Kadambar Koil

The village itself is called Kadambar koil after the temple.

How to reach
This is around 15 kms from Uthiramerur on the Kanchipuram road.The temple can easily be missed. Before you come to the bridge accross the cheyyar look for the temple arch on the left and proceed for about 1 km via verdant greenery to reach the temple.The temple is midway between Kanchi and Uthiramerur
Legend:
The temple has been sung by Thirugnana Sambandar and so should be more than 1300 years old
This lord was prayed to by kashyapa muni when the yaga he was doing was disrupted by asuras Mahanan and Maagaral.  lord Shiva  then asked Kandan to proceed to help the rishi which kumaran did with the help of the magic vel.Since he worshipped his father here the lord is known as Kadambareshwarar as Kadamba is one of murugan’s names
The river Cheyyar flows west to east. At this place it flows north to south like the ganges and hence it is a moksha puri like Kasi.
Once a brahmin from Pandya kingdom  called Gunaseelan died, his son Budhisenan brought his ash to immerse it in Kasi. When he was having a bath here keeping the pot with ash in the bank the water happened to fall on the ashes and he was surprised to find that the bones got changed to flowers in the pot. At that time, a  voice was heard that this place is much holier than Kasi and so  the ashes can  be immersed here. He did the same in the river Cheyyar So this is a place where one can do the rituals for the forefathers like in Kasi and to worship for salvation.

The outer view of the temple

(View of the kodimaram from the main gate)

View of the nandhi
The main sanctum houses a small Sivalingam which is slanting to the left facing east. This is a swayumbhu lingam and there is a gajaprushti vimanam.
The main praharam also houses Avudai nayaki amman in the standing posture facing south
There is a small navagraha sannidhi outside in the praharam a later addition.
There is an adhikara nandi  and 63 nayanmarsin the outer praharam with the usual kosta vigrahams of ,Vinayaka, Lingodhbavar,Dakshinamurthy, Durga ,Chandikeshwarar and Bhairavar in their usual niches as in all Siva temples

A small and peaceful temple
Archakar Shri Kannan.T Cell:9655035503
I reached the temple at about 11:45 AM and it was closed but local people sumoned the very patient and affable archakar who re opened the temple and showed us around and answered all my queries in a soft way and made me  feel very blessed!
Hours from 7 AM to 11:30 and 4Pm to 7:30 PM

Sundara varadar temple uthiramerur

Uthiramerur town was once a flourishing trade centre under the Pallavas in the 4-10 century situated midway between the Capital Kanchi and the port city Mahabalipuram.This is one of the main temples built by the Pallavas here..The temple has been repaired by other rulers like Raja Raja chola, Rajendra chola and lastly Krishnadevaraya in the 15 th century
How to reach:
Uthiramerur is about 35 kms from Kanchipuram and about 85 kms from Chennai. On the Chennai Tiruchy highway after Chengalpet look for a right turn after Andal Azhagar engineering college. The town is 19 kms on this road which  ends in the temple.(SH 118)
Legend of the temple:
It is connected with the Mahabharata agnatha vasa in the Virata parva. For a history of Uthiramerur see my introduction below
(http://drlsravi.blogspot.in/2012/04/uthiramerur-to-kanchi-temples-visit.html#links)
The entrance of the temple is very impressive

In the fore ground you see the Shrine of Veera Anjeneya who was established here by Shri Vyasaraja who was the Raja guru of krishna devaraya and who spent many years here.
The temple is built in three tiers with total nine Vishnu sannidhis and a separate Thayar sannidhi. This is one of the three 3 tier temples in Tamil nadu Thiru Koshtiyur (where Ramanuja was initiated the Thiru Mandiram) and Koodal Azhagar (in Madurai)  also have three tiered Gopurams..While the other two have only one deity in each of the tiers, this l temple has 4 deities each in Tier 1 and 2 and one deity in Tier 3.This is the only Vaishnavite temple in India with Nine Murthies in a three tier structure.

