Skip to main content

Divine Silence

Yesterday Maggie said, "Let's go to Arthunkal." Arthunkal is a Christian pilgrimage centre in Kerala, about 65 km from my home. "Okay," I said. It's quite some time since Maggie and I went on a long drive. That was the only reason as far as I was concerned. For Maggie, the visit meant much more than that. 
Outside the church
When we reached, the 9 o'clock Mass had just begun. Maggie chose to attend the Mass. Since that sort of prayer doesn't make sense to me, I decided to explore the church whose history goes back to the 16th century. It's then the Perpetual Adoration Chapel caught my attention. The chapel is a semicircular building whose door, the only one it has, remains closed. You enter and the door closes behind you. The atmosphere inside is cool and calm. When I entered there were just 4 or 5 devotees inside who were all praying silently. I sat down on a pew and closed my eyes. 
The church
Serenity surrounded me. Soon I was bathed in that serenity. I loved sitting there. A strange sensation gripped me and I felt happy to be there. It was more than happiness. I realised that prayer could make sense to me too. My prayer had no words, however. It didn't need any. I left that chapel after an hour or so with a rarefied feeling in my soul. 

 Don't take that too literally. I don't believe in a soul in the religious sense. 
The Perpetual Adoration Chapel
When the Mass was over, Maggie and I visited the old church that belongs to the 16th century. We spent some time in the holy premises before driving to the Thaickal Beach which is just a few kilometres away from the church. It's not much of a tourist destination. 
The old church, 16th century
The beach remains pristine because tourists haven't discovered it yet. There were some fishermen on the beach who were mending their fishing boats. They didn't look at the handful of tourists who wandered about the desolate beach like lost souls. 
At the beach
The silence was broken only by the sound of the waves that lashed the shore relentlessly. That sound had a music, as divine as the peace that descended on me in the Perpetual Adoration Chapel. 

Comments

  1. AniruddhFebruary 2, 2020 at 10:16 PM

    This is the first time I heard about Arthunkal. Nice to know about the Church as well on the beach. Today most of the beaches are crowded and polluted. Next time when I visit Kochi, I will definitely try to visit this place.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Tomichan MatheikalFebruary 3, 2020 at 6:45 AM

      The place is near enough to Kochi, just an hour's drive. There are a few more places of religious importance nearby.

      Delete
    2. Jacob MatheckenFebruary 4, 2020 at 8:31 AM

      Visit to Arthungal Church narrated so well that one could be transported there while reading it. This is one of the finest experiential writing straight from the heart despite the speed breaks from the head.Keep writing..Keep discovering..Keep on experiencing life..Keep on travelling on the road of time.

      Delete
    3. Tomichan MatheikalFebruary 4, 2020 at 9:41 AM

      My head insists on jumping in with the speedbreaks. But that's unavoidable given my scepticism about matters of the heart. I have decided, however, to give a try to a few more such places. Maybe, Vallarpadam next.

      Delete
    4. Jacob MatheckenFebruary 4, 2020 at 10:14 AM

      "My Experiments with Beliefs" - in the offing....Gandhi Revisited..Internalised? Interesting.

      Delete
  2. Ira MishraFebruary 3, 2020 at 4:08 AM

    In fact the most beautiful are the places that are the least crowded and most popular with tourists. They have a beauty of their own that unique calmness about them as described by you :)

    ReplyDelete
  3. Neeraj KumarFebruary 3, 2020 at 10:09 AM

    There is a kind of peace emitting from the pics. Reading words of the post makes one calmer. Indeed it is a divine effect.

    ReplyDelete
  4. rupam sarmaFebruary 3, 2020 at 3:15 PM

    Nice to read about Arthunkal. Beautiful post.

