Tuesday, August 31, 2010

Thirukannapuram Sowrirajaperumal

When you travel from Mayavaram to tiruvarur you enter nannilam . Eight kilometers from Nannilam is this place it is also 20 kms from Nagapattinam and also Kumbakonam.Kannapuram

 

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The main Raja Gopuram is seven storeys and pushkarani is seen in front of the temple

 

As you enter the temple, the Main Deity is Thiru Neelamega perumal in standing posture with Sridevi and Bhoodevi Thayar to either Side. Urchavar is known as Sowriraja perumal.
Kannapura Nayaki thayar is seen in separate sanctum.
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Around the mai sanctum of the lord you see sannidhis of Azwar, Veebishanan, and Sri Raman

Legends with this temple;

This is the place where the lord showed Vibhishana his walking style after Srirangam where he was lying down.

The Lord here is in the receiving posture and not in he abhaya hastha signifying he will receive all our troubles

There is no swarga vasal as this land is considered swargam on bhumi

Importance: This is one of five Krishnaranya Kshetram. The rest four are Thirukovaloore, Thiru kannankudi, Thiru kavithalam, and Thiru Kannamangi.

Story of the Souri:

One day the Archakar of the temple, as a gesture handed over the garland which was on, Sowriraja Perumal, to the King who visited the temple. The King saw a lengthy hair string to the garland. He was hocked . The  Archakar said it was the hair of the perumal.The King asked his men to check and find the truth. Kings men tried to pluck the hair of Perumal in main sanctum. When they did so blood splashed, and King worried for his act. He prayed to perumal of this temple to forgive him. Perumal protected his devotee, the Archakar whose words came true. From then, perumal here is known as Sowriraja Perumal.

During Brahmotsavam the lord gives darshan as vishnu in the morning, Brahma in the evening and Siva in the next morning

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There is a special pongal prepared and neivedhyam is given at midnight as per a story where the devotee was blessed with the lord’s karunai

‘muniyodharan pongal’.  Collecting the tributes and handing it over to the Chola king was the job of Muniyodharar. Once, instead of giving the money to the king, Muniyodharar spent it on some temple work.so Muniyodharar was imprisoned. His wife was struck with grief and she approached the Lord and said if her husband was not get released within five days, she would jump into the fire and die. The Lord appeared in the king’s dream and ordered him to release Muniyodharar. The king did so. Later, Muniyodhara, first , offered pongal  to God and then ate the ‘pongal’, delicacy.The next day, the temple priests were surprised to see pongal rolling down with ghee on the body of the Lord. When they came to know about what had happened and why, they praised and thanked the Lord for his mercy and grace. From that day, it has become a tradition to offer ‘pongal’ to the lord at midnight in this temple.

A king called Vasu had the power to fly in the sky and helped the Devas to win a battle against the Asuras. Vasu felt thirsty after the battle and in order to quench his thirst, he landed at this hallowed shrine. His solders who traveled along with him mistook the fragile and puny sages who were meditating in the pond to be uncut sheaves. The soldiers tried to shear them off. The sages were alarmed at this act and cried for help. The lord, on hearing them wailing, appeared as a 16-year-old lad and confronted Vasu. The lord wanted to save his devotees – the sages.

The king thought that if he was able to defeat the Asuras in no time, vanquishing the lad would not be difficult. So, he tried to defeat the lord by employing special techniques. All his efforts were futile and finally he fired the powerful Narayana asthram. The asthram circled and fell at the feet of the lord. Only then did the king come to know that the lad was none other than Narayana in disguise. He at once surrendered at the lord’s feet and asked for pardon. The lord, known for his benevolence, at once pardoned him. The king wanted the lord to wed his daughter, to which he readily agreed.

 

Mangalasasanam:
Perialwar - 71
Andaal - 535
Kulasekaralwar - 719-729
Thirumangaialwar - 1648-1747, 2067, 2078, 2673, 2674
Nammalwar - 3656 - 3666

Total of 128 Paasurams.

