Monday, August 25, 2014

Sri Mangalapureeshwarar temple at Tiruchopuram near Cuddalore- A padal petra sthalam

This Sunday 23/8/14 I visited this temple . It is very close to the shore and in a quaint village. Sadly many people do not visit this temple and the priest stays at Cuddalore but does 5 kala pujas daily. Since he is in charge of many temples  he is always on the move. The temple manager stays behind and has custody of the keys and so we were able to enter the temple and have a darshan
How to reach:
The temple is between cuddalore and chidambaram On the east coast road about 20 kms from cuddalore you will see the road to Alapakkam take this road and cross the railway track at 4 kms you will come to Thiruchopuram now called Thiagavalli in memory of the queen of Thribhuvana maharaja who used to worship here. The Temple is in the middle of the village
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The bells on the kodimaram were pleasantly welcoming us with their music
Legends:
A few hundred  and fifty years ago the temple was covered by sand and was lost. Ramalinga sivayogiar of Madurai had a dream and he came here and discovered the kalasam and with the help of villagers reclaimed  the temple. Till a few years ago it was accessed only  by boat access the river. You can still see copious sand in the courtyard
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Agasthya did penance here .
Thirugnanasambandar has sung songs about this temple
The temple itself is quite small but spacious. The shivalingam faces west hence the  square avudiar is on the left. The ambal sannidhi is on the left facing south. There is only one praharamIMG_0008
The dwarapalakas of the shivan sannidhi
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The ambal is known as Veladan nadunkanniyal, sathyaaya dakshi and is about 5feet tall and quite imposing.IMG_0019 IMG_0018
The kosta vigrahas are reversed as the temple faces west and hence you find Vishnu durgai first, The Dakshinamurthy, lingodhbhavar are unique in having attendants Ganesh has Thirugnanasambandam as attendantIMG_0036 
Dakshinamurthy has sanath kumaras
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Brahma and Vishnu are attending Shiva above
There are other sannidhis in the praharam  as below with many lingams and the 63 nayanmarsIMG_0041 IMG_0026 IMG_0027 IMG_0028 
Navagragas in an enclosure
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Sthala vriksham Konrai maram

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