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First I will write about the three places I visited, viz., Naimisharanyam, Ayodhya and Lucknow and will conclude with some general impressions.
 Places visited in Naimisharanyam (25th August 2022)
Our reason to visit Naimisharanyam was the Divya Desam temple of Devarajar. But to a vast majority of people, Naimisharanyam, like Gaya, is a place where rituals in memory of ancestors are done. And the two 'must see' places for them are Chakrateertham and Sri Lalita Devi Mandir. We started our visit from Gomti river. The next stop was Chakrateertham. Though looking like a static water-body, it is a river which flows in a circular motion. The water originates from an underground source and is very ancient. Adi Sankara is said to have visited Sri Lalita Devi Mandir, one of the 51 Shakti Peethams. Naimisharanyam is the Holy forest where Vedavyasa taught the Vedas and all the Puranas to his disciples.There are temples for Vyasa and many of his disciples. We visited Vyas Gaddi and Dadhichi Kund. Dadhichi, a disciple of Vyasa donated his spinal cord to Indra for making the powerful Vajrayutham. Among the modern temples, the biggest is Balaji temple, also known as Andhra temple. It is quite a big complex with huge statues and many sannidhis. We then visited Rudravrat, a ghat on the Gomti river. This place is interesting. When we offer prasad (bananas cut into pieces) to the Shivling under the water, half of them go down and half float back as prasad. We had darshan at the Brindavan maintained by Ahobila Math where Uttara Ahobilam is under construction. The Bhattar and his wife are known to Mohan and Usha. As I mentioned earlier, we had a hurried darshan of Lord Devaraja (Shri Hari) and topped up the visit with a lunch in the Ahobilam Bhattar's residence.
 Places visited in Ayodhya (26th August 2022)
We had to leave Lucknow at 5 A.M. as it is a 3-hour journey and many important temples in Ayodhya are closed between 11 AM and 2 PM. The guide arranged by our tour operator, a smart young man, received us and said,' The only three things that exist from Ramayana days here are River Sarayu, Ram Janambhoomi and Shri Ram in the hearts of people. We will begin our tour the way Shri Ram began after He came back to Ayodhya after 14 years.' The first stop was hence River Sarayu where we all performed Go Puja (Cow Puja), like Rama did. Next should have been Nandigram, Bharata's place, because that's where Rama went. But we were to visit it later. So we deviated from Shri Rama's path and visited the workshop where people are working round the clock to make and take materials to the site.  A lot of materials have been received from all over India and Nepal which are displayed. Pride of place has been given to a 600-kg bell received from Rameswaram.A temple has been constructed where we recited the pasurams. We then went to Kanaka Bhawan, a palace said to be donated to Sita by Kaikeyi. It has a kitchen called Sita ki Rasoi, where food is now prepared for Annadhanam. It was time to join the queue for a darshan of Ram Lala. Fortunately there are e-autos connecting all the places to be visited. Yet, the walk to have a darshan of Ram lala was over a kilometer inside the security area. We had to deposit our cellphones before joining the queue. The security was very tight, though I was told that it is less intensive than it was before the Supreme Court judgment. We had a fleeting darshan of Ram Lala. Ammaji temple, a temple for Ram built by Yogi Parthasarathy Iyengar 100 years ago was the next. It has a sannidhi of Ranganatha. The main sannidhi was under repair, but we could have darshan as it was opened for work. It is known as Ammaji temple as it was maintained by Singarammal, wife of Parthasarathy Iyengar. Hanuman Garhi, one of the famous Hanuman temples was next.
We are thankful to Chandra who had suggested that we must visit Nandigram. After bringing Rama's padhuka, Bharata was said to have moved to Nandigram. The place has temples and a cave for Bharata. It is a serene place, away from the hustle and bustle of Ayodhya and is definitely worth a visit. Our guide lamented that not even 10 percent of the pilgrims who visit Shri Ram visit the younger brother.
 Places visited in Lucknow (24th & 27th August 2022)
On the day we landed in Lucknow, the tour operator had arranged a visit to a good Chikan fabric shop. Lucknow is famous for this unique fabric. On the last day, we had to report to the airport at 4 PM. So we had a local sight-seeing tour of Lucknow in the forenoon. There are a number of places of historical importance. Bada Imambara is easily the best of them. A huge palace, it is famous for its Bhool Bhulaiya (a maze). It is huge and has four levels. Without the guide one would be lost. We drove through some of the other places like Chota Imambara, High Court, Secretariet etc. We spent some time in the Art Gallery. Finally we visited Ambedkar Park, one of the many parks constructed by Maya Devi as chief minister.