Monday, August 30, 2010

Kapaleeshwarar koil Mylapore-A padal petra sthalam , A saptharishi kshetram in chennai

Kapaleeswarar Temple Worshipped by Sage Kashyapa, This is one of the 275 Thevara Padal Petra Sthalams
Last evening i visited the mylapore kapalishwaran koil for the first time. It is a magnificent imposing structure seen from far  
( view of the western side from the tank)
It is much more imposing when seen from close
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The eastern side is approached from the Car street . It has a 16 pillared mandapam IMG_0441
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There is convenient shoe stand where we leave foot wear and enter the massive temple complex.( the view below is from the shoe stand area)
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Legends and interesting tidbits:
The legend here is interesting. Once in Mount Kailash where lord Siva was giving Gyananopadesam (Holy teaching) about the sacred thread to goddess Parvathi  She was distracted by the beauty of a peacock, dancing beside. Lord got angry and cursed her to be born as a Mayil (peacock). When she pleaded for pardon, Siva said he would join her when Peacock worshipped a sivalingam. After a long period penance, the peacock found a sivalingam under a punnai tree and worshipped the lord offering flowers it carried in its beak. The lord appeared before her and divine couple reunited. There is a sanidhi with a peacock doing puja to a lingam with a punnai tree in this temple.
The most beautiful miracle of Mylapore related in the Periapuranam by Sekkizhar is that of bringing back to life of the girl, Poopavai by the boy saint Gnansambandar. The girl died by the bite of a serpent. The bones and ashes were brought back to life by the hymns of gnansambandar, starting “Mattina Punnayinganal….!!”. This is believed to have happened during the 7th century A.D. A separate shrine has been built for Angam Poopavai.
In 1921, near the Santhome Cathedral some inscriptions related to the incident were found.
historically this temple was built  300 yrs ago by Krishnadevaraya but the original temple built by the pallavas existed in about  seventh century and was originally in San thome due to alien invasion the temple was supposedly  razed down in 1561and was re built later about 1 km westward in the present place. Till date epitaphs dating back to 1250 A.D are found by archeologists near Santhome Basilica..
This present place place was initially a murugan temple so it explains why there is a dwaja sthamba in front of murugan also and also that the Murugan sannidhi gopuram is the tallest.usualy there is only one dwaja stambha not two and the main diety gopuram is the tallest.
The Lord Shiva here is called Kapaleeshwarar. Legend says that Lord Shiva  was cursed with Bramhahathi Dhosham due to beheading Brahmas's fourth head . This curse was removed after Shiva used that skull as a begging bowl and took alms. The Skull is Kapalam in sanskrit/ Tamil and hence  Shiva here is called Kapaleeshwara.
Once inside through the rajagopuram you come into the Narthana ganapathy sannithi, Annamalaiar and Unnamalai sannithi in the next door. To the left of this sannidhi are the Palani andavar and  Vayilar nayanar sanidhi. ( This nayanar had constructed a temple in is heart and  lord vishnu came for kumbabishekam forsaking a temple where a king was doing the kumbabishekam! . he was a king born in the mylapore region)
Next you can see the Dwaja sthambam and the bali peetam and the Main sannidhi on the right.The Kapaleshwara lingam is big and the sanidhi has idols of Singaravelar, Natarajar, Aruvathu moovarhal – 63 saints, Durga Lakshmi, Saraswathi, Veera Bhadra, Nalvar, Annamalayar, Dakshinamoorthy, Selva Ganapathy and Somaskandha.
The next is the Karpagambal sanidhi where the goddess is standing tall and benignly smiling.
Once out of this you will circum ambulate to the northern side where there is the sannidhi of the peacock worshipping the lingam by the side of the goshala and the Punni tree
There is a separate sannidhi for Sanishwara here to the right facing the west and once you finish darshan there the next door is the Navagraha sannidhi .
Once you come out here towards the annamalaiar sannidhi is the Jagadeshwara sanidhi.
On the western side once you come out is the temple tank originally built by mylai muthaippa mudaliar in the 16 century but later re done by the Nawab of Arcot so every Ramzan muslims are given access to the tank .
(photos courtesy from the net till I can post my own)

Sri Vedanta Desikar Srinivasa perumal temple Mylapore

Right next to the Kesavaperumal temple and sharing a wall with it is the  Srinivasa perumal temple. the temple is 300 years old. As seen it is a Vadagalai temple

