Reveries in Stone

The Chitharal Hill Temple

The day had dawned with a forewarning that Sunday. Various meteorological sources across the nation & the world, had issued warnings that the ominous Hudhud was expected to hit the northern Indian ocean & its coastline during the early hours of the day.

Having lain to rest our much-awaited Kanyakumari beach plans at the ominous newscast of the storm, we continued to watch the news channels race to make hay out of the disarray. Kanyakumari might have been well out of the path of Hudhud’s destructive agenda, but one never knows... Nature has always been a mystery woman with strange whims and fancies …

What followed soon after was nothing, but a perceivable void in space & time, as there was practically nothing to do that morning. All possible routines and chores had been completed well in advance in view of the trip that was planned for the next day. However the vacuum didn't exist for long as Sir. FB chose to ride in, clad in shining armor to our rescue and also shockingly and surprisingly in the process ended up making our day! It all began as an ordinary social networking routine with an ordinary status post by an extraordinarily good friend asking people to come forward with suggestions of interesting places to visit in and around Trivandrum. We not only ‘came forward’ with our picks, but also decided to ‘go forth’ to one of the places we ourselves had suggested in response! A case of educating & becoming educated in the process. Thus materialized an extraordinary experience, ‘Chitharal'.

Situated at just an hour’s drive away from the Trivandrum city, the Chitharal village in Marthandam, Tamil Nadu looks quietly and deceptively ordinary, like a small and commonplace South Indian village to an onlooker who’d be entering its limits for the first time. The extraordinariness starts mounting only as one gradually starts the slow climb on foot that leads to the top of the hillock.

Having reached the foot of the climb at around four in the evening, we were hopeful of experiencing the Chitharal sun set as well in a few hours’ time. The mild evening sun, the tender breeze and the winding trail of country almond trees that lined the upward trek made for a pleasant hike all the way up to the top and in no time we were wholly transported to a landscape that perhaps belonged to a different era altogether.

The setting belonged to a different era in fact, as the hilltop sheltered some of the rarest, most ancient and beautiful Jain monuments and engravings of early Southern India. Traditionally known as ‘Thirucharanathupalli’ the Chitharal Jain temple dates back to the 9th century and was said to be the abode of scholarly Jain monks of the Digambara sect, who lived and taught the principles of Jainism, supposedly during the era of the Pallava King Mahendravarman I. Currently protected by the Archaeological Survey of India owing to its historical significance, the ‘Malaikovil’ as the monument is popularly referred to in local parlance, also houses a shrine containing carvings of Mahavira Tirthankara, Parsvanatha Tirthankara and Goddess Padmavathi.

History also has it that this cave shrine was converted into a Hindu place of worship sometime later in the 13th Century. The ancient stone inscriptions in this cave monument reveal some of the earliest forms of Tamil, Sanskrit and Malayalam scripts in which the teachings of the Jain ascetics were engraved centuries ago. At the foot of the shrine is a flurry of stone steps that lead us down to a mossy green pond where the rippling reflection of the rocks merge tremblingly with the clear blue of the sky creating a soothing visual effect. After beholding the beauty of the rock-cut sculptures and the rocky landscape that appeared to have been greatly accentuated by the golden rays of the evening sun, one can undoubtedly affirm that the best time of the day to experience the Chitharal magic would be during the evening.

Even before we knew it, the sun had begun setting over the scenic view of the surrounding low-lying green plains dotted with village clusters, church spires and groves of greenery crisscrossed with winding water-bodies. The serenity and stillness of the scene is one that leaves us mesmerized and pondering if the place hid more secrets than we knew it did.

It is no wonder that centuries back, a few Jain monks chose this pristine place to be the abode of their meditation and learning. Even in the midst of the altered character of the atmosphere that envelops us today, Chitharal offers a place of respite to those who seek to rest calmly and meditate simply leaving their senses and soul wide open to nature.