Tiruvelvikudi ManaVaaleshwarar temple-Kumbakonam- A Padal petra sthalam

By sheer providence  on a trip to Kumbakonam, I took a wrong turn at Aduthurai and ended up at this temple while trying to visit the Thirumananjeri temple (click here to see my blog on the Thirumananjeri temple).

It was a divine blessing as I came too know that the pre marriage Vedic homams were all conducted here for Shiva and Parvathy before their wedding at Thirumananjeri and we are supposed to visit this temple before visiting the Thirumananjeri temple.

How to Reach:

This temple is very close to the thirumananjeri temple and easily accessed from Aduthurai (for details see my blog on the Thirumanenjeri temple)

Legends of the temple:

The temple was the place where the vedic homam before the wedding was conducted. Those with delay in wedding should do homams here to expedite things.Compared to the Thirumananjeri temple there is no crowd here. the peaceful surroundings were enchanting    .

 

The temple has  nice pond outside and the outer courtyard is well maintained                             The main Shiva  Sri Manavaaleshwarar sannidhi is seen in front  facing east.He is a majestic Shiva Lingam almost 5 feet tall

with Ambal Parimala Sugandha nayaki in the front facing south.The ambal is standing and is about 5 feet tall

The outer praharam has a sannidhi where Shiva and parvathi are seen holding hands . The brass figures are exquisite but in need of better maintenance 

The koshta vigrahas are of Ganapathi, Agasthiar, Nataraja

, Dakshinamurthy,

Lingodbhava, Chandrasekhara and Ardhanareeswarar adorn the outer walls of the main sanctum. 

The Ardhanari is unique in hat the shakthi is depicted on the right half unlike the usual left .

There is an unique durgai and a bhikshandar

There is an unique eeshana lingam in its own enclosure and lighting a lamp here will help mitigate navagraha and marriage doshams

 

The Bull image on the temple was very life like

The well had living trees as posts to support the pulley

The entrance to the ambal sannidhi

Inscriptions from the period of Sembiyan Mahadevi and Raja Raja Cholan and Parantaka Chola have been found in this temple.

The temple legend a shown above the Shivan sannidhi

Sri Dhenupureeshwarar temple Patteeswaram- famous Durga and a PadalPetra sthalam

Right in the middle of Kumbakonam this magnificent temple is one of the major attractions.it is more famous as the Durga temple as it houses one of the magnificent Vishnu durgas in its outer praharam.

The Lord of this temple Sri Dhenupureeshwarar ( one who was worshipped by a cow) wanted to see the full majesty of Sri Thirugnana sambandar the boy saint and hence asked Nandi to  stand aside 

How to reach:

The temple is in the south-western part of kumbakonam and  is easily reached on the road to papanasam

Legends of this temple:

The sage Vishwamitra obtained the Gayathri Mantra in this temple only.This was the Ashram of Sage Vashishta who was the custodian of the Divine cow Kamadhenu and he finally conferred the title of Brahma Rishi on Vishwamitra here.

When Parvati selected this place to do thapas for attaining Lord Shiva the divine Cow Kamadhenu sent her calf  - named Patti to help Parvathi.Seeing Parvathi the calf Patti also got inspired and built a mud lingam and started worshipping Shiva by dropping her milk on the linga.Pleased Shiva blessed her and this place was then called as Patteshwaram where Shiva gave a vision to Patti

Devotees pray to Mother Durga for relief from the adverse aspects of serpent planets Rahu and Ketu during the Rahu Kalam times, on Tuesdays, Fridays and Sundays in particular and on new moon, full moon, Ashtami and Navami days and for child and wedding boons and from the adverse aspect of Mars-Sevvai planet.

View of the main Eastern gopuram

Inside the first praharm with the durga temple facing north seen on the right side below

 

The Durga temple complex has multiple statues and the main Goddess has 4 arms and is about 6 foot tall and is on a Mahisha

 

The temple legend with a picture of the main durga

The Shiva temple complex has a huge Shiva Lingam facing east and the atmosphere when I visited at 7 AM was  serene

The usual koshta vigrahas

The Ambal Palvali Nayaki has a seperate sannidhi facing South and is about 4feet tall. The sculptures in the ambal sannidhi are nice and thought provoking

Sri Ukthavedeeshwarar temple at Kuttalam near Mayavaram -a padal petra sthalam

I visited this temple late in the evening hence the photos are all not very great

How to reach:

