Sri Maakaaleshwarar madhusundaranayaki temple at Irumbai near Auroville pondicherry- A padal petra sthalam

Today morning I was able to get a darshan of this lord Sri.Maakaaleshwarar one of the three in India the other two being in Ujjain and one near Mayavaram.He is one who has subdued Time (Kala)
The temple is ancient and Thirugnanasambandar ,Sundarar,Thirunavukkarasar and Manikavasagar have all sung about this Temple in their padigams. The temple being in close proximity of Auroville is taken care of by the inmates very lovingly. The entire temple premises were re done aesthetically in 2010 by the inmates of auroville
The temple maintains its own website   Click to visit temple website

How to reach:
The temple is in Auroville very close to NH 66.I happened to travel from Tindivanam and even before the toll near Pondy I was directed by a small sign to Irumbai.The road meandered along for about500 mts and I was in the temple compound.
The temple is about 11 kms from pondicherry

 The temple tank

The legend of the temple :
The temple legend is that of a Siddha purusha who lived here called Kaaduveli Sidhar whose penance was causing intolerable heat. The king used a devadasi called Valli who succeeded in waking up the saint without angering him. The rest of the history is best known from the temple blog from the official link:http://www.irumbaimaakaaleswarar.com/
The command of the saint made the Shivalinga burst into 3 pieces and shower rocks.The present Shivalinga is thus held together by a Copper band on top.The entire story has been created as murals and represented on the walls of the temple compound

as you enter the main tower you see the South facing entrance with the Ambal sannidhi in front of you.

The Dwajastamha is in the west facing the lord is Nandi. the temple is very small and we can see the Lord, Ambal and the Nataraja with Sivagami  all from the centre of the main sannidhi. 

The inside of the sannidhi is covered with brass and gives a rich feel

View of the inside

The kosta vigrahas are all very well carved , There is a Hanuman also. The Navagraha sannidhi houses the navagraha devatas along with their spouses

Narthana Ganapathy 

Sri Arasalishwarar temple Olindiyampattu, near Pondicherry-A padal petra sthalam

Today I was fortunate to visit this temple which is one of the two temples sung by saint Gnanasambandar which is close to Pondicherry.
How to reach:
The temple is very close to the NH 66 between Tindivanam and Pondy about 19 kms from Pondicherry or 27 kms from Tindivanam.I travelled from Tindivanam and after crossing Kiliyanur look for the road to Olindiyampattu on the left take the road and in about 3 kms you will reach the temple<!--[if !vml]--><!--[endif]--><!--[if !vml]--><!--[endif]--><!--[if !vml]--><!--[endif]-->

Legends of the temple:
Sage Vama deva who was travelling by praying  to Shiva to repent for the curse he had incurred, he prayed to Lord Shiva here with the leaves of the peepul tree or Bodhi tree(Arasa maram in Tamil) and was absolved of his curse, hence Shiva is known as Arasalishwara here.
Saint Gnanasambandar has described the temple in 10 stanzas as Arasali is the abode of Lord who drove away Kala the God of Death, who conquered kama, living on the alms offered by others, wearing Kondrai flower and sacred ash sprayed over His body.

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As you enter the small temple there is only one praharam with Shivan sannidhi facing east and the Ambal Periyanayaki  on the right facing South seen in the Pic below

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The entrance to Shivan sannidhi is from the south and the Sanctum has a small Shivalingam covered with a Nagabharanam in Silver.The lord is resplendent in his armour here
The Ganapathy here is  varasiddhi vinayakar who bestows all prayers

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Lord Dakshinamurthy graces from the Koshta  the demon of ignorance muyulgan is under the right leg of the Lord holding a serpent in his hand unlike the usual case where he is under the left leg of the lord this is considered a Shanta rupam and a rare sculpture.

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Maha Vishnu behind the sanctum

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Murugan sannidhi

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Brahma and Vishnu Durgai

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Durga devi
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Lord Nataraja is depicted in the Ananda Thandava (blissful dancing) posture. It is said that Lord Dakshinamurthy symbolizes Peace and Lord Nataraja Bliss telling mankind that they have to practice Ananda-bliss through Silence-Peaceful state of mind.
The Ambal sannidhi is small and Periyanayaki amman is a small petite sculpture about 3 feet tall on the pedestal blessing Bhaktas
Chandran

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Suryan sannidhi

These two flank the inner doorway facing the lord Shiva
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Praying to this lord gives mental peace and Happiness

 

I re visited on 13/11/16 a few more pics

The Vinayaka under the tree in front of the pond and temple

Thirumangalakudi Prananatheshwara Mangalambikai temple–A padalpetra sthalam

This is an ancient temple where the the Lord on the ambals wishes granted back life to a dead devotee.Lord Vishnu, Brahma,  Kali,Ambica, Akashavani, Bhooma Devi, Sage Agasthya and Sun God had worshipped in this temple.
The temple is praised as Pancha Mangala Kshetra. 
1) The name of the place is Thiru Mangala Kudi,
2) name of the Mother is Mangalambica,
3) the sacred spring is Mangala Theertham,
4) The Vimana –Mangala Vimana and
5) Lord Vinayaka is praised as Mangala Vinayaka, all auspicious. 
People visiting Suriyanar koil seldom visit this temple which is actually a sub temple of this main temple .
How to reach:
The temple is about 1 km from Suriyanar koil  off Aduthurai om the Kumbakonam mayiladuthurai road close to Kanjanur,Govindapuram
Legends of the temple:
The Navagrahas prevented leprosy to befall on Kalama Muni.  Angry Brahma cursed planets with that disease.  They came to this place, performed penance on the Swayambu Linga Shiva and got relieved of the curse.  So there is no Navagraha statues in this temple but are housed at Suriyanar koil.
A prime minister of the kingdom diverted funds to build this temple  when the king found out he ordered the person to be beheaded.When the body reached this place for cremation due to the fervent prayers of the deceased’s wife, goddess Mangalambikai restored the husband to life and gave mangalyam to the wife.
I visited at night hence the pics are not too clear
As you enter the first praharam Nandi is seen in the fore court



The main praharam houses the Shivalingam who is tall, taller than the Avudiar(Pedestal). it is called a Baana lingam.The entrance is flanked by Lakshmi and saraswathi on either side . both are in Padmasana and Saraswathy is with out her veena.

The Outer courtyard has the Koshta vigrahas and various sannidhis as below
There are both Vishnu durga as well as Shiva durga both in this temple

The Sthalavruksham is the silk cotton tree. The Erukka tree is also held in reverence here
The theerthams are Surya theertham in the well and the semi-circular Chandra theertham on the left

There are peculiarVahanams here like the purushamrugam
The boodha and Boodhini vahanam
There is a statue for the Prime  minister and his wife


The temple sells mangalasutras for 3 Rs.each which is much sought after with the mothers blessings