    ReplyDelete
  5. UnknownFebruary 3, 2020 at 5:57 PM

    Beautiful Post.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

In this Wonderland

I didn’t write anything in the last few days. Nor did I feel any urge to write. I don’t know if this lack of interest to write is what’s called writer’s block. Or is it simple disenchantment with whatever is happening around me? We’re living in a time that offers much, too much, to writers. The whole world looks like a complex plot for a gigantic epic. The line between truth and fiction has disappeared. Mass murders have become no-news. Animals get more compassion than fellow human beings. Even their excreta are venerated! Folk tales are presented as scientific truths while scientific truths are sacrificed on the altar of political expediency. When the young generation in Nepal set fire to their Parliament and Supreme Court buildings, they were making an unmistakable statement: that they are sick of their political leaders and their systems. Is there any country whose leaders don’t sicken their citizens? I’m just wondering. Maybe, there are good leaders still left in a few coun...
12 comments
Read more

Death as a Sculptor

Book Discussion An Introductory Note : This is not a book review but a reflection on one of the many themes in The Infatuations , novel by Javier Marias. If you have any intention of reading the novel, please be forewarned that this post contains spoilers. For my review of the book, without spoilers, read an earlier post: The Infatuations (2013). D eath can reshape the reality for the survivors of the departed. For example, a man’s death can entirely alter the lives of his surviving family members: his wife and children, particularly. That sounds like a cliché. Javier Marias’ novel, The Infatuations , shows us that death can alter a lot more; it can reshape meanings, relationships, and even morality of the people affected by the death. Miguel Deverne is killed by an abnormal man right in the beginning of the novel. It seems like an accidental killing. But it isn’t. There are more people than the apparently insane killer involved in the crime and there are motives which are di...
7 comments
Read more

The Adventures of Toto as a comic strip

  'The Adventures of Toto' is an amusing story by Ruskin Bond. It is prescribed as a lesson in CBSE's English course for class 9. Maggie asked her students to do a project on some of the lessons and Femi George's work is what I would like to present here. Femi converted the story into a beautiful comic strip. Her work will speak for itself and let me present it below.  Femi George Student of Carmel Public School, Vazhakulam, Kerala Similar post: The Little Girl
47 comments
Read more

When Cricket Becomes War

Illustration by Copilot Designer Why did India agree to play Pakistan at all if the animosity runs so deep that Indian players could not even extend the customary handshake: a simple ritual that embodies the very essence of sportsmanship? Cricket is not war, in the first place. When a nation turns a game into a war, it does not defeat its rival; it only wages war on its own culture, poisoning its acclaimed greatness. India which claims to be Viswaguru , the world’s Guru, is degenerating itself day after day with mounting hatred against everyone who is not Hindu. How can we forget what India did to a young cricket player named Mohammed Siraj , especially in this context? In the recent test series against England, India achieved an unexpected draw because of Siraj. 1113 balls and 23 wickets. He was instrumental in India’s series-levelling victory in the final Test at the Oval and was declared the Player of the Match. But India did not celebrate him. Instead, it mocked him for his o...
6 comments
Read more

Whose Rama?

Book Review Title: Whose Rama? [Malayalam] Author: T S Syamkumar Publisher: D C Books, Kerala Pages: 352 Rama may be an incarnation of God Vishnu, but is he as noble a man [ Maryada Purushottam ] as he is projected to be by certain sections of Hindus? This is the theme of Dr Syamkumar’s book, written in Malayalam. There is no English translation available yet. Rama is a creation of the Brahmins, asserts the author of this book. The Ramayana upholds the unjust caste system created by Brahmins for their own wellbeing. Everyone else exists for the sake of the Brahmin wellbeing. If the Kshatriyas are given the role of rulers, it is only because the Brahmins need such men to fight and die for them. Valmiki’s Rama too upheld that unjust system merely because that was his Kshatriya-dharma, allotted by the Brahmins. One of the many evils that Valmiki’s Rama perpetrates heartlessly is the killing of Shambuka, a boy who belonged to a low caste but chose to become an ascetic. The...
8 comments
Read more