The entrance to the main temple

You can see the Garudalwar sannidhi behind the kodi maram
All the Vigrahas here are made of wood and hence there is no abhishekam only tirumanjanam with oils.
The first level:
This level houses the main sannidhi of Sri Sundara varadhar in the standing posture( Nindran).Facing east. He is accomnpanied by Sridevi and Bhuma devi . There are exquisite paintings behind the main lord in the back ground please ask the priest to show them to you. This Perumal was the diety to which bheema was attached to.The outside praharam houses the seperate  Thayar sannidhi and the three sides of the Main temple have
Achutha Varadar( prayed by Arjuna) on the Southern Side,
Aniruddha Varadar on the West (behind Sundara Varadar) prayed by Nakula
Kalyana Varadar on the Northern side.prayed by Sahadeva.
It is believed that Those who pray here (with their horoscope) to Kalyana Varadar on 5 consecutive Wednesdays are said to find their life mate immediately. Those who offer prayers on Tuesdays to Achutha Varadar are said to find jobs immediately.
The second level
The second tier houses Vaikunta Varadar in a sitting posture(Idanthan) (he provided Darshan to Dharmaraja).the outer  three sides of the first tier houses idols of
Nara Narayana-(Arjuna and Krishna) on the northern side. Those who are not able to go to Badri can invoke the blessings of Nara Narayana at this temple
Behind the Vaikunta varadar is Yoga Narasimha. facing the west side
The fourth idol  is Lakshmi Varahar seen here in Sitting Posture (in Thiruvidanthai one finds Lakshmi Varahar in a Standing Posture).
The third tier:
Unlike in other vaishnava temples this sanctum has Ganga and Yamuna on either side of the door as dwarapaalikas
The sanctum houses  Anantha padmanabha Perumal in the sleeping posture(Kidanthan). He has an arm on Markandeya rishi and has brahma at his head as well as from his naabhi. Lakshmi devi is found kneeling in front with hands as though receiving a boon.The foot of the Idol shows a standing Shiva with the deer on his left hand and one small change is that he is shown wearing the Vadagalai Namam (maybe while in rome do as romans do?)!!!
So this sannidhi has brahma vishnu and Maheshwara all in one place with Lakshmi devi also
There are a large number of figures of Shiva, Saraswathy, Hanuman,Narasimhar, Rama ,Lakshmana, Rathi  and manmatha in the many tiers of the gopuram and you can spend one whole day in trying to find them!




The Architect of the temple is Brighu rishi and he is represented in the sculpture below
In all an awe inspiring temple
Temple Timing : 7am-12noon and 4pm-8pm
Priest : Aravamudhan Bhattar @ 94423 11138/ 97510 35544
Raja Gopala Bhattar @94863 69455
R. Seshadri(Trustee)@ 94430 68382
Festivals : Brahmotsavam in Chitrai, Pavitrotsavam in Aadi, Andal Aadi Pavitrotsavam- Recital of the 4 Vedhas, Sudarashana Homam in Puratasi

Visit to temples from Uthiramerur to Kanchi

I had the chance to visit various temples in Uthiramerur up to Kanchi . The distance of 35 kms houses many ancient temples with quaint legends ..

History of Uthiramerur

As per Legend Uthiramerur was the place where The Pandavas came for their agnathavasa ( Virata Parva of the Mahabharata) in the kingdom of Virata. The name Uthara is associated with both his children Uthraa who was taught dance by Brihannala  and married Arjuna’s son Abhimanyu as well as Uthara kumara the prince who was led into Battle by Charioteer Brihannala ( arjuna in disguise) The main Vishnu temple thus reflects this aspect with Vishnu forms worshipped individually by all the Pandavas.There are nine  perumal Sannidhis in the temple  here.
The earliest documented form of Democracy was practiced here as found on the temple inscriptions in the Kailasanathar temple which was renovated by the ASI recently.The formal Guidelines for Assembly Elections and a constitutional framework was laid out by Parantaka chola in the 10 century AD.the same are inscribed in the walls of this temple
Though inscriptions found here credit the temple to be built by Nandi Varma Pallava in the 8century AD, it is believed to have been started in 6 Century itself  .For more details visit this link from the Hindu
The list of temples on this route were
Sundara Varadar temple
Balasubramanya swamy temple
Kailasanathar temple all in Uthiramerur
Thirupulivanam Vyagrapureeswarar temple about 15kms away( There is aardhanari simha dakshinamurthy)
Kadambar Koil Kadambeshwarar koil another 5 kms away
within 5 kms on theother bank of the Cheyyar river
Thiru Maagaral  Maagaraleshwararkoil ( there is a rare ardhanari Bhairavar here)
Perumal koil Magaral
Poyyamozhi Vinayakar

