Thiruneelakudi Sri Neelakanteshwarar temple-A padal Petra sthalam

I had the good fortune of visiting this temple recently.My paternal grandfather was named after this lord. This temple is praised by Sri Appar in his compositions. When Appar was tied to stones and pushed he prayed to this lord . The place is also associated with kundalini yoga .

How to reach?

This temple is on the main road connecting Kumbakonam to Karaikal. It is 13 kms from Kumbakonam  after you cross the Thirunageshwaram temple this is the next major temple

Legends and stories of the temple:

Sage Markandeya was directed by Narada to pray here to obtain freedom from death though he was saved from Yama at Thirukadaiyur his tapas here pleased the lord to bestow chiranjeevi status here, pleased the sage carried the lord in a palanquin to surrounding 7 villages during chithirai month which is regularly enacted here

Parvati was reunited with Shiva after being killed at Daksha's yagna she reunited here . This place is considered to bring together couples after separation and strengthen the Thali bhagyam  of devotees.

Parvathi prevented the hala hala poison from descending down the throat of Neela kantar  and nurtured him with medicinal oils.The shivalinga is rough here and oil abhishekam with litres of oil also does not cause any shine and miraculously the oils absorbed by the Shivalinga and not a drop remains on the lord!!

The pandavas are supposed to have prayed here and there are  five lingas here in the temple each is considered a moolavar

During the month of chithirai the suns rays fall on the navagraha in the evening in this temple hence in the navagraha sannidhi all the navagrahas are tuned to face the sun in the centre

Brahma prayed to a moksha lingam here to repent for his dalliance with Urvashi, Kamadhenu did penance here to get relief from  Vashita’s curse.Vishwamitra is also said to have done penance here

The temple is sung about by Appar, Thirugnana sambandar and Neelakanta nayanar

Once you enter the main gate you see the dwaja sthambam and Nandi

This gate leads us into the outer praharam where there are many idols

Mukthi lingam of Brahma

Markandeya idol with the sthala purana

The nayanmars Appar, Sambandar, Neelakanta Nayanar

 

The temple is under the control of the Thiruvavaduthurai adheenam

The Main sannidhi has the Shivalingam which is greyish and is of a coarse finish

The koshta vigrahas  Ganapathy has Markandeya Lingam for company

Next is Dakshinamurthy

The Jackfruit tree is also special here. The sthala vriksham is the 5 leafed Vilvam

The ambal sannidhi has two sanctums one for the Tapas Parvati(Bhaktha bheeshta pradhayini) who attained Shiva here and another for Anubhamasthadarii who nursed Shiva back to health

. Both the ambals are about 4 feet tall and enchanting

The Durga enclosure is seen outside

 

The navagrahas Facing Suryan

 

Over all an ancient and well maintained temple with a Pond in front

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!