Visit to temples from Uthiramerur to Kanchi

I had the chance to visit various temples in Uthiramerur up to Kanchi . The distance of 35 kms houses many ancient temples with quaint legends ..

History of Uthiramerur

As per Legend Uthiramerur was the place where The Pandavas came for their agnathavasa ( Virata Parva of the Mahabharata) in the kingdom of Virata. The name Uthara is associated with both his children Uthraa who was taught dance by Brihannala  and married Arjuna’s son Abhimanyu as well as Uthara kumara the prince who was led into Battle by Charioteer Brihannala ( arjuna in disguise) The main Vishnu temple thus reflects this aspect with Vishnu forms worshipped individually by all the Pandavas.There are nine  perumal Sannidhis in the temple  here.
The earliest documented form of Democracy was practiced here as found on the temple inscriptions in the Kailasanathar temple which was renovated by the ASI recently.The formal Guidelines for Assembly Elections and a constitutional framework was laid out by Parantaka chola in the 10 century AD.the same are inscribed in the walls of this temple
Though inscriptions found here credit the temple to be built by Nandi Varma Pallava in the 8century AD, it is believed to have been started in 6 Century itself  .For more details visit this link from the Hindu
The list of temples on this route were
Sundara Varadar temple
Balasubramanya swamy temple
Kailasanathar temple all in Uthiramerur
Thirupulivanam Vyagrapureeswarar temple about 15kms away( There is aardhanari simha dakshinamurthy)
Kadambar Koil Kadambeshwarar koil another 5 kms away
within 5 kms on theother bank of the Cheyyar river
Thiru Maagaral  Maagaraleshwararkoil ( there is a rare ardhanari Bhairavar here)
Perumal koil Magaral
Poyyamozhi Vinayakar

Shri. Balasubramania swamy temple at Siruvapuri

Close to the Andal kuppam temple on the other side of the 4 lane highway NH 5  within 5 kms is this temple.There is a sign indicating the temple and is easy to find. The legend and the lord are the same as in the Andal kuppam temple. This is a bigger temple and it was more crowded.
The moolavar is Balasubramanian . There are separate sanidhis in one  line for Vinayakar, vishwanatha and Kamakshi this in turn leads to the main sanctum sanctorum.
Outside there is a separate sannidhi for vinayakar and a Kalyana mandapam where a 6 faced utsava murthy is placed, there is a  sanctum for bhairavar and navagrahas. All except the Moolavar are carved out  of green granite.
Legend ties this temple to the story from Uthara Ramayana when Sri Rama performed the Aswamedha yagna and Lava-Kusa captured his itinerant horse. A battle ensued and Lakshmana was defeated by the young boys while still being unaware of each other's identity. As the place that brought glory to the young boys, the town became famous as "Siruvapuri". The town is also knows as "Siruvembedu".
This temple has an idol of a peacock made out of Emerald (Maragadha Mayil) and also a Maragadha Vinayaka. In many ways this temple is closely tied to that in Tiruvannamalai. The Sthala vriksham here is Magizha maram which is also that in Tiruvannamalai. Vallimalai swamigal was sent here by his Guru Seshadri Swamigal of Tiruvannamalai to spread the Tiruppugazh. When Arunagirinathar travelled here and sang Murugan's praise, he had a vision of the Lord appearing on a Mayil similar to his manifestation out of a pillar in Tiruvannamalai.
This temple houses an Utsava murthy of Lord Muruga wedding Valli weighing 120 kgs. This temple is also curiously linked with 2 National holidays, Independence and Republic days. While Aug 15th is also commemorated as Arunagirinathar day since he was born towards the end of the month of Adi in many Murugan temples and is celebrated with the all day singing of Tiruppugazh, peripatetic pilgirms flock to this temple at Siruvapuri from surrounding areas on Jan 26th.

The striking feature outside was the fresh vegetable market going fully strong on a Sunday morning
The temple is well managed and there was a strict ban on mobiles and Camera inside.