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 !!

Sri Kayarohaneshwara temple (Guru temple) Kanchipuram

Before starting my health camp I decided to have a darshan of this temple this was thought to be  adhishtanam of the 13 th pontiff of the Kamakoti peetam but has later been identified as the Katharui kuppam temple  (see my linkAdhishtanam of 13th acharya). The temple is situated in Kanchi itself and is being renovated .

how to reach the temple
At kanchipuram by the side of  the Kanchi mutt is the road to chengalpet.(West raja street) proceed in this road till you see the kachhapeshwarar temple. Take a right turn here.Proceed for about half a kilometre till you reach a place called Pilliar palyam.Before you reach the Kailasanatha temple take a left turn in SVP krishna street and proceed for a km.At the end of this road take a left turn after crossing the Chidambareswara temple. The guru temple will be on the right side. It is more popularly known as Guru bhagavan temple.There is a separate Guru bhagawan sannidhi here.
The temple proper
The temple was undergoing renovation with Balalayam performed.

As you  enter you are in the outer praharam where the construction is going on

The entrance to the inner praharam is on the right just after the thatched shed seen below.
 
In the far side you see the sannidhi of Lingabeshwarar with a naga devathai behind part uprooted by a banyan tree



The sanctum has a shivalingam which is now closed

There is a akhilandeshwari sannidhi in the sanctum with a small Idol bedecked today witha lemon mala

(guru bhagawan sannidhi outside). The temple is more famous as Guru koil in Kanchi
There are sannidhis for Vinayaka and Murugan out side the main sannidhi
The temple is under going renovation as seen below


.

( The vimanam)

On 7/06/15 I revisited this temple after it has been re furbished and here are a few pictures

Tiruvalleeswarar Temple at Padi Chennai- (Famous for guru bhagawan)

When we travel from ICF over the new flyover towards Avadi there is a small road on the left after a Kalyana mahal as soon as you descend from the flyover, you can see the padavettu amman temple on the right take the left  turn here and travel for half a kilometer you can see the temple on the right.
Padi is a historical place where Armies of Kings used to camp with all their weapons (Padi= weapons repository army camp) The temple has been rebuilt by Kulatunga chola III and Krishna deva raya. The Padavettu amman about half a KM away is also part of the temple where Victorious commanders would even sacrifice their own heads here (So gory!!) Today the outer praharams of the temple have been taken over by the city and roads have been built with  many buildings and tragically what remains is only the inner  praharam. The temple tank is seen at a distance with two roads in between which speaks a lot about the development of the city!!
The legend goes back to Mahabharatha days as Sage Bharadwaj (Dhrona’s father) had visited this temple. The name Validhayam comes from Valiyan – the black bird. Once Sage Bharadwaj took birth as a bird due to a curse and he worshipped Shiva here to clear off his curse. Legend also holds that Vinayaka got married to Kamalai and Vimalai daughter of Brahma in this place. Brahaspathi, Vishnu, Hanuman, Sugreeva, Rama, Agasthiar, Vayu, Indhra, Agni, Sun God and Moon God worshipped Shiva of this place.

This temple has been visited and sung by saints Thirugnana Sambandar, Arunagirinathar, Ramalinga Adigalar, and Pamban Swamigal.
Thirumylai, Thiruvanmiyur, Thiruverkadu, Thiruvirkolam, Thiruilambayangottur, Thiruvooral, Thirvalangadu, Thiruvenpakkam, Thiruppasur, Vadathirumullaivoil, Thirvottriyur all these eleven temples are structured in the form of a Garland and Thrivalithayam is in the centre of this Garland. Also this temple is also referred as Gurusthalam as this is one of three temples worshipped by Lord Brahaspathy or Guru, the other two being Thittai and Thiruchendur.
Lord Shiva here is known asTiruvalleeswarar, Validaayanathar,The amman  is known as Jagathambigai, Thaayammai. Thiru Gnanasambandar has composed hymns at this temple.

