Thirumangalakudi Prananatheshwara Mangalambikai temple–A padalpetra sthalam

This is an ancient temple where the the Lord on the ambals wishes granted back life to a dead devotee.Lord Vishnu, Brahma,  Kali,Ambica, Akashavani, Bhooma Devi, Sage Agasthya and Sun God had worshipped in this temple.
The temple is praised as Pancha Mangala Kshetra. 
1) The name of the place is Thiru Mangala Kudi,
2) name of the Mother is Mangalambica,
3) the sacred spring is Mangala Theertham,
4) The Vimana –Mangala Vimana and
5) Lord Vinayaka is praised as Mangala Vinayaka, all auspicious. 
People visiting Suriyanar koil seldom visit this temple which is actually a sub temple of this main temple .
How to reach:
The temple is about 1 km from Suriyanar koil  off Aduthurai om the Kumbakonam mayiladuthurai road close to Kanjanur,Govindapuram
Legends of the temple:
The Navagrahas prevented leprosy to befall on Kalama Muni.  Angry Brahma cursed planets with that disease.  They came to this place, performed penance on the Swayambu Linga Shiva and got relieved of the curse.  So there is no Navagraha statues in this temple but are housed at Suriyanar koil.
A prime minister of the kingdom diverted funds to build this temple  when the king found out he ordered the person to be beheaded.When the body reached this place for cremation due to the fervent prayers of the deceased’s wife, goddess Mangalambikai restored the husband to life and gave mangalyam to the wife.
I visited at night hence the pics are not too clear
As you enter the first praharam Nandi is seen in the fore court



The main praharam houses the Shivalingam who is tall, taller than the Avudiar(Pedestal). it is called a Baana lingam.The entrance is flanked by Lakshmi and saraswathi on either side . both are in Padmasana and Saraswathy is with out her veena.

The Outer courtyard has the Koshta vigrahas and various sannidhis as below
There are both Vishnu durga as well as Shiva durga both in this temple

The Sthalavruksham is the silk cotton tree. The Erukka tree is also held in reverence here
The theerthams are Surya theertham in the well and the semi-circular Chandra theertham on the left

There are peculiarVahanams here like the purushamrugam
The boodha and Boodhini vahanam
There is a statue for the Prime  minister and his wife


The temple sells mangalasutras for 3 Rs.each which is much sought after with the mothers blessings

Srivanjiyam Vanchinathar Koil-A padal petra sthalam

This place is more ancient than the great pralayam itself. The Swayumbhu Shivalingam is the oldest in this region.It is also famous for the Yama sannidhi. I was told by people that if someone is sick and tottering  in the ICU and is still suffering prayers here will facilitate their easy passage into the next realm without suffering .
How to Reach:
Srivanjiyam is about 35 kms south east away from Kumbakonam after Nachiyar koil on the road to Tiruvarur. It is about 5 kms before Nannilam.It can also be reached from Tiruvarur the road to Mayavaram.
Legends Of the Temple:
Lord Yama was tired that he was being cursed by all for taking lives he wanted a break and to be regarded with love not hate he complained to Shiva at Tiruvarur and was directed here to pray to Lord Shiva who being pleased with him absolved him of curses and built a temple here for him. The honour of first seeing him before seeing the lord is also afforded to him here.
Ganga was feeling very dirty after washing all the sins of people hence she sought refuge in the lord who  directed here to the pond where she was rejuvenated the pond is called Guptha Ganga as she is still believed to be in hiding here.
Lord Surya lost his lustre after attending Daksha’s yagna he prayed to Shiva here to regain his lustre
There is a seperate Shani sannidhi and sannidhi for Rahu and ketu.There is no seperate Navagraha sannidhi here
Mahavishnu (Sri) did payers to Shiva here wanting to please him to get help to marry Mahalakshmi here hence the name Sri Vanjiyam
Those born of Magam, Pooram, Sadayam and Bharani Stars and belonging to Aries (Mesha), Aquarius (Kumba) and Leo (Simha) Rashis or Lagna pray here for any adverse planetary problems faced by them. Also those who had lost jobs, aspiring promotions and transfers, separated couples for re-union pray here on Karthika Sundays after a bath in Gupta Ganga in November-December.
During the eclipse times  the doors of the temple are open though as a tradition in other Shiva temples they are closed. Special abishekam is performed to Lord of Sri Vanchiam during this time.
The sthala vriksham is sandal wood and instead of Bhilva leaves sandal leaves are used for archana here
The present temple was built by Rajendra Chola in the year AD 850.
There is a 11 tiered Rajagopuram ( Picture from the net Dinamalar.com).
Once you enter this you have to first wash at the Guptha Ganga on the right
Then you proceed to the Yaman sannidhi which is seen on the far right side
Lord Yama is standing in the sannidhi with his assistant Chitraguptha.
After this you proceed to the main temple


