Sri Rajagopalaswamy temple Mannargudi

Among the majestic temples in Tamilnadu the Rajagopalaswamy temple is a prominent one Lord Krishna is a RAJA here , it has a massive Rajagopuram and the temple tank is called Haridra nadi so huge

HOW TO REACH:

Mannargudi is 30 kms south of Kumbakonam 35 kms east of Tanjore, 35 kms west of Tiruvarur and 50 kms west of Nagpattinam The temple is in the midst of the town  and easily found, Outside the temple is the pond called Haridra nadi . It has a temple in the middle

LEGENDS AND STORIES:

The temple has a history from11 century built by King Rajaditha Chola 1018 to the Vijayanagara kings, Delhi sultanate, Tanjore Nayakas,Mahrattas,Britishers all developing the temple nd maintaining it

Pundarikaksha Perumal  is supposed to have given darshan to devotees  Saints Gopilllar and Gopralayar here as a cowherd

In the sanctum a small statue of Ala elai Krishna is handed over to us and bala mukundashtakam is recited this confers prosperity,children and success in life Please do not miss this seva                         (pic courtesy google)

The Rajagopuram was built by the nayak to se the Srirangam temple tower from Atop

There are two shrines one for Rajagopalaswamy and on the south side next to it is the sannidhi of Hemambhuja nayaki both are huge

The Krishna sannidhi is seen  above,The priest is standing next to a Anjaneya vigraham

The main sanctum houses Krishna flanked by Rukmini and sathyabhama in stone, The utsava murthy is Krishna as a cowherd surrounded by cows and calves all in bronze and about 3 feet tall 

Next door is the thayar sannidhi

between these two sannidhis is a shrine for Anjeneya which is managed by two brothers who are deaf mutes but their enthusiasm to help you is great. please stop by and give them some Dakshina and get Hanuman’s blessings

Sri Gajendra Varadan Temple at Kapisthalam–A Divya desam

One of the 108 Divyadesams this is an ancient temple which is very famous as Perumal has given darshan on garuda to Gajendra and a crocodile and given them salvation

HOW TO REACH:

Kapisthalam is a small part of Papanasam area 6 kms on the Kumbakonam Tanjore highway.It is actually KAVIsthalam which has come to be referred as Kapisthalam

The temple is on the middle road across the cauvery on either side

LEGENDS AND STORIES:

A king called Indradyumna was a great Vishnu bhakta and due to deep meditation he failed to recognise Durvasa and incurred a curse to be born as an elephant.redemption prescribed was at the hands of Mahavishnu. At the same time a demon called Koo hoo was fond of pranking swimmers by catching their legs underwater he was cursed by Agastya to be born as a crocodile and his redemption was also at the sudarshana chakra of Mahavishnu.

When the Elephant Gajendra entered the water the crocodile held his legs and the elephant called out to Mahavishnu for redemption “aadhi moolame” and Vishnu came on the garuda vahanam and killed koo hoo and  liberated both Gajendra and koo hoo

Thirumazhisai alwar has sung on this lord as Aatrangarai kidanthan Kannan in his mangalashasanam  thus this centre is one of the pancha Krishna Kshetrams along with Thirukannamangai, Thirukannapuram,Thirukoilur and Thirukannangudi where the presiding lord is referred to as Kannan

As you enter the main gate its a small temple

The main sanctum where Perumal is in the reclining posture (kidanthan) on Adiseshan coiled as a  bed with Sridevi and Bhoodevi in attendance as shown below

The thayar Ramamani valli sannidhi inside

Anjeneya and Saint Parashara sannidhi

The depiction of Gajendra moksham in a separate sannidhi Perumal on Garuda vahanam

The only Kshetram where Mahavishnu gives darshan on Garuda and  gives salvation to two animals elephant and Crocodile

Sri Thavalavenniambal sametha Sri Palaivananathar temple, Papanasam -a padal petra sthalam

This temple is situated  between Kumbakonam and Tanjore. it is an ancient temple  with  11 epigraphic evidence of existence from King Kulathunga chola I to Kulathunga chola III.

