Sri Rangam

 

Sri  Rangam Mandir. 

Sri Rangam Mandir was in our travel list for quite some time. We just could not make the plan. Time flew past. One day Our son married a girl from Coimbatore. Of course it was an arranged marriage. Since both of families are devotees of SriKrishna, marriage was held in Brindavan Dham, that too in Covid time. 

We could not go to Coimbatore to the ceremony after marriage due to covid factor. After nearly two years we planned to visit Coimbatore for a week in November 2024. Thats where we visited the famous Sri Rangam Mandir with our son, daughter in law, and her parents. 

How to reach : 

We took a cab very early in the morning. Sri Rangam is about 215 km from Coimabatore. It took nearly four hours to reach the kshetra. 

There are several buses are available. The city is usual crowded like any Indian holy city. 

Sri Rangam is surrounded by River Kaveri. 

Visiting The Temple:

Normal ritual is to take a holy bath in river Kaveri and then visit the Mandir.  We took bath and then visited the temple. 

It is a huge complex with several mandir and Gopuras inside the walled complex. Total area is about 156 acres. 

Only Hindus are allowed in to inside temple of Sri Ranganatha. Others can enter the complex and move around but not into the inner Temple.  No entry charges etc. 

Sri Ranganatha Swamy :

Main deity is Sri Ranganatha who is in sleeping posture. The deity vigraha is really huge. 

You need to follow the queue to visit the deity. Some days are heavily crowded, it is said. When we visited the crowd was bit less, still queue was lengthy. When you reach the door of the garbagriha you will first see the utsava moorty placed just in front and visible. the garbaa griha is not well lit and you have really closely observe to see the deity in sleep posture. If you have lost yourself in visualising the beautiful Utsava moorty then you will miss to see the main deity. The main deity is behind the UtsavaMoorty. You have to discern left and right, literally move your head to left to see the gods beautiful Sri Mukha and turn left to the charana. Vigraha is that huge. you cant take pictures inside the garbhagriha. In the first instance I missed the sri Charana. Because you can not stand there for more than five seconds. We came back in the queue second time and then saw the Sri Mukha and the Sri Charana. Mi wife wife entered third time to view the full view of the Sri Ranganatha. 

Check the timing of the temple closure and opening so that you can plan. You can by prasadam inside the complex and also can take free prasadam.  

Another important thing about the temple is that legacy says that one of the great Sri Vaishna acharya Sri Ramanujacharya's mortal body is preserved in one of the temples. There are few difference of opinions about this legacy. You can see the Acharya's body sitting in lotus form, just behind the deity of a smaller temple. Not sure how they have preserved the body for hundreds of years. 

I have taken few pictures using my mobile hence quality is not that good though. Enjoy those pictures. 

The temple is beautiful with carved pillars and gopuras. However not so much importance is given to the beauty of the complex. I do not know the reason. They are not made as popular as Tanjavoor Sri Brihadeshwara pillars what normally you get to see. 

The gopura above the sri Ranganatha swamy is made of pure gold. You can see it from particular spot. 

Now enjoy the pictures. They are not in some order. 

This is made of pure gold. 

Bathing area is not well organised. They should something about it. Alao people throw their old cloths just arond everywhere. 

The river water is very clean. 

We drove back in the afternoon with a satisfaction of completing the pilgrimage. 

Rotterdam in a day

 Rotterdam : 

Rotterdam is a major port city in the Dutch province of South Holland. After being almost completely reconstructed following WWII, the city is now known for bold, modern architecture and beautiful cityscape. 

Well, Rotterdam is a modern city with high rise buildings along side the buildings with architectural, engineering marvel. 

It is surprising to see how quickly the city was rebuilt after destruction during WW II. 

It has a bit of history as well goes as follows:

The Maritime Museum's vintage ships and exhibits trace the city's seafaring history. 

The 17th-century Delfshaven neighborhood is home to canal side shopping and Pilgrim Fathers Church, where pilgrims worshiped before sailing to America. 

If you search the places of interest you will hit a list of about 15 to 20 places. I do not say all of them are worth visiting. Again it depends on one's interest and liking.

I do not spend much time & money on museums & painting unless I know its worth. Many museums are private collections and not really a museum. Hence I end up skipping many museums and art exhibitions. One of the reason for this attitude of mine could be due to many such museums and art exhibitions that I have experienced already in past visits. 

Depot Boijmans Van Beuningen

Depot Boijmans Van Beuningen – with an ultra-sustainable energy system and its own heat and cold storage – has been very popular. You can look at art there (the building houses about 151,000 works)

You may like to visit the green roof or eat at restaurant Renilde

It is a marvellous building completely covered with mirrors on the outer side. Finding your self in the mirror is fun. 

Do not forget to book the tickets online if you want to visit the exhibition. 

Markt Hall :

This building is another beautiful one. Architects must have really exercised the imagination to full extent in Netherlands. 

There are lot of small and medium restaurants with various cuisines including Indian and Asian.  

PC: Internet

Garden:

Trompenburg

This is a quiet botanical garden with lot of diverse green trees, shrubs, flower bulbs with an area of 8 hectares.  It is open all the years. You can buy ticket at the main entrance. Place is well connected by public transport. 

I did not find any birds except for one water bird. 

Cubehouse :

The club houses complex is close to markt hall.

I would not hesitate to call this as that some crazy architect has fulfilled his or her enchanting desire of creating something different. 

They describe it as innovative and space optimisation. I have difficulty to agree to this statement. Not sure whether the residents are really happy. Very tiny and expensive. It does not seem to worth its cost if you look at cost / space ratio. Nevertheless it looks different and funny. 

Do not burn your pocket with private tour etc. Go there and buy a 3 euro ticket on the spot and you can visit one house. All house are same i understand. 

Erasmus Bridge: 

Beautiful bridge. Ideally the picture should be taken from across from a distance to view the beauty. I could not take such a picture though. 

A tricky building next to the bridge. I do not know what was the need for making a "cut & twist" in midway. 

A speed boat below the bridge. 

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I strolled through shopping street and market place leisurely. I did not visit euro mast and the zoo. 

I would have visited maritime museum but did not have not time. 

You get to see many different kind of buildings along the way. 

No clue.

It is one of important city in Europe, commercial centre, key port.