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initially It was a temple for Sri.Vedanta Desikar  a vigraha of Shri Vedanta desikar was moved from the Kesavaperumal temple .Hayagriva was the "upasana daivam" of Vedantha Desikar a vigraha of Lakshmi Hayagriva modelled on the idol of the Mysore Parakala mutt was later  brought and installed. (The Parakala mutt is also located in Mylapore (opposite road to Mylai railway station)). The shrine of the great teacher Vedantha Desika is the one that faces north and it is the first shrine one sees in the temple. Sri Vedantha Desika lived over 730 years ago in South India. He wrote erudite commentaries on Ramanuja's Sribhashyam, Gita Bhashyam and was a great exponent of Visishtadvaita

Lay out of the temple

S. No.*Sannidhi

1.Anjaneyar

2.Garudan

3.Peyazhwar

4.Sri Vedantha Desikar & Sri Lakshmi Hayagrivar

5.Sri Alarmel Manga Thayar

6.Sri Raman

7.Sri Lakshmi Narasimhan

8.Sri Bhashayakarar

9.Sri Sudarsanar and Yoga Narasimhar

10.Sri Andal

11.Azhwars and Acharyas

12.Sri Srinivasa Perumal

Note:
* - In the order of visiting the Sannidhis.

As soon as you enter the north facing  temple on your right you will see the east facing Srinivasan sannidhi the lord is in standing posture with abhaya hastha and shanka chakra gada hastha

Next to the lord in a second sannidhi on his right is the thayar sanidhi. the Alamelu mangai thayar Vigraha is huge and very captivating.

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(For more details temple website:http://www.svdd.com/index.asp)


Adi Kesavaperumal Temple Mylapore- Chennai

I chanced upon these twin temples near the kapaleshwarar koil in Mylapore. Next to the Big Kulam we see the market on the northern Side and beyond this is the Chitrakulam a once heavenly pond with lotuses but now dirty green .One street away you can see the twin towers of the Srinivasa perumal and the clip_image002

Keshava perumal temple. It is about 300 years old and is built in the hoysala style by King Krishnadevaraya. The temple has lovely Sculptures in the Vijayanagara style. The main Diety here is kesavaperumal. Legend says that Bhrigu was performing a yagna here and an asura disturbed it. When the Rishis appealed to Lord Vishnu he emanated from the Homa kunda and destroyed the Asura. He also stayed put here and ensured protection.He had such great locks that he was called “Keshava” the good haired one. As is obvious this is a tengalai Temple. Presiding deity- Aadhikesava perumal
Thayar- Mayuravalli
Pey azhwar who is one of the 12 azhwars (mystique poets) was born here.
Mention about this hallowed spot is found in Brindaranya Kshetra of Garudapuranam. Once Mahavishnu mitigated the sufferings of Suryan who is also called Aadhityan. Since Kesavan blessed Aadhityan he is called Aadhi kesavan. Aadhi also means first in the world. So many say this is the first Kesava temple

Legends with the Chitrakulam tank

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There was a rivulet that connected Triplicane and Mylapore several centuries ago.Since the origin of the river was at Kairavani Pushkarini it came to be called Kairavani Neerodai. The rivulet was full of fragrant flowers like lily and lotus.The other end of the rivulet was another holy pond which is now the temple tank of Lord Parthasarathy which is also called Kairavni pushkarini.

Chandra’s papa vimochanam

Once a curse befell Chandran ( moon).. Mahavishnu in order to bless chandran asked all the holy rivers of India to confluence at kairavani pushkarini and help chandran to get rid off his curse.The rivers obeyed Mahavishnu and flowed to Kairavani pushkarini. Chandran had a holy dip at the holy waters and propitiated the lord thus the holy water is called Sarva Theertham. Since Chandran got rid off his curse it is called Chandra Pushkarini.Over the years it came to be called as Chitra Pushkarni but now it is called as Chitrakulam.

