We reached Kumbakonam at 7 am. As soon as we got off, my sandal strap ripped off on one side – and I was unable to walk. I had not brought a spare as this particular sandal has been good for a looong time – only prblm was tht it squeaked – well, now – it was ripped as well – I was totally vexed. Meanwhile, the Taurean who had been walking ahead came bk n asked me wht was the problem – why was I walking so slow?? I showed him my poor sandal and the Arien ran to a shop – got me a rubberband to hold the strap to my leg instead of flapping outside and throwing me off-balance. I was now able to walk – The * I feel good* song was reverberating in my head!

Day 2

The plan for today was to visit Swamy malai in the morning and go to the Uppiliappan Koil post lunch. We were ready by 10 am after having breakfast. I insisted that we travel by bus to Swamy malai as it was a mere 7 kms away. On the way to the bus-stop, I got myself a pair of sandals – tht was jes ’bout ok. The wait at the bus-stop took forever. Usually, there was a bus every 15 mts – we stood in the hot sun for an hour before the first bus to swamy malai arrived. It has been years since we travelled by bus and so it took us a while to get accustomed to ppl pushing you frm behind – surprisingly, our seat finding ability had not rusted! we sat far apart and the bust stopped every two mts and picked up a min. of 5 ppl at every stop.

When we reached Swamy malai, the bus was packed to capacity and we really had to push our way out. We had been dropped pretty close to the temple entrance, for a change. However, we still had a small walk ahead of us. My cousin, the Capricon, calls to let us know that he is already waiting at the temple. When I return his call – no answer – I assume that the pujai has already started. The moment I tell the other folks this – we are moving forward at a faster pace.  I am not moving with them – I am slowing down – reason: the lovely beads of my new sandal start digging at my skin – I know I am getting a shoe bite – I hate this sandal – my walk becomes slower. Soon, they are walking a long way ahead – the Arien slows down to keep me company. The Taurean wants to know why I am taking forever to walk – I cannot share the reason as I had been the one who said this sandal was gr8 – and refused to chk for comfort- I glare at him and he decides to keep the Senior Arien company.  

At the entrance of the temple, while the Senior Arien is getting the archania thattu – I get the damn sandals off. I feel relieved almost instantly. 

We catch up with my cousin and his family – they are waiting in the queue to get the spl darshan tickets – we join them. The entire pujai takes arnd half an hour and after tht we catch up with whts going on in each other’s lives – we spend an hour in the temple and then decide to catch up in the Uppiliappan temple later in the day. My cousin and his family leave immediately.

We find a bus waiting at the place where we got off and it is in the process of getting filled – we take the last seat. The Taurean is totally against sitting here, but the idea of moving was totally unacceptable as more ppl had followed us in. We stayed where we were – laughed and joked and reached Kumbokonam pretty quickly. I was really tired, and feeling sick, the sandal continued to bug me. We had a quick lunch at Meenakshi Bhavan. I wanted to sleep almost immediately – we are supposed to meet my cousin at 3:30 and there was really no time to catch a nap – but I was looking so green – everybody asked me to take a small cat nap. 

We reached Uppiliappan Koil arnd 3:50 pm by auto. I was feeling terribly guilty only to find that the Kalyana Utsavam was going to start at 4pm. For once, we were actually early!! * I feel good* My cousin was in the temple kolam with his daughter, feeding the fish. It was a nice break and we joined them. Saw a cute kingfisher sitting atop a steel pillar. The Arien could not resist taking snaps. The Kalyana Utsavam started sharp at 4 pm and went on for almost an hour.  It was lovely. The Lord Vishnu, also known as Uppiliappan was being wed to Bhoomi Devi – the elaborate Kalyana Utsavam was a sight for sore eyes.

During the entire Kalyana Utsavam, I coughed infrequently. I thought the cold was ok – sore throat had disappeared. I started feeling very tired. We had planned to visit another temple – I was suddenly in no mood for anything. I told the senior Arien that I would like to sleep and so we left. Of course, my aunt, the Gemini, is known for her ability to quickly divide prasadam into multiple packets, bless her – did all the dividing and handing it to both the Ariens, while I was acting slightly weird as I was very sick. The goodbyes happened in a rush – I wanted to rest my head and soon we were at the hotel. I fell asleep almost imm – I knew I was likely to get fever – I had started trembling.  When I woken by the Arien for dinner – I asked for Idlis and refused to wake up. I do recall eating two of the idlis – with sugar and falling asleep again. What a blaaaah end to Day1.