Date : 4th November, 2022
I have been purchasing a monthly travel magazine by the name
‘Yathra’ whenever I get to travel to Kerala since long. I also have been
taunted often saying that I just buy and keep the same in the shelves without
undertaking a trip to any one of the places in it. To an extent it is true
also.
So this time around I had made up my mind to visit some
place that found a mention the magazine. I had already applied for a one day
leave two weeks before in my office. I then tried glancing through one August
edition of the magazine for a place where I could travel for a day trip.
Wayanad was dropped as it would need two days minimum. Then I saw an article
about a temple near Tirur, which also happened to be the only temple dedicated
to ‘Garuda’. When I checked the distance and time needed for travelling to
Tirur it was very much possible one.
So I informed a friend staying in Kannur and he also agreed
to join me from there. I made enquiries regarding the temple ( such as how to
reach from Tirur station to the temple, What all offerings will be available
and the timings ) from a person whose contact number was shared in the article.
My onward train was starting from Coimbatore at 6 am and it
was the starting station. As it was too early for Buses to ply I booked through
‘Red Taxi’ a cab at 4:45 am. I prefer to be a bit early for any journey. So I
was at the platform where my train was stationed at around 5:10 am. When I
neared my coach I could see that the lights weren’t switched on. When the
lights were put on I boarded the train. The train ( 22610 ) started around 6:03
am ( a delay of 3 minutes ) The compartment was mostly empty. The train passed
through some lovely sceneries ( green mountains, mist, etc ) and was almost on
time check till Shoranur ( the last halting station before Tirur ) and reached
Tirur with a delay of 15 minutes. My friend from Kannur who was supposed to
reach lot earlier hadn’t reached yet and so I decided to make enquiries as to
from which side we could travel to the temple.
I asked a person manning the automatic ticket vending
machine. He told me that Buses were on the other side. I wasn’t able to see
foot over bridge and hence crossed the tracks to go to the next platform. After
some time my friend arrived and I informed him that we need to rush a bit as
the temple will be closing by 10:30 am.
We went outside and hired an auto to take us to the temple.
He charged us 170 Rs. We had good darshan and enquired with the priest
regarding the next temple. He told us that we could visit not only Hanuman
temple but also Triprengode Siva temple as well. So we purchased the offerings ‘Manja
Payasam’ and ‘Garuda Panchakshi enna’ and after finishing the rounds inside the
temple started towards the second temple. After coming out we took an auto to
the Hanuman temple. He charged us 40 Rs.
The temple is actually dedicated to Lord Rama but is more
popular by ‘Hanuman Temple’. ‘Avil’ is the popular offering here. We hurried
along to the next temple. The main sanctum is very high and the deity looks
grand. The priest after enquiring about our whereabouts told us the legend of
the temple. When we went outside and were leaving when a temple worker called
us and gave ‘Ganapathi Homam’ prasadam.
After the visit we then asked directions for the main road
and reached the bus stop. We got a bus almost immediately which took us to
Tirur Railway Station.
Similar to the morning scenes I feel evening scenes were
even more as the setting sun had spread some wonderful colours
It was almost 8 when I reached Coimbatore but the day was
memorable.
