Sri Abhi Rameshwarar and Muthambikai temple -Thiruvamathur near Villupuram

On the Chennai Trichy highway NH 45 about 5 kms from the Chennai Trichy road on the right side near the bypass of villupurum look for the board announcing the small road to Thiruvamathur.   on travelling a couple of kms you can see the gopuram. It is a temple built in the seventh century AD by the pallavas and .The temple is the abode of Shri Abhirameshwarar and ambal Muthambikai. The sannidhis of both deities are separate and face each other. There is a legend behind this fact

 

Bhringi rishi wanted to see Shiva and was prevented by Nandi as Shiva was with Shakti. Bhringi rishi took the form of a “Vandu” a bee/wasp/insect and went around Shiva alone ignoring Parvathi. This enraged Shakti and when Shiva did not react she stormed out and faced him in the opposite direction. She cursed the rishi to become a Vanni tree which is the sthala vriksham.

Lord Rama is supposed to have come here with Seetha and Lakshmana while returning to Ayodhya and worshipped he  lingam with abhimanam hence Abhirameshwarar. This sculpture is seen as you enter the Shiva sannidhi above the door

Inside this Ramar Sannidhi seen on the northern side of the outer prahara we can see rare sculptures of Rama Lakshmana, Seetha,Hanuman and Jambhavan

(I revisited on 14/8/16 and above two photos are from that visit both vigrahas are housed one behind the other)

 

(View as soon as you enter the Siva temple gopuram)

   (Dwajasthambam having Siva and Vrishabha with horns)

 

The Main deity is a lingam which was prayed to by the cows as they did not posses any protection in those days. The lord’s idol has a hoof mark on the top and multiple rivulet markings where he was worshipped with dripping milk by these cows. He granted that they will hence forth sport horns and so that's how the cows have horns that's why a lot of veerashaiva’s of Karnataka visit the place regularly as they consider basava( Nandi) as their patron lord

Next to the thayar sannidhi is a vatta parai ( a lingam with square shape and ridges all over which was used as a pramanam stone by the ancient villagers to conduct panchayat in the presence of god.

There is a narrow area where you insert your hand if you are untrue the hand will get stuck!! There is a legend here how  one brother cheated the younger one with a lucky play of words and was stuck down by a snake which was coiled around the waist of the Ambal. ( see the last pic in this blog for the legend)

 

In between both Temples is the Temple for Ganapathy who helped Sri Rama who prayed to him Perumal thuyaram theertha Vinayaka
Inside the Shiva  temple there are sannidhis for a akasha Linga,Banalinga,Vayu Linga,Kasi vishwanathar,Lakshmi, murugan, Vinayaka who is shown with a consort “Vallabha Ganapathy”   

(latest picture on 13/4/12 after maintenance)

 

 

There is a sculpture showing the mummorthies
and also a 100 pillar mandapam

The temple is looked after by Shri. Arunachala shivachariyar and Shri.A Mahesh gurukkal
Phone: 04146 223319
cell; 9842022544 /  9976887652

I revisited the temple on 13/4/12 . There were lot of improvements . The temple had been repainted and pathways cleared .

Rajagopuram view from inside

View from Ambal temple you can see the sakshi lingam in front

 

A miniature Vallabha Ganapathy on the Door frame

On a visit on 14/8/16 I was able to click more pictures and I am posting them From the Vinayaka sannidhi outside the perumal thurai theertha Vinayaka

Inside the Shiva temple

 

The Dhyana mandapam in front of the Ambal temple

The cursed Bhringi Rishi was made to become a Vanni tree and this tree is found next to  the Dhyana mandapam but it is just a petrified wood now . The sthala vriksham is the Vanni tree

 

As I was exiting the temple I saw this car with a Rudraksha canopy and the Dicky was housing more Rudraksha covered Items maybe used for the lord during special poojas

The karumari Tripurasundariamman temple Ashok nagar

I happened to stumble on the relatively new temple in Ashok nagar recently. The temple is present just off the III avenue . When you are proceeding from the Ambedkar road end towards ayodhya mandabam side the road to Srinagar colony can be seen on the right ( next to TRS IIT coaching class) this leads to the temple which is on the left side at about one furlong distance.


The entrance has a vinayaka and Lakshmi welcoming.
The main sannidhi is the Karumariamman (Thripurasundari) flanked by Selva Ganapathy and Selvamurugan. Today was Aadi Sunday hence she was decked with neem leaves
Next to the amman sannidhi is the Shivalingam. To the left of the sivalingam sannidhi is the Hanuman sannidhi
To the left of the Hanuman on a higher floor is the Complex of  Venkataramana swamy and Padmavathy thayar, In front of these is a small Hayagreeva and  Devi sannidhi. The Doors of tis sannidhi was crammed with bells being put up by bhakthas for their prarthanais.
As you get down and finish the pradakshinam you will see the Sarabeshwarar sannidhi and next to it is the mirrored small cubicle. Every Sunday evening is the utsavam of sarabeshwarar in this small cubicle



The Saraswathy on the Mandabam is very enchanting
The sheer number of vigrahas and wide variety all in one place is very enchanting. The local people throng the place on sundays and other special days and make the temple a very vibrant place. It is a really delightful experience especially on pradosham days.

