soul. However one learns that this is a shrine built by the great Pallava king Mahendravarman in the ninth century A.D. This cave temple has the sculpture of Shiva, Parvati and a personification of Cauvery. The matted locks of Shiva are shown bearing the torrents of Ganga. The edict in the temple says that the scene depicts Parvati pleading with Shiva not to dally with Cauvery as she belonged to Mahendravarman. Parvati, it is said, was apprehensive of Shiva's fondness for rivers after his encounter with the tempestuous Ganga.

The cave temple has a doorway, which is closed. It is said that this used to lead to Uraiyur, which was a royal seat those days. The shrine is at a height of 273 feet and the number of steps is 417. The last flight of stairs leads to the pinnacle, where Uchi Pillayar sits and surveys the terrain below. The climb is difficult but the energising breeze is invigorating. The people of Tiruchirapalli love to spend the evening hours enjoying the panoramic view of the city that lies below. One notices that Trichy is a verdant city with many patches totally free of human encroachment!

What strikes one is the extremely narrow entrance to the sanctum sanctorum. Pillayar is decked in sandal paste and his eyes are so penetrating. There is a "pit" on the top of his forehead, believed to have been created when Vibhishana rapped him on the head in anger. The story goes that when Ravana's brother Vibhishana was returning to Lanka after the Pattabhishekam (coronation) of Lord Rama at Ayodhya, he was carrying an idol of Ranganatha given to him by Lord Rama. He was told not to place it on the ground, as it would be impossible to lift it then. 

When Vibhishana reached Trichy, the banks of the Cauvery brimming with beautiful water attracted him. Unable to resist the draw of the river, Vibhishana looked around to see if there was anybody with whom he could leave the idol. At the time he saw a small boy and bade him to keep the idol. The boy replied that he would call out thrice, and if Vibhishana did not come back, he would place the idol on the ground. After Vibhishana went into the river, the small boy cried out to him thrice. The Lankan king did not respond. The boy then placed the idol on the ground and it grew to an enormous size. When Vibhishana returned, he tried to lift up the idol. When he could not, he shouted at the boy who started running away. He ran all the way up the hillock, where Vibhishana finally caught up with him and knocked him on the head. The boy then revealed himself to Vibhishana as Lord Vinayaka.

This is the very idol that graces the Srirangam Ranganatha temple today. After spending over an hour enjoying the salubrious conditions atop the Rockfort we come down. We pick up some abhisheka panchamrutham from the temple shop .We also pick up a small figurine of Pillayar to take back great memories of this unique temple.

Ambujam Anantharaman

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