Monday, May 17, 2010

KUMBAKONAM


Its May 11th 2010, we ( Parthi, Dad and Myself ) started in the Rock Fort Express in order to visit kumbakonam. We reached kumbakonam station at 5.40am. Its is located at a distance of 273 kilometers from Chennai.

THIRUVALANCHUZHI :

Sri vellai pillaiyar temple is situtated at Thiruvalanchuzhi, a village located at 6kms near Kumbakonam.Swetha vinayakar, a white statue of Lord Ganesha is the diety of workship here.



When Devas and asuars churned the milky ocean – Parkadal poison- Nanju came out of the mandara malai. The Devas were upset with the Poison and Devendran the ruler of Indra Loke attributed this to the negligence on the part of Devas to make a peace with Vinayakar before embarking on this divine mission. Thus Indra created an icon of Valampuri vinayakar from the forth of the sea waves called Swetha Vinayaka.



SWAMIMALAI :

Swamimalai is one of the six renowned abodes of Lord Subramaniya. Its is located 5kms west of kumbakonam. Swamimalai is fourth among the six arupadaiveedu.The temple is built at an elevation, on an artificially construted mount reached through a flight of steps.

The outermost parkaram of this temple is at the gound level. The second one is half way up the staris, and the innermost parkaram is around the swaminathan shine.




PATTEESWARAM :

Patteeswaram is situated just 8kms from kumbakonam. Sri Durgai shrine is very propular here. Originally Patteeswaram is knouwn for the shiva temple called sri Dhenupureeswarar , Goddess is Gnanambigai.

The divine cow kamadhenu’s daughter, patti worshipped Dhenupureeswarar and hence the name Patteeswaram for this place. Gnanambigai looks very beautifull and grace flowed from their eyes.


THIRUNAGESWARAM :

Sri Naganathaswamy Temple or Raghu sthalam is one of the 9 navagraha temples in Tamilnadu and is assosciated to Lord Raghu. It is situated 7kms from Kumbakonam. Raghu Bhagavan is seen with his two consorts Nagavalli and Nagakanni.

The unique features of Naganatha swamy temple is that Lord Raghu is seen with human face.The important aspect of Raghu is MILK ABHISHEKAM. Which is held during raghu naeram.


THIRUMANANCHERI ( TEMPLE OF MARRIAGE ):

This temple is located 26kms from Kumbakonam. Thirumanancheri is one among the popular temple of Lord Shiva. Thirumanancheri temple is where the divine marriage of Lord Shiva and Pavathi took place, and today group of people came to this temple, praying for early marriage, thanking the Lord for their early marriage, and praying for the kids too.







SURIYANAR KOVIL ( SUN TEMPLE ):

This kovil is situated 15kms from Kumbakonam. As you entered the temple on the right side there is a Theertha Vinayakar sannidhi. All the nine grahms (planets) ie.Sun, Moon, Mars, Mercury ,Jupiter, Venus, Saturn,Rahu( snake head) and Ketu (snack tail) give us pleasure remove obstacles from our way.









                                                                                                                                                                          
       CHAKKARAPANI TEMPLE :

                 
                     Chakkarapani is located in the northern position of Big Bazaar.The eastern and western entrances of the temple is known as (Thatchina vayil and utharayana vayil). Agampara vinayakar , Panchamuga anchenayar, and vijayavalli aer the important idols in this temple.







RAMASWAMY KOVIL :


           This temple is located in southeastern position of “Porthamalai kulam “. The column of mahamandapam are enriched with stone craving works of Lord Rama – Ratha. In this temple Anchenayar is holding veena in one hand and Bagavat gita book in another hand.








SARANGAPANI TEMPLE :


This is another big temple, it is about one and half kilometer from Kumbakonam. Lord Sarangapani is the presiding Deity of this temple. It the largest Vishnu temple in Kumbakonam. The main deity Saranganathar is seen in reclining position (just like Srirngam ).







KASI VISWANATHAR TEMPLE :


                    Kasi Viswanathar temple is located at in the neighborhood of the Mahamaham Tank in the holy town of Kumbakonam. Here the main deity is Kasi viswanatar and Visalakshi.








MAHAMAHAM TANK :

                          Mahamaham tank is an integral part of the grandeur religious festival kumbha mela festival celebrated once in every 12 years in the Temple town of Kumbakonam.






After satisfied with the number of temples for the day, we are back to Kumbakonam railway station at 7pm.
                                                        KUMBAKONAM


Its May 11th 2010, we ( Parthi, Dad and Myself ) started in the Rock Fort Express in order to visit kumbakonam. We reached kumbakonam station at 5.40am. Its is located at a distance of 273 kilometers from Chennai.

                                                       THIRUVALANCHUZHI :

Sri vellai pillaiyar temple is situtated at Thiruvalanchuzhi, a village located at 6kms near Kumbakonam.Swetha vinayakar, a white statue of Lord Ganesha is the diety of workship here.

