Saturday, September 25, 2010

Sri Adhikesava Perumal Koil West Mambalam in Chennai

 

This is an ancient temple and hence called Adi kesvaperumal. it is supposedly a thousand years old and was visited by Ramanujar who has a sannidhi inside. The temple is situated close to ayodhya mandapam ,  off Govindan street .Nearest us stop is Mettupalayam bus stop. DSCN2150

As you enter you can see the Hanumar sannidhi on the right and Vishwaksena sannidhi on the left.

The main sannidhi houses shrines for Perumal, Sen Kamalavalli thayar, Andal, Srinivasa perumal and Ramanuja25092010176

View from behind the main sannidhi

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A view of the various vahanams of the Lord stored here

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( Ramar with hanuman in attendance in the vimanam above picture)

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A very divine experience in peaceful surroundings

Kothandaramar temple west Mambalam in Chennai

This 150 year old temple is situated near Madley subway right next to the Mambalam Veda pata shala. DSCN2146

The main entrance leads to the hanuman sannidhi in front and as you enter  on your left is the Ranganayaki thayar sannidhi.

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The temple tank is seen next to the thayar sannidhi
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The main sannidhi houses pattabhi rama with seetha devi on his left lap in pattabhisheka kolam. Kothandaramar is also installed just behind the Pattabhisheka Ramar

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( Vimanam showing the pattabiramar with piaratti in his lap) 25092010167
There are sannidhis for Ranganathar and Yoga narasimhar also as seen on the vimanam sides in the photos  below

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The temple has a small nandavanam also
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All three vimanams of the temple as seen from North east corner25092010168

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Sanjeeva Parvatha Anjaneyar has a separate shrine (as seen below as a view from the main sannidhi).

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Anjaneyar is having Sanjeeva parvatha hill in his right and his facing north (Kubera Corner) is considered very special.

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The vedic chanting by the oriental  school students next door  made it a very divine experience on this saturday morning

Sunday, September 19, 2010

Thirumalaivayyanoor Prasanna Venkatesa perumal temple- Padalam

This is a temple which can be seen on a hill from The GST road on the right hand side when you are travelling from Chengalpet to Tindivanam.
When you cross Chengalpet proceed till you cross Andal azhagar engineering  college ( belongs to Actor vijayakanth ). Before you come to the Arupadai veedu Engineering college look for the road to Vedanthangal and take a right turn.From this point the foot hill is 6.11 kms.
At this point you will cross the Ramanujar koodam a place of praying and a termple by Ramanuja devotees on your right hand sideDSCN2136 The koodam also houses a beautiful perumal and next to him is a rare navagraha Vinayagar with Narasimhar all in one a worth seeing piece of art housed in a seperate enclosureDSCN2327
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Just beyond this is a small road to the rightDSCN2135

A short ride up the narrow hill road takes you to the temple.You can also climb up a set of steps from the foot hillsDSCN2131
The entrance to the temple is from the East(traffic not allowed beyond this point)
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Before the Main sanctum on the right you find the triple sannidhis of Ramar, lakshmana & seetha , Varaha moorthy and Kannan with rukmini sathyabhama. It is customary to visit Varaha moorthy before visiting Perumal
The main sannidhi houses Prasanna Venkatesa perumal in the Nindra kolam just as i tirupati but the vigraham is smaller
To the right of this sannidhi is the sannidhi housing Chakrathalwar and Narasimhar and Ramanujar
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The temple was built by the thondaiman kings about 1800 years ago as per the priest.
From the top you get a scenic view of the Teppakulam below
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(You can see the Ramanujar koodam in the back ground of the kulam below)

There was Hot pulyogarai ,Laddu, Adhirasam, Thattai and murukku being sold as prasadam
A very divine experience. The temple closes by 5 PM as it is a hill temple and today as it was Sravana it was open in the afternoon also . We were lucky.
(There are excellent rest room facilities as pay per use on top).
(Note I visited the place today i.e.;30/1/2011 the rest room is locked and the keys are with a temple worker not to be found and the public have used the corridors all around for their convenience to relieve themselves making it impossible to go near itself so ignore the above note about clean rest rooms!! )


5/3/2012
please visit this link for a great write up about the renovation of this temple in earlier times by mahaperiyava
http://xa.yimg.com/kq/groups/14766489/317138822/name/GURU+SAMARPANAM+-+ISSUE+%23+7.pdf  page 9

Mailam Sri Murugan Temple- Place where he received the Flag and Vahanam

When you travel on GST road from Chennai to villupuram Just after Tindivanam  before Villupuram on your left hand side you can see the temple gopuram  on a hill. Take the road to Mailam on the left  from the highway and in 15 kms  you will reach the road from pondy ( 25 kms away). A left turn here takes you to the main road and a further left in a small lane takes you to the hill. This small hill  can be either climbed by steps or you can drive up to the main gopuram,
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The entrance is how ever through the south side via a small gopuram. The temple is fairly of recent origin with records from 1750’s.
There are  a bunch of monkeys so beware!! They do not hesitate to pluck things from your hand and are quite accustomed to human contact!! They are pretty aggressive also.DSCN2098
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As you enter the temple the main sannidhi is facing east with murugan and Valli devesena. To the extreme left is the Vinayakar sannidhi and in-between these two is the jeeva samadhi of Bala siddhar.  (There is a Mutt nearby of the Balasiddhars a sect of veera shaivas with close links to Palani who control this temple)
There is a seperate Navagraha sannidhi in the temple.
For the legend and the history  please see the following link
“Sthalapuranam of Mailam temple
The inner praharam has fine exquisite stone carvings  as below

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In short a very enjoyable trip to a divine little hill top temple, lots of locals come for a picnic om the weekends here .