Kuttalam is about 8 kms from Mayavaram on the road to Kumbakonam.The kuttalam bus stand is a chaotic place and can’t be missed. Right opposite this road is the road leading to the temple. In fact Thirumananjeri, Thiruvelvikudi are very near this temple and all are padal petra sthalams

The temple is also very close to the Suryanar koil and Thirumangalakudi temples which are on the KALLANAI TO POOMPUHAR ROAD which meets the Mayavaram kumbakonam road at Kuttalam

Legends and Stories:

(From the Wikipedia)

The legend has that Goddess Sri Parvathi in the form of a cow worshipped Lord Shiva at Thiruvavaduthurai/Thiru A  vaduthurai, Lord was pleased at her devotion and gave darshan to her. At Kuttalam, Goddess Sri Parvathi was born as a daughter to Sage Bharata, Sage Bharata brought up this divine child with lots of love and affection. As years passed, the child was a staunch devotee of Lord from her early age. She worshipped Lord Shiva and underwent severe austerities to attain him as her husband .Lord Shiva  appeared before Goddess Sri Parvathi and agreed to marry her. She put forward a condition that the marriage should take place in the presence of her parents and relatives; Lord  granted her wish and married her as she desired in the presence of her parents and relatives.

He visited his Father in law, Bharata muni’s house at Kuttalam and was accompanied by the divine tree kuttalam from which the place derived its name .He left behind this tree and his padukas here to bless devotees at this temple..

Sri Sundarar the saint had become blind and developed leukoderma as a result of breaking his promises to both his wives. He came here and after a bath in the pond called sundara theertham he regained his sight and lustre and sang 10 songs on the lord here. There is a statue for sundarar near the pond and the padigams sung by him are painted inside the temple.

The Kuttalam tree is revered as having medicinal value in its leaves, flowers and is much revered here.

The Shivan sannidhi is in front facing west and the ambal Parimala Sugandha nayaki’s sannidhi is seen on the left in the pic below

The sthala vruksham is seen on the right  of the dwajasthambam

The main shivan is about 5 ft high with avudaiyar facing the left side. The koshta vigrahas are usual ganesha dakshinamurthy, lingothbavar and Durga all are reversed in position due to west facing Lingam. there is also a sannidhi for the young Goddess Parvathi before she married Shiva,There are also   depictions of the marriage on the temple gopuram and vimanam

Sundarar’s compositions on the roof

A holy place for relief from skin and eye disorders and remove obstacles to marriage

0n 4/3/17, I had the oppurtunity to revisit this temple in the evening and here are a few more pictures

Shri Shanmuganathan Murugan Temple-Viralimalai

This Saturday 26/9/15 I was travelling near Trichy and happened to visit this ancient temple. This temple is renowned for the abundant peacocks strolling around and is a place where many Siddhars are supposedly still living in the caves.
How to Reach:
Many years ago while travelling from Trichy to Madurai I remember seeing the temple steps.Today the NH 45 has a bypass and you have to enter inside the town.On The TRICHY –MADURAI HIGHWAY after about 20 kms you will see the hillock beckoning.

There is a narrow approach road to the temple and it is best you park in the broad road nearby.The regular buses from Trichy and Madurai do stop here.There are about 270 steps which leads to the temple.
Stories and Legends:
This place was where Saint Arunagirinathar was blessed with knowledge.  Murugan came as a hunter and directed the saint to this temple


This is seen in the Sandhana mandapam at the end of the flight of stairs
The Thondaman Raja of Pudukkottai had a dream that if Cigars are given as prasadam in the afternoon and evening his disease would be cured hence the devotees bring these as prasadam to be submitted to god.
Saint Vashishta Cursed Arundathi for not taking care of the infant murugan who was born in 6 parts from Shiva's body Murugan in turn cursed Sage Vashishta who then came here with Arundhati and both were absolved of their sins  after praying here.
I found that people give their child in adoption to muruga for favours obtained and the child's maternal uncle re adopts the child after paying the lord  a token amount of rice husk(Thavudu)
The climb is scenic and pleasant if done slowly.There are a lot of monkeys so beware.They have a free run. There are small shrines for Vinayaga,Murugan
and
Idumban Sannidhi a small cave Shrine for Meenakshi Sundareshwar

The top mandapam leads to the flight of steps opening into the main temple with one praharm
 
The Main sannidhi has Shanmuganatha with 6 faces and 12 arms on the peacock all this standing on one leg of a peacock.There is a mirror behind which allows us to seethe three faces behind.
The outer praharam has many niches with gods as below

Some unique carvings on the temple wall

A small temple in a quiet place