3 Beautiful Days... Srirangam

I  have always been a crazy fan of south Indian hotel sambhar. Srirangam, was just another excuse to exploit my taste buds. 

Having spent 3 beautiful days at temple town of Srirangam, I should ideally be talking about the altar & its architecture.

Of  the many factors that made this trip special, yummy luncheons were just a beginning. 

Few minutes  away from Ranganathar temple, "Vamana Royal" on Uthira Street was a superb bet in terms of lodging. Uthira Steet surrounds the temple & labels itself by direction- North- East- South & West Uthira.

Our mornings started with freshly brewed filter coffee at East Uthira. Then a small walk down the South Uthira Street to gaze the main temple entrance ( Rajagopuram).  

Wet floors, design rangolis along the West & North streets  leading to the White tower or "Vellai Gopuram" - would complete our walk.

Be it the morning stroll, or break between temple visits, mythological stories fuelled my excitement in this new town. Ma-in-law's story telling was akin to Grandma's summer time stories. Shrines & sculptures, were thus, a brick & mortar representation of these mythological narrations.

Final day of our stay had a packed itinerary - a temple visit, pre-wedding ceremony to attend, bags to pack and a train to catch. And all this in a half day's time. We  knew we will land up compromising on our interaction time with wedding family. But Sriangam had different plans for us. 

On the penultimate day, as we returned from "Mani Vilas" - after a sumptuous dinner, known faces & familiar voices filled the hotel corridors.  It took few mins to believe, that the wedding group had checked-in to the same hotel as ours.  Astonishment, followed by inquisitiveness from both ends, filled up the initial moments, slowly giving way to introductions and greetings. Needless to say, the next day, we bumped into each other, atleast a dozen times - initially at the corridors & then at the temple.  

Call it "Srirangam and its surprises", "Gods & their Gopurams", this is probably the first time I have multiple titles for a post