Shri Kasi Vishwanatha Sametha Shri Sivagami Ambal temple Tenkasi

This is a very imposing temple found in the town of Tenkasi(southern Kasi)

HOW TO REACH:

Tenkasi is in the foot hills of Courtallam and when you come here the temple is easily located in the middle of the town. it is a mammoth tower not easily missed

LEGENDS AND STORIES:

The temple was built by the Pandya king Parikrama Pandya who was a devotee of Kasi Viswanatha swamy. once he decided to proceed to Kasi to obtain a Shivalinga, In his dream he was instructed to follow a line of ants the next day and when he did so the ant hill they led to had a Shiva Lingam inside the same was consecrated here. There temple was built around the 13 ^th century as per records .

The temple is built in the Somaskanda form that is Siva and Parvati are both facing east with Murugan found in between them so we have three sanctums facing east side by side(Soma Skanda = sa Uma Skanda=Shiva who is with Uma and Skanda in Sanskrit)

The temple did not have a gopuram and the same was built between 1967 –1990

The temple has great sculptures in the Vijayanagara style especially the Virabhadra motif  which is common to the Hoysala temples as in nearby Srivilliputhur Andal temple

The temple is peaceful and enchanting

As you enter the main Rajagopuram

The engineering marvel here is in the air circulation dynamics

As you enter you can see all three main sannidhis in front

The Kalyana mandapam on the right as you enter

The gopuram viewed  from inside

A longing view as I left the temple hoping to return soon and do a detailed blog

Shri Kalyana Vikrutheshwarar sametha Madhubhashini Temple at Venjaman koodal near Karur-A padal petra sthalam

Venjaman Koodalur is a sleepy hamlet on the banks of Amaravathy river a tributary of Cauvery in the aravankuruchi taluk. In 1982 the temple was washed away in floods of the Amaravathy and was rebuilt .

HOW TO REACH:

Venjamankoodaloor is about 25 kms south of Karur on the Karur Madurai route. There are boards displaying the exit to the left. There is a textile showroom “Pravesh Retail” with a tea stall that is the landmark . About 5 kms on this scenic village road we come to the temple.The temple is in a low lying area and you have to descent the steps to reach the sanctum

LEGENDS AND STORIES:

The temple is at the confluence of two streams that drain into the Amaravathi hence the name Koodalur. A local chieftain here called Venjaman built the temple hence the name Venjaman Koodalur

Once Sundarar was lost here and demanded gold coins from Shiva for his expenses . This was sundarar’s usual practice. The Lord used to play with him and extract poems in praise before giving him gold. Similarly  Shiva refused saying he has no gold but Sundarar was crafty and forced Shiva who came with parvati as old couple. Shiva pledged his kids with Parvathi and obtained gold to pay Sundarar

The temple has been sung about by Sundarar , Appar has also visited

As you enter you see the Nandi and Dwaja sthamba

There is a small Shivalingam facing the east .Next door is the Ambal sannidhi Madhurabhashini @Panner mozhial ammai “the sweet word ambal”

The outer courtyard has the following

Statues of the 4 nayanmars Sambandar, Sundarar, appar and Manickavasagar

Kanni moola Ganapathy

Lingodhbhavar

Murugan sannidhi

Durga

Ambal sannidhi

Shanishwara

Chandran

Suryan

The pillar in front of the temple

Shri Achala Deepeshwarar Madhukara veni temple Mohanur- a padal petra sthalam

On the northern bank of the Kaveri this is one of the 7 padal petra sthalams in the kongu territory. It is in a peaceful village which is actually the other bank of cauvery from Nerur  sri Sadashiva Brahmendral Adhishtanam

HOW TO REACH:

Mohanur is just 20 kms north of Karur across the Kaveri .It is 18 kms east of Velur and about 70 kms from Erode. There is a cement road in front of the temple with the Kaveri forming its back drop

LEGENDS AND STORIES:

The lord Achala Deepeshwarar faces the Kaveri and is west facing while the ambal Madhukara veni is next to him and is east facing. She is apparently calling out to Murugan who has run away and stopped atop a hillock nearby in his own temple

