Overnight At A Temple Mandapam

This is one of my unique experiences. I mean, I have never slept overnight at a Temple mandapam on the floor with a thousand other people and waking up at a godly 3:30 am to get started with the darshan.

Thiruverkadu is a temple town about 15 kms from Chennai. While there are many temples out here, it’s marquee one is the Karumari temple, rumoured to be centuries old. Anyways, what takes me here? A rather strange religious ritual.

My father-in-law expired a few months ago and tradition has it that my mother-in-law cannot stay in any body else’s house until she stays overnight at a temple. Inane, I know but who is to argue with family folks. And so I tag along. Am glad I did. It wasn’t a comfortable stay – the cold and the mosquitoes took care of that – but somehow the physical discomfort got overshadowed by the rather fresh experience.