When Devas and asuars churned the milky ocean – Parkadal poison- Nanju came out of the mandara malai. The Devas were upset with the Poison and Devendran the ruler of Indra Loke attributed this to the negligence on the part of Devas to make a peace with Vinayakar before embarking on this divine mission. Thus Indra created an icon of Valampuri vinayakar from the forth of the sea waves called Swetha Vinayaka.






                                                                  SWAMIMALAI :

Swamimalai is one of the six renowned abodes of Lord Subramaniya. Its is located 5kms west of kumbakonam. Swamimalai is fourth among the six arupadaiveedu.The temple is built at an elevation, on an artificially construted mount reached through a flight of steps.

The outermost parkaram of this temple is at the gound level. The second one is half way up the staris, and the innermost parkaram is around the swaminathan shine.




                                                            PATTEESWARAM :

Patteeswaram is situated just 8kms from kumbakonam. Sri Durgai shrine is very propular here. Originally Patteeswaram is knouwn for the shiva temple called sri Dhenupureeswarar , Goddess is Gnanambigai.

The divine cow kamadhenu’s daughter, patti worshipped Dhenupureeswarar and hence the name Patteeswaram for this place. Gnanambigai looks very beautifull and grace flowed from their eyes.




                                                            
                                                        THIRUNAGESWARAM :


Sri Naganathaswamy Temple or Raghu sthalam is one of the 9 navagraha temples in Tamilnadu and is assosciated to Lord Raghu. It is situated 7kms from Kumbakonam. Raghu Bhagavan is seen with his two consorts Nagavalli and Nagakanni.

The unique features of Naganatha swamy temple is that Lord Raghu is seen with human face.The important aspect of Raghu is MILK ABHISHEKAM. Which is held during raghu naeram.




                                     THIRUMANANCHERI ( TEMPLE OF MARRIAGE ):

This temple is located 26kms from Kumbakonam. Thirumanancheri is one among the popular temple of Lord Shiva. Thirumanancheri temple is where the divine marriage of Lord Shiva and Pavathi took place, and today group of people came to this temple, praying for early marriage, thanking the Lord for their early marriage, and praying for the kids too.







                                                              
                                                       SURIYANAR KOVIL ( SUN TEMPLE ):


           This kovil is situated 15kms from Kumbakonam. As you entered the temple on the right side there is a Theertha Vinayakar sannidhi. All the nine grahms (planets) ie.Sun, Moon, Mars, Mercury ,Jupiter, Venus, Saturn,Rahu( snake head) and Ketu (snack tail) give us pleasure remove obstacles from our way.






                                                    

                                                      CHAKKARAPANI TEMPLE :

                      Chakkarapani is located in the northern position of Big Bazaar.The eastern and western entrances of the temple is known as (Thatchina vayil and utharayana vayil). Agampara vinayakar , Panchamuga anchenayar, and vijayavalli aer the important idols in this temple.








                                                                            
                                                                  RAMASWAMY KOVIL :


              This temple is located in southeastern position of “Porthamalai kulam “. The column of mahamandapam are enriched with stone craving works of Lord Rama – Ratha. In this temple Anchenayar is holding veena in one hand and Bagavat gita book in another hand.



                                                        SARANGAPANI TEMPLE :


                         This is another big temple, it is about one and half kilometer from Kumbakonam. Lord Sarangapani is the presiding Deity of this temple. It the largest Vishnu temple in Kumbakonam. The main deity Saranganathar is seen in reclining position (just like Srirngam ).







                                      
                                                 KASI VISWANATHAR TEMPLE :


                               Kasi Viswanathar temple is located at in the neighborhood of the Mahamaham Tank in the holy town of Kumbakonam. Here the main deity is Kasi viswanatar and Visalakshi.






                                                    MAHAMAHAM TANK :

             Mahamaham tank is an integral part of the grandeur religious festival kumbha mela festival celebrated once in every 12 years in the Temple town of Kumbakonam.



After satisfied with the number of temples for the day, we are back to Kumbakonam railway station at 7pm.

Wednesday, April 28, 2010

MADURAI AND RAMANATHAPURAM

Its April 15th 2010, I and Parthi started in the Nellai express in order to visit Madurai and Ramanathapuram. We reached Madurai Junction at 5.40am

DAY 1 at Madurai…

ALAGAR KOVIL:
At 7am, we reached Alagar kovil through bus. Its takes 45 min to 1hr from periyar bus stand. Alagar kovil is a temple dedicated to Lord Vishnu. It is situated at a distance of 21 km from Madurai, on foot of Alagar hills, amongest the natural beauty of the woods

The splendid main tower at the enterance is believed to have been built by the Pandian kings. The maintower enterance ( Mukya Gopuram ) always remain closed, with the shrine of Karupana Swami.

The Alagar hill has a tropical forest cover which extends from Alagar kovil in the South to Natham in the North. The garden is irrigated by a natural spring locally known as the Devi theertham.

PAZHAMUDHIRCHOLAI:
Pazhamudhircholai is a Hindu temple located 10 miles North to Madurai. This hill was covered with dense forest. One can reach Pazhamudhircholai by van, car, two-wheeler, bus or by walk. There is a bus shuttle for every 20min from the foot of the hill to the temple. But we prefer a walk and there were lot of monkeys on all the way. It is a small temple with Valli, Deivayanai , Lord Murugan and Lord Ganesha in a separate shine.

