Sakkarai Amma......

Last week,I had the opportunity of visiting a temple in Thiruvanmiyur which is built for a saint called Sakkarai Amma(whose real name I was told was Anandambaal)...
It is on a small lane off Kalashetra Road which streches from LB Road to Kalakshetra.....a few hundred metres before reaching Kalakshetra...
Although there is a board outside the temple we dont get to realise if there is a temple bcos it has apartments on either side ....
The moment you walk past the temple arch and step into the premises ,we can realise that there is some kind of divine presence and speciality about the place.The broad passage to the temple has coconut trees planted at regular intervals..
After removing footwear there, we could climb few stairs and go into the temple..There is the idol of the saint Sakkarai Amma...Poojas and rituals and mantras are chanted as usual but money is strongly refused by the priest(who also works for free as a service)....
There are lots of trees and greenery around the temple...On the northern side of the temple there is a statue of its founder Dr.NanjundaRao...The southern side of the temple has a meditation hall .....There is a special beautifully landscaped pathway that leads us to the amazing meditation hall which has nothing but silence and a great aura...we can feel the divineness.....It may sound unbelievable but the truth is it rained only on top of the meditation hall when I was inside and not even a wet spot outside....incredible....it may sound....

The priest told me that the saint lived from 1854-1901.She was from somewhere around Tindivanam and she got married at the age of 8 and after her husbands demise she entered monkhood,travelled to many parts of the country,met many great saints like Ramanar,Vivekananda and so on....Finally she came to Thiruvanmiyur where she attained Jeevamukti(deathless Samadhi)....This temple was built in that very same place and she is believed to exist there till now and chanting of lalitha sahasranamam could be heard occasionally .....