Sri Kanakadurga temple Vijayawada

I had the opportunity to visit this temple this Sunday as per the wishes of the Kanchi acharyas who are camping here for their chaturmasa vratam. The Krishna river will have the pushkar festival from Aug 12  to 24 this year hence hectic construction  activity is taking place. I had previously visited this temple  in 1983 and remember climbing up the Indra keeladri hill but today there is a magnificent 7 floored multistory building engulfing the hill which is the modern queue complex. There is a lift available for the physically challenged also.
How to Reach:
The temple is on a hillock where the NH 5 enters the city from the south at the Krishna river barrage. It is very close to the station and you just can't miss it.There is a road up the ghat road and vehicles were allowed up previously. For the pushkar it has been stopped.
Legends
Indra Keela a sage obtained a boon that  Ma Durga would stay Atop his head and protect the people from asuras in the previous Yuga .True to her word After killing mahishasura, Durga came to rest on the Indrakeeladri hill protecting the people of Bezwada. The 10 day Dasara festival is grandly celebrated here with daily adornments and alankara of Durga Devi.Since she shines in a holden hue she is called Kanaka Durga. Kanaka is gold in Telugu and Sanskrit.
There is another story that Durga playfully removed the nose ring from Krishnaa and ran up the hill.Krishna has promised that at the end of the Yuga she will rise up to the hill and redeem her nose ring

In the Mahabharata Arjuna has a fight  with Shiva as a hunter in claiming  a wild boar killed by his arrow,Shiva tests him and this is where he gives Arjuna the pasupata astra.
The Chola king Vijaya adithya conquered this land and built  the Vijayeshwara temple below the hill to commemorate Arjuna's receiving the astra.

The river Krishna was stopped by the hills here . Answering the peoples prayers Shiva created caverns and tunnels in these hills to allow free flow of the river to irrigate the land and make it fertile. Locally these tunnels are called Bejjalu hence the name Bejjalu wada or Bezwada for this city. To commemorate this the Mallikarjuna shiva temple is built on another hill adjoining the Durga temple.
Adishankara visited this place and has codified Pooja here and has done a Srichakra yanthra sthapana in this temple

When you visit the temple please leave the cell phones in designated lockers and you can move up 7 floors in dedicated queues for Rs.5/20/100 and free darshan. Tickets will be issued in the queue itself with laddu  .
You will be allowed in front of the sanctum for a brief period to pray.
The temple has a dedicated website for all special Poojas and sevas .
Everything is peaceful inspute of the crowd above at the temple .please do visit and enjoy the benefits of Ma Durga

Govindhawadi Guru temple near Kanchipuram

I heard about this famous temple recently and visited this place today on myway back from Kanchipuram. It is a famous temple for Dakshinamurthy and a Navagraha kshetra for Guru.
How to reach:
The  temple issituated in the village of Govindawadi on the Kanchipuram Arakonam  state highway. From the Chennai Bangalore highway  cross the left turn to kanchi and proceed  straight .You will see a railway road overbridge
( called Vellai gate railway gate locally).Do not go over  the bridge instead  proceed below the bridge and turn righy towards pallavan engineering college and proceed straight towards arakonam. After about 15 kms you will see the saffron arch of the village take a left turn here an in a couple of Kms you will reach the temple



View from the front

The temple is supposedly 2000 years old and was visited by adishankara as per records in the temple as narrated by the gurukkal.
The main entrance leads to the guru sannidhi which is a  5 foot statue of dakshinamurthy actually  situated in the outer wall of the Kailasnathar sannidhi along side.
The `kalalam' (the tree canopy above the head of the deity) is not there and a panchasanam has been carved out below the Muyalagan (the monster on whom Dakshinamoorty rests his right leg).
The panchasanam - consisting eight simhams' (lions), eight nagams (five-headed snakes), ashta dwarabalaka (eight armed guards), eight gajams (elephants) and `ashta dikhbalakas' (regents of eight cardinal points) - has the koormam (tortoise) as its base.
Though the Dakshinamoorthy idol has been installed south of thesanctum santorum of Sri Kailasanathar (like in any other Siva temple), the construction has been done in such a way that the deity has a separate shrine.
The panchaloka idol of Dakshinamoorthy is also as exquisite as the granite one. The deity is seen seated on the Mount Kailash where the Sanakathi sages are performing penance.
Legend has it that Lord Dakshinamoorthy is said to have appeared before one of his ardent devotees, Thandavarayar, a resident of Govindawadi and bestowed on him His grace and the `scared ash.' Thandavarayar established a religious math at Govindawadi and observed Visaka nakshatram in the Tamil month of Chitirai as Guru Puja day by taking out Viboodhi kavadi from his math and performing special pujas to Dakshinamoorthy. This practice is continued by his descendants.
The Kailasanathar  sannidhi has akhilandeshwari and in both the sivan and amman sannidhis we are allowed very close to the idols.
Exquisite stone carvings - referred to as kumbachara, said to be a form of sculpting promoted by the Chola Kings(http://www.hindu.com/fr/2004/08/13/stories/2004081302080400.htm)



There was a free annadanam being  performed in front of the sivan sannidhi


There were idols of Perumal, durgai, Brahma around the main sanctum

Brahma

(Durga )
there was a separate area where ghee deepam could be lit for pariharam It was done in the coconut shell as seen below


Murugan sannidhi behind

View of the Nandi and dwajasthambam in the outer prakaram
Another important aspect exclusive to this temple is that devotees, whose marriage proposals face hurdles because of the influence of Raghu, Kethu or Angaragan, are allowed to perform abhishekam to the naga kanni idols installed at the north-west corner of the temple.
After performing the anointment, they have to worship Dakshinamoorthy to get their marriage proposals through, say the villagers.
A nice temple to uplift our spirits !!