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No raging competition, this
W. SREELALITHA
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Questions on epics and temples were part of the Puranic quiz held at the Kodhanda Ramaswami temple.
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Photo: M.Periasamy
Informative: Participants at the Puranic Quiz.
The breeze from the nearby old peepul tree seemed like Nature’s way of welcoming the motley crowd. The setting was perfect. What better place than the Kodhanda Ramaswami Temple premises at Ramnagar for the Puranic Quiz.
Organised by the Temple’s Kumbabhishekam Committee, we were told that the questions included ones on the Ramayana, the Mahabaratha and temples.
Incidentally, the quiz was open to all. So, you saw a school kid vying with an aged madisaar-clad paati. Fifteen questions in the prelims would decide which six teams move to the finals.
A few of the questions were: Which city was located on the banks of Kanchimaanadhi? Perur; Who was Ravana’s elder brother? Kuberan; Who shot the first arrow to mark the commencement of the Mahabhratha war? Dhuchaadhanan.
Interestingly, the six teams that moved into the finals were christened by quizmaster Arvind Subramaniam himself.
The names were based on the Shanmadham, namely Saivam; Vaishnavam; Gaanapathyam; Saathgam; Kaumaaram and Sauram.
How can a spiritual quiz not begin with Lord Ganesha? So, for the first question, the mellifluous Prabho Ganapathe filled the air.
Who wrote the song? There was a variety of answers, including some from the audience, but with incorrect answers. It was written by sage Agathiar.
Visual round
Almost all the questions were accompanied by a visual or two. Hence, there were plenty of ‘identify’ questions, coupled with fascinating nuggets.
One of the questions that followed was to identify a goddess standing ever so beautifully, oozing grace. Small wonder, she was Bangaru Kamakshi!
More questions, and here are the few challenging ones. Lord Bramha took an avatar to help Lord Rama.
Who was he? Jambhavan; Connect Jambhavan, Parasurama and Hanuman.
All the three appear in both the epics; Who was the only Pandava descendant to be alive after the war? Parikshit (in his mother’s womb); At which temple did the Nandhi move, to oblige a devotee? Thirupungur; On two occasions, Lakshman disobeyed Lord Rama.
Name them. First, at the forest when he was supposed to be with Sita and next, when he permitted sage Dhurvasar to meet Lord Rama, despite being instructed by Rama not to permit anyone.
Lakshman had to allow Dhurvasar in because he threatened to destroy Ayodhya. With each passing round, the possibility to choose a winner became bleak, as someone almost always had the answer.
Well, when the team missed out, the audience answered it. As a result, many in the audience went home with spiritual books.
Filled with enthusiasm
Sauram team bagged the first prize, followed by Saivam and Vaishnavam.
However, a remarkable feature of the quiz was that there was no raging competition, for, each participant was only too happy to learn more about the epics or their favourite temples.
Also, there was no dearth of enthusiasm.
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Friday Review
Bangalore
Chennai and Tamil Nadu
Delhi
Hyderabad
Thiruvananthapuram
|
