Manimangalam Temples a brief summary :
Having been inspired by Kalki’s Sivagamiyin sabadham I was very keen to visit this place a small village near Sriperumbudur and Tambaram. This is the place where the pallava king Mahendravarma and later his son Narasimha Varma Pallava (Ma mallan) along with his minister Paranjothi (also known as Siruseedan one of the nayanmars round about 735 AD). defeated Pulakesi II of the chalukya dynasty and they proceeded to chase him as far north as VATAPI (present day Badami in North Karnataka) and vanquished him The original name of this place was Chaturvedi mangalam and it is said that there are numerous stone sculptures strewn around this village and also the temples here bound with lots of inscriptions which talk of how the chalukyas needed to be decimated and not shown any mercy!!
Dr.Gift Siromoney a legend of madras Christian college in his book has this to say about Manimangalam and its archeological treasures
http://www.cmi.ac.in/gift/Archeaology/arch_mpillar.htm
once I reached I came to know that there is another temple for Vishnu Vaikunta perumal temple . There are a lot of inscriptions found here .in these temples
http://www.whatisindia.com/inscriptions/south_indian_inscriptions/volume_3/manimangalam.html
I have been greatly helped by the blogs of Sri Raju and Shri saravanan about these temples
http://www.dharsanam.com/2009/03/manimangalam-sri-dharmeswarar.html
http://shanthiraju.wordpress.com/2008/02/28/visit-to-somangalam-and-manimangalam-temples/
How to reach::
There are three routes to reach this village.
1) From Tambaram : Just before the Hindu mission hospital take a right turn into Sriperumbudur road /Mudichur road. Proceed for 10 kms when the road takes a turn to the right which is Manimangalam
2) From Sriperumbudur: On NH 4 after you cross the Rajiv Gandhi memorial there is a signal with a left towards Vandalur. It is also called Darkas road State highway 110 or Kodambakkam sriperumbudur road proceed for about 1 km and take a right turn towards Vandalur to reach Manimangalam. It is about 19-20 kms from the NH 4
3) From Kunrathur: From Kunrathur Thirunageshwaram temple/Sekkhizar school take the highway adjacent to the temple.it will run parallel to the NH 4. After about 1 Km the road cuts across the Outer ring road from thiruninravur to Vandalur. Take a left into this road and you will reach Mudichur in about 10 kms. Manimangalam is a further km away on the right. The distance is about16 kms from Kunrathur
This trip I could see only the two Shiva temples the Kurukall of the perumal temple had already left by 10 Am after completing the daily pooja so I was unfortunate to find the Vishnu temples locked. I shall maybe come back another day
A stones throw away from the Kailasanathar temple is this temple. The temple is ASI managed and I was impressed by the presence of a supervisor on a Sunday who ran to the kurukkal’s house and got the keys at about 11 am and showed us around. He refused any remuneration!!
On the approach road is a well directed sign 
There is a prominent board by ASI also 
The front lawn was occupied by young men playing cricket on a Sunday morning in the shade of the peepul tree
As in any ASI monument photography was allowed and I post these here
As you enter the main gate you see the Ambal sannidhi in front (Vedhaambigai) with the main Nandi and bali peetam placed outside the main temple wall!! there is a small recess for Nandi to see the lord inside. So Ambal and Nandi are away from the inner temple!
( Ambal sannidhi seen in front) The Ambal was covered with greenish moss/ fungus probably due to the monsoon rains
The entrance to the main temple with the pillars having many miniature carvings of Ganesha and Subramanian in many forms
The entire outer walls have extensive inscriptions about the endowments, history and local grants by prominent citizens a virtual history record!!
The sanctum has a huge Siva lingam in the Garba gruha with a navagraha in the ante chamber. there is a separate grilled area inside for the utsava moorthy which is sadly lacking as it was apparently stolen long time ago.
The outside of the temple has multiple Ganesha under Bilva trees, a Bhairava is also there in a separate niche along with a separate Shanishwarar.sannidhi
Murugan
(second Ganesha)
(Shanishwarar with Crow as vahana in his separate niche )
The walls of the main temple have Ganesha, Dakshina murthy,Perumal,Brahma,Durga and also a Chandikeshwara nearby
(side view of the temple with Ganesha and Dakshinamurthy)
(Dakshinamurthy)
Ganesha
Perumal behind the temple
There are a lot of vigrahas partly damaged and kept aside
A very peaceful temple so close to bustling civilisation crying for patronage!!
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