Payyalur or Payilur , the village which was heaven for me

Payyalur or  Payilur , the village  which was  heaven for me

By

P.R.Ramachander

    Payyalur  is a small agraharam near kollengode  town on the  way to kachankurichi temple,My  mother’s  elder  sister was livening  there  with her family.

   I possibly  visited  here  some  70 years  back.Buses  were  not plying to that village then.We have  to   travel in palakkad kollengode bus and walk for about 2 miles to reach this agraharam. When I visited them first , their family  was living in a thatched roof house  with mud walls.After  we enter  through  first door there  used be a broad passage  with  granite  stone  on top .My periyamai explained that it was  called  “Thee mara  kallu”  and  if the house  catches fire all  peope  used to go and stand under it. Their family at that  time  was very poor , Being accustomed  top one  brother  and one  sister  in my house, I was  taken aback to see  five sisters   and a young boy brother. The elder two brother’s  had gone out  in search of  work in Mumbai. 

     All sisters  used  to tease me, play  with me   and make  fun of me  and laugh uproariously. The boy   who was  youngest among them took me  to bath in the kanhamkurichi   temple tank(another  one mile). He  only told me  that  the temple pond had  large number of  steps. He also told me that  one  of his job  was collecting  chapaka poo  for his sisters.  Periyammai was simply marvelous cook. Inspite  of having  all most  nothing in the house  , she used  to cook  nectar like food  there  .I simply  was transferred  to heaven in my  periyammai’s home. There   used to be a small  Krishna temple  adjacent to their home

    There  after  I kept  on visiting their home   whenever there was opportunity .Though my sisters  kept on growing  , they  some how never lost  all the fun, teasing and joy.

    Just  like  all homes  except one  all of them shifted  to Mumbai. Got married  and became busy.    My visit to Mumbai  was not that  frequent. Slowly we  moved away

    They   did destroy that  thatched  home   and built a  house called “ayodhya”  but some how   it was not a heaven to me any more.

     If I am asked  to tell the heaven that  I  visited, without any  hesitation , I will  tell Payilore ofcouse with my five little sisters , brothers  and my Periyammai