The nayak rulers in 1600 built a huge granary here inside the temple called Kalanjiyam in Tamil

HOW TO REACH:

On the Kumbakonam Tanjore main road 6 kms from Kumbakonam you will find Papanasam a right turn here will lead to the temple in 2 kms

LEGENDS AND HISTORY:

Shiva was worshipped here by many gods like Brahma, Vishnu, Yama

This was the place where Vashishta was conferred Brahma rishi status

Sri Rama on his way back put down his bow and arrow near the sthala vriksha Vanni tree and prayed to Shiva to atone for killing Ravana a Shiva bhakta

Arjuna also kept his Bow and arrow in the Vanni tree here and descended to Nagaloka and married Uloopi,

Nayanmar Thirugnana sambandar has sung about the lord Shiva in this place

The Kalanjiyam maintained by ASI

The temple has two main praharams for Sivan

and Ambal both facing the east

The sthala vriksham where Rama and Arjuna left their weapons the Vanni tree

AS you enter the sivan complex

The complex has the usual Kosta vigrahas and sannidhis for Murugan and Ganesha

The ambal is in kalyanakolam and to the right of lord Shiva hence this place is famous for solving marriage related obstructions

Sri Pasupatheeswara temple , Avur near Kumbakonam–A padal petra sthalam

This is very near the Patteeswaram temple and a padal petra sthalam

HOW TO REACH:

The temple is in the town of Avur 12 kms south of Kumbakonam on the Patteeswaram valangaiman road. It is situated 6 kms east  from thirukarugavur

LEGENDS AND STORIES:

The  story of Shiva manifesting here on the prayers of nandini daughter of the divine cow Kamadhenu  also called Patti (calf). who prayed for a relief from Vashista’s curse is the origin here.

The Nayanmar Tirumoolar saw a herd of cows lamenting the death of their herdsman out of pity he entered the body of the dead herds man and sung 3000 verses on lord Shiva here.

The temple is built at a height to prevent elephants from entering and is called Maada kovil by the king Kochengat Cholan another nayanmar associated with the legend of Jambukeswaram atTiruvanaikaval. He built 70 such temples

The temple finds verses in its honour composed by thirugnana sambandar

Dasaratha did penance here and got rid of the pithru dosha so he could beget sons.There are 5 bhairavas inside who are prayed to, for getting rid of pithru karma dosham.

Dasaratha constructed the temple with Pankajavalli ambal but a divine voice directed him to the Bhairava idols and Mangalanayaki buried in the pond which were unearthed and placed here so there are two ambals

The lord  subramanian here does not have a spear but has a bow as weapon like Sri Rama

As you climb the steep stairs we come to the main praharam housing the Shivalinga

and both the Ambals with bhairavars

Dasaratha doing Shiva puja

The temple well accessible at two levels

Murugan with a Villu  not a Vel

Sri Tripurasundari sametha Sri Koteswarar temple Thirukodikaval-A padal petra sthalam

This  2017 December Sri Sankara Vijayendra saraswathi Swamigal camped in this temple for 4 days after attending the Kumbabishekam of thiruvanaikaval temple.I had an opportunity now to visit the same

HOW TO REACH:

The temple is situated between Kumbakonam and Mayavaram very close to the Suryan koil and Kanjanoor Sukran temple. When travelling from Kumbakonam after crossing the Veera sozhan aru bridge we turn left into the road to suryanar koil proceed straight beyond Kanjanoor and in about 10 kms we reach this temple

LEGENDS AND STORIE:

The temple was in existence  in this form built by Sembian Maha devi the mother of Utthama chola       ( grand aunt of Raja Raja CholaI)since 979 CE There are inscriptions from 750AD in the temple

Thirunavukkarasar has sung about this temple praising the ash covered Shiva here

As you enter there are a lot of carvings on the entrance wall

I visited the temple during Thiruvadhurai festival and was greeted by this spectacle

The temple kostam had many different vigrahas

There are sannidhis for Vinayaka and Murugan 

also a few rare sannidhis like Bhairavar  Bala Shanishwara and one for the Next brahma

The main sanctum has a Big Shivalinga and the South facing Tripurasundari

The temple speciality info given above