Sri Tripurasundari sametha Sri Vedapureswarar temple- MG road Pondicherry

This is the oldest temple in Pondicherry town. Today was the Kumbabishekam of this temple recently renovated hence it was very crowded and I had to rush through

The MG road is one of the prime market areas and easy to find it is next to the Perumal temple

LEGEND AND STORIES:

There is not much in legends here but in the Franco Indian war of 1788 the temple was razed to the ground and rebuilt in 1899 by Dewan  Kandappa mudaliar a local patron and the townsfolk.

The rajagopuram leads us to a small hall where Kumbabishekam pooja were in full swing. we next enter the outer praharam which has the dwaja sthamba

Ambal Tripura sundari sannidhi on the right seen below facing south

The mural showing the builders/renovators and nayanmars appar, Sundarar

Outer praharam showing the way to do pradakshina

Some  pounding activity for the Kumbabishekam

The Dakshinamurthy sannidhi made out as a separate enclosure

Ganapathi sannidhi in the outer praharam

Exquisite  paintings on the walls and the roof depicting tales from the Sivapuranam

the roof

The temple pond

An old edict

the main sanctum was closed due to balalayam which is seen below

Sri Maakaaleshwarar madhusundaranayaki temple at Irumbai near Auroville pondicherry- A padal petra sthalam

Today morning I was able to get a darshan of this lord Sri.Maakaaleshwarar one of the three in India the other two being in Ujjain and one near Mayavaram.He is one who has subdued Time (Kala)
The temple is ancient and Thirugnanasambandar ,Sundarar,Thirunavukkarasar and Manikavasagar have all sung about this Temple in their padigams. The temple being in close proximity of Auroville is taken care of by the inmates very lovingly. The entire temple premises were re done aesthetically in 2010 by the inmates of auroville
The temple maintains its own website   Click to visit temple website

How to reach:
The temple is in Auroville very close to NH 66.I happened to travel from Tindivanam and even before the toll near Pondy I was directed by a small sign to Irumbai.The road meandered along for about500 mts and I was in the temple compound.
The temple is about 11 kms from pondicherry

 The temple tank

The legend of the temple :
The temple legend is that of a Siddha purusha who lived here called Kaaduveli Sidhar whose penance was causing intolerable heat. The king used a devadasi called Valli who succeeded in waking up the saint without angering him. The rest of the history is best known from the temple blog from the official link:http://www.irumbaimaakaaleswarar.com/
The command of the saint made the Shivalinga burst into 3 pieces and shower rocks.The present Shivalinga is thus held together by a Copper band on top.The entire story has been created as murals and represented on the walls of the temple compound

as you enter the main tower you see the South facing entrance with the Ambal sannidhi in front of you.

The Dwajastamha is in the west facing the lord is Nandi. the temple is very small and we can see the Lord, Ambal and the Nataraja with Sivagami  all from the centre of the main sannidhi. 

The inside of the sannidhi is covered with brass and gives a rich feel

View of the inside

The kosta vigrahas are all very well carved , There is a Hanuman also. The Navagraha sannidhi houses the navagraha devatas along with their spouses

Narthana Ganapathy 

Sri Arasalishwarar temple Olindiyampattu, near Pondicherry-A padal petra sthalam

Today I was fortunate to visit this temple which is one of the two temples sung by saint Gnanasambandar which is close to Pondicherry.
How to reach:
The temple is very close to the NH 66 between Tindivanam and Pondy about 19 kms from Pondicherry or 27 kms from Tindivanam.I travelled from Tindivanam and after crossing Kiliyanur look for the road to Olindiyampattu on the left take the road and in about 3 kms you will reach the temple<!--[if !vml]--><!--[endif]--><!--[if !vml]--><!--[endif]--><!--[if !vml]--><!--[endif]-->

Legends of the temple:
Sage Vama deva who was travelling by praying  to Shiva to repent for the curse he had incurred, he prayed to Lord Shiva here with the leaves of the peepul tree or Bodhi tree(Arasa maram in Tamil) and was absolved of his curse, hence Shiva is known as Arasalishwara here.
Saint Gnanasambandar has described the temple in 10 stanzas as Arasali is the abode of Lord who drove away Kala the God of Death, who conquered kama, living on the alms offered by others, wearing Kondrai flower and sacred ash sprayed over His body.

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As you enter the small temple there is only one praharam with Shivan sannidhi facing east and the Ambal Periyanayaki  on the right facing South seen in the Pic below

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The entrance to Shivan sannidhi is from the south and the Sanctum has a small Shivalingam covered with a Nagabharanam in Silver.The lord is resplendent in his armour here
The Ganapathy here is  varasiddhi vinayakar who bestows all prayers

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Lord Dakshinamurthy graces from the Koshta  the demon of ignorance muyulgan is under the right leg of the Lord holding a serpent in his hand unlike the usual case where he is under the left leg of the lord this is considered a Shanta rupam and a rare sculpture.

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Maha Vishnu behind the sanctum

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Murugan sannidhi

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Brahma and Vishnu Durgai

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Durga devi
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Lord Nataraja is depicted in the Ananda Thandava (blissful dancing) posture. It is said that Lord Dakshinamurthy symbolizes Peace and Lord Nataraja Bliss telling mankind that they have to practice Ananda-bliss through Silence-Peaceful state of mind.
The Ambal sannidhi is small and Periyanayaki amman is a small petite sculpture about 3 feet tall on the pedestal blessing Bhaktas
Chandran

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Suryan sannidhi

These two flank the inner doorway facing the lord Shiva
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Praying to this lord gives mental peace and Happiness

 

I re visited on 13/11/16 a few more pics

The Vinayaka under the tree in front of the pond and temple