In this blog, I am going to take you through Koneswaram Kovil ( Temple),Trincomalee , Srilanka!! It lies in the eastern province of Srilanka ; one of the most important Hindu pilgrimage and it is also part of "panch ishwaram" formed by king Raavana which was later on developed and maintained by Cholas,Pallavas,Pandyan and Dravidians. Many anecdotes and stories are associated with this mystic town, it is said that Rishi Patanjali ( who put forwarded Patanjali yog sutras) and Agatsya munni ( one of the saptarishi who got attainment from lord shiva himself) stated that Sun Salutation ( Surya Namaskar) in Yog sutras was originated in Trincomalee, isnt it the biggest gift to mankind? ...
I will not go in the depth of information and the history of this temple , history is always good to know, but what matters is your experience in this subtle body and this always comes from your present, history is more about visualization, present is what we have in our hands!! Present is where our consiciouness lies, rest all is information!!
So I was in Jaffna that day , post early morning breakfast my destination was Trincomalee, before travelling to this place I had done my homework about what things I need to explore, places to eat, culture and local connects. But it has always been the case for me, the real experiences has always made me go deeper than the text book studies.The drive from Jaffna to Trincomalee was about 5 hours , it was one of the memorable drives of my lifetime. Driving across the coastal areas, stopping over at the pristine sea shores, driving through the empty roads, enjoying the lush countryside of this god bless country..everything seems to be so natural, no human intervance, that's the beauty!!
Everything was so blissful and relaxing that day, ,johan was more than a chauffeur to me, we both were driving through those silent roads, I was reading the book of Sadhguru
"Adiyogi" and was relating it to the nature. I was stopped several time by the Srilankan army as the northern and eastern province of srilanka is LTT prone area.But the journey was fantastic. In the evening I reached to this beautiful resort, it was time for me to take dip in the pool and relax!!
Evening pool side dinner was one of the fantastic thing that happened to me that day. The hotel chef offerred mouth watering local cuisine, curries/pottu/salads an much more..The next day morning we decided to drive to Koneswaram hill in Trincomalee, Trincomalee is one of the vibrant town on the coastal area of srilanka, as we were driving towards the koneswaram hill, there was sudden change in the surroundings, lots of dense gree trees and surprisingly spotted deers all around. I asked Johan to stop the car and I was able to fed them with some grass!! Normally we see deers either in the Zoo's or in the safaris..Life time experience..
Post driving past them, I reached to the base of the temple where I had to climb up few stairs and walk for a kilometre or so..while walking I saw a huge statue of Lord Shiva, so much of love for him in this part of world, he takes you towards your soul in real terms and the truth of your existence. I was stunned looking at the dravidian style temple and scenic beauty around. I started walking towards the main entrance of the temple now..
As I entered inside, cold wave hit me.. devotees were there and chants were on.. i simply got immersed in the silence within me..vibrations in the gabhara ( the shrine area) was making me feel more disconnected from the world and connecting myself from within..the best part of srilankan temples is people offer fruits to the shrine which is then distributed among the other devotees later on. I was sitting in the temple for hours in complete bliss, truly when you connect yourself with your soul, nothing left to achieve in this materialistic world, closed eyes shows you much more deeper things than the open one..the time I entered the temple, I saw one family doing rituals near the shrine and surroundings were full of mystical vibrations due to continuous chants of shiv mantras..After an hour or so, one member from their family offered the entire basket of fruits and dates to me, which i gently ignored and took few of the dates from it and asked them to distribute it, language is never a barrier when you communicate with pure heart and soul..
So post coming out of the temple, I decided to move towards the car, but something intimated to go on the right side of the temple, it was never seen beauty in my life, the indian ocean with blue waters was calling me and wind over it was giving me wind wash, it was cleansing my body from deep within.. thoughts just passed over, where this horizon ends, what lies in the depth of these blue waters, where is this wind coming from... it was spontaneous! I was completely lost in thoughts that moment only to regain myself when johan called me as sunset was on the verge as it was getting dark...
Never ever saw such beautiful ocean in my life !! Visited many places across India and world, but the air at koneswaram was something special, panchtatvam as we say, five elements of which we all and nature is made up of!! Truly residing at Koneswaram..
Post my visit to koneswaram decided to drive back to the resort in the evening! While boarding the car, someone came to visit me and said do visit
PathriKali amman temple..I was fascinated..it was divine call for me!!
Driving back to the city we entered the Kali temple and here I was looking at the grandeur of the temple in the late evening hours..
Unfortunately that evening we reached late, next day morning we decided to visit the temple again, at the first instance, it appeared to be similar to dravidian type architecture, but when I entered inside, it was truly out of the world experience. The carvings, the sculptures everything was simply magnificient, no words to describe it. The energy patterns inside the temple were lively and encapsulating. Meditating on shakti always takes you to the different high altogther! After offering my prayers to Maa Kali we decided to leave the temple..One of the powerful meditation experience of lifetime for me!!
Maa Kali is the strongest energy of all, it will shake you from within! She is the destroyer, she destroys your sins, your karmas, fulfill your wishes and takes you to the path of liberation, the only clause here is staying true to yourself and to her!!She fulfills your wishes quickly if you worship her with true devotion and love!
Trincomalee deserves a visit, particularly for this two places! You can easily spend two to three days here, it has much more things to offer ..water sports, sea shores, beaches, resorts and temples.. flights available, but way too expensive.. I wont reccommend also, self drive or chauffeur driven is the only to option and its worth as well!!
In my next blog, I will cover Mannar and Jaffna, the other two places of Shivalingas formed by King Raavana...
Do visit Koneswaram!!
For further information, do connect VDOO Travel Team!!
My contact details are as follows -
Mangesh Pawar
Promoter VDOO Travel/Panchtatvam
+91-8007976815
www.vdoo-travel.in
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