The east gopuram (tower) with 3 tiers is the main entrance to the temple.
Inside the main entrance there is broad inner courtyard on all the four sides of the main shrine giving it a look of broad expanse


 
The back side of the main praharam



(The North side praharam with the navagraha seen in the far right)
Entering the inner mandapam, the main sanctum sanctorum of Lord Shiva is situated. The sanctum is semi-circular in shape at the back. (Gaja prishti Vimana ). The main deity is  facing east and to the right is the Ambal facing towards south.
A beautiful Simha Vaahanam and balipeetam faces the Goddess from the southern outer corridor.
Inside on the western back wall of the sanctum you can see  Lord Vishnu and Lord Brahma in the North . It ‘s a rare sight to see the trinity Brahma, Vishnu and Siva in the same complex. In the outer  prakara you can see Dakshinamurthy, Bikshadanar, Annai Uritha Devar, and Rishabanthikar.
Sthala Vinayaga:
Usaually the Lord Vinayaka is placed at the Southwest corner. But in this temple, somaskanbdar is placed instead and Vinayaka is located next to the main gate . He is named as Varasiddhi valampuri Vinayaka.
Lord Muruga:
Following Vinayaka, Lord Muruga is located along with his wives valli and Deivaanai. Lord Muruga is with a single face and four hands.
To the back of the sanctum are a series of small enclosures  of gods along with the Lingam they worshipped, Meenakshi along with Sundareswarar in the lingam form, The lingam worshiped by Indra, Lingam worshiped by Bharadwaja are placed each in different enclosures At the north west corner, a long serpent along with lingam (Nagalingam) is placed. Following these deities, Veerabadra is in the sitting posture
Lord Bhairava:
Just at the back of Goddess temple, at the North east corner, Lord Bhairava is located. He is present here in Ugraroopa with skewed teeth, three eyes. His Jadamaguda is surrounded with Jwalas with his Vahana, a Dog. not only this, at the south entrance, the four Samaya Kuravars are in the standing posture. Next to them, Arunagirinadhar, Ganapathy and the Sun God blesses in the sitting posture.
Moreover, of all the urchava vigrahas of the temple Nataraja is the most important. The Ambal siva gama sundari's statue along with Nataraja and Manikkavasakar are placed in the sabhai in front of the Ambal's sannidhi. At the sides of the Gopuram entrance, Lord Vinayaka and Lord subramanya are placed.
 
“Jeyankonda Chola Vala Nattu, Puzhal Kutrathu, Ambattur Nattu Thiruvallithaya Mudayar” is the description found in the stone inscription inside the temple. It testifies that the places like  Puzhal and Ambattur are there since last 700 years going by the inscriptions.
 

There is a seperate shrine for Guru (Jupiter) - one of the Navagrahas - in the eastern outer corridor and this temple is also considered as a Guru Parihara Sthalam. Guru Bhagwan is seen here facing towards west.
Guru Dakshinamoorthy:
The Dakshinamoorthy form of Lord shiva is praised and prayed as Lord GuruDakshinamoorthy

. Brahma had  four  children Sanakar, Sananadanar, sanadhanar and Sanathkumarar. Though they were brialliant enough in their vedic knowledge, they wanted to know the imbibed truth of Vedas in order to fight against the worst qualities,like  jealousy, revenge  and Maya. Answering their prayer, Lord Shiva took the form of Lord Dakshinamoorthy and started preaching them. This is how, the name and form of Guru Dakshinamoorthy came in to existence.
. Guru Dakshinamoorthy here blesses people with marriage and fertility . Guru Dakshinamoorthy is sitting with his right leg down and left left leg folded touching his waist under the Kallala tree. The jadaparam which was worn at his head adds to his beauty. He has four hands and has got udukkai rounded by serpent in his upper right hand, Jwalai on the upper left hand. The lower right hand has got the chinmaya mudra and the lower left hand has got book facing down. His posture is straight and equal. He wears tiger skin, yagnopaveetham and Kundalas(ear rings). The Rudraksha around his neck falls till his chest. Around Dakshinamoorthy, sanakadhika saints are placed. Muyalagan who is at his feet has serpent on his left hand. This form of Guru Dakshinamoorthy is called as 'Vyagyana Dakshinamoorthy'.