In 2018, the Mahavir Janma Kalyanak or the birth anniversary of Mahavir Swami happened on 29th March. I was then in Tiruvannamalai. Typically on these ‘big’ days, I like to visit a Jain temple. So while there are a few Jain temples in Tiruvannamalai city, I thought of going to the one marked as “Mahaveer Jain Temple” on G maps.

It’s 15 km from Tiru. I was anyway looking to explore villages in the area and so this temple visit would also become a village excursion. I took a bus from the Tiru bus stand plying the Vettuvalam road. I first asked the conductor to take me to Nadalaganandal, that’s the name of the closest highway stop on Gmaps. But the conductor couldn’t understand what I was saying, either my accent was weird or maybe there is a different local name for that place. So I looked up the main road name – Vettuvalam highway – and I took the bus which was plying on that road.

Farms by the Vettuvalam Road

The conductor of that bus knew this Nadalaganandal place. So I settled down into the bus and enjoyed the scenic route. I was excited about exploring on the village level, I had never gone this grassroot before. The Jain temple was off the main road and into the village side. I didn’t know if it is safe to venture out here on my own. But I was hoping to take a rickshaw. Ideally, I would have liked to bring my cycle but I had left it back in Mumbai. The city cycle I had in Tiruvannamalai was good only for a few KMs. Anything more would be tedious.

The bus dropped me on the main road of Nadalaganandal. I went to the nearby shop where many locals had gathered to chat and wait for the next bus into the city. I bought some bananas and had them as my breakfast whilst chatting with the locals. A few of them knew little bit English and Hindi. I added my little bit of Tamil knowledge and I managed to tell them I am from Mumbai and here to see the Jain temple. I also enquired about the upcoming Poornima.

It was fun. Earlier I wouldn’t feel comfortable having this kind of conversation. But now I have had some experience of Indian villages, specifically Tamil Nadu villages. I earlier cycled from Chennai to Tiruvannamalai and got a real cycle touring experience of India at village level. Then I stayed for a week in a village on the outskirts of Coimbatore near Isha Yoga Center. So, I was looking forward to this village experience and could sit here having bananas and chatting with some locals.

Small shops at Nadalaganandal stop

The locals then called a rickshaw from somewhere for me to take me to the Jain temple. I negotiated a rate of 150 INR to take me to the temple, wait few minutes and bring me back. Of course, 150 INR is a ridiculously high amount for a few kms back n forth, but hey, I was obviously a city girl here. And so I didn’t bother bargaining. Someone has to fund this rickshaw guys booze after all! 😉

The dirt road to the Jain temple was scenic with farms on both sides. I would have liked to walk all the way but since I wasn’t sure of safety I decided to go via rickshaw. And I picked this rickshaw in front of everyone in that snack shop, which generally means that they consider it safe. Unless everyone in that village are evil, which is unlikely.

The rickshaw person in broken English and Hindi started telling me about the Poornima festival of the village. And it sounded intriguing. It seems it’s quite elaborate with the deity being walked on top of men who are prostrating on the ground and all sorts of bizarre stuff. But since there was a language problem I wasn’t sure whether I understood what exactly he was saying. I think it would be a good idea to explore such villages during some of their important festivals.

The Jain temple was very small but quaint. A neighbourhood boy called Mahavir opened it up for me. And I sat inside for a while, put some donation. I then saw Mahavir’s mother in her house and waved at her from outside. They seemed to be farmers, but Mahavir didn’t know any English or Hindi at all. So I guessed nor did his Mother.

Jainism used to be dominant in South India in these regions many, many years back, but now it’s a minority religion. Despite a fairly small Jain population in this village, they had constructed this temple around a 500 year old Mahavir Swami idol they found at the nearby riverbed.

Mahavir, a small boy opened the temple for me

I think it’s the first time I have seen a deity on top of the temple gate like this…

Here’s another blog, someone has written about this temple with a lot of photos.

And that’s pretty much it, I then returned back to the highway, all the while chatting with the rickshaw driver about all sorts of stuff – Arunachalam, poornima festivals, Jains and so on. At the highway I again sat at the snack shop chatting with the same locals who were still sitting there and waited for the bus back to town. Soon the bus arrived and on I went.

Happy to have visited the Mahavir temple on Mahavir Jayanti. 🙂
And also a solo excursion into an Indian village.

To know more about some of the best Tamil Nadu temples I have visited, read this blog.