Navagraha temples in Chennai near Porur- Pozhichallur Agastheeswarar Temple- Shani sthalam- Vada Thirunallaru

The Agastheeswarar temple in Pozhichallur a suburb of Chennai behind the Meenambakkam Airport is a famous old temple .This temple has been in existence for more than 1500 years.Pozhichallur is Pugazh Chola Nalloor (meaning Famous town of the Chola Kingdom, in Tamil)
How to reach: On the GST road proceeding from Kathipara after the airport look for the right turn after areva signal and Pallavaram bus stand take this road for about 2 kms you will skirt Pammal and come up to the junction of  pozhichallur road and kunrathur road take a right turn here and proceed about 2 kms as the road winds you can see the  on the right hand side. The approach road is being laid so it is very rugged.You may miss the approach road as there is a shopping complex built there .
The temple cam also be reached from Kunrathur . You can also reach this temple from Gerugambakkam, kolapakkam from the porur side.( See my previous blog about the Kolapakkam temple)

There is no raja gopurm as seen in this temple as also in all parihara sthalams
The first thing that stuck me as a temple keeping up with the times was this sign painted:on the entrance wall



The temple has an east facing entrance with the main gate opening on the North side

(The Durga sannidhi and Chandikeshwarar on the north west side of the temple)

Go shala at the north east side

East facing entrance with dwajasthambam and temple office behind
As you enter the Main sanctum you have  the east facing Sivan sanidhi with a south facing Goddess Sri Aanandhavalli sannidhi.There are separate sannidhis for Suryan and chandran behind the main door and saneeswarar is seen facing the Sivan sannidhi in an independent sannidhi.
There is also a seperate Navagraha sannidhi inside to the right of the saneeshwarar.
Sri Saneeswara Bhagavan is said to have worshipped Lord Shiva here. As Sri Saneeswara had been giving ill effects to people, he had gained Dhosham out of it. Sri Saneeswara Bhagavan, wanting to be relieved of his dhoshams, prayed Lord Shiva for help.Lord Shiva asked Sri Sani Bhagavan to come to this place and worship Him. As directed, Sri Sani Bhagavan came to this place, created a pond called ‘Sani Theertham’ and worshipped Lord Shiva and got relieved of his problems.Hence, Sri Sani Bhagavan here is believed to be Mangala Saneeswarar with no dhoshams or ill effects. People having problems because of Sani (Saturn), worship here to reduce the ill effects. This place is also called ‘Vada Thirunallaaru’
This temple is also a Parihaara Sthalam for Raahu and Kethu.
Outside on the south west you have a unique neem tree with Banyan combination with a Ganesa below it

The opposite corner on the South east side has  neem trees with a seperate Sivan and nandi below the neem trees

The gajaprushti vimanam is very clearly seen here

The south east corner near the office has a small sannidhi for Anjaneyar



Click here for :Google map to temple

Navagraha temples in chennai near Porur – Gerugambakam Neelakanteshwara Temple –Ketu sthalam

I chanced upon this temple on my return from Kovoor. This is a small temple easily missed but the Amman Kamakshi here is part of the triad of Kamakshi 's –Adi kamakshi .
Route:On the Porur  Kunrathur road before the intersection of the byepass you will see Gerugambakkam bus stand take a left here and along the narrow cement track take the second left road and the right turn at the Y intersection you will stumble upon the temple.
There is no gopuram here as kethu bhagawan is supposed to lord over the universe. Though the priest said the sivalingam is the manifestation of kethu I did find a small sannidhi of a snake carved on stone representing Kethu
:
Legend
When Siva swallowed the poison during the churning of the ocean Kamakshi held Sivas neck and prevented the poison from descending hence his neck became blue_Neelakanteshwara.
As you enter the praharam what you se in front is the south facing door which leads us to the sannidanam of a huge standing Kamakshi (Adi kamakshi) who is so enchanting and compels us to keep seeing her. To the left is the sivan sannidhi with a big Lingam Shri Neelakanteshwarar
The temple is very small and not very popular outside but it is a part of the navagraha circuit hence will soon be popular!

Navagraha temples around Chennai near Porur Kovoor Thirumaeneeswarar- Budhan (mercury ) sthalam

Today I had the oppurtunity to visit this temple which is part of the Navagraha temples of Chola territory . Thondaimandalam. The temple has a rich past and is also associated with Shri Thyagaraja where he composed the Kovoor pancharathna keerthanas It is also associated with of Saint Poet Sekhizhar the minister of Kulathunga chola  and the author of Periyapuranam. Thirunavukkarasar (Appar) has also sung about this place so it is also a padal petra sthalam.
The temple was built during the regime of Kulothunga Chola during the 7th century
 