Shivas Papa vimochanam

Lord Shiva plucked one of the four heads of Brahma because he thought Brahma was arrogant. Shiva was cursed with brahma hathi dosha . Shiva at once propitiated Aadh Kesavan by observing penance . Shiva was redeemed of his curse at this hallowed spot and thus this spot is called Rudrapuri.

The Door way has Floral artwork signifying lotuses and perinneal rivers Ganga and Yamuna

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IMG_0421 The temple faces east .When you enter the temple adikesava perumal has a seperated sannidhi in standing posture with four hands with sangu chakram in his hands. He  offers abhayam(shelter)to us.

To the right of the main sanidhi is mayuravalli thayaar in a separate sannidhi mayuravalli(as mylapore was called as mayurapuri earlier) thayaar in sitting posture blesses people with wealth and health.

Behind the thayar sannidhi ,

Chakarathazhwar with yoga narashimhar,

Andal,Anjaneyar,have separate sannidhis in the temple,


Sunday, August 29, 2010

Tiruvalleeswarar Temple at Padi Chennai- (Famous for guru bhagawan)

When we travel from ICF over the new flyover towards Avadi there is a small road on the left after a Kalyana mahal as soon as you descend from the flyover, you can see the padavettu amman temple on the right take the left  turn here and travel for half a kilometer you can see the temple on the right.DSCN1932
Padi is a historical place where Armies of Kings used to camp with all their weapons (Padi= weapons repository army camp) The temple has been rebuilt by Kulatunga chola III and Krishna deva raya. The Padavettu amman about half a KM away is also part of the temple where Victorious commanders would even sacrifice their own heads here (So gory!!) Today the outer praharams of the temple have been taken over by the city and roads have been built with  many buildings and tragically what remains is only the inner  praharam. The temple tank is seen at a distance with two roads in between which speaks a lot about the development of the city!!
The legend goes back to Mahabharatha days as Sage Bharadwaj (Dhrona’s father) had visited this temple. The name Validhayam comes from Valiyan – the black bird. Once Sage Bharadwaj took birth as a bird due to a curse and he worshipped Shiva here to clear off his curse. Legend also holds that Vinayaka got married to Kamalai and Vimalai daughter of Brahma in this place. Brahaspathi, Vishnu, Hanuman, Sugreeva, Rama, Agasthiar, Vayu, Indhra, Agni, Sun God and Moon God worshipped Shiva of this place.
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This temple has been visited and sung by saints Thirugnana Sambandar, Arunagirinathar, Ramalinga Adigalar, and Pamban Swamigal.
Thirumylai, Thiruvanmiyur, Thiruverkadu, Thiruvirkolam, Thiruilambayangottur, Thiruvooral, Thirvalangadu, Thiruvenpakkam, Thiruppasur, Vadathirumullaivoil, Thirvottriyur all these eleven temples are structured in the form of a Garland and Thrivalithayam is in the centre of this Garland. Also this temple is also referred as Gurusthalam as this is one of three temples worshipped by Lord Brahaspathy or Guru, the other two being Thittai and Thiruchendur.
Lord Shiva here is known asTiruvalleeswarar, Validaayanathar,The amman  is known as Jagathambigai, Thaayammai. Thiru Gnanasambandar has composed hymns at this temple.

