discovery

Standing Still at Meenakshi Amman Temple: A Place Beyond Time

Some places demand silence. Not because they forbid noise, but because they leave you speechless. Meenakshi Amman Temple does that to me. Every single time.

I went yesterday. And I saw scaffolding. It wrapped around the gopurams, covering the intricate sculptures. It was early in the morning. So, no workers, just stillness. If this much care is going into restoring it, imagine what it took to build it. No machines, no shortcuts—just patience, skill, and intelligence.

This temple has stood for nearly 2,500 years. It dates back to the Sangam period (6th century BCE), though much of what we see today was expanded in the 16th century by the Nayak rulers. It has survived wars, invasions, and the weight of time. Its corridors have heard prayers, wishes, and whispered hopes from millions. Mine included. Every single one of them.

Phones and cameras are not allowed inside after a fire in 2018. Perhaps the temple authorities trust that your memory has at least some storage space left. Later, as I scrolled through my old photos, I realised something—I had taken pictures of the ceilings, the pillars, the gopurams. But not the Yazhis. Perhaps I had wisely chosen to avoid making eye contact with a stone creature with teeth bigger than my head.

And yet, Yazhis are among the most stunning sculptures in the temple. These mythical beasts are carved with an astonishing mix of power and grace—lion-like bodies, an elephant’s trunk, a serpent’s tail. Strong claws. Giant teeth. A large penis. Elaborate decorations, all aesthetically done. A creature so fierce and fabulous that Hollywood fantasy films could learn a thing or two. If they ever reboot Jurassic Park with mythical beasts, I know where they should start. And these aren’t just still figures either—the giant sculptures are so elaborately done, they seem ever ready to jump out of the pillar and take on anyone into nonsense!

This time, I stood before them, staring. Ferocious yet elegant. My father once told me they were load-bearing structures. I had laughed. Who would carve something so intricate just to support a pillar?

But he was right. The Yazhis do hold up the structure, but they also hold up something else—imagination. Someone, centuries ago, looked at a block of stone and saw more than function. They saw movement, myth, and life itself. And they brought it to life.

As a child, I found them terrifying. Now, I find them familiar, almost reassuring. They have always been there. A solid as they were. My needs have shifted.

A Temple That Soothes the Soul

Whenever I visit with much time at hand, I just stand and stare. At the Yazhis. At the ceilings. At the sheer audacity of it all.

This is beyond religion. It is devotion, yes—but also craftsmanship, vision, and love.

And that is what makes it spiritual. Not just the rituals or the prayers, but the feeling of standing in a place that has stood for centuries. A place that has seen time pass but has remained unwavering. A place that, even in its silence, speaks.

It does something to the soul. It soothes, steadies, strengthens. It slows you down, pulls you iout of the present. For a few moments, the rush of the outside world fades. The doubts, the unfinished tasks, the endless scrolling—all of it seems distant.

There is a certain weight to this place. Not the kind that burdens you, but the kind that anchors you. It puts life back into your step. It reminds you that things of value take time, that endurance is built stone by stone. It gives you the courage to face the next uncertain moment.

In more than one sense, this is home.

Not in the way four walls define home, but in the way something familiar holds you when you need it most. In the way it reassures you that it has been here long before you arrived and will remain long after you leave.

Some long-form things are timeless. They stand tall, defying time and culture. Like the gopurams of Meenakshi Amman Temple. To me, they are a firm reminder that better is always possible.

Every single time I get there.

Staying Grounded

Holy shrines seek a ‘cleanliness’, often beginning with asking you walk in barefoot. To me, it is a poke to go light. To experience the stone and the rough surface pick supple feet. It is about staying grounded. That is the best way of staying clean!

Staying grounded involves being aware of realities as they are. Realities around oneself and the world. It necessitates a certain level of humility to accept what comes ones way yet to search for more.

Staying grounded means one is not occupied by thoughts about oneself but is innately curious about the other. And seeks to ask questions and seeks to build understanding. However sure one is about the answer!

Staying grounded requires an anticipation of uncertainty and a comfort with it. For when one is not driving an agenda, the outcomes can be many. Outcomes that will arrive at and get evolved in the moment at that time!

Staying grounded is not about ‘staying’. It is not a state of immobility. What stays behind is dynamism and change. To keep the mind alive and the ideas in the air but the feet on the ground makes a difference.

Staying grounded does not mean that one forgoes! In fact its the opposite. When one stays grounded what one is able to create far more. Both in the self and in the collective.

Staying grounded needs patience but more importantly, staying grounded needs energy. The energy to let things emerge, by staying in the moment and rummaging through with interest.

Staying grounded is to allow the idea to fly and letting the credit for the idea kiss the Earth. It means one is not wedded to the idea as much as solving the problem with the idea.

Staying grounded is about strength. It’s about awareness. It’s about calm. It’s about a sense of possibility. A sense of what can emerge.

Staying grounded is about the future!

The Beauty of Tough Journeys and the Roads That Shape Us

‘Someone once asked me, ‘why do you always insist on taking the hard road?
I replied,
‘Why do you assume I see two?’
– Anonymous

The question of choice isn’t about hard or easy—it’s about whether it’s the right road. Everything else is secondary.

The easy routes? They blur into the background. The tough roads, the steep climbs, the unexpected turns? Those are the ones we remember. The ones that test us, shape us, and bring stories to life.

With the right people by your side and a destination worth reaching, the effort itself becomes beautiful.

Because in the arc of struggle lies discovery—not just of what’s ahead, but of what lies within you.

Tell me, how blessed are you?

Travel is a calling.
It doesn’t have anything to do with comforts. Often times, it goes without it. But rooted in the calling is a spirit of adventure. An undying curiosity of what could be behind the obvious.
To sit down and talk without looking into the watch. Or worry about what will happen tomorrow.
To travel is to discover. To travel is to see the story in the bark of a tree. Or in the sprint of a rodent. Sometimes even what seems to be languorous routines of very common people.
Those that travel are truly blessed. For they often see what the best movies of the world try hard to bring alive : Life in its true variety and splendour.
So, tell me, how blessed are you?

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#simplicity #simpleliving #discovery #culture #curiosity

There is no end to discovery that #travel brings. Here is an instrument called the HANG the sounds of which I heard for the first time yesterday! By the streetside as an artist wielded it at ease with his cycle providing the backdrop. The #Hang is an instrument that came into being in the year 2000. Shaped like an UFO, it offers an awesome range of sound and music!
I dug more into Wikipedia only to find that no more of the Hang will be produced for its creators are focusing on a new instrument called Gulag! #amsterdam #amsterdamcity #Discovery #music #hang #streetmusic