By Acarya Dasa
On the 11th of April our party traveled to Paksi-tirtha also known as Tirukalukundram. The town is located 15 kilometers southeast of Chingleput and 17 kilometers west of Mahabalipuram. The town is known for its Hindu temple called the Sri Vedagiriswarar and it is also popularly known as Kazhugu koli (Eagle temple). The temple is dedicated to Lord Siva and sits high atop the Veda-giri hills. A long expanse of steps leads up to the temple, the presiding deities of which are a Siva-lingam and Parvati.
This place holds immense significance for our padayatra because Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu visited here during His South India preaching sojourn.
pakṣi-tīrtha dekhi’ kaila śiva daraśana
vṛddhakola-tīrthe tabe karilā gamana[1]
The verse translates as: ‘Pakṣi-tīrtha, Lord Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu visited the temple of Lord Śiva. Then He went to the Vṛddhakola place of pilgrimage. The purport to the verse elaborates on this holy place:
‘Pakṣi-tīrtha, also called Tirukāḍi-kuṇḍam, is located nine miles southeast of Ciṁlipaṭ. It has a five-hundred-foot elevation and is situated in a chain of hills known as Vedagiri or Vedācalam. There is a temple of Lord Śiva there, and the deity is known as Vedagirīśvara. Two birds come there daily to receive food from the temple priest, and it is claimed that they have been coming since time immemorial.[2]’
Hundreds of pilgrims gather here daily at the summit of Veda-giri to witness the priests feeding the birds. Lord Caitanya Himself visited this place and distributed His mercy to the deities and the devotees.
Within the temple complex there is also a beautiful body of water situated partially down the hill known as Sangu Theertham which translates as ‘Conch tank’. It is said that a ‘valampiri’ or right-turned conch shell manifests itself in the water once every 12 years. A temple priest dreams about the exact location of the conch in the water and then retrieves it. We, padayatris, took darsana of the deities and held sankirtana in the courtyard of the temple –meditating all the while on Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu when He had come to this place. As Bhakivinod Thakur sings in the 3rd verse of ‘Suddha Bhakata Carana Renu’
se-saba sthana, heribo ami,
pranayi-bhakata-sange
Which translates as: ‘May I always visit all the holy places associated with the lila of Lord Caitanya and His devotees.’
We are all very fortunate to be on padayatra here in India because in this way during our travels we can take darsana of some of the tirthas visited by Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu and the acaryas. In this way we are not just traveling here and there –instead wherever we go we always try to hear more about the glories of the dhama from the dhama gurus.
Our party distributed books here, held sankirtana and a small katha for the local people. During the katha we explained to everyone present how the Lord had come to this place 500 years ago to distribute his mercy and how He must have danced with pleasure. We were not present to witness this past time and take His darsana then, but He has come again to give everyone here His darsana in His deity form. We appealed to the people to take the Lord’s darsana and be blissful. As my beloved Gurudev (Lokanath Swami) always says, “Let the soul chant and dance to the Hare Krsna mantra.” Taking these words to heart we tried to inspire the residents here to join us in dancing in kirtana which they happily did.
Each day on padayatra is filled with bliss and so it is even more pleasing for us to see other souls enjoying this bliss and dancing on harinam. When we see new people taking up Krsna Consciousness we feel like our lives have been perfected and all the tiredness leaves as we glorify our Nitai Gaurasundar for giving us this opportunity to serve Them and our Guru.
Nitai Gaurasundar ki, jai!
[1] Caitanya Caritmrta Madhya Lila 9.27 Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu’s Travels to the Holy Places
[2] Caitanya Caritmrta Madhya Lila 9.27 purport