The east gopuram (tower) with 3 tiers is the main entrance to the temple.DSCN1943
Inside the main entrance there is broad inner courtyard on all the four sides of the main shrine giving it a look of broad expanse
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The back side of the main praharam
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(The North side praharam with the navagraha seen in the far right)
Entering the inner mandapam, the main sanctum sanctorum of Lord Shiva is situated. The sanctum is semi-circular in shape at the back. (Gaja prishti Vimana ). The main deity is  facing east and to the right is the Ambal facing towards south.
A beautiful Simha Vaahanam and balipeetam faces the Goddess from the southern outer corridor. tiruvalidhayam16
Inside on the western back wall of the sanctum you can see  Lord Vishnu and Lord Brahma in the North . It ‘s a rare sight to see the trinity Brahma, Vishnu and Siva in the same complex. In the outer  prakara you can see Dakshinamurthy, Bikshadanar, Annai Uritha Devar, and Rishabanthikar.
Sthala Vinayaga:
Usaually the Lord Vinayaka is placed at the Southwest corner. But in this temple, somaskanbdar is placed instead and Vinayaka is located next to the main gate . He is named as Varasiddhi valampuri Vinayaka.
Lord Muruga:
Following Vinayaka, Lord Muruga is located along with his wives valli and Deivaanai. Lord Muruga is with a single face and four hands.
To the back of the sanctum are a series of small enclosures  of gods along with the Lingam they worshipped, Meenakshi along with Sundareswarar in the lingam form, The lingam worshiped by Indra, Lingam worshiped by Bharadwaja are placed each in different enclosures At the north west corner, a long serpent along with lingam (Nagalingam) is placed. Following these deities, Veerabadra is in the sitting posture
Lord Bhairava:
Just at the back of Goddess temple, at the North east corner, Lord Bhairava is located. He is present here in Ugraroopa with skewed teeth, three eyes. His Jadamaguda is surrounded with Jwalas with his Vahana, a Dog. not only this, at the south entrance, the four Samaya Kuravars are in the standing posture. Next to them, Arunagirinadhar, Ganapathy and the Sun God blesses in the sitting posture.
Moreover, of all the urchava vigrahas of the temple Nataraja is the most important. The Ambal siva gama sundari's statue along with Nataraja and Manikkavasakar are placed in the sabhai in front of the Ambal's sannidhi. At the sides of the Gopuram entrance, Lord Vinayaka and Lord subramanya are placed.
 
“Jeyankonda Chola Vala Nattu, Puzhal Kutrathu, Ambattur Nattu Thiruvallithaya Mudayar” is the description found in the stone inscription inside the temple. It testifies that the places like  Puzhal and Ambattur are there since last 700 years going by the inscriptions. DSCN1939
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There is a seperate shrine for Guru (Jupiter) - one of the Navagrahas - in the eastern outer corridor and this temple is also considered as a Guru Parihara Sthalam. Guru Bhagwan is seen here facing towards west.
Guru Dakshinamoorthy:
The Dakshinamoorthy form of Lord shiva is praised and prayed as Lord GuruDakshinamoorthy

. Brahma had  four  children Sanakar, Sananadanar, sanadhanar and Sanathkumarar. Though they were brialliant enough in their vedic knowledge, they wanted to know the imbibed truth of Vedas in order to fight against the worst qualities,like  jealousy, revenge  and Maya. Answering their prayer, Lord Shiva took the form of Lord Dakshinamoorthy and started preaching them. This is how, the name and form of Guru Dakshinamoorthy came in to existence.
. Guru Dakshinamoorthy here blesses people with marriage and fertility . Guru Dakshinamoorthy is sitting with his right leg down and left left leg folded touching his waist under the Kallala tree. The jadaparam which was worn at his head adds to his beauty. He has four hands and has got udukkai rounded by serpent in his upper right hand, Jwalai on the upper left hand. The lower right hand has got the chinmaya mudra and the lower left hand has got book facing down. His posture is straight and equal. He wears tiger skin, yagnopaveetham and Kundalas(ear rings). The Rudraksha around his neck falls till his chest. Around Dakshinamoorthy, sanakadhika saints are placed. Muyalagan who is at his feet has serpent on his left hand. This form of Guru Dakshinamoorthy is called as 'Vyagyana Dakshinamoorthy'.




























Aminjikarai Sri. Prasanna Varadarajaswamy temple

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The Prasanna varadharaja temple is located behind the Ekamabareshwarar temple at Aminjikarai.
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It is a very small and vibrant temple. The Temple has five stages of Raja Gopuram, There are separate vimana gopurams and sannidhis for  the Perumal, Thayar and Andal .

