Shri Ardhanarishwarar Temple Tiruchengode–a padal petra sthalam

One of the unique temples ancient and different in South India. It has been recorded in the ancient sangam literature Silappadikaram as the place kannagi attained salvation after burning Madurai. It has been sung about by Gnana sambandar and the Murugan has been sung by Arunagirinathar. Murugan  is called Sengottuvel here. it is one among the 7 padal petra sthalams in the kongu area of Tamilnadu

How to Reach

The town of Tiruchengode is 20 kms east of Erode ,20 kms east of Rasipuram, Namakkal and 40 mms North West of Karur . I drove down from Rasipuram. The hillock is visible from afar and the red hue gives it the name chengode red hill. There are 2 days to proceed. Either by foot 1250 steps these steps have a snake carved alongside depicting Adiseshan who was responsible for this hillock ( a piece of meru)

pic of the snake on the steps from the net

or by road about 3.5 Kms that takes you to the hill top in about 15 mins . There is a single lane admitting two way traffic and the temple runs a free bus service for pilgrims up and down. 

The temple entrance is from the south and the main idol faces West

LEGENDS AND STORIES:

Parvathi prayed here to get equal rights from Shiva as she felt slighted by Bhringi Rishi who used to ignore her and do prayers to Shiva alone. Once she incapacitated the rishi who used to worship only Shiva but Shiva bestowed another leg to Bhringi to give him mobility.Shiva accepted parvathy's request and  housed her as his left side in his body and is called Ardhanari  or Madhorubagan or Ammaiyappar in Tamil

Adi Kesava Perumal found here inside ordained Parvathi in the Kedara Gowri vratham to attain her Siva-Shakti status

Once there was a fight between Adiseshan and Vayu. Adiseshan was blown off as he grabbed the meru and his head landed here. To depict this  story there is a huge head of snake carved atop the hill  .Link to pics of the snake carved

Temple plan

As you enter you see the dhwaja stambha  

There is a mandapam  we see which is actually behind the main sannidhi

Ganapathy on the south facing side

The North side having Sengottuvel. Murugan sannidhi. with the Sthala Vriksham Vanni tree

The main temple sanctum entrance is on the left from the west side we enter the inner sanctum with the Lord depicted in human form the right side is feminine and draped in Saree, the left masculine side in a dhoti, both feet are displayed left is adorned  with an anklet. The right hand has a huge club as a weapon.A natural spring bestows water at the feet of the lord.There is usually a huge rush inside and people doing sevas are asked to step up front its a small hall and the special darshan ticket of Rs.10 is worthwhile

There is a Adi Kesava sannidhi with Sridevi and Bhoodevi thayars as you come to the eastern side .

There are a number of exquisite sculptures in Vijayanagara style in the mandapam 

The hill abounds with many monkeys which are not scared of human interaction .If you miss a step they will relieve all your edible belongings in a jiffy .Some of them are quite huge

A.long time prayer of seeing Madhorubagan was fulfilled after the trip

Sri Abhi Rameshwarar and Muthambikai temple -Thiruvamathur near Villupuram

On the Chennai Trichy highway NH 45 about 5 kms from the Chennai Trichy road on the right side near the bypass of villupurum look for the board announcing the small road to Thiruvamathur.   on travelling a couple of kms you can see the gopuram. It is a temple built in the seventh century AD by the pallavas and .The temple is the abode of Shri Abhirameshwarar and ambal Muthambikai. The sannidhis of both deities are separate and face each other. There is a legend behind this fact

 

Bhringi rishi wanted to see Shiva and was prevented by Nandi as Shiva was with Shakti. Bhringi rishi took the form of a “Vandu” a bee/wasp/insect and went around Shiva alone ignoring Parvathi. This enraged Shakti and when Shiva did not react she stormed out and faced him in the opposite direction. She cursed the rishi to become a Vanni tree which is the sthala vriksham.

