Though I visited this temple in 2011 I have somehow not blogged about it. A recent discussion about the adhishtanam of Sri Advaithatma Prakashendra
(Sishya of Sri Bodhendral of Govindapuram) of the Kanchi peetam reminded me of this temple.(click here to see the blog )
This is the only temple in Kanchipuram with a seperate ambal sannidhi
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 madam. Take the road towards Ekambranathaswamy temple and proceed straight for 8 kms.till you reach the Krishna engineering college and just after this take left turn. You will see lush green Verdant fields amidst which rests the temple. The road stops at a huge banyan tree and you will have to go by a small mud road.
Legends of the temple:
Parvathy did penance in Kanchi to attain the lord. This place where the temple is situated was a huge garden and during her tapas an attendant would daily bring flowers from here to the place where Parvathy was lost in dhyana. Kanchi is the Nabhi sthalam shakthi peetam. Kamakshi is all pervading here and no other shiva temple in all of Kanchi except this temple has a ambal sannidhi. This is referenced in the Sivapuranam.
Sri Kamban the great poet lived with his benefactor sambanda mudaliar in Kanchi. He did poojas here to beget progeny and in gratitude named his son after the Lord in this temple
The temple itself is very small and is east facing with entrance to the sannidhi from the south. with the ambal sannidhi seen on the right
The main sannidhi has an ante chamber with murugan, Ganesha and a nandi plus the temple legend board
The Shiva Lingam is medium sized and is blessing us . The temple is clean and well maintained and very peaceful.
The kosta vigrahas around are Ganapathy, Dakshinamurthy, Mahavishnu , Brahma and Durga
There are shrines for Vinayaka and Murugan behind the temple and the sthala vruksham is the Vilvam
View from behind of ambal sannidhi and Vilva tree
The Ganapathy sannidhi behind
The Navagrahas and the temple well
The entrance walls have murugan and vinayaka
Since there are very few visitors the priest who stays in Kanchi comes twice a day and closes the temple after pooja. He is available from 7 am to 9 AM and evenings from 4 PM. Both the temple and the adhishtanam nearby are places worth seeing . Please include them in your trips to Kanchipuram The farm hand at the adhishtanam will guide you around