MUTHUSWAMY DIKSHITAR-PILGRIMAGE IN PANDYA NAADU
"The Eternal Pilgrim" Monograph on Sri.Muthuswami Dikshitar by RaviSri ------------- PART-5 (concluding part) Kshetras in Pandyan Territories ============================================ A year passed by in quiet contemplation and spiritual practices. It was 1823. -- continued from p-709 ----- An unconfirmed report from Madurai reached Tiruvarur that Chinnaswami Dikshitar had passed away. Dikshitar also did not hear about his youngest sibling Baluswami. He decided to find out about Chinnaswami as also to trace Baluswami. - Dikshitar and his two wives left for Madurai. - Madurai is known as Pandya Naadu and as AlavAi in the Puranas. There is mention of the Pandyas in the two great epics, Ramayana and Mahabharata. Mention is also made in stone inscriptions of Emperor Ashoka in the 3rd century B. C. about the Pandya kingdoms. These testify to the ancientness of the Pandya empire and the city of Madurai. - - The composer enquired of people at Madurai about his brother