As you enter the main temple through the gopura vasal on the left hand side is the Sannadhi for Ramadhuthan, Aanjaneyar about 2 feet tall. proceeding further,  the Sri Krishna sannadhi, where the perumal is found along with the flute and giving his seva in Nindra thirukkolam.
As we move on further, a mandapam with pillars are found. On these walls, Thiruppavai is carved on the white Marble stones. At the end of this Mandapam, the thaayar sannadhi is found .we then  reach the Sri Perundevi Thaayar sannidhi (the consort ). Here Manjal (Turmeric) is given as the "Prasadham" to the Bhaktas.
Next  we can see the sannadhi of Sri Andal. During 30 days in Maargazhi month, thiruppavai is recited in this sannadhi.
Next we can  see  the "Sri Srinivasar sannadhi" where both Sri Srinivasar Moolavar and Utsava Murthi are found.
proceeding next we can  see "Sri Ranganathar sannadhi". The swamy is a very small Idol in the Sayana kolam
Next to this is the Ramar and seetha sannidhi with Hanumar just outside in the lobby.
So In this temple  we see Varadaraja perumal,Sree Venkateswara perumal, Sree Krishna,Sree Ranganathar, Sree Rama( so many Vishnu swaroopas)  all in one placeDSCN1930

View before entering  the Ranganathar sannidhi as seen behind the main sannidhi
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A view of the Perumal temple gopuram as seen  in the back ground from the Sivan koil entrance gopuramDSCN1926




Aminjikarai Twin temples -Sri Ekambareshwarar temple- Aminjikarai Chennai

Having seen the twin temples at Koyambedu I was blessed to see the twin temples in Aminjikarai that of Ekambareshwarar  and Prasanna Varadharajaswamy .Both temples  are famous at kanchipuram  hence Aminjikarai can also be called chinna Kanchi
As you proceed on poonamallee high road from Pachaiyappas college  towards Anna nagar , after the Pachiyapa’s college signal you will cross the small Amman temple on the left Just before the next signal turn left at about the Lakshmi talkies bus stop.The road is narrow and you may miss it. Turn left where a lot of flower sellers have set up shopDSCN1925the road leads to both the temples one behind the other. Both are east facing and the Sivan temple is in front.
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The entrance leads you to the main sannidhi of the Lord. To the left is the Kamakshi sannidhi.
The temple was built about 350 years ago by Chennai poonamalle Kondai kati Vellalar Thiru.Sengalvarayar Mudalaiar family It is now a HR & CE temple.
The Main Mulavar Sannathi in the temple is Sri Ekamabareshwarar sannithi,
Sri Kamatchi Amman Sannathi, Sri Vinayagar sannidhi, Sri Subramaniar Sannathi are found side by side . The Separate Sannathi for Lord Natarajar and Pichadar swamy are also present inside the temple.
It is a very small temple but very cleanly maintained.

Vaikunta Vasa perumal Temple at Koyambedu Chennai

This is the twin temple seen along with the Shiva temple at KoyambeduDSCN1915
It  is a much smaller temple compared to the Karungaleeshwaran temple ,Vaikundavasa Perumal is the presiding deity. The deity is installed in a standing posture along with his consorts sridevi and Bhoo devi. The temple is renowned for its beautiful images of Seetha and Rama
The main entrance of the temple features several beautiful Dashavataram  images. The temple has separate shrines dedicated to Kanakavalli Thayar and Andal It is believed that the deity was worshipped by Sage Valmiki, Lava and Kusha. DSCN1919
Unlike in other temples, where Vaikunda Perumal will be found in the sitting posture, the Moolavar idols of the Lord and His Consorts here are in the standing posture. The Utsavar is known as Azhagiasingar and there is an unconfirmed report that the Thelliyasingar deity in the Parthasarathy Temple at Thiruvallikeni, was kept here during the alien invasion . The Utsavar is found flanked on either side by Sridevi and Bhoodevi. The Utsavar images of the Goddess, Andal, Sudarsana, Azhwars, Vishwaksenar and Ramanuja are also worshipped here. 
The temple is famous for its beautiful images of Sita and Rama. While Rama is found wearing a dress made from tree bark and is without a crown as he was found when he spent 14 years in the forest, the image of Sita is like that of any ordinary woman with her hairdo in what is known as "Kodali Kondai" as she stayed in Valmiki's Ashram. The holy water source is called as the Kusa-Lava Theertham and the "sthala vriksham" is the pipal tree. There is an ancient manuscript of the Ramayana in Telugu letters and its title is Vaithya Ramayanam and it is well preserved.
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In short a divine place where Sivan and Perumal are side by side associated with the Ramayana. It was supposedly the ashram of Valmiki where Rama came with seetha during vanavasam, Lava kusa grew up here and also Rama was re united with Seetha and Lava, Kusha here

