Shri Narasimha swamy Namagiri thayar and Anjeneya temples in Namakkal

In childhood travelling frequently from Bangalore to Trichy by road  I remember seeing this huge rock in the centre of the town . A couple of days ago I could re visit this town and had a look at the temples.Since it was around 3 PM the sannidhis were closed. The towering Anjeneya was how ever open to our prayers
LEGENDS AND STORIES:
The ASI which maintains the temple says it is a pallava rock cut temple probably from 500 CE.
Anjeneya once  was carrying a Saligrama from Mandakini river with him and he alighted here as he saw Mahalakshmi praying for Lord's darshan as Narasimha. Since the saligrama must not be kept on the ground  he requested Mahalakshmi thayar to hold it while he finished his bath . As Hanuman was delayed and as previosly informed by her Mahalakshmi placed the saligrama on the ground and the Saligrama grew to be the hillock and the lord gave her darshan as Narasimha with Lakshmi getting enshrined here as Namagiri thayar

Srinivasa Ramanujam the Maths genius was an ardent devotee of Namagiri thayar. In his life story it is recorded by himself that in his dreams complex mathematical equations would be worked out by Namagiri Thayar  which  he would at once wake up and write down in his notebook. He has said all his maths genius was the blessings of Namagiri thayar. His mother was in a quandary whether to allow him to travel to UK in those days. She prayed to the Goddess and picked  paper chits in front of the Goddess and she was given assent to allow Ramanujam to go to UK .
HOW TO REACH:
Namakkal is in the middle of Tamilnadu between Salem and Rasipuram on the Salem Karur highway The Hillock and temple are both in the middle of the town


The Anjaneya  carved from a single rock and is 18 feet tall with a japamala in one hand and wears a sword on his waist band


About 150mts away and across  two roads is the hillock with the Narasimha swamy temple Anjaneya

 faces the temple

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As you climb the steps and observe the dhwaja stambha you realise that the whole structure is cleaved 

out of a single rock

As you climb the steps you can see the main Deity Narasimha with Mahalakshmi enshrined on  his chest and not on his lap as in other temples
The garbagruha has many  interesting sculptures of various dasavathara forms like Varaha, Narasimha, Vamana on either sides of moola Virat

The narasimha moola virat  has sanaka and sanandaka whispering in his ears. He also has Shiva on the right and Brahma on the left so all trimurti are represented here.

As you enter on the left side is the separate sannidhi for Namagiri thayar this is the only sannidhi for Thayar.

There are sannidhis for Rama, Krishna, Nammalwar ,Ramanujacharya

On the left side of the main  Shrine is a separate shrine for Shri Lakshminarayana

He are pics of a few interesting sculptures I saw
Dasavatharam in the entrance

Narthana Ganapathy


Board explaining the various sannidhis and method of visiting

29/9/25

Last couple of days I was in and around Namakkal and had the oppurtunity to revisit these two temples

A new pic

Milk abhishekam

Video of abhishekam

Thiruvahindi puram Devanathaswamy-Hemambhujavalli temple–A divya desam, temple for Lord Hayagriva

One of my long cherished wishes came true when I visited this temple last Wednesday with all my family members.

I had visited the Chettupunyam temple where the utsava vigraham of this temple is housed till today near Chennai  click the link to visit   my blog on that temple   http://drlsravi.blogspot.in/2011/04/yoga-hayagreevar-temple-at-chettypunyam.html

HOW TO REACH:

Thiruvahindi puram is near cuddalore in Tamil nadu. It is about 10 kms from cuddalore and is also about 20 kms from panrutti. regular buses and autos ply here in either direction, the temple houses the main  Devanathaswamy Sengamalavalli thayar as well as Oushadagiri where Sri Hayagreevar and Mahalakshmi are enshrined on top of the hill

LEGENDS AND STORIES :

.It is the only divyadesam with lord Vishnu as Hayagreevar the custodian of the Vedas and is very important for education related problems. It is also the Navagraha parihara ksethram for Rahu and Ketu

It is the only temple in South India for Lord Hayagreevar

Once when all the rishis came to have darshan of Vishnu he was missing from Thiruparkadal, vaikuntam and was traced to this place near Kumbakonam close to the sea and a hillock where he was in resplendent form witnessing the pujas of Sage Bhrugu and his daughter Mahalakshmi hence he married Mahalakshmi and stayed here