Narayanavanam Sri Kalyanavenkateshwara and Padmavathy thayar temple

Narayanavanam is a quaint village about 35 kms from tirupati and 95 kms from Chennai on the Chennai tirupati road.When you reach Puttur byepass you will find the road to nagalapuram,uthukottai branching off on the right . Proceed for about 2 kms and you will enter the village. After about 2 furlongs you can see the road on the left leading to the temple. This is the temple where you can see Padmavathy thayar and Sri. Venkateshwara in the same temple. This is one of the  important 5 moorthys of Balaji  near tirupati namely Tirumala, Utsava moorthy at tirumala, Govindaraja perumal, Sreenivasa mangapuram and Narayanavanam

Kalyanavenkateshwaraswamy temple Narayanavanam

View from the main gate

The temple was built by Aakasharaja the father of Padmavathy . In fact the Tirumala temple is also supposed to be built by him. Both the temples were later rebuilt by Krishnadeva raya.

Legend says Padmavathy thayar fell in love with Balaji and their marriage was conducted here in Narayanavanam.

The temple has many  sannidhis. The main is  for Perumal in Kalyanakolam . Behind is the sannidhi for Sri Padmavathi .

There are seperate sannidhis for

• Sri Andal

• Sri Sita Lakshmana Sameta Rama

• Sri Ranganatha Swamy

In front of Padmavathy sannidhi we can see a huge miling stone which was supposedly used to prepare turmeric paste for the divine wedding.
The area around the temple is full of Karuvepilai ( curry leaves) trees even growing wildly as you can see on the highway also. Another story runs that since the newly weds were sent off to tirumala without these curry leaves the bride was upset and stayed put at Tiruchanoor itself.
The temple is very well maintained.The temple has regular sevas like Kalyana utsavam (Rs.500/ daily betwen 10-11 am ) and Abhishekam Rs.5/- every friday
 
For more details, you can contact Tel: +91-08574 -31417.

Navagraha temples in chennai near porur-Vaidhyeeswaran Temple In Poonamalle- Sevvai Kshetram

Today(18/07/2010) there was a medical camp at Kanchipuram and enroute I stopped at the Poonamallee Vaitheeswaran koil. It is said to be a pallava temple and built with exquisite carvings. Like the one near Kumbakonam this is also a Navagraha ,Sevvai kshetram (Mars /Angarakan)
On the Chennai Bangalore highway branch off left at Saveetha Dental college and travel up to the Mount Poonamallee road. Take a right turn into poonamalle town. After about 1-1.5 kms you will reach the Bus stand and Sundar hospital on the right. A left turn here leads you directly into the temple south side.
The South Gopuram has interesting vigrahas of Siva, Vishnu, Brahma, Parvati, Subramanya and Ganesh. .There is a unique idol of the trimurthys 

There is a large outer Prakaram and a covered inner prakaram with a huge temple tank outside on the east.
(View of the inner prakaram showing the Ambal sannidhi in the foreground and Main sannidhi on the right)

The main deity is the Siva lingam( Vaitheeswaran) facing east and goddess Thayal nayaki has a separate sannidhi facing the south in the inner Prakaram . Just outside the Sivan sannidhi is the sannidhi for Sevvai (angarakan with a carving showing legs and a statue for palm tree) the Sthala Vriksha Thaazhi Panai Maram (Thazhi Palm),

There is a separate sannidhi for Subramanian in the inner prakaram ,Adi Sankara has installed three chakras next to this sannidhi (Shiva Chakra, Subramania Chakra, Sri Charka ) . Every pournami and Amavasya abhishekam is done for these chakrams  There are also separate exquisite vighrahas of Brahma, Dakshinamurthy, Durga on the wall of the Shivan sannidhi
There is special pooja for angaraka on Tuesdays. similarly the other speciality in this temple is during month of march , the rays of the sun falls on the sanctum sanctorum in the morning for about five days continuously. This is called as "surya pooja" or the worship of Shiva by Sun god. It lasts for about 5 or 6 mins every day during that five day pooja.
The another speciality in this temple near the East  gopuram  is "Viduthalai Shani"( freedom shani) that is here the Saneeshwara is standing separately facing east. In front of him both Nala and Damayanthi are standing and here is the place where Nala got relieved from Shani.
Thus this temple is connected to the navagrahas Sun, Shani (Saturn) and Sevvai(Angarakan/ mars)
The South Mandapam has exquisite carvings in the doorways There is also a samadhi for a siddhar inside the temple   in the outer prakaram which is marked by a lingam.