I returned to the Gurvayoorappan Temple a few weeks after the visit that I have mentioned in the previous post. The cycle rickshaw driver taking my husband and me from the Mayur Vihar flats to the temple turned out to be from Rajroopur in Allahabad, the city of my birth. Rapport was instant and the chat about Allahabad was continuous over the 10 minutes that he took to deposit us at the temple.
The temple is run in traditional Kerala style. A combination of simplicity, order and discipline marks the ambience. We request a special archana giving the name and nakshatram amd then wait for the purohit to complete the dialogue between manushya and Krishna. The garbhagriham is only lit by oil lamps and the vigraham can only be seen by the reflected light of these lit lamps. My thoughts and prayers take me to my late grandmother who had been a Krishnabhakta. I recall her stories of naughty Krishna, brave Krishna and timeless Krishna who came to the rescue of all those who called upon Him.
I sit for a while in the temple yard where I hear a devotee reading in softly audible tones from the Bhagvad Gita. The piece which catches my ear said that nothing was impossible for Krishna. Was this a direct message from Him to me, I wonder.
As I wait for the garbhagriham to open, a sweet old lady comes up to me and quietly offers me white jasmine flowers. She does the same to others around me. What was her heart seeking ? Others around me stand, wait, perform pooja and do pradakshina to the One who knows everything, does everything and yet is a silent witness. Krishna, I say to myself, do what you know is best and let me mould myself into accepting whatever you do. In the course of my pradakshina I see a lady in yellow sari scrubbing and polishing the brass deepams. She looks up frequently in the course of her work and greets the temple visitors with a beatific smile.
People experiencing a vibration, a harmony with something both deep within and high outside.
If, thus far, you, dear reader, have been with me inside the temple, let us walk together to the world outside till we meet again at another temple. If, on the other hand, you have been outside and merely watching I wonder what you think of my ramble.
