Destination 2 – Arulmigu Jambukeswarar Akhilandeswari Temple, Trichy
As we arrived at the Sri Jambukeshwarar Temple at Thiruvanaikaval, I was too excited to enter the temple premises so I did not wait for the others. The reason: I had to see Sri Thakshanamurthy at this temple. He had shown me miracles twice earlier. This was my third visit and I was wondering what he was going to show us this time around since I was with these wonderful children now. To my surprise as I hastened into the temple approaching Sri Akhilandeswari’s sanctum or mulasthanam, a “lady” who walked by, stopped and handed me, placing in my hands a lime, lotus and prasad. Without saying a word, she just walked away with a smile. I was mesmerized, bliss flowing through me. I came back to the entrance koburam and took a seat, waiting for the children to enter. When they saw that I was holding something, clutching it close to my heart, they asked about it and I told them Mother Goddess Sri Akhilandeswari had given me prasad and asked them to collect theirs.
Now making our way to Lord Jambukeswarar’s Sannadhi, I was surprised that there was no crowd and neither was there a queue nor the need to buy a ticket. Eventually we stood close to Lord Jambukeswarar as the priests showed the arathi. I asked him to shift the water at the base of the linga here so that those who were first timers could hear the sound of water in the dark inner sanctum. This temple is one of the 5 natural elements or Panchabhoota Sthalams and signifies the water element.
Leaving Lord Jambukeswarar’s sannadhi we came around to Lord Murugan's sannadhi and the 63 Nayanmars. Agathiyar and Lobhama were seated amongst them. I hastened to Lord Thakshanamurthy’s sannadhi. We all took a seat and Bala began to lead us with the Siddhar Potri or chanting of the names of the Siddhas. A few minutes into chanting their names, there comes along an elderly priests from the left, looking small and fragile with the arati tatthu. He opens up the latch to the grilled sannadhi and lights the arathi and shows it. I signal to Bala trying to tell him that it was happening again. Seeing me signal Bala stopped chanting momentarily until the priest asked him to continue again. The priest stands aside and listens on intently to our chant. Seeming to know that the potri was coming to an end he shows the arathi again. He blesses us before leaving. I was mesmerized and in a state of bliss at seeing this miracle happen again. So were the children. The priest had no reason to be there but he turned up!