Saturday, September 18, 2010

Siva Vishnu temple Usman Road T-Nagar Chennai

This temple is situated in the busy area of T.Nagar (Usman Road) facing east, very near to T.Nagar bus terminus.
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It is Governed by a trust namely Mambalam Sanmargha Samvardhini Sabha. This temple was constructed under the guidance of Maha Periyaval of Kanchi in 1935. The Kumbhabishekam was done during April 2010.

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(View of the sanctum of the Varasiddi Vinayaka,  murugan and  Kedareaswarar in that order from left to right. Visalakshi amman  sannidhi is seen on the right facing south)

This temple is the first of its kind having separate sannidhis for both Lord Siva and Lord Vishnu.
To the left is the sannidhi of Venkatesa perumal and to his left is Mahalakshmi thayar. We had nice darshan on purattasi saturday morning at 6:15 AM!!DSCN2089
( View of the perumal and thayar sanidhi from outside)
Facing the Perumal sanidhi are the sanidhis of  Sri Rama and Anjaneya,
The  outer wall of the Sivan sanidhi has Sri Durga, Dakshinamurthy, Natarajar, Kasi Viswanathar and the Nava Grahams.

At Kasi Viswanathar Sannidhi like many such temples in North India, the devotees can themselves perform Abhishekam . There is a water connection constantly dripping water on to the sivalingam.Devotees can also meditate in this sanctum. (There are a lot of cats here which are very friendly and rub against you!!) 
 The temple is open from 6 AM to 11 AM in the morning and 5 to 9 PM in the evening.


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Kamakshi amman temple @ Sankara madam T- Nagar Chennai

Right next to the Kasi viswanathar temple southern gopuram is the east facing Kamakshi amman temple. It is housed in the Sankara matam at  T-Nagar, Chennai
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View from the Madley subway end just as the temple was opened but there is a screen in front of the Main diety

There is a vedapatashala and today morning we saw the students performing various jobs in preparation of abhisekam which we were blessed to witness .
The ambal is very serene and is just like the kamakshi at Kanchi
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You can see the southern gopuram of the kasi vishwanathar temple on the right

Sri Kasi Viswanathar and Visalakshi amman Temple near Madley subway at T-nagar

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View from the Madley subway end
This is a 300 year old temple recently renovated and is a very peaceful place

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Photo at 6 AM Dawn when the temple was coming to life
The eastern Gopuram is taller .  As we enter through the  gopuram we see the Main sanidhi in front
The above complex has  the main sanctum of Vishwanathar as east facing and a sannidhi of visalakshi amman on the right which is south facing
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Forgive the shakes
Behind his complex is the sanidhi for Vinayagar and a sannidhi for murugan in the south west corner . What you see below is the Bhairavar sannidhi in the south east corner

(View of the main gopuram from inside the temple)DSCN2069
A view of the dwajastambam and main sannidhi complexDSCN2071
The temple has its own goshala and you can see the cow and calf above
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The temple has statues of the 63 saivaite saints, appar, sundarar, Thirugnanasambandar and manickyavasagar as well as multiple ganapathy vigrahas other than the ganapathy sannidhi . The main hall has various sculptures of Natarajar and Siva parvathy weddingDSCN2080
The southern gopuram through which we entered.
The temple is very popular and draws many devotees It is very neatly maintained

Sunday, September 5, 2010

Sri velleeshwarar temple Mylapore in Chennai

This is also one of the saptha rishi temples worshipped by Rishi aangeerasa. The temple is situated in the south mada street next to the kapaaleshwara temple

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The entrance actually leads to the  Selva Vinayakar', sannidhi facing the south , with his consorts Sidhi and Budhi. Other deities worshipped here are Kasi Viswanathar, Ulagalandha Perumal, Vaishnavi, Lakshmi and Saraswati.

To the west is the main sanidhi of Sri Kasi vishwanathar and A small lingam can be seen in the sanctum sanctorum.

Facing the south is a small elegant image of Goddess Kamatchi with a Sri Chakram installed behind in a seperate sannidhi.

The next praharam is to the east and is actually a covered hall which has the Nandi, Dwaja sthambam. To the right of the nandi is the Sarabeshwarar sannidhi with a durgai also installed along with a veerabhadrar

There is a shrine dedicated to Sukracharya, the guru of Asuras, on the outer praakara.

As can be expected in a market place the place is buzzing with activities and is having a very divine atmosphere

Pattu Kolavizhi Amman temple in Mylapore, Chennai

The Pattu Kolavizhi Amman temple is situated at Mylapore ( near Sanskrit College ) in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. This temple is dedicated to Goddesses Pattu Kolavizhi Amman, Click-0008

. It is believed that worshippers at this temple will be cured of all diseases and being blessed for peace & prosperity. The deity in this temple is Suyambu in form, she is known for her love and affection towards her devotees. She is also known as Choclate amman.

There are also other deities like Pachai pattu Kolavizhi Amman,Aparna Kali Amman,Ananda Kolavizhi Amman, Mangala Kali Amman,Apart Lord Ganesh, Lord Murugan, Lord Ayyappa, Lord Dakshinamoorthy, Lord Kailasa Kabali

 

The main sanctum has the Amman in a small ugra rupam and towering above her is the shanta swaroopa ananda kolavizhi amman. All abhishekams are for the ugra roopam and the shanta swaropa gets only an oil coating, It is a very arresting Idol .Click-0005

Many say that this is the original Kali of the Kapalishwarar koil. 

the temple vinayagar can be seen beneath the combination of peepal and neem tree and the other side of the tree. Anjaneyar is seated in a separate sanidhi, sapthakanniyar(7 goddess,forms of sakthi) are seen in standing position in a single row.