Lord Rama is supposed to have come here with Seetha and Lakshmana while returning to Ayodhya and worshipped he  lingam with abhimanam hence Abhirameshwarar. This sculpture is seen as you enter the Shiva sannidhi above the door

Inside this Ramar Sannidhi seen on the northern side of the outer prahara we can see rare sculptures of Rama Lakshmana, Seetha,Hanuman and Jambhavan

(I revisited on 14/8/16 and above two photos are from that visit both vigrahas are housed one behind the other)

 

(View as soon as you enter the Siva temple gopuram)

   (Dwajasthambam having Siva and Vrishabha with horns)

 

The Main deity is a lingam which was prayed to by the cows as they did not posses any protection in those days. The lord’s idol has a hoof mark on the top and multiple rivulet markings where he was worshipped with dripping milk by these cows. He granted that they will hence forth sport horns and so that's how the cows have horns that's why a lot of veerashaiva’s of Karnataka visit the place regularly as they consider basava( Nandi) as their patron lord

Next to the thayar sannidhi is a vatta parai ( a lingam with square shape and ridges all over which was used as a pramanam stone by the ancient villagers to conduct panchayat in the presence of god.

There is a narrow area where you insert your hand if you are untrue the hand will get stuck!! There is a legend here how  one brother cheated the younger one with a lucky play of words and was stuck down by a snake which was coiled around the waist of the Ambal. ( see the last pic in this blog for the legend)

 

In between both Temples is the Temple for Ganapathy who helped Sri Rama who prayed to him Perumal thuyaram theertha Vinayaka
Inside the Shiva  temple there are sannidhis for a akasha Linga,Banalinga,Vayu Linga,Kasi vishwanathar,Lakshmi, murugan, Vinayaka who is shown with a consort “Vallabha Ganapathy”   

(latest picture on 13/4/12 after maintenance)

 

 

There is a sculpture showing the mummorthies
and also a 100 pillar mandapam

The temple is looked after by Shri. Arunachala shivachariyar and Shri.A Mahesh gurukkal
Phone: 04146 223319
cell; 9842022544 /  9976887652

I revisited the temple on 13/4/12 . There were lot of improvements . The temple had been repainted and pathways cleared .

Rajagopuram view from inside

View from Ambal temple you can see the sakshi lingam in front

 

A miniature Vallabha Ganapathy on the Door frame

On a visit on 14/8/16 I was able to click more pictures and I am posting them From the Vinayaka sannidhi outside the perumal thurai theertha Vinayaka

Inside the Shiva temple

 

The Dhyana mandapam in front of the Ambal temple

The cursed Bhringi Rishi was made to become a Vanni tree and this tree is found next to  the Dhyana mandapam but it is just a petrified wood now . The sthala vriksham is the Vanni tree

 

As I was exiting the temple I saw this car with a Rudraksha canopy and the Dicky was housing more Rudraksha covered Items maybe used for the lord during special poojas

Maduranthakam temple

Maduranthakam is roughly 90 kms from chennai on the chennai Tiruchy road about 30 kms after chengalpet  Enter the town after exiting the byepass and proceed for about half a kilometer  The temple is situated on the right side behind a small market area you may miss the small road that leads to it on the right. It is a very important temple for Rama.

Legend says that Bhringi rishi who performed the putrakameshti yaga for the birth of Dasaratha's children wanted Rama and Lakshmana to stay with him for some time. Since they were searching for Seetha they promised to visit the rishi on the return journey.For fulfilling his request Rama , Lakshmana, Seetha came here  when they were returning from Lanka .

The place is a famous vaishnavite centre as this is where Sri.Ramanuja was given the pancha samskaram  and there is a seperate sannidhi for him.This is the place under the Magizha tree, where Sri Ramanuja was given "Pancha Samskaram"(Sramasayanam) by his acharyan Peria Nambigal. That is when Maduranthakam was given the name "Dvayam Vilindha Tirupathi". Upon receiving Kanchi Varadarajar's divine order through Tirukachi Nambi, Ramanuja set to Srirangam to become the disciple of Peria Nambigal. He met him in Maduranthakam itself, in the lake precints. Peria Nambigal was on his way to Kanchi to install Ramanuja as the successor of Sri Aalanvandar. In the month of Avani, on the Sukla Panchami, Peria Nambigal gave the Samasrayanam (Pancha Samskaram) Dvaya Mantropadesam. The festival is celebrated every year. This is the only place where Ramanujar can be seen as a Grihastha.

As heard from the priest ,there is also an interesting anecdote about how the english jagirdar of the east India company  in 1796 Col.Lionel Blaze had  seen  two boys with a bow and arrows protecting the town from a breach in the madhuranthakam tank which was threatening the town. When he saw the vigrahas he was esctatic in claiming that these people were the ones protecting the tank bund the previous night .This has been recorded by the englishman 300 years ago in the temple and he has built a shrine for Janakavalli  in the complex as a thanks giving. Hence also the name “Aeri Katha Ramar” to this temple