Edayathumangalam Shri Mangalambikai sametha Mangalapureeshwar Temple

 It's not everyday you get the chance to see such a quaint and vibrant temple. We were truly blessed. On 12/5/24 after visiting Lalgudi and being blessed with darshan of lord Saptharishishwarar  and Srimathy ambal ( https://drlsravi.blogspot.com/2011/12/saptharishishwarar-temple-lalgudi.html?m=1) , we visited the Sankara matam in lalgudi as it was Sankara Jayanthi ( https://drlsravi.blogspot.com/2024/05/kanchi-mutt-lalgudi-ancient-adi.html?m=1) . It was around 12 noon when we bid our good byes and started back . Halfway I got a phone from my cousin asking me to return as the priest of Edayathumangalam had called him  and informed temple was open. Our joy was great it's not everyday the lord invites you and is gracious enough to wait for you. 

Many famous people hail from this village and still keep in touch with their roots. The trichy E.R.Highschool was founded by sri.Nataraja Iyer from this village

How to Reach:

Edayathumangalam is a tiny village , now a part of Lalgudi about 3 kms away on the banks of the Kollidam. The dry riverbed was a sore sight but when there is flowing water I could imagine the vibrant life around. So travelling via lalgudi towards Kollidam a right turn on the north bank leads you to the temple

The temple kumbabishekam has recently been completed and it was vibrantly painted.

Legends and stories:

The temple is a very important place for people born in Uthara phalguni star. This star is very auspicious for a happy wedded life,longevity of marriage and husbands life. Most chariots of temples roll out in utsavams in the month of Chitirai on uthra Nakshatra days .

Maangalya maharishi who did penance here had immense virtue in his palm. The akshathai blessings  he bestowed were precious so all devathas would come with spouses to receive them. We will see invitations of hindu weddings with angels flying around printed on them we believe these angels bestow blessings. These angels get the power and are recharged after they visit Maangalya Maharishi in this temple with their spouses.

 Hence first invitation for the wedding is always placed here to invite the Rishi and his Patni to our weddings and he comes with all the devathas at muhurtham time to bless the couple.

Srimathy ambal of Lalgudi saptharishishwara temple was born as the daughter of this rishi in this village and the descendents of that house still send paternal gifts to the goddess during the annual festival.

People pray to this rishi especially uthara star sign for happy early marriage, longevity and happiness. There is a separate statue for him in front of the vinayakar sannidhi. He also has a statue in the lalgudi saptharishishwara temple also.

 As you enter the east facing temple we see a huge nandi in front of the sanctum in outer praharam

On the left we find the vinayakar sannidhi with Maangalya rishi in the front

The Small temple has unique Kosta vigrahas

 

The sthala vriksham

The main sanctum houses a gigantic Shivalingam corresponding to the Nandi . The lord faces east 

(Pic courtesy from internet)

The ambal Mangalanayaki is in the same praharam her sannidhi faces south

(Pic courtesy the internet)

This powerful  petite ambal is very enchanting.

The vibrations and atmosphere in tbe whole temple enhanced our experience and we left feeling blessed.

Contact details: 

09843951363.  

Sri.srinivasan sivachariyar

(The priest of the temple)

 

 

KANCHI MUTT LALGUDI AN ANCIENT ADI SANKARAR SANNIDHI CONSECREATED BY MAHAPERIYAVA IN 1913

I recently visited my native village Lalgudi near Trichy and it was 12/05/24 Adishankara Jayanti so after visiting the Saptharishiswara temple we visited the Kanchi Mutt Lalgudi, an institution that was established by Shri Mahaperiyava before his sojourn at Mahendramangalam in 1913. When I reached,the sankara jayanti poojas were over and preparations were on for the Veedhi ulaa to be held in the evening with Adishankarar's vigraham which I was told was the only Adi Sankarar vigraham consecreated in all the areas around trichy and this veedhi Ula is very popular over the years

HOW TO REACH: Lalgudi is a bustlng extention of Trichy now and the temple of Saptharishishwarar is the geographical centre. The red stone gopuram gave it the name of LALGUDI from the invading moghuls. Once you reach the temple arch take a left on the NEW STREET. A furlong down this road will bring you to the Kanchi Mutt Lalgudi. The peaceful surroundings are enchanting. It used to house a bustling vedapatashalai and many eminent vidwans have studied here in the past sadly its not so today