It is a truly mammoth temple well laid out and maintained
How to reach:From porur junction move westwards on Kunrathur road this is a very busy junction and construction is going on for a fly over. After  about 5 kms the road will  intersect below the Maduravoyal and Tambaram byepass follow the road and after this junction take the second road to the right just before the bus stop. The roads are all narrow my maruti zen was very handy! the second right on this road brings us in from of the grand rajagopuram facing the south.The temple has a nine-tier Rajagopuram on the southern entrance

The tower is also unique as it contains the figures of thyagaraja  being carried on a palanquin and on the  right side you can see Rama and Lakshmana at the end of the retinue and on the left we can see the closed door of Tirumala temple.The muscular figure of Wallajapet Venkataramana Bhagavatar is easily identifiable.The upper storeys of the gopuram depict several incidents from Tyagaraja's life such as his tutelage under Sonti Venkataramanayya, his darsan of Narada and his visit to Tirupati. In the last named sequence, the sculptor has depicted the doors of the Tirupati temple being closed, whereas legend has it that it was the screen (therai) that was drawn preventing Tyagaraja from having darshan
 
(Rama and Lakshmana,Sonti Venkataramanayya figures in Thyagaraja ’s retinue)

The main entrance has Ganesa and Murugan on either side you can see Murugan above

Legend of the temple:
According to legend, when Goddess Kamakshi did penance in the nearby Mangadu, the entire world heated up .The heat that emerged was unbearable for all living beings. Then Goddess Mahalakshmi took the form of the celestial cow, Kamadhenu, and pacified Kamakshi. As a result, the intensity of the heat got reduced and the entire world heaved a sigh of relief. To add to this Lord Shiva showed the real swaroopam in the Linga along with Parvathi and came to be known as ‘Thirumeneeswarar’./”Sundareswarar” ,  As Mahalakshmi appeared here as a cow the place came to be known as Kovoor ("Ko" in Sanskrit means cow).
Shri thyagaraja stayed here enroute to tirumala and was pestered by the local chieftain sundara to sing songs in his praise when thyagabrahman refused he set upon his thugs to beat him up. The two young lads protected thyagayya and he came back to the temple and sang in praise of the Sivan the famous Kovoor pancharathna keerthanas!
The five songs composed by the Saint are :
Sambho Mahadeva (Pantuvarali, Roopakam) is in Sanskrit and comprises pallavi, anupallavi and a single charanam. It is largely a descriptive ode of the attributes of Sundareswara.
Sundareswaruni Choosi (Sankarabharanam, Adi) comprises pallavi, anupallavi and three charanams. Couched in Telugu, the song depicts a grand spectacle of the shrine and the deity.
E vasudha (Sahana, Adi) has pallavi, anupallavi and a single charanam of eight lines. Perhaps the most popular among the five songs composed at Kovur, it states that even if one were to stay for half a minute in Kovur, wealth and other benefits can be obtained.
Kori sevimparaare (Kharaharapriya, Adi) comprises pallavi, anupallavi and a charanam of four lines. Like his Raju vedala (Desia Todi, Roopakam) and Chootaamu raare (Arabhi, Roopakam), composed at Srirangam, Tyagaraja speaks of leading a group of devotees and urging them to come and worship at Kovur.
Nammi vacchina (Kalyani, Roopakam) has pallavi, anupallavi and a single charanam comprising four lines. The kriti beseeches the Lord to protect Tyagaraja who has come unto Him with true faith.
The temple has a neat outer praharam
View of the south side from entrance

Inside view of the Rajagopuram

(north side praharam)

(west side praharam with the gopuram over the sanctum)

( Eastern entrance)

The inner sanctum has  an east facing main enclosure of Thirumaeneeswarar and a south facing Sri Soundharaambigai sannidhi (also called Sowndarambika Thiruvudainayaki).. This is one of the three major Kamakshi sannidhis around mangadu( here she is Shanta swaroopi, Tapas kamakshin at mangadu and Adi kamakshi at gerugambakkam  the Ketu kshetram–my next post)
The Vimanam is of gajaprushti type denoting antiquity and swayanbhu natrure of the lord > In this temple the lord  does not adorn the Nagabaranam as in other siva temples he is instead adorned with a mandapam as he is also Lakshmi swaroopan and also budhan . Here  lakshmi pooja is done for the main sivalingam and there is no seperate budhan sanidhi!!
Other deities present in the temple are Sri Veerabadhrar, Sri Valli Devasena Samedha Sri Subramanyar and Navagrahams. All 63 Naayanmaars are also present in this temple.
Another rarity of this temple is the Sthala Viruksham called Maha Vilvam tree. The Maha Vilvam of this temple is a very rare one that each stalk of Maha Vilvam has 27 leaves to it. The priest told me it is a rarity and his grandfather found this tree and one who finds a mahavilvam tree itself is destined for moksham!!

Planet Budhan is responsible for education, intelligence, maturity, memory, creativity etc. astrologers say. So, it is recommended that we visit the temples of Budha baghwan and be blessed by Him.
In short a serene temple with lots of history and god vibrations!!

(one of the two  chariots of the temple in bad shape the one below is in better shape)