Sri Vamanapureswarar Temple Thirumanikuzhi–a Padal petra sthalam

The road from Panrutti to Cuddalore has many temples famous in their own right. After visiting Padaleeswarar temple at Cuddalore  and the Thiruvandhipuram temple this is the next temple I had the chance to visit last sunday.

How to reach:

The temple is roughly about 5 kms away rom thiruvahindipuram  and 20 kms away from Panrutti on the Panrutti Cuddalore road SH 68.The temple is on the banks of the Kedilam river

LEGENDS OF THE TEMPLE:

The temple is unique in that there is always a screen(Bheema Rudra) who keeps the lord covered except during aarathi. The Lord is with Parvathy in the garba gruha and hence the privacy

Mahavishnu  was born as  Vamana the12^th child of sage  Kashyapa and Adithi. He vanquished the ego of Bali Chakravarthy since he used a bit of trickery to do that he came here and did penance to redeem himself  as depicted in the carvings below found in the temple

As you enter the main gopuram you see the dwaja sthambam and bali peetam.The entrance to the temple is through the left and a passage leads to the main Shiva complex

The Inner praharam has various koshta vigrahas as below on the walls along with separate sannidhi for murugan ,Ganapathy, Gajalakshmi etc.

The Durga is unique in that she is a Raja Durga not standing on the mahisha (BULL)

In the sanctum itself the main lord Shiva is covered by a screen with the Bheema Rudra  and puja is also done for the Bheema Rudra.The Shivalingam itself is quite small but very attractive.

Below is a picture from Dinamalar.com of the sanctum

The Goddess  Ambujakshi is holding two flowers in Her hands, lotus and Neelotpala. The woes of devotees would become softer as flowers, it is said. She graces from her own temple complex on the north side she also faces east

All around the temple in many places I found statues of Bala Vinayaka and Bala Murugan  scattered around It is a place where many people come for begetting progeny

A photo of the Goddess from Dinamalar.com

 

Sri Padaleeshwarar temple Thiruppathiripuliyur in Cuddalore-A Padal petra sthalam

Last Sunday my wife and myself had an opportunity to pray at this temple. Though I had driven via Cuddalore umpteen times the lord permitted me and gave me a darshan only  a week ago

HOW TO REACH:

When you are driving down from pondy on the east coast road you will enter into cuddalore and cross the bridge on the kedilam river the ECR turns left proceed straihjy into cuddalore town and after driving a couple of KMS on the right you can see the road to the temple turn in and take a left you will see the temple.

Alternatively youcan reach the main road from Thiruvanthipuram /panrutti from the west .Also  Kedilam bridge.from Mayavaram and kmbakonam you can come via the east coast road and turn left at the kedilam bridge.

The temple is walkin distance from the Thiruppathiripuliyur  railway station and Cuddalore bus stand

LEGENDS OF THE TEMPLE:

The temple is very ancient I was first fascinated by the story that after visiting 1008 temples Thirunavukkarasar and Thirugnanasambandar met up at this temple and continued their journey singing about the  Shiva temples  in the Cauvery delta.

Saint arunagirinathar has composed exquisite thirupugazh on  Murugan in this temple

Parvathi was once banished from Kailasa for closing the eyes of Shiva playfully she did penance here under the Padiri tree here and was again re united with Shiva

Saint Thirunavukkarasar (@ Appar) was tied to a rock and cast into the sea by Mahendra pallava (600-630 A.D) a staunch vaishnavite. He miraculously floated on the rock in the sea under divine blessings and landed nearby at “Karaiyeravittakuppam” a place nearby

upamanyu son of Vyaghrapada rishi while offering worship to Parvati  inadvertently  kicked Devi who cursed him to become a hare. He repented his action and devi ordained him to pray the lord Padaleeswarar to get rid of the curse. The hare after wandering many years was one day hunted by the legendary king Adiraja. The hare after getting wounded  came in contact with the branches of this padiri tree. The touch of the tree resulted in  upamanyu regaining his human form.

As you enter the main gate you see the dwaja sthambam and Nandi

The next praharam has the Koshta vigrahas Vinayaka, Dakshinamurthy, Lingodbhava, Brahma and Durga.There are also  the 63 nayanmars, a bala vinayaka in stone relief work, another selva vinayaka, Gajalakshmi,Shanmukaa having their own sannidhis.

The Main Sanctum of Shiva is huge and the Shivalinga itself is majestic and well decked up producing an divine spectacle for the bhaktas

The outer praharam has the Sthala vruksha the padiri tree

The Goddess Periyanayaki is a 6 footer standing in her own temple complex, bali peetam and Dwajasthambam on the northern side facing east

 

The temple houses a Go shala and I made a few friends

Veludayanpattu Murugan temple- A unique Ancient murugan temple inside the Neyveli Township

Among the old temples of Neyveli township this murugan temple is one of the most vibrant. The uniqueness of the temple is that Murugan is seen here with a Bow and arrow Villudayan which has been corrupted over years to Veludayan he is also known as Sri Sivasubramania swami here. The temple is about 800 years old and is managed by the NLC.

Side view of the temple as you approach the temple

The main entrance of the temple

The main entrance leads to the outer praharam housing the Dwajasthambam and

 

 

the wedding hall on the right

 

The main sanctum houses Murugan as a hunter with a bow and arrow and both Valli and Devasena as consorts on either side

 

The temple is a very popular tonsuring centre for young kids in Neyveli and nearby

Sri Nataraja Temple10 ft tall huge Bronze nataraja inside the Neyveli Township

A couple of months ago I had an occasion to have darshan of this temple. It is situated inside the township and is easily found. The Nataraja here is  mammoth 10.1 feet tall and 8.4 feet base. An ancient temple of 500 years was apparently present here before the township was built and has been rebuilt.

The main attraction is the hall housing the Nataraja facing the main entrance.

pic below  from the web courtesy @ Dinamalar .com

To your left you see a shiva temple complex the sempon Jothinathar

on either sides are Ashtabhuja Durga , Suryan,  dasa bhuja Bhairava, Shanishwara. The Navagrahas are uniquely represented as in the Gangaikonda cholapuram temple

These pics of the idols are also from Dinamalar.com

Dasa bhuja Bhairava

Ashta bhuja Durga

The navagraha

There is a meditation hall with all the 63 nayanmars housed inside

26/08/23 The new 28 ft bronze at pragathi maidan in Delhi for the G20 summit is now the tallest Nataraja