LEGENDS AND HISTORY: It is mentioned in the book,"Pujya Mahaswami Divya Charithram by Shri Sambamoorthy sastrigal in page 18 that he established a shankaralayam in Lalgudi, a veda patashala was established in 1913 and later many vidwans emerged from here From family sources and other references I gathered these impressions, Periyava had special affinity for this matam since this was the first Shri ADI SHANKARAR prathishtai done by Periyava after his initiation to sanyasam. Engineer, Gopalakrishnan,Munsif Krishna Iyer (my paternal great grandfather),Judge L.S.Parthasarathy Iyer played a major role in this pratishtai. Periva himself had narrated this in 1959-60 to late Shri L.K.Saptharishi Iyer(Son in law of Angarai Annadhanam Iyer) who was the Mudradhikari of the mutt at lalgudi and the son of Munsif Krishna Iyer , that HE remembers the poornakumbam was given by Munsif Krishna Iyer during the event in 1913. Mahaperiyava visited the mutt in 1959-1960 for 10 days and performed chaturmasyam while staying in angarai village nearby. In 1977 Shri Jayendra saraswathi swamigal performed the Kumbabishekam and so also another kumbabhishekam under his tutelage was performed in 1994 . Pudhu periyava instructed to do Balalayam in 2012 and wanted to celebrate the 100th year anniverary of first prathishtai but could not come after the kumbabishekam. The bhaktas of Lalgudi are eagerly awaiting Shri Sankara vijayendrasaraswathi swamigal's visit for which HE has consented so good days ahead seem possible for the Lalgudi bhakthas and the Lalgudi Kanchi madam. As you enter there is a spacious courtyard as shown in the pic above which takes you into the building housing the Adishankarar sannidhi I visited after the Jayanthi celebrations

The area behind houses a huge pond but is now dry. It was once helpful in performing pitru karyas in the past.

There is a sandhyavandanam mandapam behind that seems encroached by the local homeless persons. The far end houses the adhishtanams of many sanyasis who were part of Kanchi mutt in their poorvashrama. The term used by the narrator was abathsanyasams . some pictures of the Sankara jayanthi I received later

A humble request is for devotees of our matam to visit this serene institution with a history from 1913 and experience the blessings of Adi Sankara, Mahaperiyava, Puduperiyava and BalaPeriyava HARA HARA SANKARA JAYA JAYA SANKARA

Sri Mruthyunjayeshwarar temple Kanchipuram

This is one of the ancient still fully functional temple of that Era in Kanchi and under supervision of the ASI

How to Reach:

The temple is very close to the Kanchi Railway station on Kammala street. If you are reaching by road it's on the main road after the bypass landing on the chennai Bangalore  side

Legends and stories:

The temple is from the  Pallava time (dates to 700CE or around )

The devas wanted eternal life so Brahma directed them to do penance to Shiva at Kanchi and they consecreted the temple here. The lord is also known as Iravatheshwarer

Sri Markandeya Rishi is supposed to have prayed here to this shivalingam

The temple is famous for doing 60 th/70 th and beyond birthdays. 

Those who experience health issues can pray to the lord for safe and long life

The temple is small and very peaceful. The entry is via the steps on the left side as seen above

The main shivalingam is about 3 feet and faces east in the garbagruha. In the ante chamber there is an ancient homa kundam on the right

The outer walls of the temple are filled with multiple carvings of divine events. They are all relief carvings not idols carved and placed like in later temples these carvings are a part of the wall itself

there are two small sannidhis for Vinayaka and Murugan behind the main temple. These don't have the same carvings on their walls

the sthala vriksham is vilvam

It's a small peaceful ancient temple .please do visit for long life

The priest is a professor in the local college and available before 9:30  am Evenings temple opens by 5 pm to 7 pm

Adhishtanams of the Kanchi seers- Keezhambi-Adhishtanam of shri Advaitatma Prakasendra Saraswati the 60 th pontiff

