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.