At this point on the right side is the Ambal Mangala Nayaki's Sannidhi facing South.The devi is about a 5 feet tall smiling statue .
( Picture fro the net Dinamalar.com).

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The main Shivan praharam is seen further down
Inside the garbagruha the Shivalinga is majestic with the square avudiar facing west and The shiva facing east( Picture fro the net Dinamalar.com).
The praharam here has the Koshta vigrahas and sannidhi for Murugan. The unique feature here is the sannidhi for Shani
  Rahu and Ketu.
There is a seperate sannidhi for Mahishasura mardhini

Sri Visha Mangaleshwarar Mangalambikai temple – A Vaipu sthalam

I stumbled on this temple late in the evening on 17.5.14 . This temple has a very unique U S P in that there  are very unique idols here, the sculptures are exquisite, The temple is associated with a Lingam called Vadamunishwarar  situated about 500 mtrs away which the archeologists say is a medicinal stone and the oil from this Shiva's abhishekam sells like hot cakes. This place has a Kalyana utsavam for Brahma and Saraswathy  a very unique festival.
How to each:
The temple is about 1 km further towards salem from the Thiruvasi temple. It is on the left of the road on a bit of land which is between the Kaveri and the left bank canal.
The temple has sannidhi for Shivan and Mangalambikai.
The unique vigrahas are 6 couples
Surya with his wife,
Lakshmi Narayana,
Kalyana Sundareswarar with Kathyayini. The lord has embraced kathyayini and has also stepped on her toe a marvelous sculpture
Subramanya with Valli Devasena,
Brahma and Saraswathi. The saraswathy here is in Dhyana posture with no veena she is housed as Kosta vigraha instead of a Vinayaka

Durga is Vishnu Durgai on lotus peetam with agni in hand.

The  Dakshina moorthy idol is with veena known as Digichandana in his hand.. This is supposedly good for optic nerve problems, The strings of the veena are supposedly strands of optic nerve which can be strummed only by Shiva!!
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Surya and Chandra are seen on top of Dakshinamoothy to either side with chamaram.The usual sanatkumaras are missing and there is a female bell clapper instead
Surya is seen with his consort and behind there is Lakshmi narasimha also
The speciality is abhishekam to Dakshinamurthy and saraswathy with honey which is sold in the temple. The honey is to be consumed early morning for success in studies.
The ambal sannidhi is small and has a tall ambal Mangalambikai blessing us facing south
There is a huge snake pit outside
The ride to the temple is on a narrow mud bank and is adventurous but motor able. The sculptures are unique and a beauty to behold. Well worth the trouble of travel