This seer was the successor of shri .Bhagawan nama bodhendra of Govindapuram.
How to reach:
Keezhambi is a small village west of Kanchipuram on the bangalore highway. The place is about 10 kms from the present Sri matam. Take the road towards Ekambranathaswamy temple and proceed straight for 8 kms.till you reach the engineering college and just after this take left turn. You will see lush green Verdant fields amidst which rests the adhishtanam seen below .
The easier way now is that a new kanchipuram bypass has been built called Vellore bangalore bypass on google maps you can enter this road from vellore side before Kanchi or from chennai cross kanchipuram and after Kanchi College of arts and sciences take a left . (THERE IS ROAD WIDENING AND OVER BRIDGE WORK TAKING PLACE HERE SO ASK FOR kEEZHAMBI ELSE YOU CAN MISS IT. IN FUTURE IT WILL BE AN UNDERPASS ON THE BANGALORE HIGHWAY) and then take the first right road . It will take you to the village and will end at a Rama bhajanai koil take a right there and next left you will land at the great banyan tree after crossing Vinayakar. Locals are friendly ask for Kanchi mutt temple and not as adhishtanam or samadhi
There is a small Sivan koil nearby which adds to the serenity as well as a large banyan grove by which name the place is identified.

Cars will travel up to the banyan trees after which we have to walk in the open field

The keys to the adhisntanam are with a farm hand Vijayaraghavan who lives nearby and is seen in the photo below pointing to the adhishtanam.He appeared from nowhere and guided me inside which by itself was a divine intervention at 11 AM

The Mutt has built a structure for the adhishtanam.Recently a mahrudram was performed here.
Sri Advaitatma Prakasendra Saraswati : He was also known as Govinda. He was the son of Parasurama, a native of a village adjoining the river Vasistha. His former name was Sruti-Pandita. For some time, he lived in Govindapuram where his predecessor had attained mukti. He was held in very great veneration by Sahaji, , the King of Tanjore. He attained mukti at the village Ambi, near Kanchi on Krishna Dwitiya in the month of Chaitra of the cyclic year Svabhanu (1704 AD). His brindavan at Ambi is in daily worship.
(weblink:history of the kanchi mutt)



It was very difficult to tear myself away from such verdant surroundings.

Update:

Today 14/1/12 I had the oppurtunityto visit the place in the presence of Shri Sivarama sroutigal who takes care of the adhishtanam lovingly. He had made venpongal prasadam and we had a nice darshan of the abhishekam and pooja done with great reverence.The children of the village enjoyed the prasadam which the srouthrigal had made lovingly .

Ganapathy enroute to the adhishtanam

from the Kanchi calender 2018
60. Sri Advaitatma Prakasendra Saraswati
1692 - 1704 A.D.
आचाय - 60 - अयाकाशेः
अथ ··· पिरतोऽटनम ्॥ १२१ ॥
आकाशे ··· िसिमापत ्॥ १२२ ॥
अयमेव··· भम ्॥
Then, son of Paraśurāma on the banks of river
Vaśiṣṭha, well-versed in scriptures, touring all
around bore the burden (or preceptor) on him.
This sage by name Govinda with the appellation
Ātmaprakāśendra carried out the responsibilities of
preceptor for twelve years. He attained siddhi on
the second day of Kṛṣṇapakṣa in the month Caitra
of the year Svabhānu.
This preceptor remained in Shahajipuram for a long
period hailed as Govindajagadguru by Śrădhara
Veṅkateśa and other learned men.
(as in Kāmakoṭi Kośasthāna edition)
॥ अथ पुयोकमरी पिरिशम् ॥
पोलेकामाजन-शाराकर-ीरामशिणीतः ितीय भागः

3/7/22 Today I had the oppurtunity to revisit this adhishtanam. The previous caretaker Sri Sivarama srouthigal has passed and there is a new pujakarar sri Aravind whose contact number was displayed outside

here are a few pictures from today

Today 17/04/23I revisited

Here are a few snaps.

The path towards the adhishtanam is n9w developed half way and  tractor / lorries were moving 

The area around ghe adhishtanam is also cleared

13/08/23 Today we had the fortune to revisit and be blessed .Shri Aravind the caretaker fortunately for us arrived there and we were able to go inside and do namaskarams