DEVI THEERTHAM:
Devi theertham is an area, half a kilometre from Pazhamudhircholai Murugan temple. After visiting the Pazhamudhircolai murugan temple and Devi theertham, we returned back to Alagar kovil via van.

THIRUMALAI NAYAK MAHAL:
At 3pm we went to Thirumalai Nayakar Mahal. This Mahal is situated 2kms south east of Meenakshi Amman temple. This Mahal has 248 pillars of each 58 feet tall and 5 feet in diameter. The gigantic pillars and painting of the events that took place before the ethics impress ourselves and takes to the 16th century. There is a dancing hall and courtyard at the centre of the Mahal.

The Mahal is equipped to perform light and sound shows. Inside the palace, furniture and utensils used by the kings have been exhibited.




GANDHI MUSEUM:
At 4.15 pm we went to Gandhi Museum via bus. Gandhi Memorial Museum has a remarkable collection of Gandhi’s painting, sculptures, quotations, khadi crafts, letters and books written by him.

MARIAMMAN THEPPAKULAM:

From Gandhi Museum, we reached Mariamman theppakullam ( lake ) through auto. The Maiamman theppakullam is a huge tank which is 1000 feet long and 950 feet wide. Mariamman koil is situated just opposite to the lake. In the centre of the kulam there is a Mandapam cum Lord Vigneshwara temple.

MEENAKSHI AMMAN TEMPLE:
At 6pm we had a nice 5 minutes walk from our MR International hotel to Meenakshi Amman kovil. This is a twin temple. The temple in the Southern side is dedicated to Sri Meenakshi the consort of Lord Sundareswara and the other to Lord Sundareswara. This kovil was built by Kulasekara Pandiya. The temple is about 258m in lengh and about 241.4m in breadth of the 5 gopuras that surround the 48.8m big southern tower is the tallest.

We entered into the East side of the gopuram. We saw the Kali amman stature first. The temple has a Porthamarai kulam, the sacred pond with the golden lotus.

1000 PILLAR HALL:
It was built by Ariyanatha Mudhaliar in 1569. This hall contains 985 (instead of 1000) caved pillars. At the enterance of this hall, we can see different types of architectures on the sides.

Every 16th April, the famous CHITHIRI THIRUVIZHAA will commence in the Meenakshi amman temple and we were lucky to be present on this auspicious day.

At 7.30pm, we bought our dinner (Kari dosai ) one of the Madurai famous dish, and reached our hotel. At the end of the 1st day, we were tried, but were much satisfied.

DAY 2 :

THIRUPPARAKUNDRAM:


On 17th April 2010 , we check out from the hotel at 6am and we reached thirunagar through bus. We visited Thiruparakundram Murugan temple. I saw my school age friends and at 3.30pm we started to Ramanathapuram.

DAY 3 :

On 18th April 2010, after finishing the marriage, we both went to sasi house.

DEVIPATTINAM:
From there we went to Devipattinam. Devipattinam is a coastal village 15km from Ramanathapuram. It is also known as Navashabashanam. The temple of Devi is located in the town of Devipattinam, the temple of Adihesava Perumal is located on the sea shore.

When Lord Rama came to Devipattinam, he did not find any shine dedicated to the narayanas. He made a statue of nine planets, locally known as navapashana’s. The unique thing about Devipattinam is that, it is the only place in the world where the navagrahas are located inside the sea.






SETHUKARAI:

From Devipattinam we went to Sethukarai. It is also called as Bank of the Bridge. From here only the Lord Rama built the bridge to Lanka with the help of Hanuman. Hanuman stands in a dilapidated shrine gazing at the placid of bay.

THIRUPPULLANI:
Thiruppullani is the temple situated 8kms south of Ramanathapuram. This is one of the 108 Divya schelrams of the Vaishnavas. The presiding God is Adi Jaganatha Perumal and Padmasini thayar.

This is the place where:
 Vibhishana surrendered to Lord Rama.
 Samudra Raja ( God of the Ocean) surrendered to Lord Rama.
 Lord Rama along with the vanaras, built the sethu anai ( sethu bridge ) to go to lanka.

Upon reaching Thirupullani, there is a temple tank (Pushkarani ). Its was nice to see the temple tank with full of water. Carefully walking on the slippery steps, we took a quick dip as the fish in the pond trying to get a taste of your skin. At 3.45pm,we could seek the blessing of Perumal. The temple is huge and has long prakarams.

UTHIRAKOSAMANGAI:
Uthirakosamangai is an old temple situated few miles from Thiruppullani. The Presiding god here is Lord Siva.

The special features are:
 A tree (peepal tree) more than 5000 years old.
 Least, but not last, a Nataraj Idol is some 10 feet high, made up of “TOPEZ “ which is fully covered with chandan ( sandhanam is removed only once in a year )

At 6pm we reached back to sasi home. At 7pm we were in Ramanathapuram railway station.