Pujya Sri Mahaswamy Divya Charitram Part#57

 

Tour of Cochin – Thiruvanantapuram

Swamigal completed his Chaturmasya Vrata of 1927 in Kanjikodu and left for a tour of the southern towns in Kerala as requested by scores of his devotees. He had darshan of Sri Krishna Paramatma in Guruvayoor on February 2nd, 1928. Thousands of people gathered to witness Swamigal’s arrival in Guruvayoor. Special decorations were made to the idol of Sri Krishna in the temple. The temple officials offered a grand
welcome as per protocol and invited Swamigal in the temple to have darshan of Sri Krishna. Later Swamigal left for Tiruchur via Chittor and had darshan at Vadakku Nadar temple in Tiruchur on February 5th, 1928. There used to be four Sankara mutts in Tiruchur before, but two of the mutts have Namboodris who have observed sannyas.

Swamigal visited these mutts, inquired about their history and keenly inspected the archeological artifacts that portrayed Sri Adi Sankara’s biography. He also visited Brahmaswa mutt, where he blessed the new students that were starting their education in the Guru kula style. Swamigal visited the coastal town of Kiranganur from there and was received by the local king and had darshan at the Bhagawathi temple. He later reached Cochin on March 19th, 1928 where he was received by the royal family. He stayed at Thirupanithura till the end of March. He used to visit the temple belonging to the royal family and also the Sanskrit Vidyalaya where he would converse with the students in Sanskrit. Arrangements for his stay was done under the leadership of Diwan T.S.Narayana Iyer and the Samsthan officials. A grand procession was conducted by the organizers who also performed bikshavandanam and pada puja.

Swamigal traveled to Vaikkam and stayed in the holy place for a day and had darshan of the God. He visited the key pilgrim centers in the Trivandrum district and reached Azhapuzha via Kottayam on April 15, 1928. The citizens of Azhapuzha persuaded Swamigal with their devotion to stay in their town for a week. He visited the patasala installed in his name and also patronized by him – Sri Chandrasekarendra Patasala in Azhapuzha. He tested and blessed the students learning the Vedas and Shastras. He also commended the organizers after meeting some vedic students whose primary education was in English. Travel to Mankombu, situated seven miles from there was undertaken by ocean. Sankara Jayanthi was celebrated there in that year in a grand manner. Swamigal traveled back to Azhapuzha and Manar to reach Kollam on May 3rd, 1928. He stayed in Kollam for five days. From Kollam, our Swamigal visited Kottarakarai, Punalur, Ariyangkavu, Chengottai and reached Kutralam where he had the darshan of Sri Kutralanathar and camped for a week. Swamigal’s travel and stay in Cochin and Thiruvanatapuram districts were arranged by the royalty and their officials.

The government officials there were also instructed not to collect road tax from the mutt
vehicles or cattle.