Madhukara veni is carved out of a single stone  including the frame which is very rare

The sanctum houses a permanent lamp which is lit all the time the flames do not dance hence called achalam –motionless in Sanskrit a rishi –Beejavaba Maharishi used to tend to the lamp and there is a carving of him here

Sundarar came here and received gold from Shiva after he composed songs on Shiva

A curd seller Karunayee used to finish her sales and offer the remaining to the lord and consume it as naivedyam. She was unmarried and she became pregnant! the whole village ridiculed her but she walked into the Kaveri and said I am true to myself and not impure one day you will know about me at once a divine voice proclaimed that Karunayee was none other than Parvathi and since then the villagers starting revering her .

There are many connotations to the origin of the name Mohanur.It was actually denoting Mahan-son  or it also denotes middlemen in business

As you enter you see the ayyanar purnapushkala sannidhi

Entrance to the main sannidhi from the east

Ambal sannidhi from the back facing east

western side Shivan sannidhi with Rahu sannidhi in the far right Rahu is with consorts

Ambal Madhukara Veni sannidhi

The outer praharam has many sannidhis . Chandran with Rohini and next door is suryan with Samigna devi

Rahu is also seen with consorts here

The wall of the sannidhi outside has many minute carvings

Sannidhi for Sri Sadasiva Brahmendra who used to move around here. The temple is across his Samadhi ont he other bank of the Kaveri

Kala Bhairavar sannidhi above

and blissfully flows the cauvery behind the temple

Mohanur is also famous for the Prasanna Kalyana Venkataramana temple  since it was the Saturday in Purattasi month the rush prevented me from visiting now

Shri Mukuteshwarar - Padal Petra sthalam, a parihara sthalam at Kodumudi near Karur

This is an ancient temple where all the holy Trinity of Hinduism are enshrined. It is an ancient parihara sthalam for a variety of dosams and Rahu ketu afflictions.

HOW TO REACH:

Kodumudi is 20 mms from Karur, 40 kms from erode.It is easily accessible by train and road It is situated on the Karur Erode highway near a place called Velur on the southern banks of the Kaveri.

A view from the banks of the Kaveri

View of the Kaveri from the temple

LEGENDS AND STORIES:

The river Kaveri takes a turn to east from South here and is hence famous for parihara of pithru dosham remedies.

The Shivalinga here is actually a tip of a huge hillock. Once Adiseshan and Vayu had a competition. As Adiseshan held Meru  vayu tried to blow him off egged by other devas in the bargain the Meru mountain bits got dislodged and various precious minerals and mountains fell at several places like tiruvannamalai .The bit here is supposedly diamond enriched hill.

Mahavishnu , Brahma came here to pray to Shiva hence all the trinity are in one temple

Agastya had captured Cauvery in his kamandal and it was here that divine intervention ensured so the river flowed again abruptly with a 90 degree change in direction. The areas where rivers change direction are suitable to do offerings to ancestors

The Cauvery flows on the eastern side of the temple and it is a glorious site

There are three Rajagopurams leading us to the Ambal Vadivudaiamman, Mahavishnu and Shiva sannidhis

The Brahma here has no roof he is in the open next to the Sthalavriksham the Vanni tree. He has only three faces and the tree is supposedly the fourth face

The leaves of this tree has profound preservation properties people use it to keep water pure and the annual kavadi to palani has this leaf as preservative

The age of this tree can not be ascertained even by experts they say it is too ancient

In addition there are sannidhi for Anjaneya behind the brahma sannidhi seen above

The Ranganathar sannidhi is right behind the  Shiva sannidhi seen on the right view from Vadivudaiamman sannidhi    Mahalakshmi sannidhi  is seen next to the Perumal sannidhi

Shiva sannidhi seen below

There is a small saraswathi housed inside the Vadivudaiamman complex

There is a Goshala inside with Kamadhenu sannidhi

Kaveri flowing here adds to the majesty of the temple