Thiruvennainallur –sri Krupapureeshwarar temple

Today i visited this ancient temple near Villupuram.It is very important place for shaiva siddhantha associated with the legends of great souls like Sundarar (van thondan),Thirunavukarasar,maithondar ,arunagirinathar ,vallal sadayappar , Kambar of ramayana fame  . The place has been in existance since antiquity and there are stone edicts excavated at tiruvannamalai and other placed describing grants during the reign of Raja raja chola I as well as Rajaraja chola II, The ramayana of Kambar makes reference to this place and temple,and in the Coronation scene Kambarpays homage to his sponsor and well wisher shri sadayappa mudaliar of Tiruvennainallur.
It is a padal petra sthalam with the ranking of 15 in tamil nadu
How to reach:
The place is 15 kms from Vizhupuram and easily reached. on the Chennai tiruchy highway after crossing the first pass to vizhupuram, look for the board to Tiruvennainallur on the right it is reached after  you cross the pennar river. Take the road on the right after agaram and proceed straight till you cross a village called gramam . Proceed further for about 8 kms and the road takes a bend to the left. The first left after this turning leads to the temple. The marker for this place are  the flower vendors at the market on either side of the narrow road.. The road curves around to the temple and the entrance appears narrow it leads to a mammoth temple
The fore ground has the sannnidhi for Sundarar


(side enrance leading to the ambal sannidhi)

Legends with the temple:
This temple is associated with many interesting stories.The basic legend is that when Shiva had consumed poison and was unconscious Parvathi came here and created a hall of butter (hence vennai nallur) , and created a panchagni and reduced the poison. Hence Shiva was saved .
This place is one of the Shakthi peetams with Parvathy on a simha vahanam and sangunidhi and padmanidhi as gaurdians.of the door.Her ugram was pacified by the Meru installed in front and she is a shanta swaroopi here called Mangalambikai who bestows only good here.
Maikandar a renowned shaiva poet was blessed by Sage paranjothi when he was playing here as a five year old and he received the knowledge in front of the swayambhu Vinayagar ( unchiselled vinayakar) seen below.He saw the truth (Mai kandar) and started composinghis mammoth work here.
This is the temple(around about 600 AD) where Sivaperuman stops the marriage of Sundarar and proves that sundarar is his slave and brings him to the temple disguised as an old man. The sandals that Shiva wore are still seen preserved in the sanctum .It is huge and frayed . Sundarar realises that the old man who he called as a mad cap is Shiva and starts singing the first of his compositions”Pitha pirai soodi”(mad man wearing the moon as a head ornament) in this temple.
The hall where Siva argued withthe vilage elders to prove that Sundararis his slave is seen below It is a 100 pillared hall present at the entrance of the temple as seen below

Arunagirinathar is supposed to have had the vision of Muruga dancing on his peacock here

As you enter the temple you see the dwaja sthambam with a small vinayagar in front
The structure behind is the Sivan sannidhi . The nandi seen behind the dwaja sthambam is supposed to be dharmarajan himself. He also helps in people getting married, so he is very popular .

Seen above is the chamber leading into the Shivan sannidhi complex on the right. The way to ambal sannidhi is on the far left
The main hall has a garba gruha with a massive sivalingam and the anteroom has the paduka of shiva inside a glass box.
There are sannidhis for vinayaka and muruga in addition to the usual niche devatahas like bhikshandar, Dakshinamurthy, Lingodhbhavar, Brahma, Durga and chandiikeshwarar as in all shiva temples.(lingodhbhavar below)

Dakshinamurthy seen below

(Bhikshandar seen below)


There is a huge verandah running all around the main praharam
One of the sculptures seen in a corner
The ambal sannidhi is next door in the next prakaram

She is seen standing with four arms and a benign smile.There is a simha vahanam in front and a meru installed .
The Sthala vriksha here is the bamboo.It seems the vedas came here to worship the lord in the form of bamboos.


Kurukkal Ravi is seen in the picture of the ambal sannidhi  he can be contacted on cell:7708638986
People light lamps for pariharam with a mixture of five oils hence the notice below to do it outside!

A view of the 100 pillar hall in front and the main praharam seen on the right as seen from The ambal praharam to give a sense of the size of the temple

I revisited the temple today 27/4/13 here are a few more pics. The road to the temple is freshly relaid and is great.

Legend from the amman sannidhi

Legend on the side of the vinayakar at the entrance in front of the dwajasthambam

Nandi at the entrance

 

Temple legend at the entrance

 

 

The Divine couple at the entrance

1/02/24 I revisited the temple today after many years. It has been recently repaired here are a few pics