 Hum Paanch
I feel that the ideal number to visit any place as a group is five. And it is great when everyone is friendly and lively. Our group of five (Raghu, Chandra, Hema, Amritha and yours truly) came together at Arumbakkam two days before our departure to Lucknow for the darshan at two Divya desams, Naimisharanyam and Ayodhya. We knew that our trip would be a happy one as soon as I asked the name of the driver who was to take us to the airport. He replied, 'Anand'.
Indigo Airlines
Indigo Airlines is the only one offering direct and cheapest flight to Lucknow from Chennai. The basic fare is about Rs 4700/ (though we paid Rs. 5500 including some add-ons). The reasonableness of the airfare can be seen from the fact that the AC-2-tier fare by train from Chennai to Lucknow is Rs. 3030/- The time taken is 2hrs 25 min by flight and 35 hours by train. For those who normally travel by AC class in trains, flight is easily the superior option. Our flight took off and landed on time. Flights are nice as long as they are uneventful. On the return flight, we faced a crisis as the flight could not land in Chennai due to heavy rains. Amritha and I felt it was like the Hindi movie, Runway 34. The flight had to be diverted to Bangalore. But kudos to the pilot and crew who handled the situation admirably. As soon as we landed in Bangalore, they started serving snacks and tea which kept everyone quiet. After a brief delay the flight took off for Chennai and we landed 3 hours later than the right time.
Tour operator
After searching the net, I selected Maa Bhawani Travels to organise our tour. They arranged accommodation in a decent hotel for 3 nights, pickup from and drop at airport and the three trips described earier. Saurabh shukla (9005920007, 6391999333) was as courteous in person as he was on phone. He did not ask for any extra over the negotiated cost, though we included Nandigram later. The vehicle (Ertiga) was in good condition and the driver, Amit, was a man of few words but very efficient and courteous. We had a very good trip thanks to this tour agency.
Tour guide
You do not need any guide for Naimisharanyam if the driver knows the town. But Ayodhya definitely needs a tour guide. Our guide was a post-graduate student and very smart and good in his job. We enjoyed the way he described the places and the way he conducted himself.
Food
Lucknow, though famous for its Mughlai cuisine, has a number of vegetarian hotels. When I asked a restaurant manager about Jain food (no onion, no garlic for Hema), he said that they serve Vaishnava food (Jain food is Vaishnava food in U.P.) as a number of pilgrims ask for it. Breakfast was included in our lodging, but we could take it only on the last day as we had to leave well before breakfast time to Naimisharanyam and Ayodhya. On the day we had it, we felt we had missed out on two days.We found that Ayodhya has a lot of good restaurants. We had lunch at a hotel near Hanuman Garhi and it was very good. At Naimisharanyam, we had informed the Bhattar's wife and had an excellent South Indian lunch. Though we had carried some chapathis and idlis, there is no need to carry much food to Lucknow.
Religion as a business
A negative feature of Naimisharanyam and Ayodhya is the covert and overt demand for money. We were warned about some persons who may demand money in Chakrateertham. As we went to Naimisharanyam a day before Amavasya (everyone was away, preparing for the next day), there was no problem there. But we found it was common in every place to explain about that place and conclude saying,' You need to contribute for this worthy cause, otherwise ....' The people in charge of various places we visited in Ayodhya were more shamelessly explicit. I'd have paid voluntarily, but trying to instil fear was very irritating. I wonder whether they are religious persons or in money transfer business - transferring money from the visitors' pockets to theirs.
 E-Auto
A sight that struck us in Lucknow, Naimisharanyam and Ayodhya was the large number of e-autos on the roads.Each auto carries five passengers and the seats are quite comfortable. The driver to whom we talked was very happy about his 'Mayuri' (that was the name of his vehicle). We found that the noise made by an e-auto is not even 2 percent of a normal auto. And they are very convenient vehicles in temple towns with narrow lanes. I wonder why we do not see them in the advanced south.Vidya and Nitya want to introduce them in Kanchipuram. Good luck to them.
 Mail
It is an unwritten rule that when five members of Ranganathan family get together, they will play mail. We had our daily quota in Arumbakkam as well as Lucknow. Our daily life these six days was a mix of 'aanmeekam' and 'laukeekam'. We regularly recited our slokas in the morning and evening with the addition of the pasurams on Naimisharanyam and Ayodhya. But we found time for mail. On the last day, we came back to the room at 2.30 PM after lunch and we had 45 minutes time before leaving for the airport. It was an appropriate time for playing two rounds of mail. When the photo was shared in WhatsApp, Nitya commented, 'Idhellam romba over.'
S.Parthasarathy
September 2022
Click for Part-III of this Article (Delhi & Badrinath Trip)
Click for Part-I of this Article (Divya Desam Temples visited in 2022)
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