Chidambaram

AT noon, the train steamed into Chidambaram station. Ramdas stepped out on the platform. He was now without a guide. Ram had made him a child, without plans, without any thought of the next moment, but with his mind ever fixed in the one thought of Ram, Ram. He found some pilgrims proceeding towards the city and followed them. At midday he reached the precincts of the temple of Chidambaram. He went up straight to the entrance of the temple, but could not gain admission as none was allowed to get in without a payment of annas 4 – the entrance fee. He was without a single pie which however he did not at all regret. He wandered for a time amidst the ruins surrounding the temple and, after bathing in one of the many tanks, seated himself on a long stone in the sun, in a secluded portion of the ruins. It was now about 1 o’clock. Ramdas, who was all the while absorbed in the Ram Japa opened his small bundle of books and taking out the Bhagavad Gita commenced reading it. He had not perused half a dozen verses when he found a stout Tamilian coming towards him and taking a seat beside him.

“Maharaj,” he inquired, “may I know if you have taken any food for the day?”

“No,” replied Ramdas, “but Ram provides. No fear so far, no thought of it; you remind me, friend.”

“Can you tell me what kind of food you take?” next asked the friend.

“Plantains, if you please”, Ramdas rejoined.

At once the friend got up and disappeared, and in a short time returned with a dozen plantains, and laying them in front of Ramdas pressed him to eat. O Ram, Thy ways are wonderful! The repast over, the Tamilian, who was sent by Ram Himself to look after the wants of his humble devotee, next asked Ramdas to follow him. At the entrance of the temple he paid annas 8, the entrance fee for both, and took him inside the temple. After the Darshan of the idols, he showed him the whole interior of the temple. One rarity here is, the roof of the central building of the temple is covered with sheets of gold. The guide furnished by Ram was very kind to him. There was that night, Puja in the temple in a grand style, and also a procession attended by thousands. When all this was over, it was past midnight; the Tamilian friend secured for Ramdas a place for spending the night. Here he made Ramdas understand that he was only a pilgrim come there to attend that night’s Puja and procession from a neighbouring town, and that he intended to return by the early morning train, and that he was much blessed by Ramdas’ society for ever so short a time. Ramdas’ heart was too full for words. Ram’s kindness was indescribable.

Next morning, along with other pilgrims, Ramdas came to the railway station. But where to go and by what train, he was entirely in the dark. His imaginative faculty for making plans and seeking information was totally absent. Without a guide he was feeling helpless. He depended for all things on Ram whom he was remembering every moment of his existence. On reaching the station he found a train standing, but did not know whence it had come and whither it was proceeding. He straightaway went up to the gate and was entering the platform when the ticket-clerk barred his passage telling him that he should not enter without a ticket. It was all Ram’s will. Ram did not want that he should travel by this train. Probably it might be running towards a direction where Ramdas would come across no places of pilgrimage. Ram knew best.