Sri Kurungaaleeswarar and Dharmasamvardhini amman at Koyambedu- Chennai


Today i visited an ancient temple for Lord Shiva  located in Koyambedu . proceed towards poonamallee at the koyambedu flyover. After about 100 metres just before the Sridevi hospital is a small road leading you to the temple. you may miss the road if you are not careful. Once inside the road you find the huge temple complex with ample parking space.
The temple, which faces north, has a three-tier Rajagopuram. The holy water source is situated in front of the temple and the jackfruit tree is the "sthala vriksham".
 
This area was called Kusa lava puri where Lava and Kusa grew up in valmiki’s ashram at this place.The main deity is Sri Kurungaaleeswarar and Goddess Sri Dharmasamvardhani (also called Aram Valartha Naayagi).The temple is supposed to have been built by kulathunga chola III and has the gajaprishti vimanam style. In addition there are many wonderful sculptures around DSCN1897
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When Sri Rama sent the Aswamedha horse around the country, Lava and Kusa brought the horse to their custody. Without knowing that it was His sons who captured the horse, Sri Rama sent Lakshmana who fought a battle with them. As Lava and Kusa fought against their own uncle, they acquired a Dhosham called Gothra Dhosham. To be relieved of it, it is said that, they installed and worshipped Lord Shiva in this place.
As you enter in front of you is the amman sannidhi and the main sannidhi is to your right. The main sannidhi has a tiny sivalingam as it was built by tiny tots Lava and Kusa. The Aram Valartha Naayagi sanidhi adjacent has a 3-4 feet amman in the standing pose. Just out side is the Vinayagar sannidhi a feature of the idol is that her left foot is projected forward. It is said that a demon lived in the area and the goddess put her left foot forward before leaving her abode to kill him. (One is asked to put his right foot forward before leaving for auspicious functions. It may be mentioned that Anjaneya, before entering Lanka, also put his left foot forward, according to the Ramayana.)
Sri Visaalaakshi Samedha Sri Kaasi Viswanathar shrine and Sri Valli Devasena Samedha Sri Subramanyar shrine are located adjacent to each other behind the sanctum.

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The temple has sub-shrines dedicated to Brahma, Chandikeswarar, Dakshinamurthi and Vishnu Durgai. The images of the nayanmars  Gnana Saraswathi, Mahalakshmi, Subramania, Vinayaka and Sastha are enshrined in the outer prakaram.
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A painting inside the main praharam
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The right wing of the praharam
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View behind the Kasi Viswanathar and Visalakshi sanidhi
Arunagirinathar, in his Thiruppugazh, has referred to the place as Kosai Nagar. Though an ancient temple belonging to the Ramayana period, it has not been sanctified by the hymns of the Saivite saints. But the temple has 14 inscriptions, which date back to the period of Kulothunga Chozhan III and the Vijayanagar kings. These inscriptions, besides explaining the gifts made to the temple, show that the area formed part of Mangattu Nadu in Kulothunga Chozha Valanadu in Puliyur Kottam of Jayankonda Chozha Mandalam. They give the name of the place as Kosai Nagar, Koyattipuram and Prayachithapuram and call the deity Kurungalaandar. Kulothunga Chozhan is said to have ruled in the 12th Century and the temple here was reportedly built during this period.
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Just outside the main Temple complex is the 16 pillar mandapam which houses many brilliant carvings.
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The most important pillar carving is the sarabeshwarar which has special poojas on sundayDSCN1911










There are many interesting sculptures as seen here DSCN1899
Anjaneya with Rama
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Ajamukhan Daksha
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Rama worshiping the Linga

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Arjuna doing penance
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Arjuna and Shiva locked in battle
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Vrishabharooda
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Murugan
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Rahu and Ketu
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10 headed Ravana
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You can see the sarabeshwarar behind this pillar partly
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A peaceful temple associated with Ramayana. Just as you exit this mandapam on your left is the Perumal temple