Once when Maha Vishnu  was very thirsty he asked Garuda to bring water from a pure pond in Patalam since Garuda was delayed  Adiseshan  dug a well with his tail and quenched Mahavishnu’s thirst. This well is in use till today for preparing prasadam. Devotees offer salt and jaggery here into the well as offerings . Meanwhile Garuda came back with the water and was hurt that he was late the compassionate lord asked garuda to use the water to start a river below the hill and devotees bathe here before coming . The river is called Garuda Nadhi today it is more famous as Gadilam/ Kedilam

The temple has unique sannidhis and vigrahas both garuda and Hanuman have the anjana mudra pose

Lord Narasimha here has Mahalakshmi on his right thigh unlike the other temples

Thirumangai alwar has sung about this temple in 11 hymns

Vedanta Desikar stayed here close to 40years and did penance .He also dug a well with his own hands on the Oushadagiri hill.This hill is part of the sanjeevini hill and houses many rare herbs. Desikar lived to be 102 years and all his works mention this temple both in Sanskrit as well as Tamil He had a great love for Sri Rama in this temple and Sri Hayagreevar was his ishta devatha and he made his own sculpture of this lord and prayed to him

^{way to the Hayagriva sannidhi}

The corridor leading to the Hayagriva sannidhi

The Devanathaswamy sannidhi from the top of the steps

Sri Lakshmi Hayagreevar Perumal Picture from the internet

The entrance to Devanatha swami temple shows the scheme in the sanctum also

inside there are separate sannidhis for Andal.Sri Ranganathan,  Sri Rama, SriLakshmi Narasimha, Anjeneya and Senkamalavalli thayar

Sri Varadaraja Perumal temple–MG road, Pondicherry

This temple is right next to the Vedapureswarar temple  with a street separating the two.The temple is a simple construction with idols which were unearthed nearby. The vasantha mantap was donated by a Muslim trader it seems. When the French demolished the Shiva temple next door 1n 1700’s Sri Ananda ranga Pillai collected the idols and kept them here for safekeeping,

Originally this was a Narasimha temple between two Bodhi trees but later the temple grew and the original Narasimha idol is housed in a sannidhi behind

There is a separate sannidhi for Andal and also sannidhi for Sri  Ramanuja and Sri Nikamanda mahadesikan

The temple houses idols of many divyadesams which were all found in the lands nearby.The Sundara Anjaneyar is a big draw in this temple

The Rajagopuram leads to the Dwajasthambam with Garuda alwar facing the main deity The main sannidhi has a 5 feet tall Varadaraja Perumal standing. the southern side has a Mahalakshmi sannidhi and the north the Andal sannidhi

Sri Hanuman is found facing West in the North east corner

Nachiar Koil the Divyadesam inside Trichy in Woriyur

This vaishnavaite temple inside Woriyur is a sacred Divyadesam which was built by the Cholas initially.

How to reach:

It is just about 500 metres to the south of the Shiva temple and is very easily found.Just proceed to the end of Salai road and turn left and right again you will be in front of the temple.

Legends of the temple:

The Chola king had no children after prayers to Sri Ranganatha he was blessed with Goddess Mahalakshmi being born as his daughter Kamalavalli. When she was to be married the King had a dream which directed him to Srirangam with his daughter where she merged with the lord. In her memory he built this temple in Woraiyur. Later when Shiva’s ire reduced the town into a desert the temple was lost and was later rebuilt.

As you enter the Rajagopuram you enter the outer praharam below. There is a huge pond on the left

View from the pond

The main sanctum has a Ranganathar in the Standing posture bedecked as a bridegroom with a small statue of Kamalavalli nachiyar sitting below as the bride.

There is no separate thayar sannidhi.

There are separate sannidhis for manavala mamunivar and for Tiruppanalwar who was born in Woraiyur

Thirumangai Azhvaar has composed one paasuram (song/verse in praise of the Lord).
Koziyum Kadalum Koil Konde, Kovalare Yoppar Kundramanna
Paazhiyum Tozhumore Naankudayaar, Pandivar Thammayaum Kandariyom
Vaazhiyro vivar vanna Mennil, Makadal Ponrular Kaiyil Veiya
Azhiyon Renthiyor Sangu Patri, Acho Oruvar Azhagiyavaa

A very peaceful temple