Sri Oushadhagirishwarar temple Tirukkachur

This is also called malai koil locally.It is the second temple in Tirukkachur and is about 2 kms away on top of a hillock.
How to reach:
From the Thyagarajaswamy temple follow the road to the right and you will go uphill into the temple. The Kumbabishekam was performed 2 months ago and the temple was all freshly painted.

Legend of the temple:
On the instruction of indra who devoloped some health problems the ashwini twins came here to search for herbs.After prolonged search they could not get the herbs,they then prayed to Shiva and the amman here removed the ignorance and shed light to them thus helping them find the herbs hence she is called Irul neeki amman ( dispeller of darkness). The Sivalingam is called oushadeshwarar. There is a belief here that the mud from the kodi maram area will dispell all sickness and is carried by devotees to apply on their body and also consume it!( kodi maram is seen below)




(View of the main praharm from outside)

The outer praharam has a ganapathy sannidhi seen above  and alsoa naga devathai corner.
There is a Arumugham under the banyan tree with lots of monkeys for company
The amman sannidhi is outside facing north
There is a special well here which also has a series of steps leading into the water which is supposed to have medicinal properties

( see the tunnel on the right the next pic shows the steps leading down to this )

The chandikeshwarar here is unique with four faces
There is facility for a 3 Km girivalam foot path around the temple which is recomended for its medicinal value of the air with herbs mixed.


A truly healthy spiritual visit!!

Tirukkachur Thyagarajaswamy koil (Kacchapeshwarar koil)

After a long time of wanting to visit this temple I could go today. This temple is  also called aalaya  kovil . it is the fourth in the list of the 275  paadal petra sthalams.it is a huge temple dating back to 1500 years.It is associated with Sundarar who has a shrine inside and other nayanmars like appar and the samaya kuruvinars..
How to reach:
The temple is situated on the road parallel to the GST road in front of the ford factory at Maraimalai nagar . Coming from Chennai take a U turn in front of the ford company and reach the Marai malai nagar railway station. Take a left turn into  the road before the railway station and keep proceeding as the road goes for about 3 kms via villages and the temple will be seen on the right.
Coming from Chengalpet side you can take a left turn at Singaperuman koil into the sriperumbudur road after the Singaperuman koil railway station and a right in the first turning . This will also bring you in front of the temple.
Both ways you have to cross the railway track. Be prepared to wait as the rail line is very busy.

There is no Raja gopuram here it seems it was demolished in the 1800’s.
There is a large banyan tree here hence aalaya  koil is another name for this temple

There is a huge temple tank called agni theertham which is seen behind the banyan tree in the pic above
Legends with the temple:
When Mahavishnu took the tortoise avataram he prayed to Shiva here to give him the strength to bear the churning mountain on his back. Since he was worshipped in the Kaccham (tortoise) form he is also known as kacchapeshwarar

Sri Sundarar one of the Nayanmars came to this temple from Tiruporur and was hungry and exhausted in the high noon. Shiva taking pity on him assumed the form of a poor brahmin and begged for food from the village and fed sundarar hence shiva is called Virundhiteshwarar ( one who gave him a feast) here. There is a separate sannidhi for this as well as a sannidhi for sundarar in this temple
As you enter the temple you see a huge outer praharam with Kodimaram

The outer praharam has  sannidhis for Ganapathy, Arumugham,Virunditteswarar , sundarar and ,bhairavar.




The entrance to the main praharam which houses the garba gruha of Siva and  uma is on the north side
The main praharam has a small Sivalingam in the main sanctum with separate sannidhis for Natarajar and panchaloha idols of Thyagaraja and uma with Murugan hence this temple is also known as Thyagaraja swamy temple.
The Amman sannidhi has a standing smiling Anjanakshi devi(umai ammai/ Sundaravalli) bestowing her benign grace on the pilgrims.
There is a neat stone paved way around the temple and the lawns were well maintained. I found a devout man doing anga pradakshinam in the outer praharam which is quite huge! No mean feat on a hot summer day!!
call the priest Mr Nataraja Iyer before going. His number is +91-44-27463514.He is also in charge of the malai koil (oushadeshwara koil ) about a mile ahead on the road on top of a hillock
From The Hindu coverage from the past
In all a very peaceful and calm temple
( The legend of the temple)


Some inscriptions inside

Tiruvalangadu Sri Vadaaranishwarar and Vandar kuzhali amman temple

Today 18/3/12 after the anjeneyar temple at Kakalur i visited this temple also .
Legends and stories :
This is one of the paadal petra sthalams sung by the nayanmars Appar, Sundarar, Sambandar ,Karikalammiyar and arunagirinathar. The temple has been built by the Cholas as well as the pallavas. The Tiruvalangadu copper plates excavated  and in possession of the ASI talk of grants of panayur village nearby by Rajendra CholaI.(ref. Tiruvalankadu copper plates)
This is one of the pancha Sabha's of Shiva’s cosmic dance. It is the Rathina sabha where he showed the Oordhwa thandava ( lifting of the left leg up to his ears). The other sabhai’s are Chidambaram(Swarna sabha),Madurai(Rajatha sabha),Tirukutrallam(Chithra sabha) and Tirunelveli (Tamira sabha)
Legend has it that upon being requested by Narada, to save the earth from the rage of Kali, born out of her vanquishing the demons Sumban and Nisumban in the banyan forest in this region( each drop of the asura’s blood spilton the ground gave rise to many more asuras so Kali started drinking all the blood of the asuras hence she became intoxicated and enraged she started attacking all the people),Shiva agreed to a dance duel It was a fierce dance competition between the Lord Siva and Sri Bhadra Kali performed here which was witnessed by all the Devas, saints and other heavenly beings. The cosmic dancer Siva had to give a tough fight to his opponent who was equally versatile. At one stage, Siva  raised his left leg up to his ear to fix up an ear-ring that had snapped and fallen. But Badra Kali,being a feminine deity of modesty, could not perform such an act before the audience and had to accept her defeat!
This is also the temple where Karaikal ammayyar lived for a long time.She apparently moved about only on hands as where ever she put her foot a shivalinga would appear knowing this as the lords’ mischief she took to the reversed posture of walking!! you can see this depicted in the pic below!( this  scene is the depiction of  the life of karaikal ammayar)
How to reach:
Tiruvalangadu is  midway between Arakkonam and Tiruvellore.It is well connected by train and buses from Chennai, Arakonam,Tirutani.
I travelled from tiruvellore on the Chennai tirupathy highway . About 8 kms from the Tiruppachur temple there was a left turning towards arakonam. From here at about 5 kms you can reach  Tiruvalangadu village the temple is only 500 metres off the main road. On the main road you can see the huge structure and staircase leading to the huge temple chariot .


There are three main praharams as you enter. The first houses a huge hall where in I saw lots of Gas cylinders stacked may be for the kitchen where  annadanam and prasadams were being prepared at the temple. This leads to the Rajagopuram and next praharam as seen below

This First praharam  entrance houses temples for Vallabha vinayakar and valli devasena Murugan seen on either side of the gopuram in the pic above.
Vallabha Vinayagar is shown with  his consort Vallabha seated on his lap. (The same type of Idol is also instaled at Apollo Speciality Cancer hospital in Chennai)
Lord Subramaniya is seen with his consorts, Valli and Deivayanai The saint Arunagirinathar has sung four of the verses of Tirupugal here.
The entrance to the next praharam showing Karaikal ammayar on the left and meenakshi kalyanam on the right ( as seen below)
The Second praharam houses the Shrine of Vandar kuzhali amman seen in the far end in the pic below.The amman is shantha swaroopi and is standing benignly smiling
  The entrance to the main praharam is seen on the left of the pic below

The main Praharam  houses a huge Sivalingam in the garba gruha Papahareswarar .The Vimanam is of the gaja prushti type signifying swayambhu lingam ,pallava influence and great antiquity to about 1100 ADThere is also a separate sannidhi for a huge natarajar in the Rathina sabha. This hall has a copper roof with five kalasams representing the five elements .
Entrance to the rathna sabhai

The natrajar in the Oordhwa thandava is at the far back of this photo.In the Rathna Sabha, besides the Urthuva Thandava his consort, Sivagami, and a Maragatha Lingam and a Spatika Lingam are seen . Abishekam is performed for the Spatika Lingam daily.
The whole place was a forest of Banyan trees (Alamara  kadu= alan kadu) there is a huge tree which is but a remnant of the forest behind the main sannidhi










The opposite corner of the banyan houses a Nandi  with a mirror in the Sanctum. The Nandi is facing the tree which means Shiva is in the mantap near the Banyan tree! as seen from the photo fom the banyan tree
A yaga salai is found near the amman sannidhi. Here we can make out the copper roof of the Rathina sabha with the five kalasams .

The pancha sabhai as depicted at the entrance of the main praharam


The temple of Kali who was vanquished by Shiva.It is customary to first visit this temple before visiting the main temple.The Kali here is in the dance pose as seen in the picture
Karaikal ammiyar:
She was from a well to do family at Karaikal and her name was Punithavathy. She was married to a merchant on attaining the age by her parents. By nature Punithavathy was pious and a stanch devotee of the Lord Siva. She continued to pray him besides serving the saivaites who visited her household. Her married life however didn’t last long and her husband deserted her after he came to know of her spiritual powers. There upon she acquired an ugly form by her own will and came to be known as Sri Karaikal ammiyar. Even today a mango festival is celebrated in Karaikal in her memory.It seems once she prayed to the lord to save her as she had donated a mango brought by her husband to a Mendicant. when her husband  asked for it she prayed to lord Shiva and got another one which was sweeter and tastier. When her husband came to know of the source of this mango he got scared and abandoned her!
When the ammiyar came to Tiruvalangadu, Lord Siva wanted to reveal her devotion to the world and appeared in the lingam form wherever she tried to step on the ground. She then realized the divine drama of the Lord and then started to ‘walk’ upside down with her head on the floor and reached the temple. Her intense devotion thus made her one of the sixty three nayanmars.
At the Rathna sabha, one can see the image of Sri Karaikal ammiyar at the foot of the Lord dancing in the Urthuva thandava kolam.

more ref to Karaikal ammayar
The temple is open from 6AM to 8 PM
Most important there are excellent clean toilets available as pay and use

Kakalur Sri.Veera Anjenaya swamy

Today 18/3/2012 I had the opportunity to visit this small but very ancient temple near Tiruvellore.
How to reach:
Kakalur is a small village on the MTH road 3 kms from Tiruvellore. It is well connected by rail and road.It can be reached from chennai. About 3 kms before Tiruvellore on the MTH road look for a left deviation which leads you to the temple on the main road itself in about 500 metres

History:
This temple apparently about1000 years old is associated with Shri Vyasraja a great madhwa saint who was the raja guru of the vijayanagara king Krishnadevaraya and was the paramaguru  of Shri Raghavendra swamy. Some say shri Vyasaraja was re born as raghavendra swamy to complete his mission on earth.
Shri Raghavendra swamy happened to spend about 17 years in this temple and has composed songs on his favorite diety Shri.Veera anjeneya. There is a small  picture of him and also a plaque to signify this event inside the temple
Shri Vyasaraja installed more than 700 anjeneya swamy idols. The common feature of these idols are they are all huge, face the north , they are all in profile, the right hand is in abhaya posture and the left has a sougandhika pushpam. There is a bell at the tip of the tail as a harbringer of good news
( click here for a representative photo:http://www.divyadesam.com/photo-feature/hanumath-jayanthi/hanumar-thoppu-street.shtml)
link to vyasaraja's Hanuman idols list
There are a couple of trees a neem entwined with  arasamaram at the entrance which is an auspicious combination. There is also a vinayaga temple next door managed by the same priests.
Click here for hanuman image from divyadesamonline.net :Hanuman image from the net